The day following the execution, Tzilpapali has to wake up. She does so by nature, but dark circles around her reddening eyes betray the kind of night’s rest she’s had. Upon exiting the room she is greeted by two large uniformed men. This sight is no longer a surprise, instead, leading her to ask.

"Who needs me?"

"The empress wants you to head to the hand-to-hand combat training room, make sure you are fully suited for sparring."

Says one of the soldiers, Tzil nods and changes herself into a shirt and boots, all the while carrying her leg and elbow pads, as well as her gloves and mouthguard, on a bag which she slouches back behind her shoulder.

It’s a well guarded room as expected, spacious on the inside, with a simple sparring ring marked by a white line. There’s elongated punching bags chained to the ceiling and surrounding the ring. Usually it is used to train recruits in combat, however, once in a while, people use it to settle their differences.

At the center, is Empress Tsuk’A currently doing stretches. Once she notices Tzilpapali, she says

"Start warming up, we are sparring."

"We don’t get to rest?"

"No we don’t get to ask pointless questions."

And with that, Tzilpapali begins her warmups. She follows suit with light stretching, then starts running in circles around the area. She does a couple of jumping jacks, pushups, sit ups, squats, and then shadow boxes for a solid 5 minutes. Then she puts on her handwraps, making sure to add solid support to the wrist. After, she puts on her shin pads, then mouthguard, then gloves. Finally, she turns to the empress, who has been working on her own training routine.

"Ok, I’m ready"

Says Tzilpapali. The empress nods, and puts on her own equipment. Tzil is nervous, she was not expecting to actually spar with the empress despite what she’d said before. Much less so after having seen what the empress did to Tlinyi the previous day. Thinking on this last thing, Tzilpapali feels anger, and she then resolves to unleash it during the spar.

Both of them take their stance. Tzil has her left foot and left arm forward, while the empress keeps her right arm and right foot forward, favoring her left side instead. Tzilpapali hasn’t faced southpaws before, but she feels confident in her anger to face her opponent. She rocks back and forth in place, both fists close to the face and readied up.

Quickly, she dashes while keeping her stance, and as soon as she’s in range, she raises her right foot upwards, then pushes forward towards the empress’ abdomen in a single motion. A standard front kick, good to establish the length between the opponent and oneself.

Tsuk’a reacts by moving her right elbow down slightly and then pushing it along with her body, to the left. This takes the balance off of Tzil’s attack, forcing her to return to her stance, however, since the kick wasn’t deep, she is able to do so relatively easily.

Once she’s returned to her original position, she guards from a straight jab to the face from the empress, as it hits only the side of her glove. After blocking, Tzil lowers her left arm reflexively and starts moving her right arm forward for a cross, however, she is met with a direct hook to the cheekbone by the empress, painfully pushing her head to the side. The empress utilized her forward, right arm for both, the jab and the hook.

The hook didn’t have as much power as a hook from the dominant hand, but using the same arm twice in succession was a rather surprising move for Tzil. Tzil continues with her cross, but the empress uses the chance to grapple her. The empress lowers her entire body as if she was squatting, moves forward and grabs both, the inner part of Tzil’s right leg, and Tzil’s right armpit.

From that position, the empress finds it easy to lift Tzil up and drop her behind herself with a throw, punching Tzil in the ribs with a left cross while she falls, her knuckle collides with the girl and pushes her away. Tzil does her best to withstand the pain. Then, landing on her back, she stands up by throwing both of her legs forward and forcing her body to follow suit and straighten out. She does so right before the empress manages to take her to floor wrestling.

Once up, Tzil tries to strike with a simple combination of blows, right jab, left hook, and right knee. But the empress proves to be ahead of her by dodging out of the way on both punches, and hitting Tzil with a front kick utilizing her back leg. The empress pushes Tzil hard before the latter can raise her knee. Tzilpapali falls off to the ground, and right then, a bell rings.

The spar is over. Spars don’t necessarily have a definite winner or loser. After all, it’s a single round, not enough to test either fighters’ skills fully. Even so, Tzilpapali, understands the difference in skills between the empress and herself. Slightly shaken after being defeated by an opponent older than herself, she begins to remove her equipment.

Once she’s removed her mouthguard, and the empress has done the same, Tzilpapali asks a question.

"How can you stay so calm after yesterday?"

"It’s easy when you don’t have a choice in the matter."

"Doesn’t seem to me like you have no choice."

Says Tzilpapali sarcastically. The empress stops for a moment, before confidently formulating her own question.

"And what then? I’m angry, I take the easy way out, I raze these two feuding villages. Tomorrow, I’m no longer shaken, but those villages remain gone."

"So you are telling me you don’t feel anything?"

"No, taking a life always crushes you inside."

"You don’t look crushed."

"Then I’m doing my job well aren’t I?"

The conversation comes to a halt. Tzilpapali is sweating, feeling the release of open anger. It is then that her questions change in tone.

"Did you know I’d lose?"

"I assumed you would. There’s no such thing as knowing for sure, not against an unknown opponent anyway."

"Then why do we have to fight."

"You feel better don’t you?"

Hearing the empress’ question, Tzil realizes that she does in fact feel better. She feels calmer, and she feels as if her mind is clearer.

"Yes, is it to feel better?"

Asks Tzil.

"That, and so you can start winning, if we do it every day, you’ll definitely learn to win."

"Why do I need to learn to win?"

"Because the battle mindset is the battle mindset always. If you learn it in practice, you'll apply it in real life."

Says the empress. Tzil nods, not quite sure if she can trust the empress’ word on that aspect just yet. Part of her still doesn’t understand what happened the day before, even if she knows why it did.

Noticing that Tzilpapali seems to be finished making questions, Tsuk’A issues her next command.

"Take a shower and dress casually, you have an appointment with my personal therapist in a few hours."

Tzilpapali is taken aback.

"Why, did I do something wrong?"

Says Tzilpapali. Tsuk’a shakes her head then she pats Tzilpapali on the shoulder.

"Had you broken a leg, I’d take you to the doctor. You may not notice, but after this kind of thing, it’s always good to seek a cure before it gets worse."

Tsuk’A heads off and says.

"I’ll be busy for the day, but we’ll have dinner at night."

"You don’t have to do so much for me."

"No, I do, it’s important to talk this out."

Says the empress while going off to get changed. Knowing better than to question further, Tzilpapali follows suit, then heads off. Once out of the room, she is escorted to a rest chamber, a large room with a television, tamarind jelly sweets and spicy peanuts, among other types of junk food. The room is large enough to accommodate a large number of soldiers, and is usually used to relax during predetermined rest days, and by officers.

"Feel free to use the room as you see fit."

Says a man escorting Tzil. Before Tzil can interject, he continues.

"For today only, you are required to take a rest."

She agrees without putting too much of a fight. Rest does seem nice that very day. She browses through the available movies and sees a familiar sight. Vengeful Dawn she doesn’t recognize the name at first, but the main actor and his attire are familiar. It’s the movie that she watched the day she built the Bluelight.

It brings some memories from a simpler time back. Thinking that, she decides to put it on and start watching. The movie is an entertaining ride regardless, and she still has to wait for a while until her appointment with the therapist starts.

While watching it, Tzilpapali considers how the movie would actually be for the people involved. Some people would certainly liken the main character to a hero for killing the raiders, but others would just think of him as a murderer. She also finds it hard to believe that someone so heroic could kill that many people without thinking twice.

In spite of this, the movie manages to make Tzilpapali grow calmer. At the very least, she’s moved past the point where she assumes that everything can be solved by simply shooting the right group of people. That sense of calm gradually turns to tiredness, and eventually, it lulls her to sleep.

She dreams of empty space. Endless grass as far as the eye can see. At some point, without her noticing, her surroundings change. Buildings extend skyward blocking out anything else. And eventually, those buildings begin to huddle closer and closer, nearly crushing Tzil as she struggles to make space for herself.

Polite knocks on the door wake her up before she manages to get crushed by the buildings.

"Come in"

Says Tzilpapali, fully knowing what to expect. A man and a woman come in and wait, wordlessly indicating that they are there to escort Tzil. She stands up from her bed, brushes some hair that’s gotten on her face back with her left hand, then shuffles outside the room.

Opposite of her chamber and after climbing several flights of stairs, they find a room. Upon entering, they find a simply decorated room with a couple of comfortable chairs, as well as a chaise lounge, and landscape paintings lining the walls. None of it looks specifically designed for the space in which they are, but it does accomplish making the place seem more accommodating.

Inside is a man in his thirties, short, dark-skinned, with a pill shaped head and thick eyebrows. He receives Tzil with a natural smile, and motions for her guards to leave. He takes the time to speak.

"Sit where you please."

Tzilpapali nods, and seats in one of the chairs.

"I am Motek'itlan, you are Tzilpapali, right?"

Tzilpapali nods.

"Yes, that’s who I am."

Says Tzil.

"Right, well, as you might imagine, I’ve been informed of everything related to you, but you barely know anything about me, so let’s start from there shall we? Ask anything you’d like and I’ll answer to the best of my ability."

After this, Tzil goes through a long session of questions and answers. She finds out that every time a new ruler of Huitzli is crowned, the previous therapist changes, so as to avoid political contamination. This is why the therapist is younger than the empress. However, he is more than capable enough to provide solid support to Tzilpapali.

They talk about the superficial feelings that come with having escaped from a difficult situation. Her emotions regarding Tlinyi, as well as the people she hurt to facilitate her escape. She has a lot to say regarding the topic.

After some time has passed, the therapist concludes the session.

"That’ll be all for today, we’ll need more sessions to explore this aspect in full, so you’ll be coming over while you stay with the empress."

Says Motekitlan

"Can’t we have a few more minutes?"

Asks Tzilpapali.

"It’s important for therapy sessions to remain a certain length, so as to avoid fatigue. Don’t worry though, we’ll be meeting again soon."

Hearing that Tzilpapali remains there for a few seconds, before nodding in acceptance and saying her goodbye.

"I’ll see you later then."

Says Tzil, walking away towards the door.

After that she walks back to her room, and picks up a book on energy deposition and its application in aircrafts. A personal favorite of hers that she’s fully annotated. The book provides clear descriptions of all the topics it covers, and it provides excellent guidance to recapitulate on what she already knows.

In-between complex analyses and situational examples, she notes to herself that some time has passed since she last retread her steps. She finds it odd, how she enjoyed her life as an engineer, in such a different way to how she enjoyed her life as an R-Suit pilot. Or at the very least enjoyed it until a few days past, the last week had thrown her concept of joy into disarray.

While reading and thinking, the now usual knocks take her back to her senses. The usual bodyguards guide her towards a private room. She is greeted by a facsimile of a dining room,utilizing the hard rock walls to hold a blackwood table along with two comfortable chairs. Already waiting for her is empress Tsuk’A in one chair, so Tzil takes the one opposite of it.

Once she’s comfortably sitting down, Tsuk’A greets her.

"Good evening Tzil, I trust that your meeting with Motek'itlan went well."

"Yes, it did."

Says Tzil. The scene grows quiet for some time, they are served their food. Fish marinated in habanero and lime, with grilled squash and mashed yam accompanying it, as well as a jug of hibiscus water. The two of them take their time to eat.

Tsuk’A breaks the silence.

"Now, what questions do you have about what happened yesterday?"

Tzilpapali is surprised at the empress’ candidness, but she decides to make use of it.

"Tlinyi wanted to make it so that her family’s city became a protected city, right?"

"That is correct, yes."

"Why wasn’t it a protected city in the first place?"

"Good question, right now, there’s other cities that are being made into protected cities, so why not this one, right?"

"Yeah, this would have never happened if it was protected in the first place."

"Truth is, it’s difficult enough as is to collect enough money to turn a regular city into a protected one. To choose which city is going to be next is always the hardest decision."

"But then, why didn’t you make more protected cities before?"

"We did, I’m the first ruler of Huitzli to actually try to integrate all that we conquered into the country. It’s why I no longer finance conquest campaigns."

"Well then if I’d died and one of Tlinyi’s cousins had gotten my place, how would you make their city into a protected city?"

"We’d have to stop some other citiy’s development and redirect those funds."

"I can’t believe you’d do that!"

"At the end of the day, to gain something, we have to put something else at stake. As the empress, I’ll always be in charge of choosing what goes at stake. And there will always be someone who is in their right to hate me as a result."

Tzilpapali is left speechless once again. She feels as if there’s a better way, but no matter how long she thinks, she can’t find it. It is at that moment that she feels that for once she actually understands what the empress is thinking. She doesn’t know if she agrees just yet, but she feels empathy. Tzil wonders what she’d have done if she had thought of things that way when she was first deciding what to do with the Bluelight.

The dinner goes on, with Tzilpapali asking lots of questions. Something in her makes her ask about the empress’ time in the military, which Tsuk’A gladly answers. By the end of the day she feels content with what she’s learned. Once she’s done, Tsuk’A informs her about something.

"Glad to see you better. Tomorrow we’ll transfer again. Pack your things."

Tzil nods, and heads to her room.

——————————

With the maps fully traced, Il’Ilo is now seeing through proposals from different people of the possible reasons for Ilvyria’s attack. Even after several months, the only plausible reason that he’s found is the Ilvyrian lack of resources.

While Huitzlian leaders were fortunate enough to conquer lands rich in both natural resources, as well as a friendly climate. Ilvyrians conquered lands brimming with useful minerals, but little in the way of water or food. Thus, they are forced to rely on trade to feed their people.

As such, in that sense, the Huitzlians are better positioned to begin with, as the empire is fairly self-sufficient regardless of issues on the outside. Meanwhile, the Ilvyrians can’t afford the luxury of making enemies out of Kashar, their main provider of food. And similarly, they have to jump at Kashar’s defense if anything is to happen to them, putting the Kingdom of Ilvyria in a tight spot.

Thus, it’d be understandable if they decide to attack Huitzli with the intention of amassing resources. How they will go about it is an entirely different question. They can try to take southern lands, or to force Huitzli into a position where they have to accept a terrible deal for the sake of peace. Because of Huitzli’s protected city system, the Ilvyrians can also focus on attacking strategic points to weaken the overall defensive capabilities of their army.

Regardless of what the Ilvyrians decide to do, it is clear that an R-Suit will play an important part throughout. If they didn’t intend to use an R-Suit, they wouldn’t attack the Huitzlian Empire in the first place. The Huitzlians’ military is far superior to the Kingdom of Ilvyria’s in every way except for the number of R-Suits that they have.

Outside of that, intel on Ilvyrian R-Suits is very limited, restricted to what has been observed in combat. And since Huitzli has never fought with Ilvyria, they mostly rely on second hand accounts from people in the battlefield reporting what happened, as well as some blurry videos.

Based on this, intelligence agents and experts on various fields have managed to determine some details on the capabilities of the Ilvyrian R-Suits. They know that their sizes range from roughly 7 to 10 meters in height, putting them in the low average for R-Suit height. They have 3 green cores focused on continuous energy output without any fluctuations, a single red core R-Suit, focused on having bursts of extremely high energy output, followed by medium-low performance. Unlike Huitzli, they have no need to keep their R-Suit in a particular location, being able to instead move them around from place to place in order to keep which one can be deployed at any given time a secret.

In simple terms, Il’Ilo and the people directly under him understand that victory this time more than ever, relies on making the encounter between R-Suits as favorable to the Huitzlians as it can possibly be. Thus comes the question: What constitutes a favorable combat scenario in a battle between R-Suits?

This is why Il’Ilo is taking utmost precautions in finding out how the initial assail from the Ilvyrians would work. Before even determining what is favorable, the Huitzlians have to understand as many possibilities on the combat situation that will be in place before the Ilvyrians send out their R-Suit. The Huitzlians have one thing that helps them out in this case which is the continent-wide agreement on R-Suit use. A set of relatively recent, but very effective rules meant to prevent wide-scale R-Suit based destruction.

Il’Ilo keeps a set of sticky notes that simplify the main points of the agreement for quick reference. The notes read.

R-Suits can’t be used offensively for the first 6 days of war starting from the first engagement between armies. The attacking army must send an official message declaring the time of initiation of the first engagement. Defensive use of R-Suits can initiate at any point in time. If the defending army uses an R-Suit, the attacking army can use their own R-Suit regardless of the amount of time that has passed. Any deployment of an R-Suit must be accompanied by full disclosure of the deploying army that an R-Suit has been deployed, as well as distance to the battlefield. For the first 6 minutes after deployment of an R-Suit, the opposing army has a right to conditional surrender, in which case, both sides will either negotiate a deal or resume combat. During this first two minutes, the R-Suit may not attack the opposing army nor any structures belonging to them. They may however attack any opposing R-Suit. This first 6 minute rule only applies to the initial deployment of R-Suits during that particular engagement, once either side has passed 6 minutes after deployment of an R-Suit, any further deployment will be exempt from this rule. If opposing armies have R-Suits present in the same battlefield, R-Suits may not deliberately attack structures or units belonging to the opposing force except for the enemy R-Suit or R-Suits. Collateral damage is acceptable however. If an attacking army has deployed an R-Suit, any other army in the continent may declare that they intend to protect the defending army, which holds them to the same rules as the defending army. This third party need not engage the battlefield from the same direction as the current engagement. They may invade the attacking party and ask for any condition that they might decide on to cease their attack. Furthermore, upon involvement from a third party, further parties might declare that they intend to act in favor of either side, all of whom will be treated to the same rules as the defending army.

Although he’s done what he considered a mediocre job in actually summarizing the regulations. These last two rules are the ones that prevented any army from simply sending out their full force of R-Suits in any given engagement. Every country in the continent, even those with a large number of R-Suits, has enemies neighboring them. If they send all their R-Suits in a single direction, they’ll be attacked by a large force of R-Suits from the opposite end, which is highly damaging in every case.

Because of this, Il’Ilo knows that the Ilvyrians will almost definitely pool their efforts into getting the best position they can during those first few days before they send the R-Suit. An ideal scenario for them would be to have their R-Suit threatening a major city during its first deployment.

Part of Il’Ilo suspects that the Ilvyrians will opt for an aerial attack for their first foray. The land connecting Ilvyria and Huitzli is roughly a hundred kilometers wide, and well protected throughout. It would be strange for the Ilvyrians to attack from that front. However, Il’Ilo is not foolish enough to discard the possibility of a reckless assault offhand.

It’s because of this that he finds relief when planning aid arrives. Gradually, a group of military scholars begins to fill the room, followed by a group of seasoned tacticians. Neither group can work independently due to the sheer uniqueness of combat between two R-Suits. Scholars provide context and theorycrafting while tacticians provide implementation.

There are however, some points in which both sides fully agree. A lot of the balance of the engagement will rely on who manages to take hold of a better location once the fight between R-Suits commences.

Even with the Bluelight present and assuming it can definitely wrest victory from the hands of the Ilvyrian army, collateral damage is still an issue. A good offense from the Ilvyrians could lead Huitzli to incur heavy losses from destruction spurned by having the two machines fighting on top of an important settlement. Thus, Huitzli fights a defensive match on two fronts.

First and foremost are the diplomatic meetings between Ambassador Pamil and the Ilvyrians, as well as potentially a meeting between Empress Tsuk’a and the king of Ilvyria. Nevertheless, no one present in the room makes any illusions of success in that front. This leads to a belligerent defensive battle. The Huitzlian army has to thin out and spread the attackers’ ranks before they make any headway into deep Huitzlian territory.

In this position, Huitzli starts out with the advantage and Ilvyria has to take it from them. But if the Ilvyrians manage to get the upper hand at some point, they have a high chance of being able to keep it in a battle of attrition until the time when their R-Suit can be released. Thus, the discussion starts out by going through the safest possible options to avoid being overtaken at any point.

Eventually however, they begin talking about the main point throughout the whole matter. That is, how the R-Suit clash will unfold. If anything, the Ilvyrians surpass the Huitzlians in this front due to being more experienced than the Huitzlians in combat between R-Suits. Still, it is wise for them to build up as much as they can with their knowhow on the topic. And there’s the final point in their favor, which is the surprise factor of the Huitzlian army actually having an R-Suit in the south, and not just the one that they keep in the north to stem potential attacks from Boronaga.

Counting with it as a surprise gives them an early advantage in the actual fight. The key is then to find a way to keep it. The ideal terrain for the Huitzlians would be mountainous, and well known by Tzil through maps and aerial tours of the zone using helicopters. In order to even plan to goad the Ilvyrians to a place like that, however, they have to wait for their attack first.

After the meeting is done, Il’Ilo still has one last person to meet. Once the rest of the people involved in planning have left, Il’Ilo waits for his aide to arrive. Quixila is coming from Otzin. It is not long until the girl arrives. Il’Ilo’s door opens up. As expected it is Quixila. She came to Iltzik to give one final piece of insight to Il’Ilo.

"I’m really glad to see you"

Says Il’Ilo.

"Well it’s certainly me. You wanted to talk about Tzil?"

Asks Quixila.

"I need to know if she’ll need help with anything."

Admits Il’Ilo. From Quixila’s reports, he knows that Tzilpapali is progressing appropriately. Knowing that, he still needs to plan for anything that she lacks, or any area in which she is lagging behind. Il’Ilo thinks of this not because Tzil is a new pilot, but because her presence is so important in the upcoming war, that anything they need to account for from her end is the most important thing they have to think about at any given time.

"Rather than needing help, there’s stuff we can do better"

Says Quixila.

"What do you reckon we should do?"

"Before anything, Tzil needs some way to talk with us. If we can’t talk to her on the battlefield about as well as we do in Otzin, then we’ve got an issue."

Says Quixila. Having seen what Tzil and the Bluelight could do, she has no doubt in her mind that they can perform as they need. That is, if they get the chance to do it properly. Most importantly, once she is fighting, she needs to do so with nary a doubt to cloud her mind. Needless doubts are dangerous everywhere, on an R-Suit battle, they are exponentially so.

Il’Ilo nods. He understands where Quixila comes from with her concerns. Unlike him who only sees the benefits of the Bluelight as a weapon. Quixila understands the person that pilots it, as well as the issues she faces. The Field Marshall approves of his aide’s advice.

"Very well then, I’ll see to it that communications with the R-Suit are in working order."

He says, then, hands her a stack of papers.

"I’ll also need a detailed report of what, in your personal opinion, are the strengths and weaknesses of the Bluelight and her pilot."

With that, Quixila nods and excuses herself.

"You got it boss."

———

Zocoyotl wakes up before Pamil. It takes him a second to remind himself that he won’t be making his own breakfast, and will instead eat together with Pamil and Ryvial. And not making his bed leaves him with a bad feeling in his mouth. He folds the sheets over to make it easier for whoever is in charge of that job, then immediately gets dressed.

He checks his phone to see the time. There’s roughly a half hour before he has to work with Pamil. Figuring that he has time to spare, he turns on the television and watches it while standing. Part of him hopes to learn more about Ilvyria.

There’s some similarities in channels between Huitzli and Ilvyria. News channels for the most part. Yet Zocoyotl finds that the channels exclusive to the Ilvyrian network have their own distinct taste to them. Very separate from the militarily influenced Huitzli.

Piquing his interest, is a religious channel. He sees a man dressed all in green, with a short coat reaching little past his knees, long boots with a heavily curved tip, and a hat that ends in 3 spheres above and besides his head. The man is talking about predestination and how it is important to accept one’s lot in life. That success is solely found in being the best at the level one’s in while wanting no more.

In spite of finding the idea unappealing. Zocoyotl understands the relief coming from blaming something higher for one’s misfortunes. In its own way, it makes things easier to accept. If life is meant to happen in a particular way, there is no use in fighting it, if there is no use in fighting it, there is no use in worrying either.

Taking his notebook, he immediately jots down that. His disagreement remains. He also can’t deny that it has worked for the country. Ilvyria is a strong nation, and a formidable enemy. Respect for them is just natural, lacking in it is suicidal.

His alarm rings. It is 5 minutes until he has to meet with Pamil. Zocoyotl heads outside his room and reaches Pamil’s. The guards in front of him greet him, and form neat files to the sides of the door, and looking to the middle. This leaves enough space for Zocoyotl to stand directly in front of the door, with his arms to his back, and lying in wait.

Exactly 5 minutes later, Pamil leaves her room. She greets Zocoyotl with a smile, and he follows behind her. Both of them are meant to have breakfast with Ryvial in 5 minutes. The elevator will take them directly to the restaurant’s floor.

Waiting in front of the elevator is Orbos. The moment in which the two Huitzlians come into view, he turns his sight down. He clicks on the button to call the elevator, which takes no longer than a couple of seconds to arrive. He holds the door open for the Huitzlians. And once inside the elevator, he clicks the restaurant floor for them.

After exiting, they see a lavish place. It’s heavily furnished with black paint on every wall, and golden pillars holding it up. There’s a small artificial cascade coursing opposite of the entrance, Large windows, and a series of green concentric symbols in the middle of each table, representing the Ilvyrian religion of Luminism.

Arriving from another entrance at near the same time, is Ryvial. He wears a gray sweater with silver linings on it. He too has a bodyguard, who is wearing sunglasses. The two groups take a seat on the table. Once there, a waiter makes haste to hand all of them their menus.

Rather than focusing on a single central dish, fine Ilvyrian cuisine is centered around having everyone order several small dishes for the center. From there, all the present people use an elongated, deep spoon to scoop their desired dishes. People can continue ordering and eating throughout the meal, but it’s the first batch that is considered most important.

During this first batch, nobody talks. As is Ilvyrian tradition, the group simply observes one another. Everyone is keen on their own corporality, more so than what would be usual. Waiters come and go, simply taking orders without looking at them, and leaving quickly.

Once they’ve reached the second batch, Ryvial is the first one to break the silence.

"Now now, we’ve got a couple of things to talk about, as usual, do we not?"

"Usual it is then."

Pamil cedes the right to talk for the time being. While she does have things she is interested in bringing up, she prefers to wait. Letting willing parties talk is the easiest way to gauge the type of information that they’ll share.

Discussions proceed as expected. Trade agreements are talked about without being finalized. There’s small talk regarding each country’s situation. Neither Pamil nor Ryvial intend to reveal something that the other party doesn’t know just yet until they stand to gain something from it. While on the other hand, they try to make the other slip up.

Zocoyotl has the right to observe this in his position as part of the royal family, rather than his position as Pamil’s bodyguard. The subject of the war between the two nations is never directly addressed. However, the position of confidence that Ryvial holds, makes Zocoyotl believe that the Ilvyrians are aware that the information on their attack has filtered over to the Huitzlian side. And he assumes that they are trying to use it as leverage.

Nevertheless, Pamil acts as if she is ignorant of the whole affair. Eventually Ryvial lets the negotiations subside. He asks about Huitzli’s own situation, interested in their resources. Pamil doesn’t hide much about it, as a lot of it is widely known.

Huitzli has relative stability as far as providing food to its inhabitants goes. The same can’t be said of Ilvyria, which in spite of the feast they are currently having, often suffers shortages on the side of the commoners. Ryvial lets that much information slip through. However, he doesn’t specify further.

Once they are done with the meal, Ryvial commands his people to escort them outside. Once more, they are taken to a car, which is headed towards a certain skyscraper. Further down, outside of the noble’s area in the city of Imphia, they reach a tall building shaped as two rhombic prisms stacked vertically with a series of cylinders connecting their vertices.

It’s a government office. Many of those are outside the territory of the nobles. It’s easier to observe the average Ilvyrian folk by having a place with which to mingle in their area. Even if it is solely from a distance.

Arriving at the building, Zocoyotl and a group of bodyguards walk at the front while Ryvial and Pamil walk behind them. They are lead to the 11th floor, and following that they move towards an office. Zocoyotl and his men inspect the office as thoroughly as possible. Once they’ve determined it’s safe, they walk out.

Zocoyotl nods at Pamil.

"The space is clear."

"Thanks Zocoyotl. You should have Orbos lead you around."

Replies Pamil. Nodding at her words, Zocoyotl is escorted outside the building by an Ilvyrian man and a woman. He is given a pass inside In order to be able to return with immediacy if need be. Outside, Orbos is waiting for him. As per usual, Orbos looks down, and away from Zocoyotl.

The immediate area surrounding the building where the ambassadors reunited has nothing of interest. There’s some parks in the vicinity, but otherwise it is mostly a calm place meant for locals to perform their own work.

Orbos avoids looking at Zocoyotl directly in the eyes at all costs. Talking with the man is difficult under the circumstances. Both, as a person, because it is hard to talk to someone that is constantly looking down, but moreso because the risk of breaking through important social mores as someone sent to Ilvyria from Huitzli could prove very damaging to their reputation. In spite of this, he still manages to ask a simple question.

"What is this part of the city generally like."

Says Zocoyotl while both of them walk towards the park. A rather plain but relaxing green area.

"It’s close to the red light district. I could take you there if you so desired."

As he speaks, Orbos’ tone seems to be the closest thing to neutral that he can muster. There are barely any changes in inflection, and his pitch does not change at all. From this, the Huitzlian man gathers that it is a deliberate expression, probably a requirement to talk to those above oneself. Nodding to himself in understanding, Zocoyotl musters a reply to the question.

"I’d rather not if at all possible."

"Soon after, while the two of them are talking, a scream is heard throughout the park."

"Thief, thief!"

Shouts a woman following a man carrying what seems to be jewels. The man is too far off for either Orbos or Zocoyotl to do much about it. However, the moment does prompt him to ask a question.

"Where’s the police?"

"The only ones nearby are the ones near the government office, sir."

That alone is enough to let him understand that no one is coming along to help. It leaves him to wonder how daily life works for the locals. Whereas in Huitzli there’s a measure of safety for each individual citizen of protected cities, it seems that Ilvyria sacrifices some of that to have a better average than unprotected cities throughout.

With that in mind, Zocoyotl eventually returns to the government office. Pamil and him return to their hotel. And he gets a chance to write down what he’s learned about Ilvyria so far. Enemies as they are, he still finds himself admiring some parts of their culture.