Chapter 182| The New Liaison
The knock came earlier than expected, and Allen opened the guild’s front door to find a stranger standing on the step, considerably younger than he’d anticipated given the formal, official tone of the message announcing her arrival — a woman perhaps thirty, sharp-eyed and precisely dressed, an Association credential already extended before he’d even finished opening the door.
"Hunter Veton," she said. "Agent Priya Sundaram. I’ve been assigned as your family’s dedicated liaison for the elevated investigation. Agent Farrow will remain involved, but command wanted a full-time point of contact given the case’s expanded scope."
Allen studied her a moment, some old, familiar wariness surfacing despite himself. "Farrow didn’t mention a replacement."
"I’m not a replacement," Priya said, something wry entering her otherwise crisp professionalism. "Farrow specifically requested I be the one assigned, actually. She said your family would trust someone she vouched for considerably more than a stranger command simply handed you."
That, at least, eased some of Allen’s initial unease, and he stepped aside to let her in, calling for the rest of his family to gather in the meeting room as Priya settled her considerable stack of briefing materials across the table with brisk, efficient precision.
"I’ve read the full case file," she said, once everyone had assembled. "All of it. I want to be upfront about something before we begin working together — I’ve handled cases involving Umbra Black before. Nothing at this scale, admittedly, but enough to understand exactly how dangerous patience like this organization’s can prove."
"What happened?" Vivian asked, recognizing something guarded behind the admission.
Priya hesitated only briefly before answering. "A previous assignment, three years ago. We identified a facilitator, much like Wray, and moved too quickly to secure him before establishing proper containment. He disappeared within hours of our approach, along with considerable evidence that took the better part of a year to partially reconstruct. I don’t intend to repeat that mistake."
"That’s fair," Myria said, something approving in her tone. "We appreciate the honesty."
"I find honesty considerably more useful than false confidence," Priya said. "Especially with a family that’s already proven it can handle difficult truths without flinching from them."
They spent the remainder of the morning working through the case’s current status, Priya walking them through command’s own considerable analysis of the audio recording, the partial voiceprint match, and the mounting institutional effort now being devoted toward identifying whoever had authorized Subject Group Four’s original, devastating operation.
"Command’s treating the Founder connection seriously," Priya confirmed. "Though I want to manage expectations. If she’s genuinely tied to one of those seats, we’re looking at resources and protection considerably beyond anything a standard investigation can properly counter. This could take years to resolve, not months."
"We understand," Allen said. "We’ve gotten good at patience."
"So Farrow told me," Priya said, something almost warm entering her professional composure. "She also told me your family’s genuinely remarkable to work with. I don’t often hear that kind of praise attached to a case this considerable."
Vivian studied Priya with her own careful, methodical attention throughout the briefing, cataloguing details with the same patient thoroughness she’d once brought to studying every unfamiliar face near the schoolhouse construction site. "You’ve been doing this a long time," she observed. "For someone your age."
"I awakened young," Priya admitted. "Started fieldwork at nineteen. I’ve had considerable time to accumulate hard lessons, even if I don’t look it."
"We won’t hold your age against you," Irene said, grinning. "Considering our own considerable track record proves youth doesn’t disqualify anyone from handling something enormous."
Priya’s answering smile carried genuine warmth for the first time since her arrival. "I appreciate that," she said. "I half expected skepticism, given everything your family’s already survived without institutional help."
"We’re not skeptical of competence," Myria said. "Only of dishonesty. You’ve shown us the former and avoided the latter so far. That’s a considerably good start."
---
By the time Priya finally departed that evening, promising regular, structured updates rather than the sporadic, urgent calls that had defined the investigation’s earlier months, Allen found himself settling into cautious, considered relief at the shift.
"She seems capable," Vivian observed, watching Priya’s transport pull away from the guild’s entrance.
"She seems honest," Myria said. "Which matters considerably more, given everything we’ve already learned about the cost of misplaced trust."
Allen nodded, drawing quiet comfort from his family’s own careful, shared assessment, and felt the investigation settle into something that finally resembled sustainable rhythm rather than constant, exhausting crisis — structured, coordinated, patient, exactly the kind of considerable, institutional support this fight genuinely required if it was going to stretch across years rather than months.
"It’s strange," he admitted, "having help that actually feels like help, instead of one more thing to manage on top of everything else."
"Enjoy it," Irene said, grinning. "We’ve earned it."
"We have," Allen agreed, and let the evening settle into its own quiet, considerable peace, one more piece of steady, patient support gathered close around a family that had already, so thoroughly, proven exactly how much they could endure together.
Everlyn caught up with him later that night, having spent most of the day’s briefing quietly observing rather than participating, her notepad appearing the moment they found a private moment together.
’What did you think of her?’ she wrote. ’Really. Not just the polite version you gave downstairs.’
"Honestly," Allen said, considering the question carefully, "I liked her. She reminded me a little of Farrow, when we first met her. Careful, competent, willing to admit her own past mistakes instead of pretending she’s never made any."
’That’s rare in people that young,’ Everlyn wrote.
"It is," Allen agreed. "I think that’s part of why I trust her already, even after just one meeting. She didn’t try to sell us on her own perfection. She just told us the truth and let us decide what to do with it."
Everlyn nodded slowly, some quiet consideration settling behind her expression before she wrote once more. ’I hope she stays as honest as she was today. We’ve had enough people in our lives who weren’t.’
"So have I," Allen said, drawing her close. "But I think this one’s different. I think we finally have someone in our corner who actually deserves the trust we’re extending."
They stood together a while longer in the guild’s quiet, settling darkness, and Allen let himself, for the length of that small, considerable moment, simply feel grateful for exactly how far this fight had already carried them — from desperate, isolated survival toward something that finally, properly resembled a genuine, considerable team.