“Jason,” Anna said. “While there is no question that you and your friends are powerful, you make the taskforce members nervous. Things have gone smoothly over the last few weeks with the hands-off approach you’ve been taking. There have been some questions as to why.”“The objective was always to become a non-factor,” Jason said. “Or, one that can be largely ignored, at least. The endgame, for me, is the powers of Earth leaving me alone, and me doing the same.”“Which is exactly what I told them. But they also know that you’ve been active in a less direct manner. The resources you’ve been providing for the Cabal social programs, especially in Africa. And then there’s this.”She gestured from the rooftop in Jason’s Slovakian domain. Dominating the skyline was the dimension ship Jason had taken as a prize after defeating the pirates on his return to Earth. It was floating over a research centre that looked like a sports stadium. From the picnic table they were having lunch at, they had a view of clan researchers, crawling over the hull like bugs. There were also messengers present. A few were clan members, but most were from the Unorthodoxy. Boris’ people had a much more advanced grasp of magitech than anyone in the Asano Clan.“You’ve brought the taskforce interrogators through here to question Elizabeth. They’ve obviously noticed the giant spaceship you took. They’ve been offering to send their best magitech experts to help you examine it.”“I bet they have.”“Do you intend to let them?”“Maybe. Grandmother tells me that there were impediments put in place when the clan was on their recruiting drive, trying to find researchers to work on magitech. She did manage to snake Audrey Blaine from the Network, though. That was rather a coup.”“She’s the energy vampire, right? One of the leaders of the Engineers of Ascension leadership?”“Yeah. She ran a joint magitech research program between the Engineers, the (...)