As I enter the
apartment, I immediately hear the whispers of a Rune on a nearby
table, wasting no time snatching it up. I can already begin to see
the visions of new powers forming, but I feel that if I hold off a
little while longer, even stronger abilities will be have the
potential to be awakened. Blinking onto the roof of the guard
station, I see that aside from the patrols, my only obstacle is a
Wall of Light. The tank supplying the fuel is guarded by a spinning
wheel, so a normal man would be unable to get to it. I am not a
normal man, and as a result I can just Blink over it. When the guards
look away, I take my chance to quickly remove the tank and climb up a
nearby vent to stay out of sight. Once I'm sure the guards are still
looking away, I rush to the door beyond the Wall of Light and finally
make it to the other side of Kaldwin's bridge, where Sokolov's
apartment lies.
Once I begin to get
my bearings here, the Heart once more begins to beat, indicating a
Bone Charm and a Rune. The Rune is located in the direction of
Sokolov's apartment if my memories of Kaldwin's Bridge are accurate.
Knowing him, it is highly likely that the Rune is with him at this
moment. Since the Bone Charm is close by, I decide to take a quick
detour in order to claim it for myself. Climbing into the window of
the apartment complex I see that my path to the charm is blocked by a
makeshift barricade. All this means is that I need to find a back way
in, so I climb onto the roof and look to the side to find a very
well-placed balcony. I am once again disappointed to find that the
charm's effect is useless to me, so I place it in my pack to keep
others safe from it. That means that only one Rune remains, and I'm
convinced Sokolov has it. This suspicion is confirmed when I scale
the rooftops and acquire a direct line of sight to the apartment,
which seems more like a small fortress when I finally gaze upon it.
The front door is
too well-guarded to use, so I inspect the building's roof to find a
single guard on patrol. I can do this, but I will have to dispatch
him in order to ensure my safety. The only way onto to the roof is
the chain hanging from it. I wait for a bit, because my best chance
will be the moment when the guard turns his back to the chain. Once
I'm onto the roof and behind cover, I take a look inside and notice
that the room on Sokolov's roof appears to be some sort of
greenhouse. He provides the plague elixirs for the guards, so this
comes as no surprise to me.
Before I can take a
closer look, I need to dispatch that watchman. Scaling the
greenhouse, I wait for the guard to get closer, and then use my rats
to silence him forever. I see a poor woman who appears to be a
subject in one of his experiments. While I feel sorry for her, I
can't free her or she'd see me, possibly compromising my mission.
Plus, with her locked up, I can pass this off as Sokolov going out
for awhile, especially if I nab his notebook and recipe for his
elixir on the way. Piero will be most pleased to have the access to
Sokolov's notes. The Rune was also located here, as I suspected. Now
that everything I need is in my hands, I pick up Sokolov's sleeping
form and make my way out. Since the guard patrolling the roof is now
dead, my escape is completely unhindered. Predicting the most likely
place for Samuel to make camp over here, I head to a waterway under
the bridge. Sure enough, he was right there and ready to make the
trip back. With the floodlights still out of commission, we made it
back to the Hound Pits Pub safely.
When we arrive,
it's nighttime with Martin and Havelock receiving us at the pier. The
admiral praises my efforts and invites me to go to bed. I am almost
certainly tired, but I have a few things to do before hitting the
hey. Fortunately, Piero is right outside, and he's just the man I'm
looking for. I hand him the blueprints for both my new boots and
Sokolov's elixirs, and gave him the money to start working on my
boots. After finishing the upgrades, he says that working on them
gave him new ideas for how to further muffle my footsteps, so I
consent to give him the scratch to continue development. As I left
him to his work, I found an audiograph where Piero rants that he's
smarter than Sokolov and that the only reason Sokolov is in a better
position is that he's better funded by the nobles. Given how quickly
Piero finishes his work, I'm tempted to believe it. Pondering this a
bit, Piero informs me that he's finished. I thank him and leave,
making note of the fact that I can barely hear my own footsteps.
It is then that the
Heart sparks to life and once more begins to beat. It tells me of a
Bone Charm located in a nearby building. Sadly, the only access point
is a locked door. Cecelia is one of the few people here who knows
this area well, so talking to her could give me some help. When I
approach her, she tells me the apartment is a secret hideout that she
plans to use in the event that the guards beat on our door and we
need to scatter. She mentions that she has a spare key under her bed
that she's willing to give me. I'm touched by her offer, and thank
her graciously. Taking the key, I decide to continue my surveillance
of Havelock and Pendleton by inspecting their rooms. Havelock was in
his room at the time, and didn't seem to mind me snooping through his
things. Looks like my assassinations earlier today have already begun
to bear fruit, as the Lord Mole lost the vote on increasing the
city's defense budget.
As for his journal,
he appears to be getting more power-hungry, talking about the kind of
force he could wield if both Piero and Sokolov were under his
command. This is after noting my ability to perform extractions along
with assassinations. What concerns me more is the audiograph. In the
recording, Havelock is clearly growing more paranoid, worried that he
hasn't covered his tracks enough in keeping this bar, and our
operation, above water. There are also traces of an ambition about
him, saying that he'd almost prefer taking the title of Lord Regent
for himself than commanding the navy in Emily's name. I've seem this
combination of paranoia and ambition before with the current Lord
Regent, and that resulted in six months of my life gone. I have no
plans on making the same mistake a second time. You've earned my
attention Havelock, be warned. As for Pendleton, he is away on
business, his room containing another memoir. The content is
meaningless, but he seems to be growing more and more belligerent. I
imagine the deaths of his brothers are still affecting him, so who
knows what he is capable of at this point.
As I head to the
Cecelia's hiding place to snatch the Bone Charm, I think of Martin
and wonder about what he might be thinking. He's an overseer and
enemy of the Outsider. Surely by now he's seen the Mark on my left
hand. For now, he seems to be willingly ignoring it, but if pressed
by Havelock and Pendleton, I wonder how long that will last. The
bottom line is that all three of the top conspirators have a motive
to end my life as soon as this whole thing is over, and that worries
me. I'm necessary for now, which means I'm safe, but the future is
uncertain. Almost reflecting my current state of mind, the charm I
pick up is once again worthless to me. At this point I seem to only
be picking these things up to keep their power in check.
The only errand I
have left to run before turning in for the night is to check in with
Callista and Emily. Entering the lighthouse, I thank the stars that I
purchased silent boots, as Emily was just put to sleep. She seems
restless, tossing and turning as if the weight of the world is on her
shoulders. Hell, it just might be. Callista says that Emily appears
to be visibly happier when I'm here for her, but she doesn't press
the issue because we both know that I have work to do. In Callista's
audiograph, she recounts her day with Emily. I almost feel bad for
poor Callista, because she's both dealing with limited resources and
dealing with my daughter. I know that Emily can be a handful, mostly
because I know she gets it from both myself and her mother. There was
one interesting point that I'm probably putting too much stock in,
but she mentioned that when she asked for slightly more fancy ware to
have “tea parties” with Emily, Havelock and the others seems
distant. I should expect that because of the nature of this
conspiracy, but given what I suspect of them, that concerns me even
more. I give Emily a quick kiss good night, and then head to my own
room.
Right as I am about
to head to bed, a thought occurs to me. I have the energy of 5 Runes
stored within me, so maybe now is a good time to strengthen my magic.
The visions in my head once again make themselves clear. In this one,
I see a watchman sitting next to a Wall of Light. I know that I need
to get passed this wall to proceed to whatever objective I happen to
be on. It is then that I use my powers of possession, but not on a
lowly rat. Instead, I appear to be jumping into the body of the guard
himself, using him as a vessel to pass through the Wall of Light.
Intrigued, I pour my energy into this vision and acquire this
enhanced possession for myself. Now that I am thoroughly exhausted, I
lay down in my bed and rest.
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