Back on Friday, May 7, Layda came to us again.

The heat that day was oppressive, and so was the humidity. Clear blue skies with a blazing sun overhead in late morning gave way to hazy skies dotted with building cumulus and cumulonimbus in the afternoon. This, of course, would last only a week or so before the cooling began. This was one of the years with shorter, stormier summers. Layda knew this as well. She had dressed in a light shirt and a light skort, with comfortable footwear. She walked rather briskly, as I saw from above, when she passed through the entrance into our House and proceeded up the ramps and corridors toward our living suite.

Before long, as expected, there came a knock at the door.

As she took the invitation to sit down to some iced coffee offered by me, Layda started the conversation. "So...any word on Otto?"

Aledon and I glanced at each other. "Not...since that fateful night," I said. Aledon quietly voiced agreement.

"So Monika is lying yet again," said Layda.

"What is she saying about Otto?" asked Aledon.

Layda explained. "She's saying that you, Aledon, have been meeting with Otto every Friday evening, drafting a plan to try and get the Caucus to vote out Monika and vote in a Dungeonmaster-Pro-Tempore that includes you, Maxima, and Otto."

"I've seen nothing about that allegation on Ticketer or OCEA," Aledon said. "Most likely because she's lying and doesn't want it in writing. I'm curious, though, over whether or not she's made a plan based on that lie... Or is she simply trying to spread the lie in order to oust some Members, recruit other loyal people, or maybe just divide us even more...?"

"Wait a minute," I interjected. "Layda. This is the same run-of-the-mill stuff you've been giving us since like January." In fact, last week, it had been about Monika ranting about Aledon supposedly not engaging with the Arturian Realm at all since last year (even though he has been working tirelessly leading our resistance against her; the fact that she had no idea had been assuring, but still...). The week before, it had been about Aledon supposedly bemoaning Monika being "an over-achiever." And I forget what it was the week before that, but it was basically the same back-and-forth, with nothing but windy words. "Meanwhile," I continued to Layda, "I need to know what's going on with the Prefects and why they've been silent while some avowed opponents to Monika have...coincidentally, apparently...been suddenly leaving the Society, even the ones who are passionate enough to not even think about leaving, even after a very discouraging and cringeworthy quest."

"You never know these days," explained Layda. "Social dynamics have really-"

"-shifted since she took Aledon's place," I finished. "Yeah, that's been a really common excuse of yours lately."

"It's the only explanation I have," said Layda, raising her voice a little. "And I've been telling you every time because you don't seem to understand. Also, like a million times before, Monika seems to keep things very tight between her, Sara, and Karyanna before making anything public. And yes, Maxima, I know there must be a way to obtain more useful information, somehow, by utilizing a deeper level of...espionage. I just need you to be patient while I figure that part out."

"I've been trying to be patient, Layda, but please be advised that I've been patient since mid-March... Also, doesn't she meet with these friends in some little nook in the University Library? That's actual, useful information you gave me, by the way. Give us more of that kind of insight."

"Let me assure you, Maxima, once again, that that is exactly what I'm trying to do. I've been kissing up to her like a friend, trying to whittle some information out of her in passing conversation. She does have that weakness whenever she gets...excited...especially over a cup of coffee. So far, even then, she's been keeping information tight between her and her friends."

"You mean Sara and Karyanna? They're the ones still meeting with her?"

"Who else?"

"Try them."

"What do you mean?"

"You mean it never crossed your mind to, say, take out Sara over a cup of coffee...?"

"Okay," Layda set down her cup of iced coffee a little harder than expected. "How about I invite YOU to a cup of coffee and try to get you to share a secret about Meghan?"

"Come on, Layda," I said with a disappointed tone of voice. "Don't bring poor Meghan into this. Our relationship is completely different from the friendship between Sara and Monika."

"And how would you know that, Maxima? How do you know that Monika might not be more than friends with Sara? It's rude to assume."

My thoughts suddenly shifted back to the University Airship flight last September. "She dated Otto for a short while. And last I checked, Otto isn't female."

Layda stood up and put her face into her hands. "Maxima. I know you're no imbecile but... you should know better than to presume that just because one flings with one gender means they can't with another." She looked back up at me. "Again, it's rude to assume."

"Okay. Fine. So you're saying that you've seen Monika and Sara on a romantic fling?"

"I never said that was actually the case-"

"Then maybe do your fucking job for once and find out for me?"

"What does that information even have to do with your stupid resistance thing!?"

"Your true colors finally show," I said quietly.

Layda looked at me like I had five heads and threw her hands in the air but said nothing. Next followed a moment of silence interrupted by a sudden clap of thunder. The building storms outside had finally burst.

"No offense, everyone," began Aledon, looking up from this comm tab, which he had taken out during our discussion, "but I've been texting Bernard our conversation right now - he's visiting Caylor, by the way.... Anyway, he wants to know if Layda has considered showing up at the Library, this time without Monika's knowledge. Perhaps Monika being oblivious might ultimately reveal some information."

"Oh wow. Seems like a SWELL idea," said Layda sarcastically. "Just sit down and think for a second, though. How do you think my friendship with Monika would fare if she caught me snooping on her like a twelve-year-old girl?"

"Her loss," I said. "Unless her friendship is THAT important to you."

"And this is where I count my losses and leave," said Layda, as she rose from her chair.

"Wait a minute! Hold on!" said Aledon. "Now, Maxima. I'm actually gonna trust that Layda is being truthful with us...we haven't had THAT kind of trouble from Monika yet. But I do believe that Layda is alluding to a fair point: if she's caught spying on Monika and loses Monika's trust, then we lose a very important and very vulnerable line of communication."

"Very well," I said through gritted teeth.

Layda sat down. "Fine. I'll stay."

"Now Layda," Aledon continued. "I do apologize, but I don't remember telling you about our recruitment-resistance thing. So I was surprised when you started roping that into the conversation a couple weeks ago."

"That was me," I admitted. Last month, when I had grown tired of the same old reports she was giving, I figured I would let Layda in on what was going on. It might have seemed risky, but I was frustrated and hoping to perhaps give Layda a little more incentive to dig deeper. As I would find out by now, all was for naught. Regardless, I explained all of this at the moment.

"Perfect," said Aledon, after hearing my explanation. I was unsure whether he was being sarcastic. "Layda. I think the best move is to let you in on our resistance meetings. There's 37 of us now, but I feel very encouraged." He looked at both of us. "Meetings are now on Saturdays, as I've said previously, starting with tonight."

Layda, though stunned, had calmed down a bit. Meanwhile, I was speechless.

***

That was on May 7.

Since before then, an increasing amount of my time has been dedicated to the planting of seeds of complementary plants for my granular plane Chemkan Bee habitat, adhering to the plan approved by Dr. Jaynes. I have also been trying to strike that balance between the new plants and the first ones. This, I know, will take a while.

On May 11, I led a quest with Elisabeth and Madison's avatars. Not a menial quest but an easy one for them, as curtailing to their significantly lower levels of experience. After the quest, they left for the summer.

This week, Aledon broke some major news: that he plans to finish his post-grad degree this fall, then hopefully land a job at West Horizon to start in spring 1358. In fact, that was where we were touring when he and I received news over our comm tabs of Cray Fenton's passing.

Cray lived to be 126 years old, an unusually long life, needless to say. We knew, for a very long time, that he was in decline. Regardless, it was sad to hear. He was a mentor to me, like Meona.

We attended the vigil today. And there will be a memorial service hosted by the Library of Circlaria in the Assembly Hall on September 1.

I will say that going on another quest with Meghan yesterday did bring me some comfort.