Foundation Staff: Ms. Druvis, we are waiting for your response.
Druvis Ⅲ: Now ... I am the last to be invited.
Foundation Staff: Is there anything else that concerns you, Ms. Druvis?
Druvis Ⅲ: When will my friends come back?
Foundation Staff: They are waiting for you outside the suitcase, just as we are. All we want is an opportunity to talk to you face to face.
Druvis Ⅲ: ...
Druvis Ⅲ: Please wait a moment.
There is no time to feel attached to the past.
She looks at the brown granules in her palm. These are seeds of trees.
As she wags the fingers, the seeds are sprinkled on the ground by the stairs. They quickly roll and disappear in the gaps and crevices.
Her friends are not here, of course.
Druvis Ⅲ: May I ask ... where we are?
Constantine: The library, a place where people let down their guards.
Constantine: Trust always facilitates cooperation, don't you think?
Druvis Ⅲ: ... But I don't even know your name.
Constantine: The name is Constantine. I'm the vice president of the Joint Committee of the Foundation.
Constantine: Please allow me to extend a welcome on behalf of the Foundation.
She taps her pen on the table and calls out a thin pile of documents. The signatures are left blank on the paper.
Constantine: We have sent this document into that suitcase days ago. I should assume that you have read it.
Constantine: What's your conclusion then, Ms. Weyerhaeuser?
Druvis Ⅲ: Are you referring to ... inviting Sotheby, Mr. APPLe and me to join the Foundation?
Druvis Ⅲ: We need to discuss this with Vertin before we give you a proper response.
Druvis Ⅲ: We don't know much about the Foundation. As far as I'm concerned ... I do not yet intend to join any organization.
Constantine: That is to say, you are inclined to turn down my proposal.
Druvis Ⅲ: ...
Druvis Ⅲ: My apologies ... Vertin has not only been of great help to us, but also saved us from the "Storm."
Druvis Ⅲ: I cannot accept the invitation without her opinion, neither can I make decisions for others.
Constantine: Fair enough.
Constantine gets up on her feet and walks to the other side of the table.
There stands an unfinished card tower.
Constantine: You, who accidentally and rather luckily escaped from the "Storm" in 1929 and now seek refuge from the Foundation—Weyerhaeuser, Sotheby, and APPLe. You are the spire of the tower.
Constantine: Between you and the Foundation, the storeys in the middle, are our investigators who go out to rescue the wandering arcanists and humans.
Constantine: Vertin, is one of them.
Constantine: Merely a drop in the ocean.
Druvis Ⅲ: ...!
Constantine: Vertin indeed is the key to connect you and the Foundation.
Constantine: But let's not forget, only an entity as massive and powerful as the Foundation can provide you with long-lasting protection.
Constantine: Without the Foundation's supplies, manpower, and technology, even Vertin can barely sail against the great tides of history, let alone the ordinary people, whose fate is doomed to struggle in the endless hazards of time.
Constantine: Open your eyes and take a look ...
Constantine: We, are the unshakable fortress you should rely on.
Constantine: Do you still wish to talk to Vertin first?
Druvis Ⅲ: ...
Constantine: She is receiving a treatment from us.
Constantine: Which means she won't make it back by your side before any decision is made.
Druvis Ⅲ: ...
Constantine: Her suitcase will also be retrieved for research purposes after the meeting. As compensation for your displacement, we will arrange you a more decent room.
Constantine: Ms. Z will show you around the headquarters tomorrow.
Constantine: Go walk around and meet some people ... Perhaps it will help you see what the most beneficial choice to all of us will be.
Constantine: I will wait for your answer.
Constantine: But ...
Constantine: Don't keep me waiting for too long.
