Ariadne

393 AC - Being in charge of materializing Ariadne has its benefits, I suppose. She's the central knot, and all the threads that the expeditions follow diverge from it. These thread are their lifelines if they want to come back up quickly. And the Rhombus I affixed to her skin, well-hidden underneath her tunic, is a major asset for the Qorgan. Through a hidden Gestalt frequency, I can monitor every movement and every discovery as long as there's an Ordis at the other end. That's the reason why some laws have been passed in secret by carefully selected individuals. Directives have been transmitted to the clerks so that as many teams as possible would benefit from Aegis support. Without the real reason being made public, of course. Ariadne stands in the center of a huge spider web, and I use it to constantly keep a finger on the pulse.

I think back to what Suha said recently — that she needed time and to take things slowly. I can't blame her. I wonder what she thinks of our forced collaboration. Is it frustrating for her? A vibration travels up a thread, and I dismiss those thoughts, which ultimately don't really matter. By pushing my Coalescence, my consciousness descends along the psychic link and into the depths. I feel a knot in my stomach, and I'm flooded with negative emotions. Suddenly, the thread snaps. I'd heard distress, panic and screams before the signal cut out. Had they descended too far? Had something cut the connection? I need to warn Suha. I grab a new line, the one attached to the cadet who was assigned to her, supposedly for her protection. I order him to open his mind, and his perception becomes superimposed onto mine as he opens the connection. I call the Mage by her name through someone else's voice. And through a stranger's eyes, I see her turn towards me.

Ariadne is a heroine from Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Pasiphaë and Minos, king of Crete. After falling in love with Theseus, she helps him to escape the labyrinth that holds the Minotaur by giving him a ball of thread in exchange for marriage. After defeating the Minotaur and escaping the labyrinth, Theseus goes back on his word and abandons Ariadne on the island of Naxos.

YANNA