Levi, Irene, Gordon, Cassandra, Mark, and a fellow named Jason who was the current highest level scout stood around a table in the closest thing to an office that they had: one of the Beast dungeon's treasure rooms. The location provided privacy and relative security. They couldn't stay here indefinitely, the dungeon itself would become a danger soon enough, but for now it was their best option for having a private discussion.

"What are we thinking?" Irene asked. "If it's a trap, it's a strange one."

"I don't think so," Mark argued. "As far as they know, we've got a whole army of high-level monsters that we could bring against them at a moment's notice. This may be a legitimate peace offering. They figure if we take our stuff and leave, they can have their stuff back, and we don't need to be enemies."

"Or," Cassandra countered, "they see an opportunity to take out the opposition's leadership and get back their precious dungeon with minimal effort."

"I don't think the guy was lying," Jason said. "I'm pretty good at reading people, and he seemed sincere."

"Anyone can seem sincere. Heck, he may even be sincere and believe what he's saying, that doesn't mean the rest of the organization's gonna play along. There's every chance that this could go very badly."

"That said," Levi said, "we do need our minions back one way or the other. It's always going to be a risk. But do we take that risk on our own terms, or use Terry to get in?"

"The fact that he has a name seems to be a good sign," Irene said. "So many of the people we've encountered in this group have replaced their names with agent numbers. At least having his own name still points to a certain degree of independent-mindedness."

"That's a question, then." Mark said. "If he is sincere, how much is his help even worth? Does he actually have the authority or power necessary to get us what we want? Or is he just saying what he thinks we want to hear?"

"I'm inclined to think not," Irene said. "Remember, he didn't realize that we cared about our minions at first. He was just trying to barter with getting our information out. I think the offer is genuine, though I don't know if he can back it up."

"Again, the question is how far are we willing to trust him." Cassandra spoke up. “I’m inclined to think ‘not very far’, given who we’re talking about.”

“You are the one with the most direct contact with him. What did you think about his character?”

“He’s got no conviction. He’s been working with them for whatever reason, now he says he should work with us, doesn’t mean much.” Cassandra shrugged. “The kind of people who’d work in a group like this aren’t people to be relied on.”

“But we could still use him while we have him,” Jason said. “He may not stay on our side, but he certainly seems to be there at the moment.”

"Aside from if we trust Terry’s help, there’s also the question of how much information are we willing to leak," Levi pointed out. "Crystal has seen Lash in action. Once we let that information out, especially to people like this, I don't like to think about what they would do with that power."

Jason looked around uncertainly as everyone else's mood sobered. Levi hadn't fully briefed everyone in their group on the full capabilities of their minions, so as a relative newcomer Jason had no idea what was going on.

"Mental manipulation," Irene explained for his benefit. "Lash can form full immersion nightmares which are generally sufficient to convince the individual involved of their full veracity in the moment. Afterwards, they'll know they were tricked, assuming they survived."

Cassandra shivered. "Not the kind of power you want in the hands of people like this."

"If they don't already know about Control dungeons, they will soon enough.” Mark waved a hand dismissively. “I don't think we need to worry about being the one to forewarn them."

"And what if this is the catalyst event for some kind of terrible new directive? What if we set off something huge and awful? These are people already willing to seize and imprison anyone for whatever reason they think best, under frankly inhumane conditions, at very real risk of death. You think they'd even hesitate to use something like Lash for brainwashing?"

"What's our alternative though?" Mark asked, starting to sound a bit annoyed. "If you're really so attached to your minions and refuse to get new ones to replace them--"

"We are saving the minions. That’s not negotiable."

"Then I think accepting this guy's help is the only way you can do that. We've already burned our element of surprise going in for her," Mark pointed a thumb towards Cassandra, "and anything more from here on they're going to be ready for us. Like Terry said, we don't have much time. Right now they’re going to be overestimating us if anything, so you can be sure that when they come for this place it’ll be with overwhelming force. If you want to do this, we should do it now, and with every resource we have available. I don't know about you, but I'm not eager to be locked up again."

"I'm in agreement," Jason said. "I admire your loyalty to your minions, but it sounds to me like the question is whether you value getting them back or protecting your information more highly. If you want them back, it sounds like you're going to have to work with this guy."

Levi thought it over, and couldn't refute them. He still had a Beast essence and an Ice essence that he hadn't fed to the Dungeon Seed yet. He could use those, as much as it pained him to think of it, if he needed a power boost in an emergency. He could probably go solo infiltrator, could…

Disturbing to imagine, but with the help of an essence powerup, he was close enough to threshold that a few levels wouldn't be enough to stop them. With Beast overcharged, he could take back the Beastly Shortsword, use that and Bristleblade together. If that wasn’t enough, he didn't have an Ice weapon but even just raw mana at that point became dangerous.

It was all too easy to imagine himself tearing through anyone in his path, decimating whatever guard they had between him and his minions. Their training level was clearly insufficient to deal with him on a one-to-one basis. If he added such a potent magical amplifier, they could only hope to slow him.

It would be a setback for his long-term plans of collecting essence for the Dungeon Seed, perhaps one though be recoverable since essences are so few and far between. Even getting the Ice vial from the Essence Gordon had fought was an anomaly. Most Essence monsters didn't drop the essence substance, it was randomized like all other rewards. Even if Levi and his team started deliberately overcharging boss monsters to get Essences to spawn, it would only make their job harder and not guarantee anything.

People had tried every possible method of farming for essence. Both the powerup sorts who wanted to use them for temporary boosts, and the crafters who wanted to make legendary items. There was no reliable way to guarantee an essence drop.

But resources were made to be used. If he had to trade a few weeks of dedicated repetition to replace his element for the Dungeon Seed, he'd take that over losing his minions for good.

"We can't keep the prisoners here forever, especially if we’re soon going to have to fight to keep the dungeon. If we release them now, at least we get something out of the exchange. Otherwise, we have to drag them around with us, or leave them for monsters in dungeon to eat."

"Honestly, letting the monsters have them sounds appropriate to me," Jason said coldly.

"It would solve our secrecy problems," Mark pointed out. "Dead men tell no tales and all."

"I can't do that." Levi shook his head adamantly. "This infighting is counterproductive. These are some of the most high-level and powerful people the planet has at the moment. Killing them off before the main event even starts would be wasteful and foolish."

"You keep assuming they'll be more a help than a hindrance."

"When all the chips are down, humanity will come together." Levi took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "I think we take Terry up on his offer. I think we let Crystal and that Agent go, and see where that gets us. If it's a trap... I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does turn out to be a trap, I can take care of it."

It was a testament to all the insane things he'd been doing lately that no one even questioned the claim.

Nods around the table, and their debate shifted into a strategy planning session.