It is Catherine the Great's mirror that does it. Artie really should have known better than to try for it but when he'd brought it up on the list of possible items the buyer had been so adamant.
"Two, I can do two if you can get me that mirror," the man had said so fast and with such enthusiasm Artie almost hadn't been able to understand the Russian through his accent.
"I can get it as long as you can guarantee their safety," Artie replied.
"Da."
The mirror is like a window to the soul, it shows you your heart's desire, very poetic and very Russian. It wouldn't hurt; it wouldn't hurt anything, Artie had told himself over and over. A few sacrifices can be made, as long as he is careful, to get them out.
Still, he isn't careful enough. This time he is too careless, too eager to see two more of his family again.
"Arthur Weisfelt, you are under arrest!"
Three officers burst into his NSA office, guns drawn. On his desk are just some phone transcripts, there is nothing to incriminate him in sight. But Artie knows then this is the moment when it all comes crashing down.
An agent walks in the room, gloves in his hands. "Did you really think you could hide it forever? You're not the only code breaker at the NSA, Arthur."
Arthur just stares back, wondering how much the man knows. They can't know exactly what it is he was giving to the Russians.
"I'll take it from here."
The four men turn around to see a tall woman behind them, two men in black by her sides. The agent begins to protest but Arthur doesn't hear a word he says, all he can see is Mrs. Frederic staring at him.
Back at the Warehouse he can practically see the fire crackling in Mrs. Fredric's eyes ready to leap out and burn him until he can't scream any more. Her body guards, three of them now, are surrounding him like he's an animal ready to strike. He's afraid to even breathe lest they pounce on him.
"I never once imagined, Artie, that you would betray us," she says, the same even tone of voice she always uses but laced with threat.
Artie's hands clench on the arms of his chair but he doesn't trust his voice to respond to her yet. He can see James standing by the door, back against the wall. He's staring at Artie as though he's never seen Artie before and he doesn't like at all what this new thing before him is. It makes something deep in Artie's stomach twist.
"You have always known the importance of the Warehouse," Mrs. Fredric continues. "You have always been one to safe guard everything, to find any and all artifacts you encounter and bring them here. I had never doubted your dedication and loyalty before."
Artie's teeth clench tighter but he stares back at her.
"Selling artifacts?"
"Trading…" Artie says quietly but one glare from Mrs. Frederic silences him.
"Selling artifacts!" Her tone flips over and now she is spiting out her words in disgust. "The things we collect to protect, to keep out of the wrong hands. You have been trading them right into the wrong hands!"
"Nothing dangerous!" Artie says, standing up.
The body guards all flex but a quick movement of Mrs. Fredric's eye stops them from throwing him back in the chair.
"Nothing I sold was dangerous! None of it had any real value! Edison's phone, the Mozart box; none of them were things that would suddenly become a Soviet weapon or hurt anyone."
"Are you so sure of that, Arthur?"
Artie swallows slowly and forces his brain to not imagine a way. "I had to get them out. I couldn't leave my family there living like that. You know what its like over there and I couldn't let them be forced to live under those conditions when I could do something. This was a way! This was a way to save my family!"
"I don't want to hear it!" Mrs. Frederic snaps. "You used the Warehouse and its purpose for your own selfish gain regardless of how noble you may try to make it sound. You committed treason. Worse still, you were caught first by the government, a mess which I now have to clean up to safeguard the Warehouse itself!"
"I never meant to…"
"I'm sure, Arthur, but it's too late now for all your good intentions and what you meant to do." She turns from him and walks toward the door. "Be glad I'm not letting you be locked away in prison where you belong."
"Why don't you then?" Artie shouts, unable to hold back his anger.
She stops where she is, facing the door so he only sees the stiff line of her back. Slowly she turns around and for a moment he can tell that she does actually care about what happens to him. Artie feels some of his righteous anger fade and an apology forms in his mind.
"The Regents have allowed you stay," she says quietly. "Know the only reason you remain here is because no one is as good as you when it comes to the Warehouse."
Artie nods slowly, the fight leaving him now.
"But we'll be watching you," she adds then turns and is out the door, her body guards at her heels.
Then Artie is alone with James who still hasn't said anything. Artie sits back down into his chair slowly, elbows on his knees and face in his hands.
"If you're going to say something," Artie says through his hands to James, "just say it now."
"I'm not going to say you were right, Arthur," James says then goes on, "but I won't condemn you either."
Arthur hears James move and walk past him out the door, leaving the Warehouse. Now Artie is alone with the place he has betrayed. He can't decide yet if he's sorry or not for what he did. All he knows is that he has to find a way to make it up to all of them, at least for betraying their trust. He can only hope for forgiveness.