Much of the information in the EDN is not indexed. Most searches will only go through the data currently being accessed and any associated references. This leads many Awakened to believe that there is less information available than there actually is.

  Seers focusing on a Research Path often specialize in techniques that manipulate their EDN feed and trawl through unrelated content in the hopes of finding snippets of relevance. Those snippets can then be used to create new associations, new personal indices and lead to broader queries that will hopefully return something useful.

  Categorizing and archiving these snippets and their associations, turning them into useful searches is a mixture of art, skill and determination. Almost anyone can learn to search through indices, very few ever bother to learn how to filter through the chaos to find gems.

  ~ * ~

  High Duke Mahk looked through the most recent projections and snarled. Public opinion was up but acquisitions were down. Rates remained steady but growth was stagnating. What was the point of having your fingers in every pie if you weren't reaping in the benefits. Even their graduation numbers looked dismal, they had twice as many free-minded Awakened entering the work force as the last decade put together. He wished he could blame it on that meddling OverSeer but there was no evidence.

  "M'Lord Velli?" the voice came through the closed door to his office. "Your nephew Sir. Count Clyde?"

  "Yes?" he called out, frowning.

  "He insists on speaking to you, urgently. He is here."

  Mahk dismissed his feed before answering. If that whelp had done his job all those numbers wouldn't matter. Getting their hands on a Seed would have cemented their place. The expense of running everything through Hubs, no matter that Cores powered a large number of them, became exorbitant when you went past the first hundred.

  "Send him in."

  Clyde barged his way in the moment he spoke. Looking the boy over Mahk sighed. He had the family nose but that was perhaps his only redeeming quality.

  "Uncle. What are we doing about that bitch and her-"

  "Control yourself," Mahk snapped, cutting him off mid rant. "You tried, you failed. That is on you. Do not blame others for your failure."

  "Yes Uncle. But she lay hands on me and your guards did nothing."

  "Clyde," he answered tiredly. "I know you are aware that those guards are merely there to ensure that no one past the Wall interferes with you. You are responsible for your own protection against your peers. Especially those who are lower level than you."

  "But she-"

  "That is enough" he said, Energy reverberating through his voice. It was not subversion as such, simply enforcement of his will through his words.

  Clyde's mouth snapped shut as he glowered. The rules about crossing the Wall might be enforceable in public, but within his office his word was law.

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  "Better. Now then, if you want something done about that woman, you will need to do it yourself. And you are in no position to do so now that she knows your tricks and your attempt failed so miserably."

  He saw Clyde take a breath before managing to answer. He had not told him to be silent, only to stop his ranting.

  "I did exactly as I was taught. I could see her reactions. She was perfectly pliable until suddenly she wasn't."

  "You overplayed your hand and were lacking important information."

  "What information," Clyde nearly whined. "That it was a pair binding? What difference does that make. It's not as though it wouldn't work just because there were two of them connected to the Seed."

  "Are you dense?" Mahk asked with a frown. "She allowed her Seneschal to bind to a Seed? No one performs a dual-binding with an underlying. No one is stupid enough to give that sort of power to a stranger, even a stranger with a supposedly important title. Seneschal in a Holding with only two members, the title is meaningless."

  "So you think they are?"

  "I think that if they aren't they will be. There are only two common reasons for that technique to fail and there is no way you are dealing with the first. They don't travel through our Low Ponds and they certainly don't do so before crossing the Wall. So you ran into a burgeoning Bond and threatened to violate it."

  He could see Clyde was confused by his refusal to expand on the first reason. Unfortunately for the boy he wasn't going to explain what it meant. Even mentioning that the possibility existed was more than he should have shared.

  "So now you are going to take your leave from all your hobbies and pets. You will tell them how disappointed you are but your horrible Uncle is sending you to Dive and grow stronger."

  "I don't want to-"

  "Boy," he snapped. "You will do as you are told. Say your goodbyes and your guards will take you Diving. You are not to show your face until you pass the Wall."

  "Yes Uncle," Clyde answered, his skin nearly yellow as he broke out in a cold sweat."I will do as you say."

  Clyde bowed before nearly running from the room. A moment later Mahk's Seneschal stepped in and bowed formally before approaching the desk. "I assume you have further orders for his guards My Lord?"

  "Make sure he comes back past the wall or does not come back at all. As far as I am concerned he is dead and lost."

  "Of course. And Holding Syl?"

  "What about them?"

  "My Lord," the Seneschal answered with a slight smile. "Despite your words to the boy I know full well that you intend to show them the consequences of laying hands on a Velli in anger."

  "Then you know what I want. Valene is untouchable and Yshe is a relic. Find out everything you can about the pair. Who they are, where they came from, what they are up to. Track down their contact in the Seer's Council, find out what they know however you must. Find out if they're diving and where. I doubt they have their own Depths so that will be an easy way to complicate their lives."

  "Of course sir. We have very little presence in their LowPond. None of the scions wish to deal with Feudal lands and-"

  "Do they get to make their own decisions now? Do they need a reminder that they are only a step above their playthings?" Mahk interrupted, his eyes narrowing despite knowing that his Seneschal was not to blame.

  "I will remind them. With Clyde off Diving I am sure there is at least one who will be happy to get ahead of their cousin."

  "Perfect," Mahk chuckled. "Remind them of what happens if they disappoint, and that there may soon be a Count-ship up for grabs."

  "Is that all My Lord?"

  Mahk nodded before waving his dismissal. He heard the door shut a moment later and pulled his feed back up. He was disappointed in Clyde, the boy had shown promise only to fail. His failure was not the true disappointment however, he had waited nearly two months without taking any actions of his own and then instead of acting he had come to complain and expected the problem to be solved for him. So be it, he'd shown that he was unlikely to amount to anything beyond his ability to enthrall. If he came back from the Depths he might be of use, but likely not.

  As the feed scrolled past his eyes he made a few notes, left a few markers he hoped his sister would notice and act on. The Princess had been less than receptive to his suggestions of late. It was almost as though she was coming to believe the tales he had his Seers spin, believe that she was somehow doing something other than representing the family for the public. If she truly was deceiving herself about her role, perhaps she might need her own trip to the Depths for training purposes.

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