The Plan

"Dr Seon is a hard-working man, but many aspects of his character are questionable. He is prone to doing things at the last minute. This is understandable given his animosity towards the Church. Animosity which he has been quite vocal about. It is no secret that he sees it as an immoral organisation and often compares it to, and I quote, 'one of those evil fucking criminal gangs on an international scale'. However, his results are positive on average and the quality of his reports can seldom be improved; and as far as his political proclivities go, he is hardly the only one to follow suit. In terms of cohabitation, he is generally well-liked by his fellows and colleagues. Overall, he is a good addition to the Church."

"That's good." If it was, Dr Murf's face didn't concord with the idea of goodness. "But is he expendable?"

"I do not think I follow, Dr Murf."

"Allow me to enlighten you. His file reads like a good book, it's quite interesting, really, and when I read it last week I noticed quite a few things that may prove useful to us. Now, amongst other relevant factors, that I shan't disclose so as to not violate his privacy, it says that he is unwed, no children, absolutely no friends outside of the Church, and a history of substance dependancy." He paused to take a drag of pipe. "You see where I'm going with this, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." He replied after a moment of silence. The only light in the room came from a fireplace at the other side of the office and the shadows were long enough to cover his most of his face, so Dr Murf was unable to tell what expression he displayed, but from his tone he deduced it wasn't a friendly one. "Have you contacted the higher-ups about it?"

"I have. They gave us green light minutes before I called you in."

"Then I do not see why you called me to discuss this if his fate has already been decided."

"Because there's still a chance to save him. I am not the man wielding the power of making the final decision. Now, you see, they gave me permission to do it, but I have orders to stop if his immediate superior should express dissatisfaction towards the operation. His immediate superior is you, Dr Cyan. The decision is yours. Do you want to proceed or not?"

"May I know what would happen if I answered in the negative?"

"Absolutely nothing. We would simply continue as we have until an alternative course of action is devised."

"I see. Please allow me to ruminate for a moment."

"Absolutely. It's a hard decision to make." Dr Murf extinguished his pipe by turning it over and emptying the dried out tobacco into an ash-tray and smiled internally. He'd put Dr Cyan in check and was delighted about it. If he chose to put a stop to the operation, he would lose some of his favour with the higher-ups; and if he opted for the opposite route, he would be hated for it by his companions. Whatever happened, Dr Murf would be the one to remain on top. It was obvious from the start that Dr Cyan was going to lose.

"The way I see it, it is more valuable for the Corporation to perform the operation given the expected returns. Consequently, I, Dr Cyan, exercising my duty and enjoying my full cognitive capacity, give my permission for Dr Seon to lead the incursion in Groamburk."

"Perhaps you've made the right choice." Dr Murphy leaned back in his chair, folded his arms over his chest and raised his head towards the ceiling. "Then again, perhaps not." Falling deep into his thoughts, silence remained while the seconds turned into minutes. A good few passed before Dr Cyan dared to break the impasse.

"Will that be all, Dr Murf?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, you may take your leave. But please send my assistant in on your way out. I trust you can find your way?"

"Yes, Dr Murf. Enjoy your evening." Dr Murf grunted in response and fell back into the depths of his mind.

--

Dr Murf's office was small. There was a desk in the middle that didn't face the door, it faced an old fireplace that was always lit. Between the desk and the fireplace sat two antique armchairs separated by a small coffee table with all sorts of tea and mugs. The entire wall behind the desk was a bookshelf with a collection of books ranging from all sorts of subjects There were some biology books and what looked like a full collection of a newly edited encyclopaedia. What most caught Dr Cyan's eyes, however, were the several swords and daggers decorating the bookcase. They were all kept slightly unsheathed, as is proper, and Dr Cyan made a mental note of Dr Murf's adequate knowledge on the maintenance of swords despite not having experienced the military.

Some said that Dr Murf had excellent taste, but Dr Cyan found it superfluous. Everything was close together and he felt claustrophobia by virtue of standing in his office. Yes, he had been offered access to the decanter full of exotic spirits, but he was not one to drink alcoholic beverages and so simply sipped the liquid as little as possible. He'd left his glass half full on one of the bookshelves upon leaving. It had not been a pleasant experience.

Dr Cyan was irritated. Dr Murf irritated him, everything from his poise to his communicative grunting. He couldn't understand how he'd reached his position. Yes, his administrative skills were great, but his scholarly insight had dulled with the passing of time. He hadn't been the artifice of any major breakthrough in the tomb's exploration for over half a decade and was now jealous of Dr Cyan, that had to be why he had been so aggressive.

When Dr Cyan had been communicated that he had a meeting with Dr Murf to discuss the death of S-099, he had been in a good mood because he'd finalised the details of the incursion in Groamburk and he thought he could begin putting them into motion. The notice spoiled that. He knew it was going to be a tedious encounter whilst walking up the stairs to the office and every step closer filled him with rancour; after all, designing a poison that could spread easily within a community whilst not threatening to spread far out its borders was an extremely grilling task.

Furthermore, he was now annoyed at Dr Murf for hindering his application for an experiment with great potential and for having been forced into a tight spot with the Seon decision. As such, he was hard and dry when he told Porter, the assistant, that her presence had been requested inside.

Her incessant smiling made him a little bit uncomfortable and his pride was hurt, which made her an ideal scapegoat. She was in her forties and had a rather pleasant presence around her, always lifting the spirits of those nearby; except, of course, for Dr Cyan. Dressed in a light coloured dress that matched her ginger hair, she clumsily scuttled towards the door at the far end of the corridor. She looked far too innocent to work there. But in the Church, appearances were the last thing one should trust.

Confiding in others was never a good idea. Confiding in Porter was a disaster.

She knew next to everything about the people working in the division and used the information with great cunning. Often times Dr Cyan wondered whether she had originally been a spy for the Church before being recruited here.

Whatever the case, he decided it was best to ignore it.

As matters stood, Dr Cyan pondered on how best to administer the poison to Seon and place him within Groamburk before he died from it. Bribing might be necessary and it would probably be best to contact the local alchemists and buy their cooperation. If that didn't work, threats were always an option.

To accomplish this, the Church would need to establish a proper base of operations near to the city and coordinate all of their efforts from there. Dr Cyan even wondered whether they would be able to commandeer the Mischievous Hare after the incursion took place. After all, Dr Cyan had thoroughly enjoyed his brief stay there over a decade earlier.

The tell-tale loud knocking that went off whenever someone requested entrance into Dr Murf's office brought Dr Cyan back to reality. He found himself observing Porter identify herself by inscribing the correct inscriptions into the killing array placed at the office's entrance. He watched her make her way into Dr Murf's office and heard the sharp twang that indicated the bolts had closed off the office from the rest of the world as the arrays reactivated themselves. From the outside it was absolutely impossible to eavesdrop on what happened inside.

Standard security measures when taking into account the nature of their dealings.

Realising that there was nothing productive left for him to do there, he turned on himself and headed towards the stairs. His stride gracious and confident, he walked with determination and with a clear image of where he was going. As he approached the stairs, he decided to mentally review as much as he possibly could from his tortuous encounter with Dr Murf. Dr Cyan was unsatisfied with the outcome, but he still needed to carry out the plan in Groamburk.

The fact of the matter was that a second entrance to the tomb had been discovered in the vicinity of Groamburk when the Church paid a high price to have a soothsayer perform an incredibly expensive divination which revealed the second entrance. There was nothing to be said beyond the fact that, to explore that second entrance, the city of Groamburk needed to be carefully bound without any possibility of anyone escaping nd revealing what was happening.

The Church would never allow for a failure.

As such, Dr Cyan began to scheme, completely unaware of what trouble he was getting himself into.