Leareth swears internally - he’s picking up some fascinating edges of fragments, but Asher’s mind moves fast and he has no idea how to parse any of it.

He nods briskly in Asher’s direction, letting the faintest hint of impatience show, as though his mind has already moved on to more important matters.

"You got a name?"

Leareth has ascertained some time ago that people in Lev’s world go by given names and surnames which don’t quite match the schema in his homeland. He could choose a name to fit in, but he’s worried he won’t reliably respond to it.

”Leareth,” he says, and reaches at random for a name from the ‘Bible’ he’s been so recently reading. “Abraham Leareth.”

"Interesting name. For a second there I thought you were Mormon. --Suppose I can't rule it out."

Leareth gives him a polite, blank stare. He can’t grab enough context from Asher’s surface thoughts to figure out the relevance of ‘Mormon’. :Lev, what does he mean?:

:They believe different things about what God is like. 'Leareth' sounds Mormon because Mormons all have incredibly weird names to our ears.:

"Without saying whether I know anything about getting fake documentation, I'd speculate that there is a procedure for getting documentation that ensures safety and anonymity for everyone involved, and that I'd expect people getting undercover identities to know about. And if someone comes directly to me to get their documentation-- if I were the sort of person who makes fake documents, which of course I am not, I'm just spitballing here-- I'd guess they were probably a particularly badly done attempt to test my loyalty and turn them in for the reward."

aaaaaaaa this is not a fact lev knew at all

In hindsight this isn’t surprising at all. Leareth isn’t sure how much he ought to downgrade his trust in Lev’s general judgement, given Lev’s utter failure to see it coming. He mentally upgrades his assessment of Asher’s competence a few notches.

Plans flash through his mind. Knock the man unconscious with magic and run? No, he’ll remember Lev’s visit and might act against him. Attempt to block the memories of the last 5 min? He’s not a Mindhealer, he’ll botch it. Literally place a compulsion-spell? Maybe, but Leareth needs a lot more context to finagle that, and he’s far from having exhausted his options.

:Lev, stay calm: Leareth sends, and then Reaches to check Asher’s surface thoughts. He dares one more step - uses his magic to create a sharp thump from the window, a moment’s distraction, and then dives in deeper. Lev caught him at it, but Lev knew he was a mage; if Asher notices anything even with the diversion, he’ll be hard-pressed to land on that hypothesis.

Procedure, he prompts, a bare whisper of thought that, distracted, Asher should have a very hard time distinguishing from his own thoughts. Asher’s done his homework, here. Where do legitimate agents usually go? 

Legitimate agents who need a fake ID wouldn't go through Asher; they'd go to an underground ring the Eyes are bribing, don't bother to prosecute, and have blackmail material on. There are ways to put your fake ID into the Eyes' computer system so that it looks like a real person when someone runs a check on you. That's Asher's value-add. Because he's an Eye, he can put fake IDs for dissidents through the same procedures that the fake agents use. His services are very expensive. 

Leareth does some very, very fast thinking, while continuing to look mildly at Asher, wearing a mask of boredom beginning to leak irritation. 

:Lev: he sends, words limited only by the speed of thought. :I need a story for why we cannot use the usual method here, which is apparently to go through a secret criminal organization that the Eyes are bribing and have levers against. One option is to claim that we are investigating...hmm, we cannot say the ring itself, since the Eyes have an agreement not to prosecute. We could be infiltrating a 'target' that we cannot specify for security reasons, but which is few enough degrees of separation from said underground crime group that we cannot risk leaking any warning of our approach. Perhaps we let it be ambiguous whether this target is within the Eyes. What do you think?: 

He hesitates. :If we are not sure whether our story will be convincing enough, one thing my magic can do, which I have not mentioned, is to place compulsion-spells. A very mild compulsion could nonetheless help render a slightly suspicious tale more believable: 

Whether or not Asher notices Leareth's swift mental probe will give him more information about how risky that would be. Compulsions generally aren't noticeable from the inside, but a sufficiently quick-witted person might suspect, and Asher...has no shortage of wits. Leareth has placed thousands of compulsions, if not millions, and he's hardly squeamish about it, but somehow the idea of using one on someone intelligent is distasteful. 

:Another option: he adds, still lightning-fast; less than ten seconds have passed. :We bring him in on our secret, and request his help: Asher's little side business hints that his relationship with the Eyes may be somewhat more complicated than earnest loyalty. He knows a great many more of the Eyes' secrets than Lev. Leareth can't predict Asher's reaction to such an offer – he hasn't managed to get near Asher's feelings about God – but he is honestly very tempted by the idea of Asher joining their tiny alliance against an evil God. 

Still, it's a huge risk to take. :Lev, you know him better. How do you think he would respond?: 

Asher blinks. Something feels strange about his brain, but he doesn't know what it could be. Anyway, he should be focusing on these people trying to get him executed for treason.

(If Leareth pokes around a bit, he'll notice that Asher is deeply and profoundly bored.)

:I don't know that he's loyal to anything. He's not a true believer in Cascadia or Canada or a true believer in Gilead. I think he just likes money.:

:I think: Leareth sends to Lev, :that we can offer him something even better: Something interesting, for once. And if the man's only loyalty is to hard coin – well, Leareth has never had any qualms about working with mercenaries, some of his world's best armies rely on them. He's sure that, especially with the advice of someone like Asher, he can find a way to turn his unknown-to-this-world Gifts into adequate piles of money.

:However, this is not a good place to have that conversation: he adds. :The man is aware enough of his own mind to have slightly noticed my intrusion, though he does not suspect yet: How could he? Given what he knows, it's an incredibly unlikely explanation. :I doubt I can use a mild compulsion to slip us by without suspicion. Instead, I propose that we give our cover story, and I slip in a Mindspeech note to meet us later if he wishes to know more: 

Aaaaand he's been silent for too long already. Lev isn't loudly vetoing the plan, so Leareth forges ahead. 

"As I already said," Leareth says with a flicker of impatience, "there are good reasons why we cannot use the standard procedure for this type of request. There are certain related parties that, if they come to hear of it, would cause difficulties, and as I'm sure you know, some less savory types of, ah, service providers, cannot be expected to be perfectly trustworthy, no matter how strong the hold on them." He slips in something that isn't quite a wink. "And, as stated, we can afford it. I do understand that a person who could provide what we need via a different route – we are of course not claiming that you are such a person – might wish for time to consider it, and to make certain checks, if they are concerned about tests of their loyalty."  

Leareth rests a probe on Asher's mind, a little more firmly. :Do not react: Asher's surely a skilled enough actor to obey. :If you wish to learn of an interesting secret – and perhaps to secure a much larger payment – be outside the nearby CPK tonight at sundown: It's the first place he can think of that isn't Lev's apartment or office. :Come alone and without listening devices: He's going to need to spend the next few hours quickly experimenting with ways that his magic can detect or, at worst, destroy such artifacts. 

He holds his Thoughtsensing open to sense Asher's response, readying his power to slam down a compulsion if the man reacts poorly, hoping that he won't need to use it. 

Well, that's new.

...Honestly, if they have telepathy, they don't have to give him money, he would totally just show up to find out what all this is about.

He keeps his faces perfectly blank and thinks as distinctly as possible absolutely. See you there.

:That was easier than expected: Leareth sends to Lev, reassuring. :He is curious enough to meet us later – I told him to come to the restaurant where you took me earlier: And he and Lev can show up concealed by illusion, just in case Asher is under watch by the Eyes, or shows up with thugs to arrest them, or something else unexpected happens. 

To Asher, he gives a terse nod. "I understand if you cannot help us. We will be going, then." 

"It's unfortunate! I wish you the best of luck in understanding correct procedure."

Once they're outside, Lev says :Not a great start to my first attempt at spystuff.:

:We knew we were going to be improvising. This will be far more valuable than I expected if it gains us an ally, even a hired one – though I suspect Asher is a mercenary who might be paid in interesting puzzles as well as money, and he is unlikely to find a better source to betray us to: Mindreading is useful.

Leareth keeps his expression neutral, but he's smiling internally. :What is 'quantum mechanics'? I caught him thinking about it but it was not exactly a good time to ask: 

:The study of the fundamental particles that make up the universe. They're very very small-- like, an atom is as small compared to a person as a person is to a star. Uh. Do you know how big stars are? --Does your world even have stars like ours?:

There's an image of a sun rotating around a disc carried on the back of four elephants carried on the back of a turtle.

:We are not exactly sure how stars work in our world: Leareth admits. :From observations our astronomers can make, the current best understanding is that our world is a very large sphere of rock, rotating around a star – our sun – and that most likely other stars are similar but extremely distant. Well, many societies over time: including most of the extant ones, :have thought that the sun rotated around the world, but I personally find the other theory more compelling. I am fairly sure turtles and...what is that thick-legged creature? In any case I am fairly sure they are not involved:

:We do have the concept of 'atom': he adds, :in terms of fundamental particles that make up mundane matter, but scholars understand very little beyond that. It may of course be different between our worlds, however, I would be delighted if there were treatises you could share: 

After he catches up on the Bible. Understanding God is the first priority here. 

:You saw that?: (They get in Lev's car.) :That's not real, it's from a story about a work where magic exists. I guess that's what I think of when I think of worlds that have an alternative sun arrangement. --We named atoms atoms but it turns out they're made of several kinds of even more fundamental particles and that's what quantum mechanics studies.:

:I see: Amusing. :Does your sun work the way I described for ours, then, or a different way? There must be a great deal of scholarship on the topic, in a civilization this advanced: 

Leareth is enjoying the conversation. And wondering if Asher will prove to be this interesting to talk to once he’s not playing dumb in the role of an Eye. Assuming he agrees to join their cause, that is. Leareth needs to brainstorm ways to gauge his willingness before revealing a dangerous amount. 

And atoms. :Even smaller fundamental particles?: He’s...almost awed. It might be the first time in centuries that he’s experienced that emotion. :How do your scholars even study that? Atoms are far too small to see:

:Yeah, that's basically right, although we know more about the composition of the sun and exactly how large it is and how far away and so on. We study the fundamental particles partially by doing math and partially by building giant underground tubes larger than cities and smashing atoms into each other at incredibly high speeds and then using machines to look at what comes out.:

:...You can do that? And use it to understand what matter is made of?: All right, fine, Leareth is awed now and if they didn’t have an evil God to fight already he would be instantly dropping everything in order to learn about this and try to replicate it in his own world. 

:This is probably a digression: he admits, :unless the science of atoms is likely to be relevant in fighting God: