Hello, a voice says in Cam's head.

"WHOA fuck I forgot there was a psychic cat excuse me." Out he goes again.

"Bean Sprout! Don't bother the guest!" calls Maggie, following him at a slower pace down the stairs. "Did she talk to you? She usually keeps to herself, but she must be curious."

"It's not talking I'm worried about, I'm concerned about the mindreading, there was a lot going on when I heard about this and I had the impression that maybe she was mostly about seeing the future or something and not telepathy," says Cam, making his way as briskly as he can without tumbling. "What's her range?"

"I'm not too sure, to be frank—it was only half the house when she was a kitten but she's grown quite a bit now—BEAN SPROUT, CAM DOESN'T WANT YOU IN HIS HEAD!"

A moment to catch her breath, then, "I think she should listen to me. I don't think the telepathy is quite mindreading. You have to... think out loud, for her to hear."

A white cat with violet eyes—three of them, an extra on her forehead—slinks in the front doorway and meows at Cam.

"That’s good to know... is that her?"

"Yes... oh, she's telling me that she can project her words at you without reading your thoughts for the reply and then you can just speak out loud to talk back."

"Sure. Works for me."

Apologies for the scare. I didn't realize it would spook you that much. Mom already said it, but thank you again for helping those two young ones.

"I'm not very good at judging ages on cats, how old are they? - but you're welcome."

Solaire is nine. Sir Meowalot, I believe, eleven. Not nearly the youngest to go on errantry, but then, no other quest has been nearly as... dire.

I wanted to ask about what happened down in the Core. What I saw in Zaratana's mind was deeply confusing, for all its calamitous implication. Solaire has told me what he knows, but I am hoping you may know or have noticed more.

"Uh, lots of stuff happened, I got these zombies as souvenirs and want to know more about what the deal is with zombies. Where do you want me to start?"

The obelisk that laid within the Coven of Thirteen. Zaratana feared it and believed it would... crack the world open, somehow. It was the ultimate object of her obsession; of the demons and cultists that guarded it, she only bore the vaguest impressions. The Coven is now dissolved, their ambitions ended, yet the obelisk remains. Not destroyed, but... activated? sealed? sanctioned? The imagery I gleaned from Solaire's mind tells me little. The quest appears complete, but the outcome I do not understand. Does the obelisk remain a danger? Should the wretched ones beneath the Bunker work their profane arts upon it once more, is the planet at risk? I am unused to this worries; they are too large for me. Did you derive any more from the events of today that might put my mind at ease?

"The people who were trying to end the world made a mistake that brought me here instead of the world-ender they were expecting. I think the obelisk is out of commission but I couldn't guess if it respawns and I didn’t stop to interview anyone else in the place about their plans."

From what Solaire saw, the obelisk... floated into the air, glowed red, and stripped the Coven of its powers and possibly its life... perhaps those two being the same thing. The last is encouraging, but I would be more reassured had it... shattered into pieces, or turned to dust, or even vanished into nothing. Perhaps there is something in the seeing that was not conferred in Solaire's memories second-hand; such a viewing is always lossy. Solaire also was not concerned about the possibility of returning danger.

"I didn’t think to take video at the time."

Perhaps I worry too much. I will ask mom to ask Dr. Beanies since I understand that you helped Solaire acquire the scans he requested.

"Yeah, I replaced the busted equipment, I hope that helps."

Tumbo Wumbo says it is abnormal for a body to become a zombie immediately upon death without necromancer intervention, but that it is also abnormal for multiple humans to be globbed together into a horrifying flesh construct and subsequently dissolved by an ominous black obelisk. Although he does know a ritual to create a horrifying flesh construct by sacrificing a pound of flesh from three or more cats... I do not think that was helpful and I do not believe he has anything more useful to contribute.

"Are the zombies likely to be stably like this or do they need to eat or anything?"

Zombies do not need to eat, drink or breathe. They gain mobility, strength and aggression over time but not more than their original living bodies were mobile and strong.

"Do they have experiences?"

They do not have—continuous experiences. It is as if they are having fragments of dreams, not truly aware. They sometimes experience flashes of... sense-recollection, or subconscious association. Aggression or fear. Hunger. It is deeply unpleasant. Like drifting in and out of a feverish nightmare.

"Well fuck."