While it was early in the morning the London City Airport was already a hub of activity. I knew first-hand that, when dealing with business on a global scale, the company never really slept. As long as the sun was up somewhere in the world someone had to be dealing with company affairs, and in the case of the poor sorry sods who were rushing around the airport at eight am in the morning that responsibility clearly lay with them. “So, where’s the warp gate?” I asked as we approached the entrance to the airport, “Surely it can’t actually be inside the airport, right? That would be ridiculous. There’s no way it would be kept secret.” Sophia chuckled, “Oh because a warp gate in the middle of a park right next to one of London’s newest, hottest shopping and apartment complexes is so well hidden.” “Okay, point,” I conceded, “That just raises the question of how either of these gates manages to stay hidden.” “Just wait until we visit the gate in Trafalgar Square…” She said, there was a

I was almost relieved to see the building that housed the council of the Immateria. The last time I’d been there I’d been forced to essentially beg for my life. This time around I was going there to prove that the fact they’d spared me was worthwhile, I’d already produced results. The underlying nerves were still there though. While we had managed to dispatch the rogue Immateria, there was clearly something else brewing on the horizon. Death was coming. We walked through the entry doors and into the lobby. The same woman was sitting at the desk as before. She glanced up from her paperwork, gave Sophia an easy smile, and went back to what she was doing. Sophia brushed past the desk, clearly, the council was expecting us. The Council chamber was much the same as I’d seen it the first time we’d been asked to go there for my hearing. The same chairs were set up around the same crescent moon table, and the same Immateria were sitting in attendance. Idly I wondered if they ever left

“It’s not much,” The Barkeep started. “Word around the bar is, in some of the more… unsavoury… clientele, that there’s someone up top making some pretty big moves, moves that are going to change everything down here as well.” Sophia and I glanced at one another. She looked just as uncomfortable as I felt with a declaration like that. I picked up my drink and took a sip, noting that it went just as blue as Sophia’s had earlier. “Can you give us anything else?” Sophia asked. “Something more solid to go on?” The barkeep shrugged, “I only hear what I hear Sophia, you know that. If you want to speak to someone who knows more you know what you’re gonna have to do. What me to get him down here?” Sophia sighed, it was long and aggravated, “Yeah, fine, do it. I already have to deal with one smart ass, why not another.” I couldn’t help but think that jibe was directed at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked as the barkeep moved away from us to call this mysterious other person to

The inside of the old tower had clearly seen better days. The air was thick with the musty smell of decay and the brick walls were crumbling and cracked. It was a wonder the thing hadn’t collapsed already. I hoped that it didn’t choose to fall apart while we were still inside. It was a relatively small space with a main open room and a flight of stairs leading up the side of the wall to the upper levels.“You really think we’re going to find something in here?” I asked. “It doesn’t look ancient or grand just… decrepit, really.” “Trust me, Parker. Cultists love places like this, and there’s a good chance that one of them has put something here for safekeeping,” Sophia said. The room was a cluttered mess. A heavy oak table sat at its centre, covered in rat poop and old documents that looked yellowed and fragile. I was sure that if one of us tried to pick them up they’d just disintegrate in our hands. “You search down here, I’m going to go and check things out upstairs,” Sophia said

Unlike the tower that we had searched previously there weren’t any upstairs or downstairs areas in the temple, so Sophia and I were able to search the same area at the same time. This meant things were going much quicker than they had before. “What are we even looking for in here?” I asked for what was probably the hundredth time. “If you ask that again I’m going to come over there, chop your head off, and set fire to it,” Sophia grouched. I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t the first time she’d made that threat either. “All I’m saying is, there aren’t many places for things to be hidden in here and we don’t even know what it is we’re looking for,” I sighed. I was right, too. Not only was the space small there weren’t any boxes piled up on one another or piles of garbage perfect for nesting rats. The area was compact and relatively tidy with a series of cabinets and chests of drawers that things could be hidden away in. “Urgh, I hate to admit you’re right, but yeah, you’re right,” Soph