JANE: This was the unanticipated factor. JANE: Their leader was someone who was not expected to show up with them at all. JANE: The presence of this lone interloper was enough to discombobulate a scheme millions of years in the making. JANE: This hero occupied a blind spot as much to the Condesce as to my present recollection, but of this much I am sure. JANE: The hero was bold, wily; the sort of firebrand personality they needed to take such a stand. JANE: An intrepid soul who was not about to take the verdict of paradox space lying down. JANE: You see, Callie, your historical documents make no mention of the leader of the raid, because originally, the curtains closed early on this plucky customer. JANE: But the hero was written back into our story by some inscrutable gambit of circumstance which we may never fully understand. JANE: And with that flourish of revisionism, the tide of luck turned on a shiny new dime. All bets were off! JANE: The tilt between the friendly and felonious was a true horse race again. A real barn burner in the brewing. JANE: Yes, there'd still be hell to pay after Jade and I made our exit, sure as sugar cubes. JANE: There'd be ashes to sift, wounds to mend, fallen to mourn. Not being privy to the aftermath, I can only surmise as well as the next gumshoe. JANE: But with respect to the fate of our comrades, of this much I am convinced. JANE: When the curtains finally closed, this time, their leader would make sure everyone was standing on the right side of them. JANE: That is to say, the side any interested onlooker would be able to witness. JADE: ... JADE: jeez! JANE: Hm?