“Do you have a telephone here?” Marcus stretched and shot up, defying the expectation of everyone: “I o make a call. Gloria and her friends would o know this.”

  “There’s a ndline in there.” Kevin poi the inner room: “Also, keep the versation short. It’s supposed to be a secure line, but the teology is kinda old and the masking may get noticed if the e is maintained for too long - ”

  “Yes and avoid redialing too many times or too fast if you ’t get through.” Mick added from the side: “These kinds of calls may draw attention to your e.”

  “Got it, anything else that could help us?” Marodded.

  “Ask her about any trated electrical pce or ‘sanctuary’ from the paranormal.” Keryn snapped her fingers: “It’s a long shot but those people might be there, or at least, they may have a safe house of their own there.”

  “You’ve got it.” Marcus went inside: “But no promise though, she might still be offline. We only plug in once we’re safe.”

  The others followed aheir ears peeled for the versation. Marcus seheir doing so, but did not feel like objeg. The more information to share, the better the crity.

  He dialed the number while looking at his phone. He had not had her number memorized. Maybe he should.

  The ph for a few times before she finally picked up: “Who is this?”

  “Gloria, this is Marcus.”

  “What? Why are you using this phone number!?”

  “plicated, I only call you on this secure line. Are you safe?”

  “Yes, I am safe now. ” Gloria let out a breath of relief but was still tense: “Wait, answer me this: hoeople did we see in the ruins?”

  “One.” Marcus responded without a doubt: “How many questions did we ask each?”

  “Two questions.” Gloria finally rexed: “Okay. Good. What do you need?”

  “First of all I have some intelligeo share with you. Just know that we are not a hundred pert sure of the authenticity and accuracy.” Marcus sighed, then proceeded to give Gloria a summarized rundown of almost everything they discussed, mainly Blue Envelope 1148 and their versation with Luo Zhuge about it.

  “That’s - that’s helpful. Thank you.” Gloria took this information surprisingly well: “And I guess it’s actually somewhat reassuring that you have two sides to the story. And - I am ing to the clusion that your surprised visitor was telling the truth.”

  “Really? He was telling the truth?” Marcus deliberately asked with his voice slightly raised: “What made you say that?”

  “Because we have tried to dig into the sources in our district, and acc to the records of the collective, the city has been behaving in a very suspicious way. But - thank you for telling me about this - this Borrowed Fate of Three Spirits spell. We finally put a name on it, and it helps.”

  “Okay, gd to know. ” Marodded: “What are you pnning on doi?”

  “I’m gonna go look into some things before we head out. I mean, your data ter idea is good. But - there’s still an issue of - ” She talked to someone on her side, a slightly distant and faint female voice Marcus could not make out: “ - sorry, there’s still an issue of how we could even fight or repair this situation. So - now we know - what we know, we still o know how to properly fix the situation.”

  “Good choice. I’ll be going to the master I told you about for advice. Will you be ing along?”

  “I’m afraid no. I’ll o go with my friends to che some clues.” Gloria answered: “Call me or e find me when you’re done, huh? I imagine we’d have plenty of things to talk about.”

  “Yeah I also have one more thing - more of a favor to ask, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure, what do you need?”

  “Do you have a pce where my colleagues and family could hide?” Marcus asked, nervous about what Gloria would say.

  “A pce to hide? Don’t you - ” Gloria sounded surprised: “Oh! Luo Zhuge? He found you in your safe house?”

  “Yeah. And through some - disturbing means as well. ” Marcus sighed.

  “Okay, do you have a way to avoid being tracked?”

  “Unfortunately no, I only have some idea on how to minimize the effectiveness. ”

  “Give me a sed.” Gloria might have covered the phoh her hand to discuss with those around her.

  It only took her arouo fifteen seds before she came back with an answer: “Yeah sure, for a short moment anyways. Go to the same cafe shop we met earlier. The owner would leave an address for you. ge clothes and take a shower there. Anything he might have left a trag mark on, you lock it in the safe. How many of you will be there?”

  Marcus thought for a moment: “Five of us will be going, but only 4 of us will stay. I will e back ter after handling things - and seeking advice.”

  “I want to go - ” Kevin wao interject but was shushed by Marcus with a raised finger.

  “Perfect, you’ll have 5 suits of peasant clothes. ge everything. And don’t fet to tip.”