Tremors came and went all this time, and an urgent message came to Kordas from the Record Keeper while Kordas was deep down a storage bay: Foreseers were reporting new visions. The Imperial City, the Palace, all exploding in fire or consumed by lava. When, they weren’t certain, but the visions were reported from Foreseers at the far edges of the Empire, as well as locals.

These reports made Kordas feel the most apprehension of the whole operation, and he lit off via Gate to the Records Complex. Not everything a Foreseer predicts actually happens, but they can be good warnings to check things, and in my case—to check things that I have compromised. So long as his subterfuge with the official seals was between him and the Dolls, everything should be all right. But if the predictions were delivered to the Emperor in a timely manner, the Emperor would search on his own, and Kordas would surely be exposed. By stealing the martial supplies alone, Kordas had cemented himself as a traitor.

If anyone was left alive to come after me. If anyone knew I was behind it. If anyone could find me.

Kordas agonized over the decision as he read the dispatches. In his heart it felt very, very much like pulling a trigger to end a life. If the Emperor received the Foreseer reports, he might lock down the entire City. No one in or out.

“If any more reports like these come in, can you destroy them?” he asked the Records Keeper.

“No, my Lord. Many things we can delay, but these are urgent and must be delivered to the Emperor. That we cannot change.”

Kordas flew through his resourcefulness in his mind. Mis-labeling? Re-routing? Copying errors? Wait—“Can you hand over urgent dispatches to a human courier for delivery?”

The Records-Keeper answered quickly, “Yes, if they have a certification as an Imperial courier.”

“Then have all new dispatches delivered to my Herald, Beltran. Then it is his responsibility to see to it they reach the Emperor, and none of you are liable for what happens after they’re handed off to a courier.”

“That would not violate our directives.”

With a flick of his fingers, flames erupted at the corners of the Foreseer reports. “Oh no, look what I did.”

The Records Keeper nudged a trash receptacle toward Kordas, who dropped the burning papers into it. “We will have to report that sometime, my Lord. Delays or loss of official materials must be reported within one hundred days.”