Baycorf walked down the dimly-lit hallway, quietly as a cat, towards the intellichine lab. He placed the protrusion from his bionic arm into the keycard slot in the door. It didn't open, but at least the alarm didn't go off. He punched some buttons on the keypad on his arm when he heard a voice coming from somewhere down the hall.

"Hold it right there" it said. Baycorf could see nothing with his normal vision it was too dark to see, but he could squint into his IR vision and make out an elvish shape.

"Hello Azari" Baycorf said. "I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to talk to you."

"Well that's good, because that's exactly what you're about to do" Azari said with his gun drawn as he came close enough to Baycorf that he could see him.

"What do you know about Avistra's intellichines, Baycorf? What is she planning with them?"

"How should I know? Maybe you should try asking her yourself."

"Save it. When you were in your frozen prison we learned you've been working for her and the admirals in her fiefdom. You were always kind of unpredictable, but I never pegged you for being a mercenary."

"I don't work for the highest bidder. I thought you knew me well enough to know that I work to my own ends."

"Your end was to arm humans in outworld fighting for independence. Which I'm thinking somehow Avistra knew you would do and thus make the princess vulnerable for her to take over. You know that if I can prove you and her were in cahoots that will end Avistra's bid for becoming princess?"

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Baycorf calmy cooed. "I would probably actually prefer to keep the current princess as things are right now."

"I think this goes without saying" Yuler said, "but I'm taking you back into custody."

"Sorry, I don't have time for that" Baycorf said. He hit a button on his armor vest, and fumes started spewing from the vest that quickly enveloped the area around them in a thick, white smoke. Yuler quickly put on his echolocation goggles and found the gray and ran over and tried to grab him, but Baycorf easily threw him off with his bionic arm. Yuler got quickly to his feet and drew his weapon. Before Yuler even had a chance to react, Baycorf pointed his bionic arm at him and a fast jet of water came out and knocked the gun out of his hand. The gun fell to the ground several feet from him and Baycorf moved the jet so that it was going righ into Yuler's chest. Yuler had to step backwards to keep from falling over and found himself pinned against the wall. It was an incredible-seeming mechanism. There was no apparent external source of water – it all seemed to come from his bionic arm. It had to be a metaphysical device. Finally, Cubork stopped the jet. Yuler took a couple of steps forward, making a sloshing sound in the water beneath his feet about half an inch thick.

"There are two ways this encounter ends, Azari" Baycorf said. "We can either play pointless game of chase that will waste both of our time and will result in you not getting the interesting information I have acquired or you can take the time to listen to why it is that I've come here and you can join me in where I'm about to go. And believe me when I say I think you'll be most interested in where it is I am going to go next."

"Fine" Yuler said. "What is it you're doing here?"

"I've been looking through the computer systems here to see where communications are coming from and going to. There's quite a few going to some place in the northeast continent."

"A hidden base for Avistra's fiefdom?"

"Exactly. If I had to bet, that is where Zardin is. There's a lot of references to a "knight", which I think might be a code word."

"Knight?"

"Yes. It's a word for warriors of some ancient human kingdoms on Earth. Avistra is apparently obsessed with the history of royalty among humans."

"So you want us to go visit this place as a team, then?"

"That would be advisable, yes. This place is in a deep fjord that feeds several rivers. It would be impossible to be undetected in an aircraft, and you can't get there on foot. The only way to get there is from under the water, and I wouldn't advise going there in an underwater craft"

"I've got my own means of traveling underwater, thanks."

"Azari, you should know that my bag of tricks is bigger and better than yours. I'm offering to get you in the door more easily than you could yourself. So what do you say? Partners?" Yuler stood for a few second in silence.

"What's your angle here, anyways?" Yuler asked him.

"I just want to figure out what Avistra is up to, as I suspect you do as well. I also want a chance to speak to Zardin. In fact, if we find him, you can have him."

"Fine" Yuler said. "But I'm going to be watching you" admonished him. They both walked down the hallway the way that Baycorf had come.