It was red who had intercepted the letter, sealed in a small envelope black as deep space, and penned in red ink like ruby droplets. The letter had been tucked away inside another smuggled shipment of individual void vials bathed gently in the hellish orange light which seeped up from the crate.

It had been several weeks since their arcadia delegate had intercepted a similar void vial found concealed in the desk of a government official, and also several weeks since their secret extra GA summit at Hathor. All around the galaxy tips were committing in from the different colonies, and their private sources about void vials cropping up in strange places: concealed in the shipment of goods, toothpaste, unrefined metal, semiconductors, and even concealed inside the spines of books.

Whispers and hints of the void's existence were cropping up everywhere, in all corners of the galaxy, and even though they had managed to stop the spread on a mass industrial scale, trying to stamp out the void entirely was like trying to clear a cockroach infestation, when the roaches clearly have concealed nests inside the walls.

Other than fumigating the entire galaxy, there wasn't much they could hope to do.

The letter had been their first actionable piece of intel in some weeks, and by that time Adam had finally healed sufficiently from his surgery, for Krill to clear him, reluctantly, for duty.

It was a good thing too because inside the envelope was an invitation.

He could feel it even now pressing against the fabric of his breast pocket as they strolled up the marble pathway and towards the temple of the Oracle in new Athens. All around them people in similar stages of dress were doing the same. The atmosphere around them was lively and excited, torches burned at the side of the pathway, and overhead a distant gas giant lit the night sky with a burning red hue circled by one or two distant moons.

With the gas giant as bright as it was, the torches probably wouldn't have been necessary, but they did add a sense of exotic excitement for a crowd that came, primarily from off world, where the use of torches, and marble architecture was a thing of the history books.

No one paid them any attention

But still, Adam could feel a cool rivulet of sweat dripping down his back, reaching up, nervously, to adjust his mask.

At his side, he could feel maverick shift, through the point where their arms interlocked.

All around them humans and aliens of all different shapes and sizes crowded up the pathway, moving with the slow, and steady drip of ooze through a pipe. Waiters dressed in the traditional clothing of ancient Greece plied the party goers with strong drink and trays of exotic food. The air around them practically buzzed with anticipatory excitement.

All Adam felt was dread.

Inside his breast pocket, the stolen invitation seemed to burn there, ready to seer a hole in his costume and mark him as an outsider, and he had to keep reminding himself that the only way to blend in was to act natural. If he felt guilty then he would act guilty.

The letter, now in his possession, had been an invitation to members members of something calling itself 'True Darkness' The nature of the group was, as of yet, mostly unknown, but there were several theories being bandied about by the analysts down at the Arcadia Intelligence Offices those of which included: cult, religion, break of political party, or upcoming terrorist organization.

The letter had given no real clues as it wasn't any sort of urgent strategic communication, but an invitation to a masquerade ball at the temple of the oracle in new Athens. The letter had said nothing else, other than its existence was a requirement to attend the party. If it weren't for the fact that the letter had literally been found in a box full of void joice, Adam would already have been suspicious.

New Athens was nest from which men and women,who fancied themselves philosophers, did most of their unoriginal thinking. Instead of philosophy, what came out of New Athens usually amounted to contrarian politics and hedonism wrapped in philosophical superiority.

The only right way was the way that made you feel good.

A "philosophy" that Adam found personally insulting, and downright stupid.

Sometimes you had to do things that hurt for what was right. If Adam had a personal philosophy at all it was that the right thing was often the thing that was hardest. This wasn't always the case of curse, because to pin very decision on such a simple statement was to ignore the true nature of life.

If Adam had done what was right, and what felt good at the time, he never would have joined the UNSC, become a pilot, met aliens, married Sunny or had a son. None of those things were easy, all of them required a lot of sacrifice and heartache, but he'd be damned if he would have given either of them up.

This easy way philosophy was the perfect breeding ground for people who were, lazy, rude, entititled, and stupid, though he didn't see anyone here asking his opinion. In fact, he wasn't really able to glean anyone's opinions about anything. Adam's ability to read minds was a fledgling ability, and crowds were almost impossible for him to read. If he wasn't careful, opening his mind was like opening the floodgates on a damn, too much information all at once spilling through a crack that was too small.

Overwhelming him

They would have to do this the old fashioned way.

And so they had come in disguise, he and Maverick, much to Sunny's frustration, but she was still on doctor's orders to take it easy. After their previous run in with the void, Sunny had experienced a pregnancy scare, which amounted to distress in the unborn twins, and a possibility of spontaneous misscarage or premature labor.

Adam would have taken fighting on his own against an army of a thousand to losing a baby, an opinion which she shared but hated the entire time. Instead he had chosen Maverick for this mission, with her connection to the void. Celex was here somewhere as well, but without an invitation, it was hard to tell how he planned on getting in.

They had come by way of a pirate shuttle, concealing their identities the whole way. Both of them wore matching silver masks in the shape of wolves. Maverick had tried on a cocktail dress and some heels for the occasion, but maverick was about as elegant as a flaming brick flying through a windowpane, and the awkwardness would have been noticeable from a mile away.

Martha, who was dressing them for the occasion, had switched her to a suit that matched Adam's, and the awkwardness had abated.

And now, here they were, arm and arm they strolled through the crowd, passing through a collage of colorful clothing and glittering jeweled masks. Full face maks were common, but not nearly as common as the simple half masquerade masks done in silk and feathers and fake gems. A few people wore only one quarter masks, leaving the rest of their faces exposed. Even the aliens had joined in on the strange human tradition, rundi, tesraki, Drev, Iotins, Gromm, and so on. Adam was shocked to find an entire delegation of Tricar, noticeable by their bushy white tails sticking up over their heads.

Whatever this was, it was far reaching.

They were ushered up the pathway and onto the Temple steps, following the slow river of bodies into the gardens surrounding the palace.

Wine flowed like water poured in generous drafts from clay decanters held by waiters, only partially dressed and specifically designed to be dangerously provocative. The men were bare chested, and the women were well on their way to becoming so. They wore feathers and their bodies glittered with oil and a light dusting of metallic glitter. While humans were the majority of the wait staff, there were others as well, Tesraki, and Drev and so on, all of them dressed or picked to entice.

Adam was sure that at least some of it was an illusion under cosmetics. But never had he seen so many rare colors on Drev in his life, pearl white, silver, gold, pink pearl, and even a shade not dissimilar to Sunny's lightning blue. All of them were tall and painted with ceremonial Drev war paint.

The Tesraki decorated themselves in jewelry, and other signs of wealth, moving and twisting to whatever effect would be best to show off their perceived riches, using their shiny baubles to attract others.

The crowd diffused its way through the gardens, sitting themselves on cushions and clustering into small groups for smalltalk. A lot of them seemed familiar with each other, but there were also plenty of introductions.

Just ahead, security was stopping each partygoer and asking for his or her letter.

Adam shifted uncomfortably.

As they made their way to the front of the crowd, Maverick accepted a drink from a smiling young man with dark eyes and golden body paint, while Adam held up the letter for the security guard to see. He ddn't bother to speak, and the guard didn't pester him further as he walked up the steps with Maverick in tow.

Voices drifted up towards the dark sky filling the air with the humm of white noise, indistinct both inside his head and outside.

Adam scanned the crowd.

"Recognize anyone.:" Maverick asked keeping her voice conversational.

Whispering was likely to draw attention, and in a crowd this rowdy, their voices were basically drowned out anyway, and concerns about being overheard were almost nil unless someone were to walk right in the middle of the two of them.

Adam shook his head, "Not with the masks on, and even the quarter masks aren't helping."

"I suppose that was the point," She said dumping her drink surreptitiously into a nearby, potted plant.

The last thing they needed right now was to be tipsy.

"What do we do? You don't think this is just some paty."

Adam shook his head, "No, no this is just buttering everyone up before the main event, probably a speaker, or hell, maybe even Kazna."

"Wouldn't that be just perfect." maverick said, the sneer muffled, but still audible behind her mask, Adam knew the feeling, probably felt it even more poignantly than maverick. If there was any person in the world Adam hated it was his estranged mother-in-law.

"What do we do now." Maverick asked, watching as a group of men walked by already laughing too loudly to be sober

"Mingle I suppose, before we look stupid."

Maverick snorted, "Too late for that, you always look stupid"

"Thanks for that."

"Anytime."

Together, the two of them made their way forward, nodding to the people they met, and slowly making their way towards a refrhesmentstation, where Adam was able to integrate them into a small group,, all of whom were listening to the words of a man at the far end, holding a champagne glass, and wearing a mask in strange purple leather, and sharp silver frills.

It took Adam a few minutes to recognize it as made from the skin of a Jeffery sake.

"I have looked extensively into the subject, and my research has led me to one simple truth, and that is the innate desire for nothingness and death. This truth has been evident for thousands of years, which we see in early Freudian psychology with the idea of Thanatos, or the 'death instinct' aggression, and anger leading us down a road of self destruction, which is an innate desire for all sentient species on a subconscious level. You should read my book, it really is an enlightening read about the true nature of the universe and our desire to return to the natural state of nothingness." He sighed deeply as if imagining the face of his lover.

Adam was glad he was wearing a mask. Never in his life had he heard such a load of bullshit, and he had three brothers and one sister who had been excellent at producing bullshit at a moment's notice.

Somewhere in the distance a bell rang, calling the attention of all the party goers, who began to move in a slow moving mass towards the temple doors.

What sat beyond remained to be seen.