“IS THIS SOMETHING YOU expected, Immunis?” demanded Vashta. “Or predicted?”

“Not at all,” Ana said. “If I had, I’d have notified you all immediately.”

“Then how did you conclude this?”

“Well, I assumed that if you were coming to me, ma’am, then you were here about Blas. And since I’d suspected that Blas’s killer was in Talagray, that meant they could kill again with the dappleglass—and thus, I presumed you were here because they had done so. Yet then you said this was about the breach and mentioned something breaking the walls from within. If that was the case, then I presumed—accurately, it seems—that it was not one person who underwent such a contagion, but many. Enough to bring the walls down.” She leaned forward. I could see it was taking all of her effort not to start grinning like a loon. “Tell me everything about what happened.”

“W-we’re still trying to collect reports,” said Vashta, shaken. “We do not have many witnesses. But we are told that the direct cause of the collapse was two senior Engineers working on a critical part of the fortifications.”

“A support,” said Strovi. “A strut carrying an immense load, as several others had been weakened due to the quakes.”

“And when the two Engineers, ah, sprouted, let’s say,” said Ana, “the trees damaged the support, causing the collapse.”

Vashta nodded.

“Were they the only ones who died in such a fashion?” she asked.

Again, the two Legionnaires exchanged a glance.

“They were not,” said Vashta.

“Eight other people throughout the canton underwent a similar transformation, almost at the exact same time,” said Strovi.

I was so shocked that I forgot myself. “Ten!” I said aloud. “Sanctum…ten Engineers were poisoned?”

The two Legionnaires glanced at me. Strovi offered me a tiny, sympathetic smile. “Yes,” said Vashta. “This is possibly the worst incident of mass poisoning in all the history of the Empire.”

“Four died on the sea walls, including the two who caused the collapse,” said Strovi. “Others were in the city of Talagray. One fellow was even on a horse when it happened.”

“Oh!” said Ana, interested. “What happened to the horse?”

Strovi coughed. “It, ah, died, ma’am,” he said.

“Ohh. Hm.” She nodded, a little disappointed, as if she’d expected something more entertaining. “Were there any commonalities to the ten deaths? Did they all use the same bathing facilities? Or visit any site that featured a large amount of steam?”

“They did not,” said Vashta. “We’ve treated this as a contagion so far, reviewing their movements to see what event might have spread this to them all. But so far we can’t find any moment when they were even in the same room together in the past month, let alone all inhaling the same steam.”

“The only commonality, ma’am,” said Strovi, “is that they were all part of the Engineering Iyalet.”

“Engineering…” said Ana quietly.

“Yes,” said Vashta. “The worry is that someone is targeting Engineers for assassination. Perhaps as sabotage. We do not yet know.”

“But to do so during the wet season…” Strovi shook his head.

“You think,” said Ana, “that someone wants to set the titans loose within all of Khanum.”

“It would be madness to imagine it,” said Vashta. “But these days have been nothing if not mad.”

Ana fell silent, her head bowed in thought.

“We need to know how this happened, Dolabra,” said Vashta. “To find out who did this and capture them—before any other calamities occur. Hundreds if not thousands of people are maimed or dead. The entire canton is at risk, if not the Empire. We cannot repair the breach or battle the titans with confidence until we are sure the threat is resolved. And you are the only person I am aware of, Immunis, who has encountered this phenomenon previously, and it is my understanding that you accurately identified it, and responded to it, within a day. We need all the help we can get right now—but I have surmised that we especially need your help.”

Ana’s fingers were drumming wildly on the tabletop now, a frenetic tatter-tat. “I can’t help you from here, ma’am. I rely a lot on Din for these investigations, but, well, the commute from here to Talagray would be a bit much.”

“We had anticipated that,” said Vashta. “I have ordered a carriage sent here straightaway, on the hopes that you would consent. It should arrive by morning.”

“There are likely some issues of procedure and jurisdiction—yes?” Ana asked. “I am not an Iudex Investigator of that canton. Din is an apprentice, and I believe isn’t allowed to leave Daretana until his formal assignment.”

“A state of emergency has been declared for the entire Outer Rim,” said Vashta. “Policies are being suspended left and right. We can suspend any statute stopping you as well, and the Iudex Investigator of Talagray is all too happy for the help. The only concern anyone has now is to make it through the wet season.”

“And…what are the prospects of that?” asked Ana.

A bleak smile. “The prospects of that,” Vashta said, “are evolving. And will likely depend in no small part on your work in Talagray.”

“In that case,” said Ana, “how could I possibly say no? Right, Din?”

I said nothing. For there is nothing worth saying when you are being forced into a pit of horrors.