“Ooo? Tell me about him then, please, maybe he’ll take a little sister as an apprentice.”

"He's a genius, just like your sire," explains Casmeen. "They worked together for a long time before parting ways, and he has helped your sire with numerous projects over the years."

    "He's easy to recognise, his body is covered in cybernetics and devices, and he's often muttering to himself."

"He's not the most... sociable of your siblings. Prefers to be on his own with his machines, and even when around other people spends more time in his head than in the real world. Easily distractible."

“Oh,” she says thoughtfully. “Well, I like machines too, so maybe we could get along anyway. Any idea where I could find him?”

Casmeen shakes her head regretfully. "Hidden? Gone? Who can say. He has withdrawn."

    "Your sister might know," suggests Mimeon. "Matkina, the White Death. Skilled assassin, expert in infiltration and stealth, and makes it her business to know where your siblings are so she can stay as far away from them as she can." A shame, but she is welcome for the diversity of perspective she brings anyway.

...Aleks has heard of that one. She—used to be around the Underbelly, not too long ago.

"I can't imagine she'd appreciate me just showing up and asking, especially if she puts so much work into staying away from us. Any other ideas?"

"I don't think so," Casmeen says, shaking her head once more. "Your siblings tend to roam and wander, but any of them is as good a bet as any other. Most have not specialised as much in finding people as she has."

"Hmm. All right. Thank you. Any other really notable ones I should probably know about in advance?"

There are a few that are notable beyond being interesting to her specifically. Notably: the First Castoff, now dead, the one who rebelled against their creator and started the Endless Battle, a centuries-old war between castoffs still loyal to the Changing God and the traitors; Paj Rakken, the now-leader of the First's side of said war; The Chalcedon, main general of the Changing God; Melmoth Leviarm and Inifere, who lead two active cults; Lady Anshe, mistress of a vast commercial empire with fingers in all pies; the list goes on.

Lady Anshe sounds incredibly cool, and kind of like who she wants to be when she grows up. Not that she mentions this, but she definitely thinks it.

"Sounds like a lot of variety. And all of them are unaging and powerful and it sounds like have histories that go back centuries. But some castoffs can stay neutral in family fighting, yeah? Lady Anshe or the cults don’t favor one side or the other when it comes to the Endless Battle?”

"Correct," says Casmeen.

    "Not all can, or should, be involved in fighting off the Deceiver's forces. If all castoffs were involved in the Battle, that would mean much less of your sire's light to shine the world. The Battle is... a necessary evil, but an evil nevertheless."

“Right. Good. Because I’d much rather stay out of it and, as you said, shine light upon the world.”

Also if she did fight it would not be on her sire’s side, but these people don’t need to know that.

"Was there aught else we could help you with, revered one?" asks Mimeon.

“No, I think that’s most of what I wanted to know. And everything else sounds like I can only get by meeting some of my siblings myself. Thank you very much for your help!”

    He bows, and Casmeen follows suit. "Of course."

Aleks seems ready to go, but also... distracted. He's looking over his shoulder in the direction of the plaza where the execution was being held.

She bows back to them, then returns to Aleks to go. Upon seeing his expression and feeling his distraction, she tilts her head and looks toward the place of Augh.

“Hm?” she prompts, quietly.

The crowd that had been watching mostly-passively now seems to be chanting something and punching the air, advancing on the levies and overseer.

And at the helm is a man, his skin glowing gold brightly enough to be seen from that distance.

Ooooo.

“Well now I’m curious!” she says to Aleks, beaming.

He raises an eyebrow at her and offers her a hand.

“We could just walk, you know,” she snorts, but yes okay. She gives him her hand.

"Where's the fun in that?"

And now they are close enough to the crowd to hear what they're saying, no sudden free fall since he could just line-of-sight it.

"Free the prisoner! Let him go!" the golden man and his crowd say.

FREE THE PRISONER kill the overseer FREE THE OVERSEER no don't do that

    "I saw what you did, you rabble rouser!" says the overseer, pointing at said golden man but clearly quaking in his boots. "This is your doing!"

"Free the prisoner! Let him go!" the crowd repeats, heedless of the overseer's words.

    "...well, I'm not risking my life to intervene in the fate of a worthless piece of belly trash. If you want him, take him," he says, turning around to look at one of the levies. "Unmake the prisoner's death and retreat! He isn't worth our blood!" Said levy takes out a device like a circular mirror and squeezes its frame. The mirror spins, flashing shards of light across the death and the fleshy tendrils wrapping themselves around the prisoner, and all of it disintegrates into reddish dust. "There! Satisfied?" But without waiting for an answer he and his levies march away as the crowd surrounds the platform and cheers.

no don't let the overseer go kill him FREE THE PRISONER the prisoner is already free LET HIM GO we feel like you are not paying attention

She’s a little giddy from so much concentrated rush of victory, but it’s not an unpleasant feeling. And it’s not enough to distract from the two strange buzzing voices coming from… the gold man? The gold man’s aura?

Well, regardless.

“Executing people over days of torture is barbaric!” she yells to the overseer, because no really what the fuck, dude.

    Yeah he's not staying to pay attention to whatever this crazy crowd is saying, he's gone.

The golden man, meanwhile, notices her and beams at her.

A PRINCESS kill her SHE'S A LOVE INTEREST talk to her first

The crowd starts to disperse once it is clear the man is free, with one exception: a man in an orange and purple outfit walks up to the platform to check on the ex-prisoner. They start exchanging quick words, and it's clear the prisoner is... not thrilled to be there.

"You did that?" asks Aleks, ignoring them in favour of following the castoff towards the golden man. "...good job."