Half a day passed without any news, leading Theo to wonder if something had gone terribly wrong. Then again, using a weirkey to search through a world required much more skill than simply stepping between gates, so it might take time. He didn't let the waiting slow him down and returned to his usual schedule.

In the afternoon, the sun dully red through a haze of sand, he joined Nauda and Fiyu in one of the training courtyards. With less useful soulcrafting to do, Fiyu was focusing more on polishing her skills, while Nauda was happy to test out her new Archcrafter strength. One day he'd join them, since he needed his new skills to be well-practiced to stand a chance against Esaire, but for now he merely soulcrafted nearby and occasionally offered suggestions.

Aggravatingly, Senka had joined them this time, and hadn't even brought any stolen money. All she had was some sort of skewer of meat, like the kind he'd seen sold on many streets. While he watched, it slipped from her greasy fingers - she bobbled it a few times, then let out a cry of dismay when it fell to the ground.

Then she dropped down and began eating it, despite the fact that it had been covered in dust. In fact, she reached down and picked up a rock that had been covered in grease, shoving that into her mouth as well. Theo made a deliberate decision to stop looking at her.

As before, he had very little warning: Dhan suddenly stood in the courtyard, only a bit of mist flowing from him after the transfer. Fortunately, the Blacksilver Authority carried a potted petalfilter, the plant glowing a gentle lavender just like the one in his memory.

Also, a Siatan hovered alongside him. The fact that one came at all was more notable than its appearance, but it was still the first Siatan he'd seen in decades. Every species he'd seen on Siata couldn't be mistaken for the inhabitants of any other world, always inhuman and sexless, more energy than flesh. This one had a bright orange body the size of a child's, but with arms and legs twice the normal length. Above the glowing yellow eyes, its head split into three narrowing tentacles that floated around its shoulders. It wore nothing and it didn't need to - as far as he knew, Siatans reproduced by reincarnating themselves in beams of light.

"Moment of truth, little Archcrafter." Dhan grinned at him and hefted the pot. "I followed your instructions, and my new friend here even assisted, so we'll see if it works."

"Then we just need some granitebile." Theo ran to go grab some from the materials office, only to be met on his way by Antha and several other House officials. Apparently they had been given a message beforehand, because they were coming with all the necessary supplies.

Meanwhile, the courtyard had remained in absolute silence. Nauda clearly wanted to stare at the Siatan without being rude, though it gave no indication that it cared or even noticed. Fiyu was seated and frowning to herself, and he wondered what her senses felt: it was possible that Siatans were energy all the way through. Senka sat on the ground and continued to eat her disgusting skewer of meat.

"Is it time for the experiment to begin?" The Siatan's voice sounded more like a wind chime than anything that might come out a mouth, not that it had one. "Please bring the necessary elements and the proposer."

Though he would have been happy to let them test it themselves, Theo saw that he had no choice but to join them. While Dhan set the potted petalfilter down carefully, the Siatan stared at him. It took considerable discipline not to display any nervousness, because Siatans had uncanny senses that might be able to discern that he came from beyond the Nine Worlds. Still, this one was just a first tier soulcrafter, probably a merchant, and it extended a curling hand toward the pot.

"We will trade you our petalfilters only if your intended use is not harmful, and it does not react poorly with Fithan sublime materials. Please demonstrate."

"It won't take much work at all." Theo took a flask of granitebile from Antha and walked over to the petalfilter. "Even if they come from different worlds, this poison is very similar to the acidic mud that your people need to keep from their communities. It should require only time."

He poured out the granitebile and everyone else leaned in as the deep lavender petals of the flower curled upward, as if thirsty for it. Instead of splashing off the surface, the bile quickly spiraled into a natural container. With the petals raised, everyone who wasn't surprised by the plant's movement could see that an open stem extended from the bottom of the petalfilter.

That part was unnatural as far as he knew, specifically grown by the Siatans for this purpose. It could take a few minutes for it to begin working, so he had time to ask for a container to catch the result. Unfortunately, the Siatan revealed a ceramic bowl and simply set it beneath the stem, which meant that instead of a methodical demonstration, now everyone was staring at nothing.

Yet in less than a minute, a drop of dark amber liquid swelled in the stem, then dropped into the bowl. Several of the Fithans made appreciative noises, while Dhan simply grunted, nodded to him, and then walked off. As far as he was concerned, the matter was done, but the real question now was how much it would benefit Theo.

"The petalfilter has performed its work." The Siatan floated lower, extending a finger to the liquid and absorbing some into its body. "The result does not appear to be toxic or harmful to society. We are willing to trade sublime for sublime, but you must tell us how much your community requires."

With that announcement, the officials rushed in, eagerly testing the drops of liquid as they continually dripped from the bottom of the Siatan flower. The one thing Theo had been uncertain about was how long it would take the process to work, but it appeared to be processing the granitebile rather swiftly. Judging from the early reactions among the Fithans, the result had some uses, just like he'd hoped.

"You definitely won this one." Nauda moved up beside him, bumping her shoulder against his as they watched the activity. "How many more of these ideas do you have hidden away?"

"If I had a year and interviews with everyone in the city, maybe a few more," Theo said, "but we'd better not count on it."

"I'm sure they'll reward you handsomely, but I'm more curious about the Siatan. Everyone on their world looks like that?"

"With some differences, but yes."

They stayed silent for a while longer, then Nauda leaned a bit closer and spoke in a lower voice. "Do you think it's possible that Senka is a Siatan?"

"Not likely." He glanced in her direction, but she was still chewing the meat... no, she'd moved on to eating the skewer itself. "Every Siatan I've seen is composed of that sort of solid light, and they have strange life cycles. Short lives, but they're speaking in full sentences at a few months old. The only real similarity is that they're small, really."

"Not just that. There's something odd about Senka too, similar to them. She doesn't seem to have organs, she's just one substance all the way through, or at least that's what Fiyu says."

Though he wanted to get Fiyu's observations for himself, and for that matter her full report about Siatans, that fact swept aside other concerns for Theo. This time, he resisted the urge to look at Senka and instead spoke back in a low voice. "You've been investigating her?"

"After something happened, yes. She gets covered in filth sometimes, and she stinks horribly, so Fiyu decided to give her a bath." Nauda chewed on her lip a moment before glancing over to him. "Her body looked... artificial. Her skin looks like flesh from here, but her joints don't connect smoothly, one body part just sticks into another. I thought she must be a construct, until I saw the Siatan."

"The Nine Worlds contain a great many strange things." Recognizing he was being a bit portentous, Theo smiled at himself. "But I have no idea what Senka is. I still think the most likely theory is that she's from another world, one stranger than mine."

"Maybe it doesn't matter, and she's just lost. I never brought it up because I don't know what we should do about it. Seeing the Siatan just... made me wonder."

Whatever else she might have said was interrupted when Antha approached them with a broad smile on her face. Nauda quickly adopted a friendlier expression, while Fiyu tried to join them, slowed down by Senka abruptly latching onto her leg.

"It's everything you promised, Peanen," Antha said. "The resulting material isn't exceptionally valuable, but it could be converted into a sublime adhesive and it might have healing applications. We have a huge excess of granitebile, but you've just turned it into an asset."

Theo nodded, trying not to look too smug. "I did it to help House Blacksilver, but I expected it to help me too."

"Yes, if any contribution was worthy of merits, it's this one. Given the unusual nature of your achievement, there are no exact protocols, so it's up to you... would you like to be compensated in Fithan Discs, or in House merits? We'll insist on giving you some of both, but which is your preference?"

"I'd like ten percent of the profits made from the converted granitebile, every month."

Antha immediately recoiled, the threat to her profits a far greater danger than any threat to her life. "Ten percent! You expect us to calculate such a thing and then pay you in perpetuity? What you've done is a great aid to the House, but there are limits to reason. You don't own the mines or their byproducts, nor the petalfilters..."

"But you'll go on making money that you wouldn't have without me, forever. I'm sure you've already estimated the numbers: will it take even a year for your profits to dwarf the small pile of merits you intended to give me?"

Though Antha bristled at his argument, some of the other officials came to speak with her, and Theo knew he had a strong position. Of course, asking for ten percent was an absurd request, but he'd only started there to set their frame of reference too high. His actual goal was something more valuable than a bit of money.

"What about a promotion, free of merits?" another official offered. "A higher salary every month in exchange for nothing but continued contributions?"

"Throw in promotions for my allies as well, and I might consider it." Theo pretended not to care, but the offer was actually tempting. Still, if he reframed it as being paid 1300 merits per year and a little money, it seemed less remarkable, especially since he only had five months.

"Of course, your allies as well. Perhaps for a slightly lesser amount, but you've been eager members, so-"

"What about access to the Blacksilver vaults? Say... instead of ten percent of profits, ten items from the vaults, which I'll pledge to continue using for the House. Consider it an investment, since I'll be able to do even more for the organization."

They argued back from the second ridiculous offer, but Theo thought that he had them. In the end, he negotiated them to three items from the vaults, a hundred merits for the sake of formality, and a tiny fraction of a percentage on the profits. He hadn't expected to receive the last one at all, just wanted leverage to get into the vaults, but he'd certainly take it.

Once the deal was agreed upon, Antha led them deeper into the complex, as if eager to seal the terms. They went past gates that ordinary members weren't allowed through, past several pillars that hummed with energy, and eventually down into a fortified basement. In addition to the Rulers standing guard, the passage down into the earth was heavily warded and locked with several keys.

While the vault was opened, Theo turned back to smile at Fiyu and Nauda. "One item for each of us, I think? I doubt I could have argued them above two items if not for your presence making that seem unfair, so you're owed it anyway."

"No! Senka wants!" Senka interrupted whatever Nauda had been about to say and leapt at his elbow. As she wrapped her legs around his arm and began pummeling him with both hands, he wondered if he could feel the artificiality or not. "Give Senka a present! If everyone else gets a present Senka gets a present!"

"Senka gets nothing." Theo pulled her off his arm and flattened her to the ground with several gravitational fields. That might have been enough, but he immediately second-guessed the thought and bent down beside her. "You're thinking of stealing things, aren't you? They wouldn't take that kindly, and you can't get away with it. Stay here."

"Sporp!" Her eyes went wide as she started up at him. "You think Senka would do a blooky thing like that?"

"Don't insult me by asking." Theo increased the strength of the gravitational fields a little and left her there as the group was finally escorted into the House Blacksilver vaults.

The outer chamber was filled with gold, jewels, and other mostly useless things. Theo sensed no sublime materials at all, except from a few statues that he thought had more historical value than any real power. If he'd stolen it all, he might have been able to sell it for a moderate amount, but that wasn't an option. Antha and the guards didn't insult him by offering anything from that chamber, just escorted them deeper.

There, he began to see items of real value. One large chamber was filled with various vehicles, many of them chariots. Typically such large vehicles required a Ruler's cantae, but he saw several that were constructed so that any soulcrafter could easily use them. A few might have been slightly superior to their sleigh, but an incremental improvement was worthless for now.

Unfortunately, the guards wouldn't let them split up, so they kept moving together through the displays. One section was filled with soulhome blueprints and ancient books - the latter could potentially be useful if he had all the time in the world, but they weren't worth the gamble. Many sections held armaments, most of them weapons but others simply functional. Other chambers held stores of valuable sublime materials, only a few of which held his attention.

For the most part, everything he saw was clearly maintained for regular use. After all, it would be stupid of the House to keep valuable items locked up just as prizes for their workers. Many might be worthy items on their own, but he needed something better.

"Do you have a chamber for sublime materials that you couldn't use?" Theo asked. "Or anything old with an uncertain function?"

"Something close to that." Antha glanced at him skeptically, but she couldn't deny the request now that he had access to the vault. No doubt she was thinking the same thing he was: useful materials would have been claimed by the House's strongest soulcrafters, so the most valuable items would be those that they hadn't figured out how to use.

When they were brought to a smaller chamber alongside a weapons room, at last he started to see promising options. The walls were lined by shelves filled with various odd sublime materials. He saw a miniature tree growing around a hovering seed, a sphere with a sandstorm inside it, knives that spun uncontrollably, and more.

His first priority was anything that might serve as a central explosion, but nothing seemed to fit. Many of the sublime materials looked Fithan, and the world didn't seem suited to such things. Perhaps it was the dull red sun, perhaps something else, it was irrelevant for the time being.

In the end, three items struck him as truly exceptional. The first was a flame contained within a sphere that he was sure would fit Fiyu's soulhome, so he intended to suggest it to her. He struggled to choose between a seed that exerted significant gravity and a hunk of crimson rock that spun violently.

Both held significant cantae, closer to Ruler than Archcrafter, and would fit in his designs. In the end he chose against the seed primarily because it was organic: the tree it grew might be stronger than the rock, but after his experiences in Tatian, he wasn't sure it would match his soulhome completely. This was decidedly not the time to take a risk and potentially degrade the quality of his blueprint.

"This one." Theo gestured to one of the Rulers to lower the defenses and then eagerly scooped up the rock. It continued to spin in his hand, intensely enough that it would have torn skin if his body wasn't reinforced. He entirely understood why many would struggle to include it in a soulhome, but he could use it to represent multiple phenomena orbiting around a black hole.

When he walked back, he found Nauda in the weapons room with another guard, examining a trident. "Could the central tine be removed?" she asked. "Perhaps melted down and added back to the staff?"

"I suppose it could," one of the officials said. "This armament was forged by an Authority, but simply reforging part of it should be possible without excessive expense, so long as the inscriptions are not damaged."

Judging from her smile, Nauda had made her decision, but Theo still nodded toward it. "You have your new staff, I take it?"

"The shape needs modification, but the spirit of it matches what I need." Nauda ran her fingers along one of the outer tines up to the point. "A bit more violent than what I had on Tatian, but perhaps that's appropriate. Plus, this armament is actually worthy of soulcrafting a room or two for it."

Though Theo was curious about her plans there, the vault wasn't the place to discuss them. He instead looked for Fiyu, who was shuffling about one of the sublime ingredient tables. It appeared to be mostly varieties of sand, but she didn't look particularly satisfied.

Instead of speaking to Fiyu, he just stepped up beside her and waited. Soon enough, she looked up to him somberly. "They have sublime sands of high quality here, but I am not sure they are suited for me."

"Not good enough for making glass?"

"These could all become glass, but not the proper variety. This one..." Her hands passed over one of the closed cases. "I think it came from a terrible burning waste, and the glass it produced would be fiery red. That would be much too disruptive for my soulhome. And this one is from a dust storm, and this..."

"I have something else for you." Theo gestured for her to follow and they moved back into the smallest chamber until they stood before the sphere of flame. "Feel the cantae in this thing. It's almost pure burning, not light or warmth. Your soulhome is going to have a heart chamber with a flame on every floor, right?"

"I am not sure if it will be a flame every time, but fires are a stable source." Fiyu bent down and peered at the flame. "I like that it is so quiet and calm."

"Yet destructive. I don't know if your Archcrafter floor will be devoted to anything like that, but surely you'll need raw destructive cantae at some point. This could be the perfect material for a heart chamber."

"Thank you, but I do not think I will use this. My relative has gathered the appropriate materials for heart chambers on each tier. I will wait for him."

She turned away, returning to the sand, and Theo had to let her go. He was a bit irritated that she'd rejected his advice, and frustrated that she insisted on relying on her relative, but in the end she was her own soulcrafter. Eventually she chose a particularly dark sand that she thought would make a good glass, then the whole group was swiftly escorted from the vault.

Once they were back in the outer courtyards, Nauda tapped her new trident on the ground and smiled at him. "Thanks for this, Theo. I figured you were going to take all three for yourself."

"Not at all. I still owe you for the trenchgem, and I know you'd do the same for me." Theo touched her shoulder, just smiled at Fiyu, and led them back into the complex. "Let's just focus on being prepared for anything Esaire's family tries to throw at us."

Despite his words, Theo hadn't made the decision lightly. It had been a calculated choice, based in large part on the fact that he'd doubted he'd find more than one perfectly matched sublime material. Had there been two, he would have needed to make a much more difficult decision weighing his allies versus the immediate threat of the duel.

That was just for a few sublime materials. If everything was truly on the line, he wasn't sure what he'd do.