"Ping will disappear shortly after taking control of Sing's organization. The claim will be that he found spiritual enlightenment and has gone off the grid. If played correctly he would become a symbol of redemption to the people and-" I stop and look at Sylvia.
I am reminded of two important facts. One, that I do not have any of the power I did before I was arrested, if my plans fail not a soul on earth will try to save me. Ni Ni would lose her partner in theft, but she replaced me once. Sylvia would lose future evenings of pleasure, but that cant be hard to come by for an international assassin. Sian would lose a potential cash source, but she hardly seems on the brink of poverty.
The second, and this one sits me down for a moment of consideration, is that I'm talking and thinking just like I did writing my thesis. Lay lines were a barely explored phenomenon and the few 'experts' held little clout since the power of lay lines seemed to be simply another freakish thing among thousands of others since the awakening. I hadn't known where the field was headed, or where I would end up in it, but I'd known that Laylines felt comfortable, the mobile mana giving strength. I had also been rash, impetuous and entirely too ambitious when I set out. Creating the Spire had proved a necessary step, proving my theories before anyone would invest iin them.
And here I was again, trying to jump straight to the end without building anything to start with.
"Forget it, I''m getting ahead of myself. The illusions will do, I'll have my version of Ping vanish before their eyes and later it will be said he ascended. For now, see about fixing these lights, then get in place for a fight. I'm sure you can find a gun somewhere around here, or somebody to take it from, since that's the kind of people I employ now."
I lean back against the wall close close my eyes, resolving to meditate and later draw up plans for the formation of a religious organization. Belief and hope will be the keys to purifying this desolate place. I can save them.
