I am in North Kempton again but only for a couple nights. I am following through with my end of the deal to visit Sophia, probably the first of many visits to come.
In all honesty though, I am glad for the respite.
All the quotas and deadlines are being met in a timely fashion, even ahead of schedule. I was almost tempted to move the Conference to an earlier date, but Sophia talked me out of it.
There is some sort of neurologically-degenerative disease spreading among the working groups, though. It started, accordingly, with a young worker named Robert Carr, who was observed acting unusually agitated. He was taken to the doctor, who dismissed his symptoms as that of mental health associated with moving and starting a new job, and referred him to a mental health doctor. His symptoms got worse, however, as he became unable to recognize people and places, or even tell the time of day. He was eventually admitted into a hospital where doctors found that his brain tissue had "decayed" past a point that they were unable to save him. The man died on 18 September.
Then Robert Carr's immediate family, who lived with him, fell sick with the same disease, and all died by the end of last week. The affliction spread past the family and into that neighborhood. Three days ago, the death toll from this mysterious illness was marked at 112, as reports were relayed to the Basin District Department of Health. That neighborhood block has since been cordoned, much to the disdain and protest of those Combrian nationalists, who, of course, lack any and all form of common sense.
And around that same time, Colin Madrey came back. He did not respond to any of my messages, even by then. So I confronted him about that, to which he replied that the insight he gained was "too complicated and too dangerous to share at this time" with me and my colleagues. I insisted he disclose more details during the two nights he stayed, even promising not to share anything with any of my other colleagues. But he refused. And after those two nights, he left unannounced.
I will say, though, that diplomacy has improved somewhat with Ceri Mains, or more like tempers have calmed.
I am saying this because I have been following Rose Anne's advice to have a positive outlook on things. Since then, Ceri and I have all but stopped fighting. Also, the dymensional plane network, the first stage that is, is all but complete. And I feel quite proud with how short a span of time we accomplished all of this.
This upcoming Conference will be my proudest moment yet.