Blue fire burns a hole in the air. A hundred soldiers burst forth from nothing in a wave of perfect military discipline. A being of plastics and light, with thunder for blood and a mind of metal, steps out of history and joins them for tea.

All this, and the most amazing sight of all is: Movement. A speck shifts against a static backdrop.

The shuttle dock of the [i]Slitted[/i] is on the other side. And there are no shuttles due to launch or land at this time.

“I beg your pardon, sir,” Dolce inclines his head, perfectly polite. Dolce folds his hands, perfectly still. “But does that ever work?”

Into the ensuing silence, he forges ahead. “You have much more experience and perspective than I do, of course. It may merely be centuries of experience speaking to someone fresh to this sort of thing. But if I were on a clandestine mission of sabotage and murder, and someone asked me if I was an Assassin, surely [i]somebody[/i] in all my time of training would have told me to lie about it, yes?”

All the soldiers in the room are watching him. The Royal Architect is watching him. 20022, he hopes he is watching. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches the window.

“Biomancy is even less my field of expertise, but being what it is, I can’t imagine it would be [i]that[/i] difficult to manufacture a creature with blood capable of camouflaging its hosts’ actual biology. Or perhaps a reserve of fake blood, to be extracted when need be? Those seem like reasonable countermeasures, and for such a high-investment asset on such an important mission, it would be an astonishing oversight if they could be foiled by a simple prick of the finger.”

If this is a hope. [i]If[/i] this is a hope, and that hope is to last, then he must be even more amazing than a miracle.

“If you will pardon my curiosity, sir, is that truly loyalty? Simply saying you are who you say you are, and having the right sort of blood on hand?” He takes a dainty little sip of tea. “20022 has been gracious enough to tutor me in the ways of the Service, and it would be a most instructive honor to hear your thoughts on the matter.”