Pattern Recognition

Absorbed in a seemingly unending pile of property damage claims from the Spindle explosion, Anna did not notice that someone had entered her office until a thick file folder landed on the top of her desk, sending a few stray receipts flying.  Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest before she recognized that it was her daughter standing across the Mayoral desk from her, wearing a cold, intense expression.

Anna's eyes darted to the office door, which was now closed.  She set aside her pen, smoothed down a few flyaways of grey hair, and took a breath to compose herself.  Finally she met her daughter's gaze firmly.  "Dahlia-"

"Cecilie let me in.  I told her it was important," Dahlia said.  She folded her arms over her chest.  "It is."

"If this is about your appalling behavior towards Rufus the other night-"

Dahlia's eyes flashed.  "Mother, whatever argument we are to have over his meddling, set it aside.  I will make an appointment for it if it pleases you, only listen to me.  Now."

Anna sat back in her chair, her mouth snapping shut.  Finally she nodded.  "I'm listening."

But rather than begin speaking, Dahlia walked over to the windows that took up most of one of the office's walls, an extravagance almost certainly owed to Dick Schaeffer's willingness to empty the city's coffers for his own benefit.  The view of Foundation Plaza laid out below was second to none, but Dahlia yanked the heavily embroidered curtains closed, cutting out the late afternoon light.

This done, Dahlia took a small wooden box from her handbag.  She flipped a metal switch set into the side, waited a moment, then flipped it back.  A loud pop sounded, and a curl of acrid smoke seeped from under the edges of the box.  Dahlia crinkled her nose and set it down on the desk, as far from anything flammable as possible.

"What was that?" Anna asked, taken aback by the strange display.

Dahlia fanned at the smoke, helping it to disperse faster.  "Theoretically speaking, it should have disabled any electronic listening devices in the vicinity," she replied, pitching her voice low.  "Though I had to substitute some materials not currently in production."

Anna refrained from pointing out that such spying tools were the stuff of only the most fanciful of novels.  Either they were realer than she had imagined, or she would be drawn into yet another pointless back-and-forth with her daughter over something that didn't even exist.  "May we speak freely, then?" she asked.

Dahlia narrowed her eyes.  "No, but I must chance it."  She turned the alchemical desk lamp up enough to just illuminate the tabletop.  "Ever since the Filimari invasion, I have been collecting and analyzing data with the aim of foiling any further Sleeper plots before they can be used against us.  I don't believe I need to remind you how dire the consequences were, the last time."  She gave Anna a pointed look before continuing.  "I have now...well, not all the pieces, but certainly enough  to suggest a very worrying picture."

Dahlia flipped the folder open and stabbed a finger at the topmost piece of paper within.  "Rosemary Tedesco."

The page was filled edge-to-edge with Dahlia's handwriting--sharp, precise, perfectly formed.  Anna picked up the sheet and began to scan it.

"I will admit, I should have seen this much sooner," Dahlia said.  "Her grief at Eleanor's death obscured things.  Of course she would act erratically, make strange decisions after the fact.  But this cannot explain why she chose, against all common sense, to throw her Ikon against a Zealot in the first place.  What's more, I recently learned that she has been hosting several of her past lives in her mind for quite some time.  Or at least, entities she believes to be her past lives.  The potential for manipulation is clear."

Anna came to the bottom of the page, where the words "Conclusion: Unstable.  Self-destructive impulses--entry point?  Who benefits?" were written and underlined.  Oh, the Four help her daughter if Anjesa ever stumbled across this paper.  "This is very...thin evidence, for such a serious charge," Anna said, choosing her words with care.

Dahlia thrust the next several pages towards her.  "Melinda d'Amico.  Granted, it is far more difficult to tell when she's acting strangely.  But as much as it would be justice to see Nefin Kedar murdered, Melinda and the words 'public service' do not belong in the same sentence together.  She had little enough reason to want him dead.  Much as I hate to say it, the fact that she made an attempt on his life--not once, not twice, but thrice--is evidence enough that someone else was forcing her hand."

Anna pursed her lips.  "Dahlia, were you looking for Sleepers, or keeping tabs on that man?"

"He has nothing to do with this," Dahlia snapped, leaning forward over the table.  "Except inasmuch as he is an extremely volatile piece of this puzzle.  It follows that someone coordinating a long-term covert scheme in Nythium would want to either exploit or neutralize him."

The logic did follow, though given the set of Dahlia's jaw, Anna wasn't certain logic had anything to do with it.  She flipped through the remainder of the file, seeing more names amid crowded lines of observations and conjecture.  "You suspect someone is directing these people, then."  She reached the last page, and a chill settled into her stomach at the name written there.  "You can't possibly be serious."

The expression on Dahlia's face was anything but joking.  "Just because no one else in this city wants to contemplate the repercussions of Alonzar Dunn Strautz being a traitor, does not mean I am free to ignore the very likely reality of the situation."

"He has saved Nythium more times than I can count."

"To what end?" Dahlia shot back.  "Trying to guess at the Meddler's motives is utmost folly.  All we can do is look at the evidence in front of us."

Dahlia stood back from the desk and began to pace the carpet in front of it.  When she spoke, she could barely keep in check the rising eagerness in her voice.  "Rosemary.  After her bungling at the Spindle, he took charge of the fix--the results of which wiped out an entire Ikon, and not one pleasantly disposed towards him.  Melinda.  He admitted to altering her memories and hiding the fact for months.  Based on the nature of those memories, it could very well have been the impetus for the attempted murders."

Anna's eyes widened, and Dahlia let out a soft laugh.  "Yes, that one just came to light recently.  When he had no other choice but to confess to it.  But there is yet more," she said, ticking off items on her fingers as she spoke.  "The dubious timing of his arrival in Nythium.  His cooperation with Poulos; no matter his claims of coercion, I have never known that soul as one to be manipulated.  He plots with Nemesis, who was a known associate of Enmyria de Gerrey.  For that matter, he withheld knowledge of Enmyria's possession of Levantine Sebilian, allowing a Balance agent to operate with impunity.  He attempted to destroy the derinya, the very foundation of the City.  And I shudder to think of the machinations he may have in mind for the Beneficence Foundation."

"I did not realize he had an involvement with them," Anna murmured.

Dahlia stopped her pacing to fix her with a piercing look.  "He doesn't tell you everything, Mother.  Not by a long shot.  Don't let him trick you into thinking he does."

Anna ran her hands over her face.  The lines there had deepened, since she accepted this office.  She imagined they would continue to do so.  "Dahlia, you have no proof," she said.

Dahlia threw her hands in the air.  "The sheer number of coincidences-"

"What would you have me do?" Anna shot back.  "I see no charges here that could not be brought against any one of your friends."  Or you.  "Am I to publicly accuse him of treason and conspiracy, based only on the lines you've drawn between these events?  Are you so certain that you're correct?"

Dahlia gave her a steely look.  The lengthening silence was answer enough.  After a moment, she gathered up the scattered pages from Anna's desk, fitting them neatly back inside the folder.  "I am certain of one thing," Dahlia said.  "There is a fox in our henhouse.  And if it is Alonzar, the consequences will be nothing short of catastrophic."  She held the folder out to Anna, meeting her gaze.  "Promise me you will not trust him."

Anna hesitated, but the concern she saw in her daughter's eyes persuaded her to nod and accept the folder.  Added circumspection could hardly hurt.  Was likely warranted, even.  "Please let me know if you find anything of substance," she said.

"Of course.  You will be the first to know."  Dahlia started to turn, then paused.  "It will likely take the Virtues to stop him, in any case."  With that, she marched to the door and left Anna alone in the darkened office.

Anna slumped in her chair, the ancient leather upholstery creaking under her.  Not for the first time, she found that she was very glad she hadn't allowed herself to keep a bottle of anything up here.  She was not at all certain she could have resisted the temptation at the moment.

Anna made herself wait fifteen minutes before putting on as cheery a face as was possible and stepping out into the vestibule.  She had selected her personal secretary with an eye towards discretion, but she wanted to minimize the chance of her connecting Dahlia's visit to this next request.  "Cecilie, would you be a dear and send a note down to the Ambassador's office?  I was wondering if he would join me for a working dinner tonight."

Rufus would help her make sense of this.  He always had the knack of pulling a problem apart into clear, manageable little pieces.  Right now, that was the insight she desperately needed.  Not about Alonzar, no.  The man had his own agenda and that was...potentially concerning, but she had spoken with him, one on one.  She had looked him in the eye and taken his measure.

Anna knew when to trust her instincts.  And right now, they were telling her there was someone else whom she should be much, much more concerned about.