Dross looked at the metal hand offered to him readied up to seal the deal. He didn't need much consideration time after hearing Furor's assuring words. He didn't need to fear the worst of possible repercussions. And he needed the samples direly. Thinking back to the monsters Dross had to face in Sepernius, he feared even worse threads coming from the Squa'osa archipelago. The same twisted veil protected both continents, and he wanted as much firepower on hand as possible. This expedition team was the first, and only Dross had to leave behind; he wouldn't allow them meeting a similar fate. With unnatural determination and a glance, which couldn't be sharper, Dross took the hand and shook it. A smile ran over both participants faces:

"We have a deal! Where do I have to sign?"

With practised movements Furor picked it up and scrolled quickly through the many pages of the Book of Debt. Every page was filled to the brim with names; one passage for every client, four passages per page. After more than 200 passed pages, Furor eventually arrived at the still empty section of the book. He picked up the pen from before and wrote with elegant letters Dross' full name into the book. The paper altered slightly with the last swirl written; a fourth of the page was now shimmering slightly in a purplish-blue. He turned the book and shoved it towards Dross, handed over the pen and laid then his head on his folded hands awaiting the Watcher's move. Dross picked up the pen and started signing the designated section three times with his name:

"Dross ... Hegraven. There!"

Furor looked slightly confused at his writing. The process wasn't advancing, as usual, Dross could see that in his eyes. It was as if the letters weren't sure, who exactly got meant. Only reluctantly they accepted Dross as their writer; his name was flickering in and out of existence and for a brief moment Dross could see the ink forming a question directed to him and him alone. The letters got written deep within the page at an impossible angle, only visible out of his position:

'Dross Hegraven is deceased. Are Dross Hegraven and Itino the same person?' 

Dross could feel a psychic link digging itself into his brain. The book was searching for an answer and immediately found it within the divine energy flowing through his very essence. It felt as if the link was retreating as fast as it entered, quite ashamed by what the book found. A second sentence got added below the one written before:

'My apologies, Itino; son of the god of creation Demiurg. Your formerly mortal identity got accepted.'

All that was happening in less than five seconds until the ink finally started to glow softly. Furor, however, was still sceptic; he looked first at the book and then at Dross. The movement of his head briefly paused as his vision met the amulet dangling from Dross' neck. A brief twitch in Furor's healthy eye later, and he understood the situation. Dross didn't notice any of this happening. He looked up only after the book fully accepted his signature and met up with the deeply satisfied face of his opponent. A grin formed itself on the Wildcard's face; for the fraction of a second it was the sinister grin from before, which got quickly erased by professional happiness:

"The book is sometimes a bit slow. If something, for example, an adoption or a name change due to marriage, happened in the signer's life, the book will check the memories of the person holding the pen to assure its righteousness. You can't imagine how many tried to fool me by signing with a name, that wasn't their own."

An exasperated laugh later, Furor reached out for the book and pulled it to his side of the desk again. He briefly caressed the signature before closing the book, turning his chair to the side, and standing up:

"And with that done, we have nearly everything prepared to finish our meeting. We have discussed what my task will be and have undergone the payment. All that is left now are the usual formalities. I need a way to provide you with the desired disk after it got filled. And luckily I am well armed for that issue!"

Furor waltzed slowly to an ornated wardrobe; he seemed to Dross quite enthusiastic. But he didn't care that much about Furor at the moment. His brain was rather puzzled by the fact that the book talked to him. That it knew about Demiurg and that he was a god. That could only mean that the history around the creation of these books of power got altered. The binder came out of the same timespan as E.V.0, Terminus, and his siblings got born into. He, however, felt in the brief moment of connection one more fact. The book was indeed alive; Dross was able to make out traces of a butchered personality within the link. Somebody got bound to this book; somebody, who gave the pages his or her power. The Watcher's knowledge about the arcane arts of crafting was quite limited. He wasn't able to give sense to any of his theories. Dross has never heard of any technique like that. 

The noise of Furor searching through the wardrobe brought Dross back into the now. The shelves were all filled to the brim with metal disks. Quite similar to the plate, he went through to get into this cave. Each row consisted of roughly 50 plates. In the upper three shelves, there were discs made out of what seemed to be steel. Each of the three rows housed a different size. The same was true for the six rows below. The second trio was made out of the same material the plate in the inn consisted of, and the lowest group was copper coloured. Furor was kneeling on the ground searching through the small coppery discs until finding what he searched for. He pulled a plate out of the wardrobe, closed it again and returned to his customer:

"Here in my hand, I am holding our way of finishing the deal. That here is a special portal plate. I can target each of those in the shelf separately with my ability. That allows me to provide you with the desired goods, and that fully anonymously. You know, I prefer to not wander around in Scamall due to obvious reasons", he presented himself in a dramatic pose, "A sorcerer like me would have a hard time up there. Firstly I am not used to the thin air up there and secondly: Zabrit. Even breathing the air up there weakens us to a state, where we can only occasionally access our symbiotic link. Means casting spells. I highly suggest that the factories have traces of Zabrit in their fuel. The 'soot of progress' gave me unbearable headaches every time I got forced to visit the city. But that aside, this plate has a special ability for itself. First! Please refrain from scratching the symbols in any way, or I will not have access anymore. But most importantly!", a small dramatic pause, "Lean the disc on a wall in a hidden area, which is devoid of any flammable resources. We don't want to risk a house fire when the plate burns to cinders after a single usage, do we? When I have the item, I will open the portal and place it in front of it. Just outside of the danger zone. Any questions?"

"I have one question. I never heard from such an ability performed by a mirrormage. How do y-"

"Practice, my boy, practice. There are many undiscovered abilities hidden deep below the surface. Deep enough to be never found in centuries; even I understood it only by chance. But enough of that, Dross. It was my pleasure making business with you. Let me show you the door back . . . or better create it."

The Wildcard knocked with his gloved hand twice against his left temple. With a faint sizzling, his cybertronic eye lighted up. It was now static; disconnected from Furors healthy eye and rested motionlessly in his skull. Furor rose his voice and said loud and clear:

"Scamall-04"

A second passed, then the blue light of his eye switched to red. With a singular motion, Furor placed his robotic hand in front of his eye. He jammed his pointer into the artificial eye's iris. A cold and robotic voice announced the uploading process and finished with an 'Upload complete' the act. Furor removed his finger, the blue light returned, and his eyes were once more synchronized. For the final act Furor held out his hand. Suddenly he relaxed all the muscles in that arm after forming a fist with only his pointer reached out. The mechanics of the arm took then over. It drew with perfect precision the symbol from before into the sky; every jag got drawn without any flaws. At the moment, when Furor's finger met again with the starting point of the form, a purple portal appeared in the sky showing the dusty room of 'Realms Rest'. The exact place, where Dross found the mirror leading him into this cave. Furor walked over to his drinks, took up another bottle of water and tossed it over to Dross:

"You might appreciate having fluids available after returning to Scamall. You took it once like a champ, but better don't wage a second time.", he winked knowingly, "I will use the portal in 24 hours, so have it set up until then. I wish you a good day."

Dross walked through the portal but quickly turned around just after passing the gate. There he stood, repeating the same motion as he did before to close the portal, wearing a sinister smile. With a toneless voice, Furor said one last word that sent Dross multiple shivers down his spine. 

'Chóros!'

The gate closed, and Dross immediately knew he had made a mistake. He knew about the meaning behind the piece of Heaven!? And Terminus assured him, that nobody would see this gem as anything other than a precious jewel. Poppycock! Who exactly will this man be? An ally or an enemy of his? Gritting his teeth angrily Dross mumbled:

"These favours just got quite a bit more dangerous for us. . ."