Khan returned to the servants' quarters sometime after lunch.
The room was empty.
He stopped in the doorway.
Miriel's bed was unmade.
Her novel was gone.
The new illusionist's headband was gone too.
Good.
At least she had remembered the expensive part.
The pillowcase was on the floor again.
He had expected that.
He looked around once more.
No crimson hair.
No lazy complaint from beneath the blanket.
No demon princess pretending to be unconscious because waking up required commitment.
Khan sighed.
"Where did she go?"
The System appeared.
[Current location: Unknown.]
"Excellent."
[Statement interpreted as sarcasm.]
"Progress."
[System is learning.]
"Don't."
There were not many places Miriel willingly went alone.
The servants' quarters.
Food.
Occasionally the library.
And if Lillia had finished morning classes, she would almost certainly be studying.
Top four theory rank apparently came with the personality disorder of voluntary homework.
Khan adjusted his coat and headed toward the Grand Library.
----------------
The Arcane Academy's Grand Library occupied an entire marble complex behind the central lecture towers.
Calling it a library was technically accurate in the same way calling Oakhaven a city was technically accurate.
It underestimated the problem.
Seven floors rose around a glass-domed central hall.
Floating shelves moved between levels.
Books drifted through the air toward registered readers.
Arcane lamps hovered without chains.
Scribes sat behind long counters, cataloging scrolls, crystals, memory tablets and texts whose bindings occasionally moved on their own.
One of the bindings growled.
Khan thought of Lillia's grimoire and felt a brief, unexpected kinship with the scribe holding it.
He paused beneath the entrance arch.
"Expensive."
[Academic institution detected.]
"Obviously."
[Knowledge density: Extreme.]
That got his attention.
He entered.
Lillia was not hard to find.
Not because he saw her.
Because one of the academy clerks pointed toward the restricted theory section and said:
"Lady Goldleaf has been there for three hours."
Naturally.
Khan looked toward the towering shelves.
Three hours.
He respected the commitment.
Khan did not intend to join it.
He stepped back outside.
That was when he saw red hair beneath a tree.
Miriel sat in the nearby garden.
Of course.
She had claimed a secluded corner beside a fountain, one leg folded beneath her, novel open across her lap.
A paper bag of snacks sat beside her.
She was chewing while reading.
Completely absorbed.
The afternoon light came through the leaves above her in small, moving pieces and kept landing on her hair as if it had been asked to.
Khan approached.
Stopped behind her.
Read the title.
THE MOONLIT DUKE'S SECRET BRIDE.
Still.
Miriel noticed his shadow.
She slowly looked up.
"You're back."
"Yes."
Her eyes dropped to his empty hands.
"Did you find anything interesting?"
"Financial infrastructure."
She stared.
"You look happier."
"I am not."
"You are."
"I found a trading floor."
Miriel's expression became understanding.
"Ah."
Khan sat beside her.
"You say that like I found religion."
"You practically did."
Fair.
For a moment, he thought of the board in the Merchant Alliance hall.
Ashen Dominion ember coins.
Spread ugly.
Volume low.
Two seals and one country.
He could tell her.
He looked at her, cross-legged in the grass with honey on her fingertip and a ridiculous novel in her lap, more relaxed than he had seen her since the road.
Not today.
He looked at the novel instead.
"What chapter?"
Miriel closed it immediately.
"No."
"Thirty-eight?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Thirty-seven."
Khan smiled.
"Addict."
"It became interesting."
"That is how books work."
"The duke has been poisoned."
"Tragic."
"By his own aunt."
"Plausible."
"The secret bride is going to have to reveal her true name to save him."
Khan considered the plot.
"That seems like a poor risk-reward calculation for the bride."
Miriel looked at him for a moment longer than the comment required.
"Yes," she said. "It does."
Then she went back to the page.
She reached into the snack bag.
Held it toward him.
Khan took one.
Some kind of honey-roasted nut.
Good.
Too expensive, probably.
He chose not to ask.
Personal growth.
[Host has declined to inquire about a price.]
[Logging as historic event.]
They sat beneath the tree.
Beyond the garden walls, academy towers rose into the afternoon sky.
Students moved between buildings.
Some practiced spells.
Others argued over books.
Nearby, a group of first-years accidentally produced a flock of glowing blue birds and spent several minutes trying to convince them to go back into a summoning circle.
The birds declined.
One of them landed on the fountain and looked at Khan with an expression of complete contempt.
Khan looked back.
Neither blinked.
"Magic education seems poorly supervised."
Miriel turned a page.
"You sold spoiled milk for a week."
"Condensed milk."
"Same cow."
He looked offended.
----------------
They waited.
Lillia would eventually finish studying.
Probably.
Sunlight moved slowly across the garden.
Miriel read.
At some point her shoulder came to rest against his arm.
He was not sure which of them had moved.
He did not investigate.
Khan listened to academy conversations.
Mana theory.
Artifact exams.
Upcoming ranking tests.
Rumors about professors.
Nothing urgent.
For once, the afternoon felt ordinary.
Then the System screamed.
Not audibly.
Visually.
A red window exploded across Khan's vision.
[EXTREME THREAT DETECTED.]
His body reacted before thought.
Back straight.
Hand moving.
Eyes scanning.
What?
[Unknown entity approaching.]
[Threat assessment: Critical.]
Khan looked toward the path.
An old man was walking through the garden.
Slowly.
That was all.
Long white beard.
Plain pale robes.
Wooden staff.
Slightly bent posture.
He looked like someone's grandfather on his way to complain about tea.
Khan stared.
Him?
[Confirmed.]
You're sure.
[System is very sure.]
[System would like to be elsewhere.]
Miriel noticed the change.
Her shoulder left his arm.
"What is it?"
Khan did not answer.
The old man approached the opposite bench.
Every instinct Khan had told him something was wrong.
Not aggressive.
Worse.
Calm.
People who knew they could not be threatened moved differently.
On Earth, Khan had sat across tables from men like that.
Men who arrived late to meetings because the meetings would wait.
Men who never raised their voices because nobody had ever made them.
This old man walked like all of them combined, and then some.
----------------
The old man smiled faintly.
Then sat.
The moment his body touched the bench, the world stopped.
Not metaphorically.
The fountain froze in midair.
Water droplets hung like glass.
Leaves stopped moving.
Birds became motionless above the trees.
The contemptuous blue bird froze mid-sneer on the rim of the fountain.
The distant students remained frozen mid-step.
Sound vanished.
Completely.
Khan did not breathe.
Miriel's novel slipped slightly in her hand.
Her violet eyes widened.
The garden was still there.
The academy was still visible.
But it felt far away.
As if someone had placed a transparent wall around the three of them and cut the space loose from everything else.
Another dimension nested inside the real one.
Khan slowly looked toward the old man.
He was still smiling.
"Good afternoon."
Khan's hand remained close to his coat.
There was nothing useful inside his coat.
A ledger.
A pencil.
A ball of grey wool from a knitting attendant.
He kept his hand there anyway.
Miriel had gone very still.
The System flickered violently.
[Scan initiated.]
[Name: Alaric Bright.]
[Race: Human.]
[Age: 87.]
[Status: Principal, Arcane Academy of Oakhaven.]
[Class: Archmage.]
[Tier: 9.]
[Level: 90.]
[Human Level Cap Reached.]
[Threat Level: EXTREME.]
Khan stared.
Level ninety.
Human cap.
The System continued.
[Mana Capacity: SSS.]
[Combat Potential: SSS.]
[Known Titles: The White Star of Aethelgard. Keeper of the Ninth Gate. Grand Magister of the Arcane Academy.]
[Warning: Direct confrontation strongly discouraged.]
[Additional warning: Indirect confrontation also discouraged.]
[Further warning: Sarcasm discouraged.]
Khan's eyes slid to Miriel.
The System reacted.
[Miriel Ignarria.]
[Level: 64.]
[Potential: Exceptional.]
[Current gap: Significant.]
Khan felt cold.
Miriel was monstrous by ordinary standards.
SSS mana.
SSS combat potential.
Royal blood.
She had cut a sewer in half without trying.
And this old man was twenty-six levels above her.
Lovely.
Alaric rested both hands over the top of his staff.
"You may relax."
Khan did not.
Miriel definitely did not.
The old man looked amused.
"That was optimistic of me."
Khan found his voice.
"A little."
Alaric's eyes moved toward him.
Sharp.
Far too sharp.
Then back to Miriel.
She had already closed the novel.
Her posture changed.
The lazy girl beneath the tree disappeared.
The Demon Princess reemerged.
Not hidden.
Not joking.
Ready.
Alaric studied her for several seconds.
Then spoke.
"Miriel Ignarria."
Her fingers tightened around the book.
Khan's jaw hardened.
Not again.
The last time someone had said her full name aloud, she had cut a building in half.
Miriel said nothing.
The old man continued.
"Princess of the Ashen Dominion."
Silence.
His voice was not accusatory.
That somehow made it worse.
Miriel slowly set the novel beside her.
"How long have you known?"
Alaric smiled faintly.
"Since you entered my academy."
Khan closed his eyes for half a second.
Excellent.
The sixty-silver headband had defeated merchants, guards and clerks.
Apparently not the principal.
Alaric glanced at it.
"A respectable illusion."
Khan looked offended.
"It was expensive."
Miriel gave him a look.
Not now.
The old man chuckled.
"I imagine the seller was reluctant to part with it."
Khan's expression became suspicious.
"How do you know that?"
"You look like someone who negotiates recreationally."
Miriel almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Alaric's expression changed.
Not colder.
More serious.
He looked at her directly.
"Years have passed since the Great War."
Miriel's face became unreadable.
"The borders between human and demon territories remain... delicate."
Khan heard the diplomatic word.
Delicate.
Meaning one idiot away from catastrophe.
Alaric continued.
"And yet the heir of the Crimson Throne is wandering through human territory under an illusion, registered as the companion of a merchant heiress."
His eyes briefly moved toward Khan.
"Accompanied by a young man who seems to possess no proper history at all."
Khan's stomach tightened.
The System flashed.
[Identity scrutiny detected.]
No kidding.
[Recommended response: Possess a proper history.]
I'll get right on that.
Alaric returned his attention to Miriel.
"So."
He leaned back slightly.
"Why?"
Miriel remained silent.
The frozen garden waited with her.
For one second, Khan wondered whether she would lie.
Then he remembered who she was talking to.
Tier Nine Archmage.
Level ninety.
Principal of the academy.
Probably not an ideal audience for catastrophic lies.
Miriel's voice came carefully.
"I am not here on behalf of the Ashen Dominion."
"I know."
That surprised her.
Alaric continued.
"If you were, half the continent's intelligence offices would already be screaming."
Khan nodded faintly.
Reasonable.
Miriel looked at him.
Then back at the principal.
"I'm in exile."
Alaric's expression did not change.
"I suspected."
"My family was betrayed."
"I know that too."
Miriel's eyes hardened.
"You know a great deal."
"I am old."
"That isn't an explanation."
"It becomes one eventually."
Khan almost respected that answer.
Miriel did not.
Alaric sighed.
"The rebellion fractured the Dominion. Your disappearance became a political inconvenience for nearly everyone involved."
Her jaw tightened.
"Inconvenience."
"Yes."
The old man's tone remained gentle.
"Dead heirs are simple. Living heirs are complicated."
Khan understood that immediately.
Markets hated uncertainty.
Politics too.
He thought of the brokers at the ember coin board.
Nobody knows whose seal survives next month.
Miriel was the uncertainty.
She was the reason the spread was ugly.
He did not like how neatly that fit.
Miriel looked away.
The frozen fountain reflected sunlight beside them.
"I didn't come here to start another war."
Alaric watched her.
"Then what did you come here for?"
That question landed differently.
Miriel hesitated.
She had answers.
Survival.
Nightfall.
Information.
Revenge.
Her family.
The prophecy.
Khan.
That last one arrived without permission.
She did not look at him.
She was very careful not to look at him.
None of the answers fit cleanly.
"I don't know yet."
Alaric smiled.
Not mocking.
"Better."
Miriel frowned.
"What?"
"Certainty is dangerous at your age."
Khan glanced at the level ninety archmage.
Easy for him to say.
Alaric continued.
"But ignorance combined with power can be worse."
His gaze sharpened.
"So I'll ask more directly."
The stillness around them deepened.
"Are you here to reclaim the Ashen Dominion?"
Miriel's breath slowed.
Khan watched her.
She looked down at her hands.
Then toward the academy towers beyond the frozen garden.
Finally:
"Maybe."
Alaric's eyebrow rose.
Miriel continued.
"I want to know what happened."
Her voice hardened.
"Who betrayed us."
"Why."
"Who survived."
"What the rebels became."
She looked at him.
"And if there is anything left worth reclaiming."
Khan felt something shift.
That answer mattered.
Alaric knew it too.
The old man nodded.
"Good."
Miriel blinked.
"Good?"
"Yes."
"If you had said you intended to reclaim the throne regardless of consequence, I would have removed you from Oakhaven today."
Khan stared.
Removed.
Interesting word.
Miriel's eyes narrowed.
"Could you?"
The question escaped before caution.
Khan slowly turned toward her.
Why?
Why would you ask that?
Alaric smiled.
The System flashed bright red.
[Host ally has initiated catastrophic curiosity.]
Khan almost laughed despite himself.
The old man lifted one finger.
The entire sky above the frozen garden changed.
For one instant, daylight disappeared.
Stars filled the dome.
Not illusion.
Khan knew immediately.
Space itself bent.
A vast magical structure unfolded above them.
Nine concentric rings.
Each covered in runes.
Each rotating in a different direction.
The light from them fell on Miriel's face and turned it pale and silver.
Miriel went paler still.
Without looking, Khan felt her hand find his sleeve.
Then it vanished.
Daylight returned.
Alaric lowered his finger.
"Yes."
Miriel said nothing.
Her hand stayed on his sleeve for another second.
Then she took it back.
Khan looked at the System.
[Spell classification unavailable.]
Useful.
[Estimated destructive capacity: Catastrophic.]
Better.
[Personal note: System does not want to see that again.]
Alaric looked between them.
"I did not isolate this garden to threaten you."
Khan stared at the frozen world.
"Presentation could use work."
The old man laughed.
Actually laughed.
Miriel looked at Khan like he had developed a death wish.
Perhaps.
[Sarcasm detected. Previous warning ignored.]
Alaric's smile lingered.
"I isolated it because some conversations should not become academy gossip."
Reasonable.
Then his gaze moved toward Khan.
"And because I wanted to meet you."
Khan stopped.
Miriel looked at him.
"Me?"
"Yes."
Alaric studied him.
The System immediately panicked again.
[Foreign analysis detected.]
[Unknown magical examination attempting access.]
Khan's skin crawled.
It felt like fingers moving through a filing cabinet.
Patient.
Thorough.
Opening drawers he had not known he had.
Then:
[Access denied.]
He froze.
[Intrusion repelled.]
[System would like Host to know that System did that.]
[System would also like Host to know it was very difficult.]
Alaric's eyebrows rose.
Just slightly.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The old man leaned forward.
"Now that..."
His smile returned.
"...is unusual."
Khan felt his pulse change.
Miriel shifted closer.
Not enough to be obvious.
Enough.
Her knee pressed against his.
Her eyes had not left Alaric.
If the old man moved, Khan understood with total clarity that she would move first, and that it would not matter, and that she would do it anyway.
Alaric noticed.
Of course he did.
His eyes moved between them.
Something in his expression softened for a moment.
Then he sat back.
"No need to worry."
Khan stared.
"That sentence has performed poorly today."
Fair.
Alaric chuckled.
Then the pressure disappeared.
The fountain resumed.
Water fell.
Birds moved.
The blue bird completed its sneer and flew away.
Leaves rustled.
Sound crashed back into the garden all at once.
Students continued walking as though nothing had happened.
To everyone else, perhaps nothing had.
Alaric remained seated.
Ordinary old man again.
Which Khan now found much more disturbing.
The principal stood slowly.
Miriel watched him carefully.
Before leaving, Alaric looked at her one last time.
"You may remain at the academy."
Miriel blinked.
Khan's shoulders loosened slightly.
Then Alaric continued.
"But not as a protected guest."
The garden stilled again.
Not frozen this time.
Just quieter, as though the space around them had stepped back to listen.
Miriel's expression tightened.
"You are offering us sanctuary?"
"I am offering you an arrangement."
The old man's gaze moved between them.
"The academy is not a hiding place for fugitives. If you remain within its walls, you will serve a purpose."
Khan frowned.
"What kind of purpose?"
Alaric's smile faded.
"A special operations team."
Miriel's eyes narrowed.
"Special operations?"
"Small assignments. Sensitive matters. Problems that cannot be handed to ordinary students, faculty or city officials."
His fingers tapped once against the top of his staff.
"You will execute my direct orders."
The words settled heavily over the garden.
No room for interpretation.
No room for negotiation.
Miriel's voice became cold.
"You want to use us."
"I want to give you a place where your presence can be justified."
Alaric looked at her without flinching.
"In exchange, you will perform work that benefits the academy and Oakhaven. You will follow my instructions precisely. You will not accept outside missions without permission. You will not expose academy secrets."
His eyes shifted toward Khan.
"And you will not turn my students into collateral damage."
Khan raised a hand slightly.
"That last one feels targeted."
"It is."
Miriel studied him.
"What happens if we refuse?"
"You leave the academy before sunrise."
The answer was calm.
"If you remain after that, I will treat you as unauthorized intruders. Your identities will not remain private for long."
Khan's expression darkened.
There it was.
Not a threat shouted across a battlefield.
A contract with a blade hidden inside it.
Miriel looked toward the academy towers.
Students continued moving beyond the garden, unaware that the future of a demon princess had just been reduced to a deadline.
"And if we accept?"
"You may stay inside the academy under my protection."
Alaric's voice softened slightly.
"You will have access to its library, instructors and facilities. Your identity will remain concealed from the public. I will also provide limited information regarding the Ashen Dominion when doing so does not compromise academy interests."
Miriel's eyes sharpened.
"Limited?"
"I am not promising answers. I am promising opportunities to find them."
That was more honest than most promises.
Khan looked at him.
"And the team?"
"Will be assembled according to need."
"Who else is in it?"
"People you will meet when the first assignment is issued."
Khan frowned.
"So we join a secret team without knowing its members, duties or pay?"
Alaric's eyes gleamed.
"Pay?"
Khan folded his arms.
"Work is work."
Miriel glanced at him.
Even now.
Even here.
Of course.
Alaric laughed quietly.
"The academy will provide room, meals, equipment and access to resources. Additional compensation will depend on the assignment."
"Exit terms?"
"You may resign."
"And?"
"And I may disagree."
Khan considered that.
"That's not an exit term. That's a mood."
"It is the only exit term I offer."
[Contract assessment: Unfavorable.]
[Alternative contracts available: None.]
[Counterparty negotiating position: Level 90.]
I'm aware of his level.
Khan considered it.
Room.
Meals.
Equipment.
Information.
A legal reason to remain inside the academy.
Not bad.
Still dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Miriel looked at him.
He could see the question in her eyes.
Should we accept?
Khan did not answer immediately.
Alaric watched them both.
"You have until midnight."
Miriel's gaze snapped back to him.
"Midnight?"
"Come to my office before the final bell. It rings at midnight."
His tone became firm.
"If you are not there when it rings, I will assume you have declined."
"And if we accept?"
"You will receive your first orders."
Khan stared.
"Immediately?"
"I dislike wasting time."
Naturally.
Miriel's fingers curled around the edge of her novel.
"You expect us to decide this quickly?"
"I expect you to understand your situation quickly."
The old man straightened, leaning on his staff.
"You are both powerful, conspicuous and vulnerable. The academy can shelter you, but only if your presence serves a purpose."
He looked directly at Miriel.
"Choose carefully, Princess."
Then toward Khan.
"And bring your own judgment. I have no use for obedient fools."
Khan blinked.
That was almost reassuring.
Almost.
Alaric turned away.
Over his shoulder, he added:
"Midnight. My office is in the western tower. The door will be unlocked."
Miriel rose to her feet.
"Alaric."
The principal paused.
"If we accept your orders, are we prisoners?"
The old man looked back over his shoulder.
"No."
His expression became unreadable.
"But you will be responsible for the consequences of disobedience."
Then he walked away.
Slowly.
White beard moving in the breeze.
Within seconds he looked harmless again.
He stopped to help a first-year coax a glowing blue bird back into its summoning circle.
The bird went in immediately.
Khan watched him disappear toward the library entrance.
The fountain splashed.
Birds scattered.
Students laughed.
No one noticed that the academy's most dangerous man had just offered them sanctuary, with conditions attached.
Silence settled between Khan and Miriel.
Then Miriel exhaled.
Very carefully.
She sat back down on the grass.
Rather suddenly.
As if her legs had decided the conversation was over before she had.
"That was unpleasant."
Khan looked at her.
"You asked if he could remove you."
"I was curious."
He stared.
Then pointed at her.
"That."
"What?"
"That sentence."
Miriel frowned.
"What about it?"
"That is how people die."
She smiled faintly.
"You're alive."
"Despite myself."
The System appeared.
[Encounter survived.]
Khan looked at the notification.
Barely.
[No hostile action initiated.]
He turned toward Miriel.
"She was going to challenge him."
"I was not."
[Miriel hostility probability during exchange: 14%.]
Khan pointed at empty air.
"Fourteen percent is too high."
"Fourteen percent is extremely restrained," Miriel said. "He said my name."
"Everyone says your name."
"He said all of it."
[Note: Hostility probability rose to 61% during the Princess remark.]
"Sixty-one," Khan said.
Miriel looked at the empty air with interest.
"Does it say what it was during the Khan part?"
Khan paused.
"What Khan part?"
"When he tried to look inside you."
[Miriel hostility probability during foreign analysis of Host: 97%.]
Khan read it.
He did not read it aloud.
He looked at Miriel instead.
She looked back, eyebrows raised, waiting.
"Fourteen," Khan said.
Miriel did not believe him.
She did not push.
The tension finally broke.
She laughed, short and shaky, and Khan felt something unclench in his chest that he had not noticed was clenched.
Then Khan looked toward the library.
Lillia was still inside.
Studying.
Completely unaware that, outside, her friends had just been casually interrogated by a human being operating at the biological limit of magical power, then offered places on a secret operations team.
Khan sighed.
"We need to tell her."
Miriel picked up her novel.
"After she finishes."
"Why?"
"She has an exam tomorrow."
Khan stared at her.
Then smiled.
"Good priorities."
Miriel turned the novel over in her hands without opening it.
"Khan."
"What?"
"What do you think?"
He thought about it properly.
Room.
Meals.
Equipment.
Library access.
A legal reason to be here.
A level ninety employer with a mood instead of an exit clause.
Unknown teammates.
Unknown missions.
A man who already knew her name and had tried to open drawers in Khan's head.
"The terms are bad," he said. "The alternative is worse. If we leave, we're two people with no papers, one fragile headband and a very specific face, on a continent where your exchange rate is already ugly."
Miriel blinked.
"My what?"
"Nothing. Market term."
He looked at the western tower.
"It's your name on the line. Your country. Your answers. It should be your decision."
Miriel was quiet for a moment.
Then she said:
"If you say no, I'll say no."
Khan turned to look at her.
She was not smiling.
She meant it.
"That's terrible negotiation," he said quietly.
"Why?"
"You revealed attachment."
Miriel's cheeks colored.
She lifted her chin anyway.
"Then consider it strategic transparency."
Khan stared at her.
"Where did you learn that?"
"Lillia."
"Of course."
[Romantic atmosphere: 88/100.]
[Location: Garden, post-archmage. Bonus applied for surviving.]
[Careless Whisper (System Remix): standing by.]
Not now.
[Understood. Standing by harder.]
Miriel reopened the book.
Khan sat back down beside her.
But he no longer felt relaxed.
Not even slightly.
Because somewhere inside the academy, an old man who could freeze an entire garden outside normal space had tried to inspect him.
And failed.
Now that same man had given them until midnight to decide whether to become his agents.
The System appeared one final time.
[Unknown interest acquired.]
Khan looked toward the western tower.
"Internet Explorer."
[Yes?]
"I think the principal noticed me."
[Assessment: Obviously.]
Khan sighed.
"Now he wants to employ me."
[Assessment: Employment opportunity detected.]
"Don't make it sound attractive."
[Risk assessment: Extreme.]
"Better."
"You blocked him," Khan added, more quietly.
[Yes.]
"How?"
[Unknown.]
Khan looked at the notification for a long moment.
"That's not reassuring."
[System is also not reassured.]
He glanced at Miriel.
She was already reading again, though her eyes had stopped moving across the page.
Her shoulder had found his arm again.
Khan looked toward the clock tower.
The hands were creeping toward evening.
Midnight was not far away.
He had been in Oakhaven for less than a week.
And somehow, the most powerful human in the academy had already added him to a mental watchlist, offered him a dangerous job and given him a deadline.
Fantastic.