“That...makes a scary kind of sense,” I admitted, “Except, what do they gain from it?”

“I don’t know, but you agree it’s suspicious, right?”

“Definitely. And if there really is something up with the president, I should be able to get more evidence of it. As the presenter I’ll have a prime view of everyone watching the Memory Gem footage. If he knows about the Syndicate, he’ll have to be a damn good actor to not give that away during my fight with Vex.”

“I mean, he’s a politician. He probably won’t make a slip like that...but it’s possible, I guess,” Mewi conceded, “I don’t have any better ideas.”

Our conversation had been long enough that I had to multitask, setting up the Memory Gem to connect to the hologram projector and display the footage from Magnos from the start rather than the dream visions and certain other recordings I’d put on it, then working out hand signals with a staff member that would indicate they should pause, for when I wanted to add detailed comments, or fast forward and stop doing so while also continuing the concerning discussion with Mewi. Once both conversations were finished, he excused himself to the front row, saying he felt better now.

I started getting nervous as more people arrived. I had spent quite some time in the virtual space, when I hadn’t been gaming or lightly sparring, speechwriting and rehearsing for this. So, it wasn’t as though I was totally unprepared, but there was only so much practice I could get in over a single night even with time dilation.

Still, it went smoothly enough once the playback actually got started. There was some minor discussion of the hazards leading up to the Sanctuary itself, then when the playback got to the part where the Tower notified me about the Sanctuary’s challenges, I expressed an opinion that the setups for the other Sanctuaries would probably be similar, but also that of course we could hardly guarantee that.

The other members of the alliance team didn’t really need telling on that by now; they’d gone over the footage themselves plenty of times while I was rehearsing. The playback continued into the eight trials. I heard some noises of approval from the VIP audience when they saw how I’d handled the Trial of Pain.

Prior to moving into the 8th, horrible trial, I had them pause the recording and opened the floor for questions so far.

Only two people indicated they wished to speak: A member of the military contingent, sitting very close to Marshal Varstithon, and a particularly scholarly-looking person at the other end of the audience from the military brass. “Ah, you first,” I said, meeting the eyes of the, judging by their insignia, High Admiral—the highest rank usually attainable in the Federation Military, the kind of officer who made overall strategic decisions about how to fight the Kinetice.

“Regarding the Trial of Power,” they said, “it’s fair to say the walls used were all of extraordinary material, even the weakest ones. I doubt we’d see the like of it in Area 1 outside of a Sanctuary. Did you happen to retain any samples from the rubble made during the trial?”

“No sir, it was not something that occurred to me at the time. However, if we could briefly return to that portion, I can show you why I believe that doing so would have been impossible anyway.

The operators of the holoprojector took about a minute to find the right place. “So, the first two walls were obliterated too thoroughly for debris to remain anyway. Now, if you’ll notice as I smash the third wall here,” I said, “play it from here at half speed, please?

Now, this time the destruction does result in intact chunks, however, if you’ll keep a close watch on them...”

Seconds after any visible pieces of wall hit the ground, they vanished without a trace. The High Admiral looked disappointed at the sight, but resumed his seat without further comment. “And, you also had a question sir?” I indicated the other person, the scholarly looking one who’d remained standing.

“Thank you. I don’t have a question exactly, rather an observation I wish to append to your theory about the Sanctuaries as a whole. The notification at the start of the trials described them as testing ‘strength, skill, wit, and will.’ Going by the actual composition of the trials, I would submit that this was not referring to those four traits being tested in general, rather each individual trial seems to emphasize one or other of them in their nature.

If you are indeed correct, and the method of testing those who enter the other Sanctuaries is of the same nature as the Fire Sanctuary, I believe it is also probable in that event that the composition of individual trials will also adhere to that nature.”

That’s a good point. I wasn’t sure of it when I was going over things with the team—really, I just don’t want to assume anything about the remaining Sanctuaries even with my intel, but it might still be a good route to take for the others to simulate and prepare for their own Sanctuaries.

“I’d say that’s a fair assessment.”

I continued the presentation, to a substantial amount of consternation when a fifth-tier BOSS monster was revealed to be in charge of the Trial of Discipline. However, it was agreed fairly quickly that it wouldn’t do much good to attempt here and now to puzzle out the implications.

The first time Mewi had seen that trial, he’d needed quite a lot of comforting. Now he was keeping a straight face, though I could tell it wasn’t without effort. Honestly, revisiting that particular experience was extremely unpleasant for me, too.

Finally, we fast-forwarded through my paranoid counting after the pass message had already displayed and reached the opening of the Core Chamber. A minute later, Vex’s cocky words rang through the theatre for all to hear.

While everyone opposite me gave the hologram scene I stood just to the side of their rapt attention, mine was squarely on President Krendell. The moment Vex named his backers as “the Syndicate,” his eyebrows raised. His expression was one of mild surprise, just for an instant. Everyone else was in an uproar, and he joined it after that one single moment.

I couldn’t be certain with that. Not certain. But I had a nasty feeling that Mewi’s suspicions were right on the money. In some form or another, the Syndicate had direct ties to the highest levels of the Federation government.

I broke off staring at the president—and froze.

Someone else wasn’t reacting like this was a stunning revelation. In fact, they more looked lost in thought than anything, as though they were a thousand miles away.

Varstithon.