He had a file on Bianca di Angelo. It was not a physical file — it was a mental one, organized with the precision he brought to all planning, updated as his thinking developed. He had been working on it since he was six years old and had decided he would not let her die in a junkyard in New Mexico.
He had the specifics. He had always had the specifics: the automaton, the Talos giant, the control node at the neck. The specific piece of information she needed that she did not have at the time of her death in the book. He had the outline of the sequence leading to the Junkyard of the Gods: Westover Hall, the rescue, the Hunt, the quest.
What he had been working on for seven years, and still was working on, was the approach. Not what to tell her — he knew what to tell her. The question was how and when and in what context, because information received from a stranger at the wrong moment was not the same as information received from someone you trusted at the right one.
He needed to be at Westover Hall. He had known this since he was six. He needed to be there before the attack, so that he had the opportunity to speak to her before everything descended into chaos. He needed her to have heard him before the junkyard, not in the middle of it.
He was thirteen. Westover Hall was approximately a year and a half away. He had time to think carefully about this.
He wrote a letter — one he did not send, a thinking-letter — working out the logic. The Hunt would be at Westover Hall when Annabeth and Percy arrived. Artemis would be there. The twins' situation would be in motion. His attendance needed a reason that was not 'I know things.' His attendance needed to be natural, unalarming, earned.
He had resources. He had Theron, who could arrange transport. He had Chiron, who had come to trust his judgment on matters of intelligence. He had two years of camp goodwill. He had, most importantly, the Crossroads Sight, which at its current development could give him a clearer read on which approach to the moment would leave the best paths open.
He filed the planning document under: WESTOVER HALL — ACTIVE. He updated the status note: 14 months estimated. Approach still developing. The core goal is clear. The girl needs to live. Everything else is logistics.
[ PLANNING FILE — BIANCA DI ANGELO ]
Status: ACTIVE — 14 months to Westover Hall
Core goal: Bianca di Angelo survives the
Junkyard of the Gods.
Known information she needs:
— Talos automaton: control node at the neck
— Entering the leg is the approach vector
— The neck node must be struck from inside
— She can do this. She has the skill.
— She just needs to know where to strike.
Known unknowns:
— How to create the opportunity to tell her
— How to tell her in a way she will use
(received from a stranger vs. trusted person)
— Whether other variables will have shifted
Time available: ~14 months
MANA available: 110
Crossroads Sight: C rank — improving
Note: This is personal. Not strategic.
She deserves to live.
Get the approach right.
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