The Innkeeper

After a few moments of acting taken aback, Lex had recomposed himself. After all, over acting was a thing, so he couldn't act like he was surprised by everything. Or at least he had to pretend like he was trying to regain composure.

A part of Rafael was disappointed to see him retreat behind his unreadable expression, but it was to be expected.

"I don't want to delve too deeply into the matter, but suffice to say, the empire played a big role in how events progressed in the future. The battle was not an easy or a simple one, despite the advanced technology of the empire, and lasted a few years. You may not be surprised to learn that many from earth were conscripted into that war - we had the most to lose, after all. I don't know if the empire couldn't send more forces our way, or just didn't think it was worth it. What I do know is that, after the war had been won, the empire left much in the same manner they arrived - silently and without warning. They did not reform the planet, despite its severe mismanagement, the way they had done in the Vegus system. I suspect that had a lot to do with the nobles who owned the planet.

"But though the war was over, and the majority of the locusts had been killed, many had still survived. It was those remaining few locusts that became the bane of earth's existence for the next few years, until, eventually, the next alien species that had been dormant finally revealed itself."

Rafael closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. So many things happened back then, and since he was involved in all of them, he never really had the time or energy to think too deeply about them. So many things didn't make sense, and hinted at the fact that there were secrets hidden behind them. But even if he had realized those things back then, he was just a soldier caught up in endless battles. How was he supposed to have discovered those secrets anyway?

He reopened his eyes and looked at Lex.

"So you see, the empire will not interfere because earth is already a part of the empire. Moreover, I don't know how much of a role the 'owners' of earth play in allowing the prisoners to wreak havoc, but I definitely know that at least for a time, earth will have to depend on them."

"So you want to just ignore whatever is happening on earth for the sake of the future?" Lex asked, his irritation evident in his voice. But he calmed down quickly without Rafael even having to give a response.

Some people may argue that Lex had weak morals, but that was far from the truth. He was just not an idealist, and he could see how antagonizing these people might be worse than just letting them be. After all, even if he became much stronger very quickly, it would not be to the level where he could protect the entire solar system depending only on himself, let alone the fact that Rafael said that there were other issues that earth faced.

"Alright, even if we avoid challenging them, for now, it does not solve Larry's problem. We can't just ignore the very real threat to his life."

"These are things I have no prior knowledge of from my last life. All I can say is, hope that whoever your target is, is not too important. Or at least he is someone whose death can be accepted."

"Let's hope," said Lex blandly. He had no intention of relying on his luck anymore, so that was a terrible idea, but he wasn't going to argue with Rafael needlessly over it.

"And then what about the various problems you saw in the future? I get not wanting to share that you know the future with anyone. After all, I can see how anyone you tell might want to target you because of it, and there's no guarantee that anyone would even help. But if you tell me what other problems you foresaw, we might be able to work out solutions to them."

Rafael shook his head, as if it was pointless.

"Too much of the future has changed, and too much is too sensitive to change. I can't be sure what problems might still happen, and I'm not sure what problems might change or become worse if I share information about them. I'm making preparations of my own, and keeping a close eye on all events. As soon as I can confirm the situation is heading down the path I recall, I can react, or share the information with you. But if I give you warnings, there's a very decent chance something you might do to prevent the situation makes it worse. On this, all any of you can do is trust me."

Lex remained silent, and looked the other people in the eye one by one. None of them seemed too surprised by what they heard. It seemed they had already had this conversation with Rafael before. Well, that, and for Noman it made sense since he had no affiliation to earth at all.

"That brings us back to Larry's issue. Ignoring everything else, we still don't know who the actual perpetrator is."

"If we can bring the prisoners to the Inn, we can easily discover the truth using Noman," said Anakin.

"Easier said than done. One of the reasons it's been so hard to check if there have been any changes with the prisoners is because they've stopped coming to the Inn. Their golden keys must have been withdrawn at some point."

"Alright, so we somehow deliver the keys to them, wait for them to escape from their prison to the Inn, and then use Anakin to discover who is the person targeting Larry. Once we know that, back on earth, we can take care of them. Or, if they're stupid enough, we challenge them on the murder grounds."

"To deliver the keys, we will need to know the location of the prisoners. I'm sure that's not so easy to discover," said Larry as he looked around the room. "Even if we discover the location, it is surely being guarded and it won't be so easy to overcome"

"Let's take things one step at a time," said Lex. "I'll try to see if I can learn where the prisoners are being held, and if it's possible to get a golden key to them. If I can't find a good solution, we can brainstorm a few other ideas. In the meantime, Rafael, why don't you go ask your dad to meet Fernanda and have an upfront conversation? Having a direct source of what their stance is will be much better for us than guessing on our own. Who knows, maybe she'll even be open to some negotiations."

"You want my dad to… confront Fernanda? You know how that'll probably go, right?"

Lex just shrugged and said, "not really. I'm tempted to say that he'll just go and fight her, but Marlo is a King and an extremely successful businessman. If he didn't know how to maneuver difficult situations, he wouldn't have had much success in either field."

Rafael shook his head, but said nothing.

"Is there anything else?" Lex asked, taking off his glasses. It would be bad if Leo was seen exiting the chamber with everyone while Lex had been the one to enter with them.

"Say, hypothetically speaking, one wanted to become an employee of the Inn. How would one go about doing that?" Anakin asked in a seemingly very casual manner.

Lex smiled, but did not immediately reply. He looked at everyone sitting in the room in their eyes to try and gauge their interest. All of them seemed to be paying attention.

"You have to attract the Inn's attention, in the right way. If the Innkeeper sees potential in you, he might give you a platinum key which will allow you to take a test to see if you're worthy to work for the Inn. You can try giving the Mystery trial a go as well. Just to be clear, the trial won't get you hired, but there's a chance your performance might attract attention. I won't say anymore than that. Learning potentially sensitive information might not be the best thing for you."

No one asked any more questions about that, so it seemed like it was time for them to leave. Right before he got up, however, Lex looked at Rafael and said, "since you're adamant about keeping the future hidden, I won't try to persuade you otherwise. But you should know, Bastet has already been a guest at the Inn and, while I can't say for certain, I suspect she has already left the Earth."

Lex did not wait for Rafael to respond and just left. Rafael himself, though, was greatly startled, and even paled a bit.

If Bastet had already left… that would seriously affect his plans for the future. After all, in his previous life, the treasure he got to travel back in time was something he got with her help. In this life, however, he seemed to possess it already inside his body. What was going on?