Better not linger in her starting place too much longer. Yellow's faster than her and may have already come home to a wreck. Thorn might have a habit of checking up on the place, even, just in case. She's invisible, inaudible, unsmellable - that won't help if he sends someone thorough. Or comes in person.
She sets out.
She's been flying for about thirty minutes after her shopping trip when she falls through a tear and squeaks inaudibly and lands in the middle of -
Promise's bodyguards are invisible, because she likes the combination of increased and decreased intimidation factor. If anyone goes so far as to actually suggest that she's in Cauldron's pocket, that will be interesting; so long as it confines itself to obvious suspicion she won't dignify it with a response.
The eventual consensus is more or less what Promise and Cauldron talked about earlier. Drop the doomsday device on Scion, and if the gate takes time to open Promise can try talking to him. One of the Suits asks her whether there are other fairies who would do the same, since no one knows how long it would take. And if any part of this results in Scion starting to kill everyone, Cauldron can provide transportation to the scene of the fight with their Scion-proof portal network. The Protectorate's handful of gates has been officially outdone.
Moord Nag says that she will help fight if necessary, in exchange for five thousand lives fed to her pet. The Doctor is prevented from immediately agreeing because of Promise's orders, but that doesn't mean she and the Number Man can't try to convince the others that it's an acceptable trade.
Promise would like to know where, exactly, anyone proposes to get five thousand lives for Moord Nag's pet.
The Number Man answers. "The first land mass he shatters, before all the survivors drown. With our portal network occupied bringing in defenders, there will be no shortage of people who cannot be saved. And Moord Nag may be able to stall Scion long enough to prevent the second land mass by herself. An exact answer would depend on Scion's chosen method of mass destruction if it comes to a fight and on how quickly the scavenger can travel."
Eidolon takes his lead from Alexandria and stays silent, but Legend says "Absolutely not" and most of the heroes in the room back him up.
"Declining her offer risks condemning millions," the Doctor insists. "At least."
Promise avoids looking speculatively at Moord Nag. "Does it strictly have to be deaths?" she inquires. "Of humans, in particular? Not the already-deceased; not sacrificial Nilbog creations; not some kind of mild inconvenience for some number of fairies...?"
(The heroes, and most villains too, are pretty okay with the idea of Moord Nag not becoming vastly more powerful.)
"It seems worth checking the other possibilities. I am sure I can borrow some sub-sapient construct and locate a suicidal fairy if the tests interest you."
"If there is a fight," the Doctor reminds everyone. "Keep in mind this is a condition within a condition." Somehow no one is reassured.
She continues working on Moord Nag's name. Possibly to be held in abeyance until after kabloom, but it will be nice not to have to hunt for it in the moment if something comes up.
"Some of us need more preparation than others. The Protectorate's tinkers can hardly fight Scion in their everyday equipment. Shall we make it a month?"
"That kind of delay would risk the public finding out. Or worse, Scion," says a woman wearing a gauntlet so red the color is visible in silhouette. "And if Cauldron is to be believed about the number of worlds at stake, any chance of that can tip the scales."
"There's going to be some tradeoff between preparedness and immediacy; the question is where on the spectrum between 'not even bothering to hold this meeting' and 'just waiting for Scion to attack first' it should be. How much of a difference will a month make, here, for what percentile of Tinker? Low-grade Taught won't make a difference with a year to work; String Theory may have rendered everyone else redundant with a week; what's the median and what would they be accomplishing with their time?"
"Call it a week for the stronger tinkers to refurbish or rebuild what they used for Endbringer fights, two months for the vast majority to start from scratch and finish any weapon they can build. The other factor, as Rukavitsa says, is that this endeavor is no longer secret. When it gets out to the public, we can expect widespread panic, and there will be something Scion can pick up on."
"He could have picked up on us having this conversation or String Theory building her doomsday weapon or Cauldron having existed to oppose him. If the panic can be kept to a low hum of conspiracy theory - selectively informing the handful of best tinkers, perhaps, and only allowing a week or two, not months - it seems unlikely to exceed whatever threshold he's using."
"We did ask for representatives for a reason. We need numbers in any fight, and there are teams here, not individuals.
After leaving, tell only people who would benefit from preparation, and only if they would do the same. It is laughably unlikely to keep a secret for any length of time, but a head start on preparation over publicity is the best we can hope for."
"Where should I bring test subjects for you?" she asks Moord Nag.
Most groups don't leave. Some factions had unofficial agreements with each other against escalating in firepower, and are discussing suspending them. Others ask Promise about Fairyland's availability either as a place to hide from Scion or as a place to attack him from.
Fairyland is available as both things. For security reasons, Promise needs to believe that she could if necessary evict or contain anyone who would like to enter it unless they seem impeccably trustworthy somehow.
"In Fairyland, you have everyone else outnumbered," comes a Gesellschaft voice. "And very plausibly outplanned and certainly outgunned." Fairyland's existence is better-known than Hawthorn's; it's an easy mistake to make. "Even if you're hosting people selected for being able to hurt Scion, do you really anticipate trouble removing them?"
"Not for most people, but there might be someone, and they would have to give me their name to be welcome."
"Not that it will come up," Alexandria announces, "because cooperating on this is going to be taken as seriously as an Endbringer truce. Most of the groups here have participated in those fights, and those that haven't at least know how little tolerance there is for infighting or betrayal." She stares down the speaker.
"Speaking of which, it's possible I should formally incorporate into the Kept the few vassals who I allowed to be conventionally imprisoned before establishing myself. Lung and Bakuda could be useful."
"Possibly. We can negotiate something afterward," says Alexandria, who is entirely in favor and will insist on throwing in Oni Lee and Kaiser.
Promise doesn't exactly object to showing power as long as it doesn't look like she's trying too hard. She adds to her to-do list.