The door to the Bean Research Facility opened. Schubert stood in the doorway, dripping. He had an uncharacteristically concerned look on his face that deepend as he noticed Sauer and Reist, each holding a bean jar.

“Leon? What are you doing here?” Reist asked. Her voice remained soft, as though she was not giving them her full attention.

“I’ll get to that. Is something happening with the beans?” Schubert replied hurriedly.

“The beans… seem to be… multiplying,” Sauer replied. He could feel his heart pounding heavily against his chest. Hearing the words aloud meant that he could not deny it; the beans were multiplying, and they had no idea how or why.

“Multiplying? Like, reproducing?”

“Yes. Well… Maybe? We have not actually seen them… birthe another bean, but there are more than double the amount than we had yesterday.”

“How?”

“I have no idea.”

Schubert rubbed his temples. “Oh… This is bad… Very bad…”

“Do you know something about this?” Sauer asked.

“Yes. No. Kind of. You know that Bean cult, the Church of the Beanmeister? Bösch tried to shut it down, but he wasn’t able to get to any of their leaders, so they’ve been underground since December. Well, General Krüger is a leader in the Church. No, not a leader… I think he’s the leader.”

The others stared at him.

“Krüger’s… a cultist?” Reist asked.

“Yes.”

“Why did you come here?” Sauer asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you come here instead of bringing this information to Captain Bösch? When did you find out that… how did you find out that General Krüger is a cultist?”

Reist and Fischer eyed Schubert suspiciously. Sauer took a step towards him.

“I told y-you he is always g-getting into things he sh-should not be,” Fischer said.

Schubert swallowed. “Alright… Alright, let me explain… So, the reason I didn’t go to Bösch is because he doesn’t trust me very much. Back at the Bean party, after those soldiers brought the bean sample in, I… kind of harassed him a bit. Ever since then, he hasn’t been very nice to me, and I don’t think he would trust me if I told him Krüger was a cultist. I know he trusts you, Thomas; I know what happened in Dijon. He would take you seriously.”

“But how did you find out?” Reist asked. Her eyes seemed to focus on Schubert for the first time since he entered the room. “Are you a cultist?”

“No, Adaline, I’m not a cultist. Well, technically I did join the cult, but I don’t believe any of the stuff they say. If I did, I wouldn’t be telling you all this! I was only trying to find out more information about the Beans, and I thought they might know something that would help us. So I looked for some ways to join, asking around to find out if anyone knew—”

A look of recognition crossed Sauer’s face. “Is that why you asked so much about our time in Dijon? You thought Reist and I were part of a cult?”

“At first.”

“Why?”

“Well, let’s see… You named them Beans. Like, the exact same name as the cult. It’s literally in their name. Church of the Beanmeister. They worship a Bean God!”

Reist’s voice was shrill. “They look like beans, Leon! The food! That’s where Thomas got the name! He’s told you the story, you know this! We wanted a name for when we went to fight them, and it just stuck since Bösch survived and used the name later! You’ve seen them, you God damned idiot!”

“Calm down, Adaline!” Schubert shouted. Reist was about to reply, but Schubert screamed over her. Though his voice was sharp, his face reminded Sauer of Schmidt, riding back into Dijon on his pure white stallion. Leon Schubert was terrified. “This God damned idiot just undercovered a government conspiracy! Krüger is a member of the Church of the Beanmeister, and whether you like it or not, he’s preparing to do something big!”

“What the hell does that mean?” Reist screamed.

Sauer raised his voice. “Both of you, stop! Arguing will get us nowhere.” He placed a hand on Reist’s shoulder. She was tense and shook off his hand. “Let him tell us everything, Reist.”

Schubert took a deep breath, though his face remained taut with worry. “I’m… sorry, Adaline.”

Reist glared at him.

“Start from the beginning,” Sauer said. “General Krüger is part of the cult. We believe you. You are part of the Bean cult but do not believe in their doctrine. We believe that, too. How did you find out Krüger is a cult leader?”

“The beginning… Alright, yeah, the beginning. I joined a few months ago to try and find information about the Beans. You know that… So, after the briefing this morning, I went to a Church meeting. That’s why I left so quickly, I didn’t want to be late. A high ranking member of the Church, somebody named Aaron, was supposed to be speaking at the sermon. So, when Krüger walked in, I was obviously surprised. I waited for the meeting to end, but I didn’t leave immediately. There’s this woman that’s suspicious of me, Julia Krause. She doesn’t trust me even though the pastor of the Church does. He thinks I’ve been giving him information about the Empire’s procedures—”

“You gave them information about the Empire?” Reist cried.

“It’s fake, it’s fake! None of it was true! It’s how I bought their trust! But it didn’t seem to be important, since Krüger has been in the Church since the beginning.”

“So, General Krüger was at the cult meeting today,” Sauer clarified.

“Yes, he was Aaron. Aaron Krüger,” Schubert said.

“And he is planning something?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I have no idea. Something about a task he gave everyone. I don’t know what it is, and no one told me. Probably some kind of attack.”

“Why didn’t you start with that?” Reist screamed.

“I tried, Adaline, but you interrupted me! And now the beans are multiplying! It has to be connected, doesn’t it?”

Sauer asked, “What, exactly, did Krüger say?”

“Well, he didn’t say much of anything, really. Only that something was going to happen soon. Most of the Church sermons are vague. They believe that the Beanmeister is God, and that he was the cause of the Beans attacking, since he’s delivering the worthy to Heaven. Have either of you read the Bible?”

Sauer and Reist were silent.

“Alright. At the beginning of each sermon, they quote a passage from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. It’s about how God is going to rapture the true believers, relieving them of their mortal flesh and accepting them into Heaven. And Krüger said it was happening soon, they called it the Great Tribulation… or the End of Days, one of those two. All I know for sure is that Krüger has been planning something for a long time. And that plan is about to be set in motion.”

As though escaping a thick fog, everything became clear to Sauer. The events of the past year fell into place, the hidden pieces of the puzzle that he had overlooked or simply never considered revealed themselves, a clearer picture of the true nature of the Beans coming into focus. A deep pit opened in his stomach. “We have wasted too much time here,” Sauer said, rushing towards the door. “We need to find Captain Bösch. Now.”

“W-While you do that, I w-will try to figure out how the beans are m-multiplying,” Fischer called as the others began the process of exiting the Bean Research Facility.

Though Sauer attempted to explain the urgency of the situation, the guards went through the usual checks to ensure that no beans escaped into Stuttgart. After an agonizingly long ten minutes, the researchers were outside, running across the slick courtyard to the military headquarters, the heavy rain soaking them all over again. In the distance, Sauer heard the rumble of thunder.

They entered the foyer, leaving muddy footprints as they made their way towards Bösch’s office on the top floor. Despite the late hour, soldiers, Empire officials, strategists, and other Bean researchers moved steadily through the building, paying Sauer, Reist, and Schubert no mind.

Sauer could feel his heart hammering against his chest as they approached Bösch’s office. The implications of the information they had just uncovered could be disastrous, and he felt sick to his stomach just thinking about what might happen in the next few hours. If what he believed was correct…

Two soldiers guarded the door to Bösch’s office. “We must speak with Captain Bösch,” Sauer said, his voice wavering. He felt as though he was floating outside of his body; nothing felt real to him.

“I’m sorry,” one of the soldiers said, remaining in place. “Captain Bösch is in a meetin’ right now. You may not speak with him at this time.”

“It is imperative that we speak with him, right now,” Sauer replied.

“You’re goin’ ta have ta wait until his meetin’ is over,” the other soldier said.

“We have vital information about the Beans, we must speak with—”

“Are we goin’ to have to escort you out?” the first soldier asked.

Sauer scoffed, stepping away from the door.

“Who’s he meeting with?” Schubert asked.

“General Krüger, who asked that their meetin’ not be disturbed under any circumstances.”