She gestures vaguely. "The Europeans will fund anything, I think. I don't know what they thought they would find. It is simply a desert. There is nothing interesting in the desert."

...From her body language, Berhane is very clearly lying her ass off.

Or, well, she is not. She is technically only saying true facts, arranged in such a way that she is lying her ass off.

Mordred, as a veteran liar, recognizes what is going on. Although he does not say only technically true facts he just lies. Easier that way, you don't have to speak around things.

Did you know it is a sin to lie but it is not a sin to say true things in a way that misleads people. This is an important theological fact.

That's not how lying works.

But Mordred hasn't believed in sin since he was a teenager so the point's a bit moot.

"Going to talk to Acuna is an excellent idea. I hope he will tell you much more about Ayers than you would learn by staying here."

Mordred does his best to subtly indicate to Anemone that Berhane is super lying.

hmmmmmmmmm it sure seems like mordred thinks that something is UP with this.

There is some weird social thing going on he doesn't understand. Oh well.

"Can we trust you with something?"

"I can give you my word that this goes no farther." She smiles. "And I am a nun!"

Uh Huh.

Welp here goes nothing. "We think that our friend Mr. Ayers may have gotten himself into something quite dark. He was researching ancient cults before he left for Ethiopia, and I believe he hoped to find more about their origins here. And I don't think his work was ended when he died, I think that others may have followed his example. And - I worry that he may have uncovered something. Something not on the side of the angels. And the fruits of whatever he was working on is causing enough harm overseas - deaths, I think, in service to this cult that he bolstered, that - we don't really feel capable of just ignoring the situation. Even if it might be very dangerous."

...Berhane considers this.

"You should come back to the nunnery. This is not a thing I wish to discuss in public."

"That sounds good." Let's go there, then.

Berhane goes to the nunnery, leaves them in a room while she speaks privately with Mother Superior, then takes them to a quiet room in the nunnery. "Can I persuade you to leave Dallol alone?" she says. "There is nothing good for you there. There is a great evil, and the Ayers expedition tried to awake it."
 
 
 
 

Such A Face About Translating This Conversation.

"And now it is quiet and there is not a problem. The trouble will only happen if someone disturbs it."

yes yes lev was a member of an evil torture cult he did not make good decisions when he was twenty-three

"How sure are you that it isn't still awake."

"It has not moved since the volcano erupted by the grace of God."

Okay, by "the volcano erupted by the grace of God" Behane definitely means "we SUPER made the volcano erupt."

"I am in that case very grateful for the grace of God," Mordred says.

"Unfortunately, there is a problem. It's not here where you can see it, it's elsewhere, but it's not sleeping. We have already lost two friends to it. One was killed. The other was - something else. Her mind was taken. And we can't stand by and watch that continue happening to people, not if there might be something we can do about it. But we won't know what that is without more information."

Berhane looks troubled by what Anemone says. "Are you saying that elsewhere the Mouth has-- awoken?"

"Yes."

"--I will be upfront with you. I want to help. But the last time white people appeared in Mersa Fatma talking about the Mouth they worshiped it."