Followed by the two unrobed Risen - Lambda and Tsan - Honey opened the door to meet this impertinent old friend of her uncle. Blinking rapidly in the light of the day, he eyed him up critically, taking account of the dust on his clothes and the well travelled appearance of him, as well as those dark eyes which seemed to hide malice and fire under a calm exterior. 

She give him a surprisingly cold and impassive stare in return.

“My uncle has been expecting you for some time Astral Spectrum, you have been causing quite a stir amongst his agents, but he allowed you enough leads to continue regardless. He cannot deny that he is curious of what exactly you intent, although if it is unsatisfactory…” Honey shrugged “He believes you can fill in the gaps yourself.”

Honey turned towards the captured Sphere and frowned, “I would advise you sir to cease your hold on the Sphere you have captured, the doctor will not take kindly of it if you continue. Now will you follow me, Uncle Silver is in the Library.”

Honey turned and began striding back into the hallway, now with much of its boards removed and allowing the light to stream in to reveal its recently cleaned elegance, floors shining and freshly waxed, and various antiques of oriental origin, such as giant late Dao period vases from beyond the far Indus, covered in prancing images of deer and dragons. As the Risen turned they shot Astral a cold glance which hid beneath its icy purple waters a hidden rage against the torment of one of their brothers, however they would obey their Father rather than give into their baser urges. 

So the group traversed deeper into the house once more, as they had done before with the arrival of the Scholar before Astral, deep into the house and its secrets. They crossed through the open door of the great library and entered the room, now lit by numerous flaming blue magical torches on the ends of the bookcases to alleviate the darkness. Around them flittered dozens of Spheres, moving back and forth amidst the shelves and occasionally picking up the bronze sealed books, only to flit away into the darkness with them grasped in a weak levitational hold. Others returned used books to their positions and prowled the darkness looking for spies, still others moved back and forth whispering messages to a dark figure on the far end of the room as he directed and instructed them, before flitting away beyond sight further into the cavernous mansion. 

As they passed each book case, in between stood a Warrior Drone, hissing and spitting at Astral in outright hostility, its face a whirl of knives and glowing purple mechanical eyes, and front hooves scratching off the floor like blades being sharpened in preparation for the slaughter of cattle. Upon passing they followed behind in ever increasing numbers until Honey and their guest stood before Scalpel himself, whereupon they surrounded them both in a semi circle of perhaps forty Drones. 

Scalpel himself sat in a high backed armchair encapsulated by three great working desks covered in numerous ancient books and scripts in dozens of languages and codes. Some seemed to be based on esoteric magic, others the machines and alchemy of the mad scientists of the early years, still others maps and locations of subterranean points of unknown use. Some of the books were recognisable even as common scientific journals, espousing bizarre theories and ideas, and there was even a gigantic book laid before Scalpel himself which suggested the most dire of possibilities, for it was named “The Great Leviathans”.

Amongst it all the Scholar dwelled, jotting down on fragments of paper and scrolls with many pens, pages of near illegible data floating back and forth as he turned to stare at a titanic map of Equestria currently attached to the massive metal wall behind him. With an approving sound he flicked a small purple flag up to a specific point in central Equestria and pushed it in with a flicker of magic.

Rotating back around he began hoofing through is work, barely even looking up at the figures now standing before him, engrossed in activity. Eventually however he spoke, face frowning as he dug through a copy of [i]Unaussprechlichen Drachen Kulten[/i], still taking notes with numerous quills hovering about himself. 

“So Astral…”

“At last you find me.”

Turning to give him a cold look from the depths of his ice blue eyes he continued, “Doubtless you are surprised at my knowledge of your investigations? No? It does not matter anyway, you are here now in my presence and all the answers to your questions may be given… or is it something else you have come for? Perhaps a bargain or deal of sort, you always were an intriguing type of equine, full of subtlety and secrecy, I’ll give you that.”

Stretching back he rested his numerous quills down in an orderly fashion back into their various holders and tided the papers into an arranged pile. Now without any distractions he fixed Astral with a dark look, “However, your investigations have dug up a lot on my current position, and possibility compromised by safety by disturbing what should have been left to the past. I predicted long ago that you probably knew my death was falsified, and that you would come looking for me, but not at such a… delicate period of time, when the eyes of many have been so fixed upon the search for me…”

A flicker of discomfort flashed across Scalpels face, “There are many who would seek me dead on some pretence vengeance Astral, and you may have led them this way with your search. Many of my agents cleaned up after you moved from location to location, but the taint is still there, leading them straight to here… So I trust my old friend, that you have something of definite interest to me which will offset this information leakage, otherwise I cannot assure you of your safety within these halls, not even for old times’ sake.”

“So Astral” he concluded, a small smile crossing his face, “Do tell me, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”