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Codenames' *friend* turns out to be a glowing sphere about the size of a child's head — perfectly symmetrical, marked at its centre with an arcane symbol, floating with no visible support. It bobs over to Marasi and speaks in soft, unfamiliar words she does not understand; Codenames translates: he is pleased to meet her, and compliments her hair. Then Codenames speaks back to the sphere in the same language and it shifts, melting into the shape of a man's head — angular features, the paintings and statues turn out to have been right, including the spike through the right eye. Kelsier is on the line.

*I'm not surprised to hear from you. Something's wrong, isn't it?* TwinSoul bows in formally as *present, my lord*, though Kelsier does not seem able to see him; Moonlight and *a visitor, one Marasi Colms*, are also named. Kelsier's image cocks an eyebrow: *Marasi Colms. We've been watching you.* He shows no anger — another sign, Marasi notes, that Moonlight had been playing up that risk to make her feel she was getting away with something. Marasi stammers; this is the centre of her childhood religion.

The brief: Dawnshot is in Bilming, thinks the Set is moving within the day. *Harmony is blinded*, Marasi adds — he admitted as much to Wax — and he is frightened. *Damn*, Kelsier says. *I'm twelve hours away, moving quickly via airship.* That may not be soon enough. TwinSoul reports the worst piece: the Set has discovered the relationship between harmonium and trellium, they have been experimenting with long-range delivery devices, and they are prepared to do something stupid. *Not so much stupid as desperate*, Kelsier corrects. They know Autonomy has declared this whole planet anathema and are fighting for survival the only way they know how — destroying Elendel to prove to her they can rule the Basin. *I thought we had more time though. Why now?* No one knows. There is talk of a new ashfall, which is new; there is a photo of a destroyed city suggesting they may have tested the device elsewhere already. Codenames supplies the framing: there have always been two plans — Autonomy's cataclysm for the entire planet via the ashfalls, and the Set's attempt to spare it by cutting Elendel off like a finger to stop an infection.

Marasi, feeling small in a conversation in which the end of a world is treated as just one of the variables, asks for help. *I don't have the luxury of holding back*, Kelsier says more softly. *I shouldn't have left for the South. I thought Saze would stop it before it got this far… we need to do what he cannot. Miss Colms, you have our help.* He asks how many full Ghostbloods agents are in Bilming: only the three at the safehouse. The Elendel cells are embedded and would need dead-drop activation; even moved early they would be hours away. Marasi tells him to send them to her sister instead — Steris is trying to facilitate an evacuation through the Elendel government. Kelsier sniffs softly — he does not seem to think much of the Elendel government — and sets it. Codenames and Dae-oh will rouse the Basin cells; *I doubt the field team needs a philologist for this mission.* He calls TwinSoul by another name — Shri Prasanva — apologises for pulling him from his quiet evenings of scholarship, then issues the order that matters: *take the stores of purified Dor. The Command is "Respect." Authorise the other cells to access theirs as well and pass the Command to them.* Codenames gasps; even Moonlight looks impressed.

Kelsier signs off — he is over open ocean, so dropping things to Steelpush off does him no good; he will try to shake Harmony out of his stupor, and at least Harmony sending Dawnshot tells him the threat is real. The face melts back into the sphere. The three Ghostbloods burst into motion in separate directions.

Marasi follows Moonlight to a different room, which requires another mystical lock to open. Inside: an armoury — guns, vials of metals, glass knives, duelling canes, a chain-fed machine gun, explosives — that would render Ranette delirious. Moonlight ignores all of it and goes straight to a safe in the corner; she puts her hand flat against its face and says *Respect me*, and the door clicks open. *Another identity lock?* Marasi asks. *More secure than that*, Moonlight says — *a lock that is Awake. It can tell from your Intent whether you've been given a passcode or whether you've stolen it.* Inside sit three identical glowing jars, big enough that one hand would struggle to carry one; the glow is brighter than the room's electric lights. Moonlight turns the first one over in awe and tells Marasi what they are: concentrated, unkeyed Investiture, sourced from the corpses of two intermingled gods, exceptionally hard to recover, capable of powering the Metallic Arts at hyper-efficient rates as a replacement for the vials Marasi is used to.

Moonlight packs the three jars in cushioning, adds supplies and explosives, takes guns; Marasi helps herself, with permission, to a rifle in an innocent-looking case and a stack of aluminum ammunition. They have it in plenitude, she notes. *Electrolysis*, Moonlight explains — aluminum is actually pretty easy to make once you know the process, and the three-diamond organisation has been funding its operations off the Basin aluminum market for nearly two decades. She would bet half the aluminum in the Basin came from them. Dean, their chemist in Elendel, thinks Marasi's world will find the trick soon and the price will collapse to less than tin's. Marasi reels at the thought of cheap aluminum in everyone's pocket — bullets to kill Allomancers, hat-bands to block Soothing — and recognises that *all of this is merely the surface*.

*Why me?* she asks. Wax is spoken for; Kelsier prefers the discarded and ignored; Wax is brazen and watched. *Plus you have access to a high-ranking constable*, Marasi notes drily. There is also her connection to the Malwish through Allik; she rates his importance lower than they do, then catches herself hoping he made it out of the city. She loves his practicality, his genuineness — in a job that makes her question what people are, his face reminds her of what they can be.

Back in the foyer, the crystal city on the round table has begun to crumble — the model goes, but his chair stays. TwinSoul comes down the steps in a loose uniform with a bright yellow sash, a slightly-curved sword in a golden sheath, and a backpack she suspects is a water tank for his aether. Codenames is sending the messages and waiting at the door for the woman Moonlight sent there. *Have you got the Dor?* he asks; Moonlight taps her rucksack. He turns to Marasi: *I have been commanded to follow your lead, my lady. If there is danger I vow that I shall fight to protect you.* Marasi tries to ease him into a quieter role given his age; the calm respect in his answer carries the firmness of a much younger man — *I have been tasked with aiding you by the Survivor himself.* Moonlight nods to her. The mission is hers. *Where's the nearest train station?* she asks. *We need to get to that factory as quickly as possible.*