I strode through the park in the academic district, making note of landmarks in my head as I passed them. The statues of the Triad stood in the center, positioned just ahead of the bench where I'd met Thane yesterday. I paused for a second to examine them, biding my time before I put myself in the path of Nero Randall's "unidentified criminal."

The Triad - Regis, Ellayna, and Divina - guided the citizens of Incipio, providing them with life, hope, health, and, eventually, death. They ...