She put them off to the side when something metallic, about the size of a pebble, rolled out and clattered off the table. At first, she dismissed the pebble as debris, but then realized no, this came from within the wrappings, it meant something. After some searching in the room, she found it - dark and unremarkable. She hid it carefully away for later, hoping to get a chance to study it, but now her focus was elsewhere. Mildred left the room, secured the door and stopped her work to draw anoth - er cup of ersatz, what passed for coffee-like beverage in the Enclave, from a large communal samovar as a sort of break from her toil. She knew some of the very high tiers had real coffee, but there was no point in worrying about it. Then she suddenly encountered one of Prefect Borgu’s coterie, Magda, a detestable political apparatchik with no real purpose in Mildred’s area outside of stirring up trouble. Magda would enjoy seeing her before the People’s Tri - bunal. Borgu reigned over the Enclave but often acted at cross purposes to the intelligence community. Mildred kept a straight face yet inside she winced at her sudden appearance, expecting hostility. Magda: [forceful] Inspector, what news? [coldly] The Prefect is keen to know what you discovered…and he wants it before his next briefing… Mildred: [even but likewise forceful] No news, when there is something to report - it will be filed. Magda: [eyes narrowing] You have until tomorrow’s briefing [conspiratorial tone rising] A failure to report will bring unwelcome attention to you. Mildred vaguely nodded and turned back to the samovar, finished filling her chipped mug and took a long draught of the murky liquid that somebody thought would inspire future victory – they were wrong. THE MEMORY BEAD After her encounter with the wily Magda, she knew her process must speed up. If Borgu was sending his hounds around, they were worried about some - thing; otherwise, this was just another investigation among many. When she returned to the issue of the pebble, it seemed of greater importance. After some deliberation, she reckoned it was a “memory bead” that acted as a sort
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