Ten minutes later, Corazon enters the greasemonkey's workshop. "Progress report."
"We've unlocked the Jasper, and are now attempting to decipher what it contains," Merga explains.
"Surely it shouldn't take that long?" Corazon asks. "I gave you access to all the information I received."
"Th‑Th‑The information w‑w‑w‑was t‑t‑translated f‑f‑f‑from th‑the ancient d‑d‑dragon t‑tongue into a d‑dead f‑f‑form of C‑C‑Classic Y‑Yǔyán, H‑H‑Huǒyǔ," the greasemonkey explains. "Th‑Then it w‑w‑w‑was t‑t‑translated into Sh‑Sh‑Shuǐyǔ, then T‑Tǔyǔ, th‑then M‑M‑M‑M‑Mùyǔ, b‑b‑before b‑"
"I get the picture!" Corazon snaps. "So, it's been translated several times," she continues calmly. "But all forms of Classic Yǔyán use the same script, so why the difficulty?"
"The dialects differ more than you think," Merga explains. "Also, it appears the ancient dragon tongue includes grammatical structures that simply don't exist in any form of Yǔyán."
"Why are you explaining, and not him?" Corazon asks.
"Because I can do so in half the time," Merga answers. "His stammer is infuriating."
"You get used to it surprisingly quickly," Corazon replies. "OK, so, if I understand correctly, something's been lost in‑ Wait… This info is only a century old. Why all those translations?"
"Someone didn't want me to find the Bakunawa," Merga concludes.
"Nor anyone else," Corazon adds. "Let me have a look."
Merga and the greasemonkey move to the side to allow Corazon access to the computer terminal containing all the information. The wildcat pulls up a chair, then turns her analytical eye and brilliant mind to the task at hand. Within moments, she begins piecing together the missing information, correcting what is inaccurate.
"This'll take a while," Corazon quickly realises. "Greasemonkey. Coffee. Black. Now."
Meanwhile, Carol has found a storeroom, and is rooting around for a suitable grappling hook and length of rope to use. It doesn't take long for her to find the correct equipment; given the training regimen Corazon put in place after she seized control of the barkada, a much greater focus had been put on the special skills typical of ninja, including infiltration. The contents of the stockrooms of the barkada had changed accordingly, meaning there are plenty of grappling hooks and lengths of rope for Carol to choose from.
After selecting a suitable hook and length of rope, Carol returns to her room, secures the rope to the grappling hook, then heads out onto the balcony. Once you do this, there's no going back. When you're finished in there, get out of the barkada. Flee, and never look back.
Carol prepares to throw the grappling hook to Corazon's balcony, but stops at the last second. I should get a handheld radio first. Carol drops the hook and rope, dashes back to the storeroom, locates a suitable radio, checks it works, then returns to her balcony. OK, let's do it to it. Also, never say that out loud.
Carol's first throw is perfect: the hook grabs hold of the balcony rail. The wildcat tests the strength by leaning her full weight onto the rope, confirming the hold is stable. Satisfied, Carol ties the loose end of the rope to her balcony, doing everything she can to keep the rope as taut as possible. Once secure, Carol double‑checks her knots to confirm they're correctly tied. And now to cross.
Taking great care, Carol climbs out onto the rope, where she's unable to resist looking down. Woah… That's quite a long way to fall. Hanging under the rope, Carol shifts along it carefully, making sure she's always got a firm grip with both legs and hands. Eventually, she reaches the other side safely, where she wastes no time climbing onto the balcony. Phew! Now to get inside the room.
Carol makes quick work of picking the lock, but before she opens the door, a thought occurs. What if the door's alarmed? Carol thinks a moment. Only one way to find out.
Carol opens the door.
Nothing happens.
Relieved, Carol enters the room to find it less luxurious than her own, but still well‑equipped. OK, so, if I were Corazon, where would I hide what I wouldn't want my nosy do‑gooder sister to find? Taking care not to trigger any hidden tripwires or pressure pads, Carol makes her way around the walls of Corazon's room, unexpectedly finding a safe out in the open. Huh… I would have had the safe hidden in the wall. Electing not to question her luck, Carol crouches in front of the safe, and a few minutes later, she's cracked the combination. Inside, she finds a trio of compact memory units. I'm taking these.
Carol pockets the memory units, then closes and locks the safe, positioning the dial so it looks like no‑one's touched it, and turns her attention back to the rest of the room. Anything else of interest? I'm not going to get a second chance; gotta make the most of this one.
Carol chooses her next target: Corazon's personal computer. Seating herself at the desk (and now certain the room isn't loaded with sensors and booby traps), Carol makes quick work of guessing Corazon's password. And that's why you never use something obvious. 'Bakunawa'? Seriously? I expected far better of you, sister.
Now successfully logged in, Carol starts browsing around anything she can find. A couple of minutes later, she stumbles across Corazon's private message inbox. Curious, she opens the most recent conversation and starts reading. So, she didn't come by this information randomly; someone fed it to her. I wonder who? Someone who clearly shares some of the same delusions. Lilac may infuriate me, but she's been my best friend for so long, and honestly, I think I'd miss all the annoying habits she has. That's not to say our friendship is perfect; many changes will have to be made. But I'm not giving up on her yet. Her heart's in the right place, she just needs to screw her head on right.
Carol continues reading. Whoever this is, they've got some skills. Hacking into military systems? That takes skill and guts. Also, they know a surprising amount about someone who I thought was dead for many years. Good at uncovering the historical records too, given the mention of the Bakunawa. Interesting they're not using the info themselves.
Carol reaches the final paragraph. Hang on… Wait a minute… This guy sounds… No… No way! It can't be! Hanna Skarlett was right: he's still around! Shit! And my sister struck a deal to hand Lilac over to him! The only way I could feel more hatred for Corazon now is if I find out she killed Coral!
Horrified, Carol closes the inbox and returns to browsing the files she found. Most yield nothing of interest, but when she finds and reads the files sent by Lord Arktivus Brevon, she struggles to hold back the bile in her throat. By the Ancients… If this thing is found and activated… we're all doomed.
Suddenly remembering the memory units, Carol decides to copy as much as she can. Taking one from her pocket, she connects it to the computer only to find the files are already on there. A quick check confirms the other two contain the same files. Well, that makes my job a little easier, I guess. But maybe there's more to copy? Maybe I can find that stuff I found on the Sigwada's computer…
A quick search gives Carol the information she was looking for, which she copies to one of the memory units. However, as the copy progresses, Carol notices something else. The Pangu Archives‽ How did Corazon get her paws on those‽ Only Pangu and the Shang Tu Palace have the complete archives… Someone must have leaked the info.
While waiting for the copy to complete, Carol decides to delve into the Archives, and quickly finds the section on draconic purity. Intrigued, she begins to read. Well, this isn't what I expected… Wait, Lilac's not a pure dragon after all‽ That'll hit her hard. Doesn't make her any less of a person though… OK, now I'm confused: there's pure dragons, and there's true dragons, and they're different‽ And Merga's pure, as was Cordelia, but Lilac is a hybrid, which is better, but also worse, and I'm so confused. I wonder if Lilac's seen this…
A beep indicates the copy has finished. Carol closes the Pangu Archives, roots around briefly, and finds the schematics for the barkada and the Sigwada. Once those are also copied to the memory unit, Carol ejects it and stows it safely in her pocket. I think that's enough to bring my sister down with. Carol returns the desktop to how she found it and locks the computer. And now to make my escape.
Carol starts towards the balcony, only for her attention to be drawn towards a katana mounted above the door. A custom‑made katana… Why does it look familiar? Fearing the worst, Carol pulls up a chair and climbs on it to retrieve the sword. Back on the floor, she reads the inscription. 'Yǒngqì hé róngyù shì wǒ de wǔqì'… 'Courage and honour are my weapons'… No, it… it can't be… Carol's eyes fill with tears. Please no… Tell me this isn't hers… Tell me Corazon isn't the one who killed her…
But the truth is inescapable.
Carol's heart shatters. She drops to her knees, places the late Coraline Tea's katana in front of her, and allows the tears to flow.