The three drive towards Magical Masonry, debating how they can approach saving Ella. Merlin rings Brynner to tell him WHO the Auditor is and ask if he has any advice, and all the Director really says is there’s no precedent for this and to temper their expectations. There’s a very real chance Ella is dead already. Merlin asks about other mantles, and the Director mentions it being possible to tip those away from their alignment… but doing that to an Auditor would just leave the body dead. Merlin asks if there’s any precedent for that specifically, and the Director admits there isn’t.
Ursa, meanwhile, would rather try to have Nora get through to Ella specifically, like she did back at Open Sky. Nora herself posits that Morris is keeping her alive, so they just need to get the mantle off her, right?
They arrive to find two bodies at Magical Masonry, after passing by an old teammate of Nora’s. There’s Dr. Park Ji-Young there too; the Institute’s top authority on Auditors. She’s an asshole and doesn’t want them ‘contaminating her crime scene’.
Ursa sneaks off to interview the surviving apprentice, who tells her about the Auditor sparing him and apologising all the while it was attacking. Merlin hacks into the cameras and sees Ella arrive and leave, though in very fuzzy footage. They go after her, following the camera trail, but not before Merlin tells Park to grow up. Ursa explains what she learned from the apprentice about Ella still being “in there” on the way. Nora is quiet and teary.
They arrive at another business with a broken door, a café named Neutral Grounds.
Alkahest and Raoul turn up, before they can get inside. They’re very cheery. They’re giving out badly home-made flyers for a chilli cook-off. Ursa takes Alkahest to one side and explains the situation, and he’s like ‘oh fuck my energy is all wrong’. Nora asks him to keep an eye out at the front.
Inside Neutral Grounds, they speak to a couple of the staff—a demon and an angel—but they’re all cagey when told it’s Caliber Institute business. They admit they saw the Auditor come through, but that our party may have more luck talking with the patrons who stayed to finish their orders. Well, apart from that one guy who hasn’t actually ordered yet.
She points to Stiletto Benevolent, at a table by himself. There are two other patrons.
Merlin hacks into the cameras, finding there’s a conjurewall. He’s approached by a Draconic staff member, who asks what the fuck he’s doing. Merlin ignores him and keeps hacking, despite being cuffed on the back of the head. He gets footage of the Auditor going through the back door and leaping over the delivery yard wall.
Roche, the Dragon, tells him he’s barred for that and escorts him out the front. Nora goes too, and Ursa tries to smooth things over a bit but stays with the group.
They head to the back of the café, but the trail has gone cold. They decide Ursa will head back in and see if Stiletto saw anything (or if the other patrons have anything useful). Merlin will call Penelope and try to do the wide-net CCTV search they used before to find Adagio. Nora decides she’s going to try Ella’s phone.
Roll History 