calling on the Alphas [attn: Javed, Hector, Erich]

[mnemosyne]

So yes. Erich brings an entourage. Éva arrives on her own. Unaware of the terms and apparently unconcerned by the lack of seating. She prefers to stand. It is dark and she is dressed in a dark, expensive suit. Gray and pinstriped, the only hint of color the sapphire hoops nipped through her ears, the pale, shimmering blue of the silk blouse beneath her jacket.

"I have requested the blueprints from Mr. York," the kinswoman assures them, quietly. "You will have them before whatever mission you undertake. Though there is no guarantee that they will correspond to the path you take if you approach from the Other Side. Before you go, you should decide which approach you intend to take. Physical or - "

She is not cutting herself off. Quite simply, she does not have proper words for the umbra. Cannot know it, has never experienced it except as that deep and sometimes terrifying otherspace that allows them to appear where they will and without warning. The sudden displacement of air, the assertion of another physical, animal presence where there was none but a moment before.

Hector's suggestion is enough to draw her dark gaze, though.

And even, the rare edge of an almost smile.

--

Charlotte, meanwhile. Well, Javed wants to ensure that just one person per pack speaks. Charlotte seems extraordinarily disinclined to speak in the first place but shows up with Erich because - well, they are a republic. Kind of. Erich doesn't understand things she understands, and vice-versa. If Melantha has accompanied them, the creature stands all adolescent awkward and strangely protective and close to her. Otherwise, she's right at Erich's shoulder as if the pair of them were joined at the hip.

Charlotte listens. Does not say anything, to anyone, not even to Erich, not even in his head. Not yet.