It's getting late. And Cross is tired of discussing this issue. And more than anxious to get Alice alone, talk to her, touch her...
So, he tries one more time to make things clear.
"The Radzinsky issue is completely separate from the other affairs with the Alchemists. They no longer associate. I simply wish to get this book, this...hunting manual away from him. No more, no less. And no need to let him, or the others, know we know about their prior connections to one another. I have already arranged a meeting to barter for the book. I just wanted to bring along some backup if possible."
He pauses.
"As for Armitage, I thought we could go see her to figure out what, exactly, the other Alchemists were asking of us," eyes cut to Cynthia, then back to Alice. "Because the fact of the matter is, we still don't know what these 'ingredients' actually are, and what they're meant to do." A frown makes a mess of his scarred face. "We take the list of items they've asked for to her and we try to get her to explain what we're looking for. And see if she can explain, in plain English, why someone may be after them. And we go from there. It seems to me that we're playing a delicate game with these Breathers. We don't want them to know that we don't know what they're doing. We want them to think of us as partners until we can figure out what they're up to." He shrugs. "And so, we meet with Armitage on the side and we get the information we need to continue that play..." Until the time comes to act.
"Does that make things a little more clear?" And can we maybe stop talking about this now? 'Like I said, I'll take Gilroy to meet with Radzinsky. He can be the associate I told the hunchback I'd bring along, to assess the text. As for Armitage, it's up to you, Priscus, to decide how we approach her. Or if we even should..."
Figured it's best to move along, as we've hit the month mark and should wrap this up ASAP!