Invictus was surprised.
In a sea of kneeling Nativeworlders, their shoddy Mind Palaces unable to withstand the force of his connection with Valley Ford's defense array, there were two that still stood. A boy who didn't even look like he'd properly registered that the array had activated and a girl whose palace seemed to be slightly worse than his — but still far superior to that of the rabble around them.
They both bore status obscuring equipment. He could have blown through the magical protection in an instant to reveal them, but he stayed his hand. At this stage of a newly inducted world, it wasn't impossible for a native to get a Mind Palace this powerful… but it was unlikely.
There was a nonzero possibility that he was looking at Otherworders.
Invictus only hesitated for an instant. He had been alive for too long to spare any more time than that, but it took him a moment to dig through his mind and try and remember if there were any unaccounted for Outworlders that should have still been present in Valley Ford. There were a few that had passed through the city, but an Assembly had been called almost an hour ago.
An Assembly I very much need to be at. If I don't get there soon, the other families will rip me apart and I'll lose out on a huge number of Credits. But I can't just leave two Outworlders sitting around while I leave. The risk is too great. I shut down the portals the moment we realized there was a Town Token in the area. There shouldn't have been time for another family to send anyone through, which means if they are from a family, their arrival would have have to be by coincidence. But not many families would have sent people into the Great Tide's area without any reason…
Could they be Crestless Outworlders?
Invictus dismissed the thought almost instantly.
No. A Crestless wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal themselves . Then… who are they? I need to find out. There are too many things in motion to allow for a loose cog to bring all of our work crashing down around us.
If they were Outworlders, he couldn't afford to leave them wandering around the city while he was gone. And if they weren't… planet 274-50 was creating threats to compete with the families far faster than he had expected.
No matter what they were, they had to be dealt with one way or another.
He extended a hand toward them and a tendril of water pulled away from the rivers flowing through the sky to join the ocean far above. In a blur, the magic twisted down and formed into a rippling, translucent disk before his feet.
Invictus stepped onto the watery platform and it lowered until it rested just a few feet above the top of the wall. The crowd parted around them as people dragged themselves out of the way, sending a mixture of awed, jealous, and fearful looks in his direction.
He ignored them all. There were only two people whose reaction he was interested in right now. Finding out if someone was an Outworlder when they didn't want to be known could be… problematic.
Everything would have been simpler if he had a few moments to speak to his subordinates. They had records of who had entered and left the city; records of everyone who had attended the Ocean's Tide store and what they had sold and purchased.
Fortunately, there were other ways to go about determining the identity of an Outworlder.
"Welcome to Valley Ford," Invictus boomed, his words echoing through the air to grace the ears of everyone on the wall though they were only meant for the two standing before him. "I hope you can all place your trust in us. The world is changing, but the Great Tide Family endeavors to ensure that life is as safe and comfortable as possible for all those who have earned the privilege to reside within our walls."
The crowd erupted with murmured appreciation and hurried nods. Invictus was certain he'd have gotten a similar response if he informed everyone that he'd had a particularly large bowel movement that morning.
He could taste fear in the air. His demonstration had worked perfectly. The Nativeworlders had been given a taste of the power of Valley Ford. A fair number of them would remain in the city for as long as they could, accepting the Great Tide's shelter — and staying out of their way.
Not all of them, of course. Many would continue on as they had. Invictus wasn't particularly bothered by that. There would always be road bumps. The more intelligent Nativeworlders would realize that sitting around and hiding within a city forever would only hinder them. And among the people that seemed entirely uninterested in promises of safety were the two that had garnered his interest.
"Can we go now?" the boy asked in a low tone, scratching the back of his neck. His words would have been swallowed by the rumble of the crowd if Invictus hadn't focused his Master Stage senses directly on him and his companion. "I was hoping to get a good fight in, but it looks like that's dealt with, so I don't just want to stand around here forever."
"Wait until he's done with his speech," the girl muttered in response. Her voice was ever so slightly louder than his, but both of them spoke quietly enough that it seemed they did not think Invictus could hear their words. "It's not like we'll have to wait in line to sell anything with the others. We can just go right up to the next floor and sell to the clerk up there."
Invictus blinked. That did imply that they were Outworlders. If they knew about Credits, it was highly likely… but it still wasn't an absolute answer. Neither was getting to the upper floors of the Ocean's Tide. It should have been limited to exclusively Outworlders, but if they were natives working with another family, it was possible they might have been able to deceive someone.
Invictus made it a point to only trust work that he had verified himself, and that hadn't failed him yet. He wasn't about to change his strategies today.
I need to determine their purpose.
"Off with you all. Don't let your days waste," Invictus boomed, flicking his hands to dismiss the crowd even as his watery platform carried him forward. People streamed away at his command, rushing to take advantage of the twenty percent discount he'd placed on products that had been marked up by a few hundred percent before anyone had even laid eyes on them.
A grin threatened to pull across his lips. Even through his curiosity toward the potential Outworlders, there were few things he enjoyed more than a good deal — especially when he came out on top.
After all, when you control the supply, then the price is exactly what you want it to be.
The two points of interest made to join the rest of the crowd, but Invictus had no plans to let them wander off. They might have been Outworlders. They might have been natives with a good source of information, or perhaps they were just lucky. It didn't matter. Anyone, even members of another family, could be useful.
After all, there were no treaties on a newly initialized planet.
Invictus stepped off the watery platform, cutting off his new guests a moment before they could slip past him.
"A moment of your time, please," Invictus said, crossing his arms behind his back as a polite smile crossed his features. "I would like to have a word."
Alex held a straight face even as a grimace tried to pull across his lips. Invictus was not someone whose attention he'd been hoping to garner. It hadn't even crossed his mind that he should have faked getting hit by the pressure along with the rest of the crowd.
Shit. This is less than ideal. It's not like we can easily distance ourselves from him now, but I doubt he'd want to make a big scene in front of everyone.
The rest of the crowd continued to filter away around them. Alex could tell that a lot of people wanted to stay to see what was going on, but the guards on the wall drove away the last of the rubberneckers, leaving the group isolated on the top of the wall.
It's not like we had much chance to properly blend in after the first time we went shopping here, but this certainly isn't going to help.
Claire gave Invictus a winning grin. "We wouldn't mind the delay so long as it gives us more of a discount."
Invictus snorted. "I'm sure we can arrange something. You're selling, yes? We can give you some extra Shells—"
"Credits." Claire's voice lost a note of its cheer. "We prefer real currencies."
"You are Outworlders," Invictus said. His expression tightened. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be here."
"Why not? Your people were more than happy to take a Core that we worked hard to get," Claire said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "So you're happy to take advantage of our efforts, but not to let us get a look at what you're capable of? That hardly seems fair."
"This is the Great Tide's city," Invictus said, matching her tone. "What family are you from?"
"One that would prefer not to reveal more than they have to." Claire tapped a finger against her outer thigh. "The scales are evened here. There aren't any treaties, but there aren't enemies either. Not unless you go looking for them. We aren't here to cause trouble but go digging and that's what you'll find."
Invictus titled his head to the side. "An interesting observation. Not one an ally would typically make. Care to tell me why it is that you're lurking amidst the crowds instead of attending the Assembly?"
Assembly? What, is everyone supposed to be gathered up in a big hall and sat in bleachers listening to someone give a vaguely inspirational speech?
"We were waylaid," Claire said with a half-shrug. She was really good at sounding like she knew what she was talking about while simultaneously having absolutely no idea. Either that or she actually knew what the Assembly was from her time with the Nightmarch family and just hadn't been able to tell Alex yet.
"Waylaid," Invictus repeated. He didn't sound amused. "I'm certain you were, and you weren't just observing our defenses. Perhaps you would like to accompany me there, then? I will arrange for safe passage, of course. It's my duty as a Town Ruler to ensure all Outworlders within the protection of my walls are granted safe passage to a location from where they can attend the Assembly — especially given the circumstances for this one. That Town Token is drawing a lot of attention from this area of the Subsector. There may be no treaties on 274-50, but I think we all know that doesn't hold true once the planet ages. Your actions today will affect tomorrow, yes?"
Alex made sure to keep himself from glancing at Claire. She seemed to have Invictus quite convinced she knew what she was talking about, and he was more concerned with figuring out exactly what it was that Invictus was saying.
This Assembly was called for the Town Token somehow? Is it some sort of discussion between Outworlder families about it? How much are they cheating?
If that's what it is, there could be invaluable information there. If we can just sit in, we might overhear a ton of the information I'm missing about Outworlders. But if we make one misstep, our cover gets blown. Shit. This isn't good, but I don't think we have any good way to refuse.
Claire seemed to have the same idea.
"We'd be rude to refuse," she said. "Please. Lead the way."