"What happened? Who was -- how did you??" Zoe is not sure what question she's even trying to ask.

"The second in command in Malta is Peter Lukas. Someone in the hospital hit me over the head with a blackjack and then Peter Lukas wanted to have a conversation. He thinks my name is Thomas Lee and he doesn't know about any of you, I can try to remember how much I told him we know at some point that is not now. He offered me a job, I was very close to pretending to accept, he wanted me to take Nectar about it and I said no, he took me to the car -- please tell me you did not blow your cover about it -- and threw me off the cliff and I drowned and didn't die."

He sounds extremely detached from all this.

Also, he hasn't blinked a single time since he showed up.

"That last part's pretty weird. Are you, uh, hurt?"

"Everything hurts and I can't tell what if anything is lasting damage as opposed to bruises or, uh, having recently drowned. I don't know how I didn't die either, I assume it has to do with the not being human?"

Well she will see whether she can tell whether there's anything that needs to be done about the head injury, maybe, head injuries can be nasty and you wouldn't want it to rip open again. She doesn't actually know much of anything about this but it seems like the sort of thing one might want to do in this situation.

"I'm not actually sure how to get three of us back to town on the motorcycle. I suppose I should have thought about that. Oh well." They can do some fox-and-goose-and-grain shenanigans to get back to Valletta.

"We didn't blow our cover, I couldn't think of a way to help you that wouldn't just get us all killed so we waited. It was awful," Zoe says on the way back. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Oh. Good," Mordred says, very sincerely.

And Zoe, Anita, and Mordred return!

"Oh thank god Araari you're okay," Mordred says when he gets to the hotel room.

"Also, hi, I'm not dead and I'm really sorry about everything."
 
 
 
 

apparently COMING BACK TO LIFE is ALSO something people lev cares about do a lot????

Mordred is going to be hugged now.
 

Okay. That can happen. Hi Lev.

Wow everyone here is very dramatic about people dying. You would think they hadn't done this before.

Do not fault Lev for being dramatic he has been through an excessive amount.

He is going to hold onto Mordred very tightly. Like he might get kidnapped by cultists and die again if Lev lets go.

Mordred is very awkward and still vaguely sticky from salt but Lev can do that.

does Lev LOOK like he cares.

“Yes, I’m okay— you’re okay—?”

"I drowned and then didn't die and everything hurts a lot but I am pretty sure I'm okay."

"What did I say?" he says shakily from the floor. "Anita and Zoe were on it."

"So, uh," Lev says, just as shakily. "What did-- everyone learn?"

"I learned that the factory is stupid and is either making some impenetrable cult technology or is making nothing at all. Not sure which it is. I did steal a bunch of financial records for Oswald to look over, though."

Zoe learned that no one is safe and she's useless to protect them. "The warehouse seemed like basically any warehouse, except it stored and shipped Nectar."

"Peter Lukas knows my face but not my name and doesn't know about any of you guys. Also, I learned that I can drown and not die."

"That's pretty cool. Spooky. But cool."

"Thanks, I'll look at those." Something simple and concrete! "Pretty sure we know how to get to the Mouth, there's a stairway in the middle of the warehouse leading down and they were bringing the Nectar from there. Oh, we got hired as security in particular, not sure how specifically that helps but it might come in handy."

"--It was Victoria Prescott who knocked Mordred out? She's the one that hired us."