[ Silco nodded. ] So do many of us.

I should think... that it will be less formidable, now.

[ Silco said, echoing the Regent's words. He was glad he asked, after all, how to put an end to the vile thing. All they needed to do was get them to break their promise, and it would have no choice, would it? Silco's fingers clenched against the glass, then. ]

Not something that can be done lightly, mind you. [ He added. ] These sorts of things take time, but I, too, want to put an end to That Thing before it surfaces again. I heard no voices, but...

[ Silco's eyes narrowed, again, that sense at the back of his head, vaguely in there, like there's a piece of the puzzle that he was still putting together. What had made it react like that to certain people? ] I heard others that weren't told to do things, but their infections progressed quickly, violently.

[ He couldn't forget those bleeding wounds and feathers, the way he'd stiffened, and turned to stone. Those feathers, those fingers trying to pull out of him, like he was nothing more than a vessel.

He set his glass down, and ran a hand through his hair. ]

But good. I want to know who hates that thing enough to kill it, if we need to.