"Would you like to dictate a message to send to her for me?"

He raises an eyebrow. "No one has even tried to present me with a case that you people don't constitute multiple interest groups who don't all fully trust each other." (Wow, he feels so stupid pretending secrets are a thing he can have.)

"...okay, I can just let her office know that you'd like to speak to her, then."

"Thank you."

They do something with a device, then look up from it and smile again.

The smiling is really obnoxious. He smiles back. It's kind of obviously forced.

"She'll be able to find you in the Lórien if you wait there."

"The what?"

"The forest."

"Thanks." Back to the creepy mindreading forest. At least the creepy mindreading forest has literally never done anything objectionable.

It continues in this unobjectionable vein. What kind of forest would he like to walk into?

He isn't really consciously thinking about that but a canyon full of fascinating rock formations and odd little trees growing in strange places would be nice, especially if it also had a few flowers and a bright blue sky.

Oh look, right over there. Bonsai harvester's dream.

He sits and stares at a strange tree, scowling.

It rustles gently in a light breeze of the precisely correct temperature.

Scooooowwwwwl. He tries not to let it be apparent that this is a vaguely fond sort of scowl because he's pretty sure he'd be unalloyedly annoyed if he hadn't noticed that the forest was a sweet honest secret mindreader. "Hate this stupid forest," he mutters. Please don't feel bad, he thinks.

The forest gives no indication of feeling bad. A hawk circles overhead. A little lizard clings to the canyon wall.

Probably she won't show up. Oh, well. It doesn't really matter. He would probably be pretty close to lying down and giving up forever at this point even if he thought the forest could neither read minds nor see the future.

There's a nice spot to lie down over there, if he wants.

Somebody comes trotting up behind him. It's the teleporter guy. "Sovereign Ristrell said you maybe wanted to come back?"

"I had something to say to her if she wants to hear it."

"- I don't think she's going to come here in person, but I can take you back to Tide to see her if you want."

"Sure." Does she hate being mindread by the creepy forest? He doesn't ask.

Pop pop pop pop.

"Her office is on the eighth floor, room 2."

"...Thanks." He can try to find it. Maybe he'll even succeed. Probably to absolutely no benefit, but.

Room 2 has the door propped open. Ristrell is doing something on a device, with many screens. She raises an eyebrow as he enters. "Welcome back."