I reached out to Sarah Marks and Taylor Lorens for a meeting at the University Library this afternoon.

"Isn't your hand supposed to be in a cast?" was Sarah's first comment when we finally convened. So I explained everything, giving credit to Sarah's Priestess avatar.

"Don't say that too loud, though," Taylor replied. "This sort of a thing happened to Sarah, herself. And that's what got Kara started in the first place with the accusations."

"You mean the fact that darkfire has healing properties was what triggered Kara?" I said.

"She'll grab onto anything," Taylor said. "She's about having the popular favor at this point."

"Honestly, I just can't explain it, the healing," Sarah said. "Maybe it's some sort of intimate body influence mechanism like what they use in granular planes. I don't know how that transfers over to a dymensional plane. I know that granular and dymensional planes are two different things serving different purposes...Maybe it is darkfire. Maybe we are being infiltrated. But Kara's making everything worse. She had some sort of a scrape on her arm that got healed a couple weeks ago, but she's turning around and blaming fellow Members. That's going to distract us from Ceri, you know."

"Maybe Kara, herself, is part of the work of Ceri," I said.

"Are you suggesting...?" Taylor started.

"No," I explained. "Disguising yourself, especially with darkfire-crafting, is quite a risky business. I guess Ceri could pull that off if she wanted, but to actually come here under the disguise of a student or a Society Member...I mean, of every place in Remikra, this University is crawling the most with scholars who know how to pick up a trail."

"It seems like she is very cunning though," Sarah said.

"Cunning enough to avoid this place," I continued. "Cunning enough to sway a student who is not emotionally resilient enough to resist the psychological lure of darkfire crafting."

"And so Kara fits the bill," Taylor said.

"Well," I said. "I'm not jumping to conclusions-"

"No, no," Taylor pressed. "I'm telling you. She definitely fits the bill. You'll know that right away if you meet her."

"So as insecure as she is loud?" I suggested. "In that case, I'll go have a talk with her and see for myself."

And that I did, not only to determine whether or not she was swayed but to what degree. It didn't take long for me to find her; she, with her boyfriend, Peter Crane, was at the Slack. For some reason, I did not feel surprised.

"So you're the one with the thumb that healed?" Kara Martins asked me. And I could tell by her voice that she definitely was talkative. And she did all the talking while Peter just sat and listened.

"The story's out already, I see," I replied. "It wasn't my thumb though."

"No matter," Kara continued. "Word spreads fast here, especially about stuff like that. That's darkfire stuff, you know. She's already here, that Ceri Mains. She's penetrated deep, very deep, into the workings of this University. She's already rigged the Society Realm. Julian's too late to stop it. In fact, he and Mary are already swayed. Mary's afraid of meeting her, but she doesn't know she's already swayed!"

"Hold on," I said in a quieter and more calming voice. "How did you find this out? What evidence did you see or hear that made you realize this?"

"Oh I've definitely done some research and observation. And I'm telling you, she's here."

"What exactly were you researching and observing?"

"Listen, Meona. I researched and observed my surroundings very thoroughly. Long story. You know you're not the only one with an injury that mysteriously healed through questing, right?"

"I understand that you scraped your arm?"

"That was someone else. I sprained my foot. And funny enough, I decided to play in the Arturian Plane, just to see what would happen. When I came back out, my foot was healed. I ripped off my cast and showed off to the medics at the Hospital Wing. They were totally baffled. I brought it up to Julian back when I was still friends with him. But he was tight-lipped. He wouldn't say a word. Taylor Lorens was my other friend at the time, but she was tight-lipped too. Turned out that they had been meeting secretly with Dyla and Mary."

"How does that mean darkfire's involved though?"

"Well, it didn't. But they seemed to be keeping secrets from me, weren't they? And I turned to a very well-known figure that you might know: Reonard Chaney. I got all the tapes of his radio broadcasts. He knows all that there is needed to know about darkfire. And I listened to quite a lot of what he had to say. You know he warns us that darkfire's healing properties are the most common way to lure people into that dark trade?"

"Right," I said. "How did you find out about the secret meetings, though?"

"I followed her, that Taylor Lorens," Kara continued. "I concealed myself with a custom spellcraft and followed her to the Dungeonmaster's Office. I got caught, and Julian had the Campus Watch drag me out...but not before I overheard them talking about silencing my brother, Stephen, over that Great Oak Tree glowing purple."

"So this was recent?"

"Yesterday, in fact. Oh, my brother saw it, the telltale sign of everpresent darkfire activity. They knew he saw it. And they are trying to keep it secret from the public. Because guess what, Meona? They're in on this with Ceri, herself! All of them!"

"That's a lot to conclude-"

"Ceri planted a darkfire bomb in that tree! It was not a lightning strike. The Campus Watch knows! The Headmaster knows! They're protecting Ceri! They're helping her to sway Mary Kormann, and then Ceri takes over the Arturian Realm!"

"Why would all these important University figures go out of their way to assist an illegal and notorious darkfire cartel figure?"

"That's the point," Kara said. "They wouldn't if they weren't emotionally swayed. But they've been swayed already; their judgement is clouded. That's the nature of darkfire, Meona. It sways the mind to the point that emotion dictates who you're dealing with and what you're doing!"

"Do you think you know the whereabouts of Ceri?" I asked.

"No. Of course not!" Kara said. "Ceri is hiding herself quite well. But surely you've expected by now that Ceri may be the one behind the White Baroness? Well, you're right in that regard. But Cody Brine and I found Taylor and Sarah to be two of her accomplices-"

"Wait. How did you-?"

"I can't prove it, dammit! Not in the way the UA wants me to. But you can tell from a conversational sense that those two women have something to hide! Cody brought it up, but instead of those two, it's Cody, himself, in bad standing...banned from the Society and at risk of expulsion from the University. Sadly, he's run off, hounded into oblivion; and I can't get hold of him!"

I saw that Kara's loud voice got the attention of practically everyone in the Slack, for we were surrounded by stares. I put up my hands gently and said, "Let's take this up with Daniel Carter. Busy, I know, and a celebrity. But I do know him personally; and he's in love with Cabotton University. In fact, he was the inspiration for our mascot." With that last sentence, I tried not to let my disdain for the mascot show to them.

"Join us," said Peter Crane, speaking for the first time.

"I'm only here visiting for a short time," I said. "I'd rather not make a high-stakes commitment."

I set off from the Slack and back toward my Guestroom Bed at 327 East Mason Street. Right at the Campus boundary, I was stopped by the Campus Watch and subject to a body search. I complied but asked what was going on.

"Gentry County is now under lockdown per orders from the Basin District," one of the Officers said. "There's concerns for darkfire cartel violence and Weyne-North feud activity reported in the area. Countywide curfew is at 800PM."

When I arrived in the Entryway of 327 East Mason Street, I grabbed the latest newspaper and read up on the events. Apparently, there was a report that Ceri Mains was spotted somewhere in Gentry County. As soon as I got to my room, I sent a ticker message to Daniel Carter.

On the speculation I had earlier that Kara Martins may be swayed by Ceri Mains, I've determined based on my conversation with her that this was inconclusive.