Kimi took a deep breath, wet and ragged in spite of the dry desert air. A wave of coughing overtook her, but she steadied after a few seconds. Her Vital Net reported damage done and repaired. A sensation she was perfectly accustomed to from before she met Morgan, but never to this extent, like every cell was under attack.

“That’s what I get for picking up a cursed ghost.” Kimi said, putting away a small cloth after she finished wiping her hand. She’d need to rinse it soon.

“I wouldn’t call it a curse,” Morgan said. “More like a virus.”

Kimi almost chided her hitchhiker for picking lousy names again, but that was cool enough. “What did your acolytes call it?” Kimi asked.

Morgan hummed. “You know, I think they called it the Curse Arte. Isn’t that funny?”

Kimi squinted. Not at anything in particular, but she was sure Morgan knew it was for him. “Not really.”

Morgan laughed briefly, then stilled. “I suppose you’re right.”

“What?” Kimi said. She’d felt like Morgan was looking at her expectantly.

“I… don’t think we finished our discussion about the Shaping Stone.”

“This again?” Kimi shook her head. “There’s no hurry.”

“There is so—“

“I’m not going to let you risk everything for your… impatience. If you rush in and cause trouble you’re going to bring every Paladin on the Northern continent after you, and probably the Black Temple too. Plus, like you said, there’s no guarantee they finished assembling your arte. After they power it up it should cause plenty trouble on its own, and hopefully make it out of the city too.”

“Yes, I know, but there’s no guarantee that will be in time to… to be very timely.”

Kimi did her best to glare at Morgan. “Doesn’t matter. And besides, like you said, your beacon has been active for years, and they moved it a few months ago. The longer we wait, the more likely we are to find everything together if we go in.”

“We don’t have forever, you know,” Morgan said.

“Yes, fine, give it a few days, then we’ll risk it.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Fine, fine, tomorrow.” No wonder Morgan had lived such a disastrous life. He would be totally lost without her. “Anyway, what we should be talking about is that stalker. After last night I’m certain she wants something from you.”

“So you said this morning, but I still think it’s curiosity.”

“There’s a whole planet to be curious about, she wants something. What does she know about us?”

“Nothing, as far as I can tell.”

Kimi frowned. She wished she could hear the strange woman when she talked to Morgan. “What do you know about her?”

“She hasn’t even told me her name. Kind of reminds me of you though.”

That was not a good sign, Kimi thought. Morgan politely pretended he couldn’t hear.

“I don’t think we need to worry about her,” Morgan said.

Kimi huffed, but managed to avoid airing her mind, instead she said, “We should get the Oracle Stone from her. That will be much safer than raiding the Black Temple.”

“That is true.”

“Exactly. Next time she contacts you, tell her you’re interested in studying the stone she’s using.”

“We don’t know she’s using an ODA.”

Kimi rolled her eyes. “The arte she’s using, and tell her you’ll compensate her for the trouble.”

“We don’t exactly have any money.”

“What’s that matter,” Kimi said. “It’s just bait anyway.”