It was strange, how much could change in the course of a year.

Not even a year, in fact. Inquisitor Atrapes had only been assigned to his position on Imperial Centre for some months. But he had acclimated well to it. Well enough that he was ranked enough to speak to the Grand Inquisitor without going through the myriad routes of requesting an audience.

The Crimson Guard before Valten’s chambers didn’t move as he made his way towards them. He was a familiar sight now, and no one would tempt fate and try to follow procedure and bar his way. That was assuming that he wasn’t expected, of course. In all likelihood, Valten had been expecting him for some time now, for the very subject Atrapes wished to discuss.

The doors to Grand Inquisitor Valten’s office opened silently before him as he entered.

“Veritas Vincit, Grand Inquisitor,” he said<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 56.7pt } P { margin-bottom: 12pt } P.western { font-family: "Garamond", serif } --></style>. “I have news to discuss with you.”