From Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu Mon Mar 21 20:39:19 1994 Date: Mon, 21 Mar 94 11:57:12 EST From: Kris.Fazzari@um.cc.umich.edu To: thari@umich.edu Subject: Kris' Campaign Log Chapter Thirty-seven Heather and Alex ponder the information they've obtained from Rinaldo. Alex asks Heather if she has any ideas. She doesn't share any with him, so Alex leaves to talk to Random. His request for an audience is quickly granted. Random doesn't look like his day has gotten any better since Alex last saw him. Alex tells him that Jasra seems to have stolen the Jewel from Brand. Random frowns and asks where Alex got this information. Alex explains that it came from Rinaldo. Random thanks him for the news. Alex suggests Jasra might welcome some help from Random. Ariana realizes she's been crying for over an hour. She decides it's time to face the world again and covers up the affects of her distress with some makeup. In the infirmary, Kimdyl groans and wakes up. Ahab notices that her wound hasn't healed yet and asks when she's going to take care of that. She asks if he's horny already. He replies that he's cutting her off until they're married. The nurses suddenly realize they have things to do on the other side of the infirmary. Ahab takes out the ring and says he's fulfilled all three of her requirements. She claims he hasn't proposed to her yet. He points out that he did so while she was in labor. She switches tacks and says she hasn't made her mind up. Then she takes a good look at the ring. She says it's pretty and asks if she has to say yes before she can have it. He says she does, and mentions that if she doesn't accept his proposal soon, he'll have to return it. She asks if it can be a long engagement. He figures medium long is OK. She holds out her hand. He gets down on one knee and makes a rather flowery proposal. As soon as Kimdyl stops laughing, she accepts. Heather Trumps Jasra and asks what's going on. Jasra pretends she doesn't know what Heather's talking about. Heather says that Rinaldo mentioned a falling out. Jasra points out that Rinaldo's only two. Heather orders Jasra to tell the truth and asks where the Jewel is. Jasra will only say that Brand no longer has it. Heather argues that it's better off with Brand. Jasra questions Heather's judgment. Heather asks what Jasra's plan is. Jasra will only say that it's in the process of being formed. Then, much to Heather's surprise, she is able to break the contact. Heather sees a flash of red as Jasra does so. Heather Trumps Brand, who denies her. She keeps trying. After ten minutes of this, Brand answers and asks what he can do for her. She tells him to fill her in. He asks her to be more specific. She gives him a 'don't fuck with me' look. Brand looks amused and says that he's chasing his wayward wife through shadow, something Heather's interrupting. He asks if she hasn't figured it out yet. She says she has, but wanted them to be honest with each other. Brand replies "Over Trump?" and gives her a look that makes her feel small. She asks if Brand wants Jasra stopped. He says if it could be done, it would have by now. Heather offers to distract Jasra and asks how intact Brand wants her. He says he wants to dismember her. Heather breaks the contact and tries to Trump Jasra again. She is denied by a flash of red. She keeps trying, figuring Jasra will get tired before she does. Ariana goes to the infirmary to check on Kimdyl's condition. She arrives as Ahab is proposing to Kimdyl. Not wanting to interrupt, she remains outside and eavesdrops. Ahab tries to get Kimdyl to shorten the engagement period by threatening to let Flora handle the wedding arrangements. Kimdyl says she wants the wedding to be in Chaos and won't let Flora pick out her wedding dress. Ahab argues they'll have to get married before Flora has a chance. Kimdyl smiles and says she'll persuade Flora not to. They discuss Ahab's past lovers (he claims there are at least 30). Kimdyl says she can't marry Ahab until they're all dead, and the Amber one might take a while. Ariana decides she's heard enough, so she walks in and asks how Kimdyl is doing. Kimdyl says she'll live. Ariana points out Kimdyl won't if she keeps getting into fights like that. Ariana looks at Kimdyl's ring and asks if Ahab licked her other foot to get her to accept his proposal. Kimdyl replies that he licked her in more creative places. Ariana says he's good at that. Ahab notices a charge building between the two women. The nurses all decide it's time to go on a break and leave the infirmary. Ahab decides to break the tension by handing Nicholas to Kimdyl, saying it's her turn to change him now. Kimdyl claims she too weak. Ariana backs Kimdyl up in this, so Ahab says he's glad she's volunteering to do the job for Kimdyl. Ariana refuses, claiming she wouldn't dream of interrupting Ahab's quality bonding time with his son. Ahab surrenders to the inevitable. When Felix and Murine arrive at the summer house, Murine ignores Isabeux and goes straight up to her room. Felix explains to Isabeux that he had a falling out with Murine. He goes up to his room and writes Murine a poem, tying it to a rose that he picked from the garden. Then he gets some beer from the kitchen and Trumps Gerard, saying he'll be ready soon. He knocks on Murine's door, hands the rose to her, mumbles he's leaving now, and walks away. Felix Trumps Gerard and goes through, handing Gerard a beer as he arrives and opening one for himself. Foster looks at the bottle curiously, so he lets Foster have a sip. Foster makes a face and says it tastes like it looks. Felix says it's the wrong color for that. Gerard gives Felix a clap on the back for bringing the beer. Foster seems to be having a good time. He asks how it went with Murine. Felix downs the beer and says that things aren't well between them. Foster argues Felix shouldn't expect to pick up where he left off. Felix tells Foster about the fight between Kimdyl and Murine. Foster claims the fight wasn't fair, since Murine has a protective ring. Felix ends by saying that Murine isn't speaking to him now and he couldn't leave fast enough. Foster suggests Felix find himself another woman. Felix is less than thrilled by this suggestion. Since Caine still hasn't arrived, Felix tries to Trump him but can't get through. Alex Trumps his mother and has her pull him through to Chaos. She calls him Mikhail and asks what brings him back to Chaos. He tells her that he's having visions that do not bode well for Chaos. He checks and notices that the Logrus feels better here. He tells his mother that he's thinking of telling Lord Suhuy about the visions. She thinks that's a good idea, so Alex goes to Suhuy's Ways and asks to see him. Suhuy's retainers ask what the nature of the call is and then ask him to wait while they relay his request to Suhuy. Heather is still trying to get through to Jasra when she is interrupted by Eris tugging at her skirt. Eris tells her that Mebd was eavesdropping outside the door and then she left. Heather Trumps Fiona who initially refuses to answer. Just as Heather is about to give up, Fiona accepts the call. Heather explains that her foster daughter has run off to summon more demons while she's trying to decide whether to aid Jasra or Brand. Fiona deduces from this that the absence of the Jewel is a certainty. Fiona volunteers to go after Jasra, freeing Heather to go after Mebd. Heather asks Eris how long Mebd has been gone, but Eris isn't sure. Heather isn't sure what to do with Rinaldo, but Eris is sure she can look after him. Heather grabs her whip and Trumps to the Main Hall, appearing in front of Mebd, who looks rather surprised. Mebd asks why Heather has her whip. Heather says she's taking precautions and asks where Mebd is going. Mebd claims she's going for a walk. When Heather asks where, she says she's just going out. Heather notices that Mebd's nervous and offers to come along. Mebd says that's OK. Heather smiles and deliberately misinterprets this to mean that she can come. Mebd decides to go back to Heather's quarters instead. Heather asks if there's something Mebd would like to say. Mebd says no and starts walking up the stairs. Heather says they have to talk. Mebd disagrees and starts running. Heather Trumps Mebd, which stops her in her tracks. Mebd pleads that her life is bad enough as it is, and wants to know why Heather's making it worse. Heather argues that Mebd can't run away from it, so she needs to be prepared. Mebd says Heather's frightening her. Heather realizes that Mebd's lying and tells her this. Mebd faints and falls down the stairs. Heather rushes over, but Mebd is only bruised. She carries Mebd to her quarters. Ahab changes Nicholas' diaper. Ariana distracts him at the ideal moment, and he gets winged by the child. Ariana looks innocent. Kimdyl pretends to be horrified. Ahab hands Nicholas to Kimdyl and leaves to arrange alternative quarters for them (since his quarters are still... airing out). Ariana asks if Kimdyl wants some food sent up, or if she's feeling well enough to go down to dinner. Kimdyl decides to stay where she is and asks to have some soup sent up. Ahab Trumps Felix. Felix explains that he's having problems with Murine. Ahab offers to talk to her, claiming that afterwards Felix will look good by comparison. Felix looks very depressed. Ahab tells him he needs another beer. Felix disagrees. Ahab makes some further attempts to cheer him up but fails. He tells Felix that Kimdyl's accepted his proposal and he didn't even have to drug her. Felix is surprised that there was ever any doubt. Felix tells Ahab that he and his family will be staying at the summer house and invites Ahab to come there if he tires of life at the Castle. Ahab says things are fun so far. Felix hopes Ahab's day goes better than his. Ahab teleports to the summer house. He tells the servant who answers the door that he wants to see Murine. A little while later, Isabeux approaches and says that Murine is not answering her door. Ahab asks her to take him Murine's room. Once there, he knocks on the door and calls out to Murine. No response. Isabeux tells him that Murine wouldn't eat dinner with them, so she brought a tray up. Ahab asks Isabeux for the key to the room. She tells him a servant is already getting it. Once the servant arrives, they open the door and find Murine sprawled out on the floor. She's extremely blue, with no pulse and froth around her mouth. Ahab Trumps Gerard, telling him that Murine has done something unwise and he should come through. Gerard tells Felix that he'll Trump him when he's ready to return and disappears. Gerard examines Murine, then shakes his head sadly. Looking rather angry, he says Murine was poisoned. He figures it had to be someone who really knows poisons, since shapeshifters can resist most poisons. Ahab tries to teleport to Murine, in case the body is only a shadow of hers, but he goes nowhere. Gerard shuffles through his Trump deck and pulls out Felix's card. Felix gets a Trump call from his dad. Gerard looks very unhappy and asks if Felix is alone. Felix tells Foster he'll be back in a second and goes below decks. Gerard says he has bad news and tells Felix that Murine's been poisoned. Felix leans against a wall, mumbling that it wasn't supposed to end this way, he didn't even get a chance to say good-bye. He asks for some time to think. Gerard nods and says he'll be there if Felix needs him. Ahab Trumps back to the Main Hall and goes to Deirdre's room. There's no answer to his knock. He goes to the infirmary and is happy to find that Kimdyl and Nicholas are still there. There is a bowl of soup on the table next to Kimdyl and she's sleeping. Ahab leaves to arrange those temporary quarters that he'd left to do the first time. With this completed, he returns to the infirmary and Trumps Deirdre, saying he has good news and bad news. The good news is that Kimdyl's agreed to marry him. The bad news is that Murine's been poisoned in Gerard's house. Deirdre notes that this means Gerard is involved now. Ahab tells Deirdre that he wants to break the news to Kimdyl and asks her to watch Nicholas while he does. She tells him not to make habit of expecting her to baby-sit, but agrees. He passes the baby through and goes looking for Ariana. He finds her in the dining room. Alex is brought into see Suhuy. He explains that he's been having disturbing visions. Suhuy asks if he's changed his diet, then asks after the nature of the visions. Alex explains that the first one showed an event which had occurred, while the other two seem to be precognitive. Suhuy asks if he's sure that everything that occurred in the first vision came true. Alex explains that the first vision was easy to verify, since it involved a Prince of Amber stealing something. Suhuy asks if he's investigated the source of the visions. Alex says he hasn't had time. Suhuy tells Alex that without knowing the source, not much can be done. Alex expresses surprise that Suhuy hasn't inquired as to the nature of the visions. Suhuy replies that he figured Alex would tell him if he wanted to. Alex then proceeds to tell Suhuy what the visions were about. As he is talking about the second vision, he catches the beginnings of a frown on Suhuy's face. He tells about seeing three Patterns in the third vision. Suhuy identifies one of them as Corwin's. When Alex finishes his tale, Suhuy says this clarifies things somewhat. He suggests that the Logrus itself is sending the visions to Alex, and perhaps the Logrus wants him to do something about them. Alex wonders if he should talk the others who were present when he received the visions, to see if they noticed anything. Suhuy thinks that's good idea. Alex thanks Suhuy for his guidance. Suhuy says it would be bad for Alex to have the Logrus mad at him and suggests he might want to explore his other abilities. Alex uses the Logrus to pull himself back to Amber. Heather explores Mebd's mind and finds a good part of her brain is walled off. Heather tries to work her way through it. Eventually, she does so, and comes face to face with Mebd's demonic personality. Mebd' demon form is vaguely equine, more elegant than ghoulish. Heather says she means no harm and asks what Mebd wishes. Mebd says she wants her freedom from the servitude she is bound to. Heather asks who is binding her. Mebd identifies him as Arkos of House Hendrake. Apparently her father passed his servitude on to her. Heather asks what Mebd's required to do. Mebd replies that she's to make life for the Amberites as interesting as possible. Heather asks if the demon is separate from Mebd. The demon says she is Mebd. Heather asks why Mebd's been pretending to have no knowledge of her heritage. Mebd explains that she wasn't sure how Heather was going to break the news to her or how Heather would take it, and she didn't want the relationship to change. Heather asks if another binding would be possible if this one was broken. Mebd says that Arkos is the only one who knows her name, and you must know a demon's name to bind it. She points out that if Arkos were eliminated, she'd be relatively safe. Heather asks if Mebd has an impression of Arkos. She says she does, and offers Heather her hand. Heather takes it and gets an image of a large, burly man with a fiery beard and dark hair. Mebd suggests that Heather not take him on alone. Hendrakes have a tendency to avenge fallen family members. Heather says she doesn't intend to kill him, just turn him into a gibbering idiot. Mebd informs Heather that Arkos must release her or else she is bound until she completes her mission. She says she can continue to misinterpret Arkos' commands, but he can always summon her back to Chaos. Heather suggests that they might be able to contain Mebd, if she doesn't object. Mebd agrees, as long as it's not painful. She suggests that Fiona would know how to do it. Heather says Fiona's busy at the moment, but Mandor should be able to help. She says she'll be back as soon as possible. Felix sits in the darkness below decks until Foster comes looking for him. Foster wants to know if it's something he said. Felix assures him that's not it. Foster asks what's wrong. Felix tells Foster that someone made the mistake of poisoning Murine in Gerard's house. Foster's first reaction is to say he didn't do it. Felix says he doesn't know who did. At which point Foster reveals that he has a pretty good idea who was responsible. He thinks it was Lord Vetch. It seems Foster kind of forgot to mention that Vetch had worked with Murine in the past and was one of his tutors. He adds that Vetch was the one in charge of all the children. Felix asks how many there are. Foster says there's only one like him in Chaos, the rest are in Amber. Felix asks what Vetch taught Foster. Foster reveals that he knows the layout of the Castle, the way to the Pattern room, and how to use the Jewel of Judgment. Felix is surprised that Vetch had such knowledge. Foster points out that Vetch was a spy in Amber after Patternfall. He adds that Vetch always scared him, and Vetch wouldn't have hesitated to kill Murine if he thought she was going to talk about him. While Felix ponders this information, Foster says that it's awfully hard to kill a Chaosite and wonders if Murine might still be fighting it. Felix doesn't think so. He asks if Foster might be able to tell if she's still alive. Foster isn't sure, since he's never tried that before. Felix Trumps Gerard and says he wants to come home. Gerard offers his hand. Felix asks what he should tell the crew. Gerard says to tell them to remain with Caine's fleet until he returns. Felix breaks the contact and does this thing. Then he and Foster Trump Gerard and go through to the summer house. Flora, Driscoll, Eris, Rinaldo, Deirdre, Nicholas, Vialle and Ariana are at dinner. Deirdre decides to make Flora's life as interesting as possible by acting nice to her. Flora doesn't quite know how to handle it. Ariana picks at her food and stares into her mug of hot chocolate. Vialle asks how she's doing. Ariana figures she's doing as well as can be expected, under the circumstances. Vialle says she'll be there if Ariana needs her. Ahab walks into the dining room and sits down next to Ariana. He asks how long Kimdyl was unconscious. Ariana says Kimdyl was still out about an hour before Ahab's proposal. She asks why he want to know. He tells her about Murine's murder. Ariana doesn't think Kimdyl was responsible. She figures it's not Kimdyl's style, she wasn't in any condition to do it, and the nurses would have noticed her leave. Ariana mentions she didn't think shapeshifters could be poisoned. Ahab explains Gerard's theory that someone who knows shapeshifters well could do it. Ariana asks if Ahab knows where Alex has been lately. She goes over who in Amber has the necessary knowledge to kill a shapeshifter. Certainly Alex, Mandor or Kimdyl would. Or an unknown shapeshifter... Ariana isn't happy with this realization, since it indicates Mark may have been responsible. She asks if Random has been told. Ahab figures Gerard will tell him. Ariana isn't so sure. Since Driscoll is still in the dining room, they opt to tell him the news and let him pass it on to Random if necessary. Driscoll looks so happy to be the Crown Prince. Ahab asks if he doesn't wish sometimes that Corwin hadn't changed his mind about ruling. Ariana rolls her eyes at this, since that would make Ahab the Crown Prince. Ahab heads towards the infirmary, with Ariana following until Ahab asks her not to do that. Heather Trumps Mandor, but gets no answer. She Trumps Brand, who answers after she's been trying to get through for five minutes. She tells him she can't get through to Mandor. Brand says it's her fault for sending Mandor after him. Heather explains she needs Mandor to protect her family. Brand says he doesn't have time to take the spell off now, but there won't be any lasting damage. Besides, Mandor needs time to consider what he did. Heather tells him to finish soon and tries to break the contact. Brand won't let her until he gets in the last word. Furious, Heather Trumps Fiona, but can't make contact. It doesn't feel like Fiona is simply refusing to answer. Heather is most unhappy about this. Felix and Foster view Murine's body, which has been placed on the bed in her room. Felix asks Foster if he's able to discern if she's still alive. Foster takes Murine's hand and closes his eyes. After remaining that way for about ten minutes, he turns to Felix, a tear running down his cheek, and says he just can't tell. He adds that Murine said that bringing him to Amber would put her in danger. They comfort each other and go downstairs. Isabeux is quite distraught. She feels responsible since she brought the food up to Murine. Felix tries to reassure her that she had no way of knowing. Gerard looks very angry. Felix asks his parents to look after Foster while he makes some Trump calls. Felix Trumps Ahab and tells him that Foster thinks Murine's killer was Vetch. He adds that Vetch was Foster's tutor, explaining that Foster hadn't mentioned that before. Ahab's eyes narrow. He says he has a few questions to ask, then the whole family is going to get together and kill the bastard. Felix asks Ahab to tell Ariana about Vetch. Ahab passes Ariana's Trump through to Felix and tells him to do it, since Ahab needs to talk to Kimdyl. Felix Trumps Ariana and tells her the latest development. Ariana isn't happy that Foster kept his knowledge of Vetch a secret. She says she's going to kill Vetch. They both agree that it's been a bad day. Felix mentions that Foster told of another child in Chaos. Ariana asks for details, but Felix says he hasn't questioned Foster any further on the topic. Ahab carries Kimdyl from the infirmary to their temporary quarters. He tells her about Murine's death. She has him take her to Murine. After examining the body, Kimdyl says Murine fell for the oldest trick in the book. She advises Ahab not to move the body. Ahab asks why. She says it's just a hunch. They go to see Gerard. Kimdyl tells Gerard that if the injury is severe enough, a shapeshifters systems will shut down while they deal with it. While she's never one recover from an injury this severe, being buried alive would be horrible thing. Isabeux mumbles that she brought the meal, says poor Felix, and leaves the room. Ahab Trumps back to Amber with Kimdyl. He asks what she knows about Vetch. Kimdyl says he's big game and that Murine knew more than she did. She explains that Vetch was considered a radical and was a spy during Rygat's war. After the war, he filled the void left by Rygat. He changed the direction of the movement and is less guided by emotion than Rygat was. However, he doesn't know sorcery, only conjuration. Unfortunately, he is a superb shapeshifter, so attempting to find him with the Pattern won't work. Kimdyl believes only a superior psyche could do that. Ahab says he knows where to find one. Kimdyl tells him that no one beats up on her sister besides her. Ahab replies that no one beats up on his fiancee other than him. She claims he's been lax in that department. He says he'll have to make up for it and pretends to attack her. She switches to her Chaos form and licks his nose. Heather Trumps Ariadne. The contact goes through, but takes quite a while. Ariadne looks rather surprised when she answers. Heather says she doesn't want to compromise Ariadne, but she needs information. Ariadne asks who she wants to know about. When Heather mentions Arkos, Ariadne says he's rather boorish, and tells her to ask away. Heather asks what his capabilities are. Ariadne says he's not a sorcerer, and has no advanced skills other than Logrus. Then she adds that he might have dabbled in a black art or two. She isn't sure, since she's been gone for a while. Heather thanks her and breaks the contact. Brand Trumps Heather and asks if she's still mad. He tells her if she wants Mandor back faster, to step through and help him. She does so and finds that Brand is standing about 20 feet away from Ygg. He has the Jewel of Judgment in one hand, a dagger in the other. He asks her to be his eyes for a bit and yell if anyone else shows up. Heather points out this isn't exactly her specialty, but Brand figures she's better than nothing. Brand concentrates for a moment, slashes his arm with the dagger, and gets shot in the back with a crossbow quarrel. He takes a step forward, and says "I knew that would draw you out." He searches the mists and dodges another bolt. Heather asks who it is. Brand tells her it's Caine, so she attempts to Trump him. He refuses the contact with a Power Word. Her second attempt is harder to resist. Eventually she gets through and takes over his body, but not before he returns to Amber. She curses him, accidentally saying it out loud. She Trumps Brand, who shoots her. She says "Father" and holds her hand out. He pulls her through and tells her that was stupid of her. She says she's having difficulty concentrating. The pain is making it difficult to fight Caine. She mentions this to Brand, who offers to distract Caine for her and kicks him in the balls. Heather decides her own body is a good place to be right now and goes there. She sees Brand twist the quarrel in Caine's chest a few times and pat Caine on the cheek. He mentions that he isn't worried about Caine, since he's turned his mind off, but Caine is dangerous enough to have warned Benedict, who will no doubt be showing up soon. Heather isn't happy about this. She tells Brand to hurry. Brand says these things can't be rushed. Felix questions Foster about the other child in Chaos. Foster says it was a girl about his age, with red hair and blue eyes. Her name was Theresa. He doesn't know who her father was, but her mother was from House Sawall. He adds that there's a rumor of an older child as well. Felix warns Foster that Vetch's people may try to come for him, but promises to do his best to protect him. Foster says he'll do his best to keep from getting grabbed and adds that if Ahab hadn't distracted him the last time... Felix advises him not to say that to Ahab and decides to turn in early. Alex returns to Amber. He finds Mebd in Heather's quarters and asks where the children are. She says the Crown Prince is watching them now. He asks if she knows where Heather is, but she isn't sure. He steps outside and asks a page where Random is. The page says he's in his quarters. Alex goes back inside and asks how Mebd is. She claims she's fine. When he questions this, she says she'll refrain from drawing more gates in the future and thanks him for his help. He tells her she has his Trump if she ever needs his help. Alex goes to Random's quarters. Random asks if he has more news. Alex wants to know what progress has been made against Brand's scheme. Random says that Fiona hasn't reported in yet, so he doesn't know. Alex finds this disconcerting. He places himself at Random's service. Random thanks him and gives him a Trump deck. Alex rushes back to his quarters and Trumps his mother. He has her pull him through again. She asks what's gotten him so excited. He says he'll tell her when the emergency's over. He requests an audience with Gramble, which is granted. He informs Gramble that Brand is attempting to draw another Pattern. Gramble frowns at this. Alex offers the Trump of Brand to Gramble. Gramble observes that Random probably wouldn't be too adverse to their paying a call on Brand. Ariana knocks on Ahab's door and asks if he's learned any more about Vetch. Ahab explains what Kimdyl's told him. He suggests they get a good night's sleep before going after Vetch. Halfway through creating his Pattern, Brand just stops. After a few minutes he continues, with a great effort. Suhuy appears next to Heather and says this is unfortunate. Heather replies that it's not from some points of view. Suhuy mentions that he thought it would be bad form to kill Brand, so he let him continue. He adds that he'll teach Brand a lesson when he's done. Suhuy looks at Heather and asks if he has her permission. She points out that there's not much she can do about it. He says what Brand is doing is bad. Heather figures that's all a matter of perspective. Suhuy observes that it would release her from certain obligations to Chaos. Heather tries to bargain with him. Suhuy mentions that he could still kill Brand. He says the Pattern will upset the balance that Mandor champions. He also observes that Brand's left a trail of bodies in his wake. Heather figures that's about to change. Suhuy asks what Brand is worth to her. She offers to preserve the bloodline for Brand's Pattern in her descendants in Chaos and asks him to leave Brand alive. Suhuy observes that it's up to Brand to determine who can walk his Pattern. Heather asks if the bargain holds. Suhuy notices Caine lying on the ground just as Benedict arrives. Heather fights off the urge to flee the scene. Brand finishes creating his Pattern and disappears. Suhuy disappears as well, leaving Heather alone with Benedict and Caine's unconscious body.