[Indigo]

Rodion looked like he wanted to snap back, but before he had a chance, Wiks waved Amarantha and Beatrix over to another corner of the tent, and he trailed along behind them. They all stared down at the footprint and the splatters of gold paint. She couldn't even begin to imagine how they'd managed to miss something of this size traipsing around in here. Unless it was Rodion himself, but even he wasn't quite that big, and he seemed as uncomfortable as any of them.

Wiks's instructions were...troubling. She'd wanted to believe the Lambastia Science Division wouldn't put civilians in danger, and here they were anyway. At least they'd gotten an apology, she supposed.

[Indigo]

The moment Wiks left, Beatrix's hand descended onto her shoulder again. "Not thinking of abandoning ship now, are you?" she said lightly.

"Not at all," Amarantha said. She still didn't totally understand why the other woman would be so invested in this, but nor did she feel the need to argue about it, at this point. There was only the matter of Rodion left to deal with. When she turned to him he was tenser than she'd ever seen him—even considering how short a time she'd known him—and he swung his enormous head around to fix every eye on her at once.

"What," he said flatly.

"What's your game here?" she said. "It's obvious you have some kind of interest in the Chaos. What harm will it do to tell me the rest?"

[Indigo]

"It is not a question of harm," he said, "so much as privacy. My presence here doesn't entitle you to know everything about me. That aside..." He closed his eyes and sighed. "The short version, and the only version you will ever hear, is that this particular Chaos knows another who had some involvement in my presence on human land. I have some questions for him. That is all."

"That might be a little hard to accommodate, under the circumstances."

"Oh, I don't know," Beatrix said thoughtfully. "We already need to get a sample off the Chaos. Maybe we could cut some sort of deal, for that and the information this...acquaintance of yours wants, in exchange for not turning him in to Wiks?"

[Indigo]

"I..." Amarantha was somewhat at a loss for words. Wiks had told them this Chaos was particularly dangerous, and she didn't really have any reason to doubt; and although she hadn't really introduced herself, it was entirely possible that Wiks could find out who she was and damage her career somehow, if she didn't do what was expected of her.

"Consider this," Rodion said. "We cannot capture him on our own, whatever that scientist may believe. I am, of course, far more powerful than either of you, but in my present circumstances I'm not in a position to take on a Chaos. I need his information, you need a sample. They can almost certainly use whatever you get from him to track him down later. It's the safest way."

Before she could formulate a response, someone announced a name, and a creature that could only be the Chaos trotted out onto the stage. She had to admit she didn't think she could take him.

[Indigo]

"I will admit," Beatrix said after a moment, "I'm not entirely sure how we should go about this."

"Leave it to me," Rodion growled.

They allowed the Chaos to remain on stage for now; plenty of people seemed convinced that he was simply wearing a very good costume. As the performance went on they began to hear an uproar from the back of the crowd, which made Amarantha and Beatrix glance at each other nervously. When the Chaos turned back to face in their direction, Rodion caught his eye and gestured for him to come backstage aggressively.

"What is this about?" the Chaos said, in a voice not unlike Rodion's own. "I don't remember arranging—"

"Not here," Rodion snarled, and practically shoved the creature further back into the tent, out of earshot.

"Hmm." Beatrix tapped her finger against her lips, watching them go. "That's not a little concerning."

"Indeed," said Amarantha, who was beginning to regret going along with this. She felt Beatrix nudge her shoulder, and looked up into a pair of ultramarine eyes, and a sideways red smile.

"What do you say we investigate this further on our own time?" Beatrix said. "Give me a call. And maybe you can finish helping me out with my problems while we're at it." She pressed a scrap of paper into Amarantha's hand. Amarantha slipped it into her pocket without even daring to look at it, for fear that she'd misunderstood what it contained.

After a few minutes Rodion returned, looking dissatisfied. He deposited the full vial into Amarantha's hand. "Miss—whatever your name is," he said to Beatrix, "I understand you have some skill with illusion. If you could assist our friend, that would be welcome. As for you," he added, turning to Amarantha as Beatrix slipped by, "I'll have to give your museum a call. You have proven more helpful than I expected."

"Did you learn what you wanted to, then?"

"No," Rodion said. "But I know where to go next." He nodded to her, and left the tent. By the time she and Beatrix went back out into the fair no trace of him remained.

Complete the original task and get a sample for Zae.