"Hey… didn't you say we were supposed to go? Then why are we just walking leisurely?" Angela asked.
Angel glanced at the time but didn't answer immediately, keeping her pace relaxed.
"Well," she said finally, "people usually get five minutes to prepare when the meeting starts. The actual start time is 10:35."
"So even if we don't get there exactly at 10:30, we won't miss anything."
Angela frowned. "Then why were you rushing me before? You kept saying we had to be on time."
Angel smiled faintly. "Because we're playing a game."
"A game?"
"Yeah. It's called Can I Beat the Late Timer."
"The late timer?"
"Every person who's late adds time to a countdown. Anyone still outside has to reach the meeting hall before the countdown ends, or they're considered late."
Angela blinked. "So… you're trying to arrive before the timer ends, but not too early?"
"Exactly. If you go too early, you can't play. Too late, you lose. So you wait… and hope someone else is later than you."
"That's evil," Angela said.
Angel laughed. "It's competitive."
"So what happened earlier? You looked like you were about to start running."
"The timer turned red. That meant we were about to be the last ones. If no one else arrived late, we'd have been considered late. But then the timer increased, so someone else added more time. Now we're safe."
"That's actually really interesting."
"I know, right?"
"So even though it's already 10:30, we still have time?"
"Yeah. About twenty minutes now."
"How do we have that much time?"
"Assistants," Angel explained. "If the main person is late, their assistant is also counted as late if they're not inside yet. So the timer includes them too."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"That's so cool."
Angel shrugged. "So… what do you want to do with the extra time?"
Angela thought for a moment. "I'm not sure."
"You could ask me questions about what we just learned."
"I could," Angela said, "but you said that might ruin the impartiality of things. I want to stay as impartial as possible—that's why I was put in this position, right?"
"Close enough," Angel said.
"Different reason?"
"Not really. Nothing you need to worry about."
Angela nodded slowly. "Alright…"
Angel tilted her head. "Want to see the granite sarcophagus and the borosilicate?"
Angela's eyes lit up. "Yeah. Obviously."
"We have enough time if we walk."
"Still playing the lateness game, huh? Think twenty minutes is enough?"
"Technically, closer to twenty-five," Angel said.
"Are you really playing with words right now?"
"It doesn't matter," Angel replied. "I have a feeling a lot of people are going to come late anyway."
"Why?"
"This meeting's happening because the opposing side caused that riot," Angel said. "They pushed for this on very short notice."
Angela nodded slowly. "Yeah…"
"If they hadn't, we wouldn't have needed you here," Angel continued. "It would've gone through proper channels, with someone highly qualified and not related to the Piao family to be the judge."
"That would be hard to find," Angela said.
"Yes. But eventually, someone would've been chosen. Probably newer to the area, but still qualified."
"But because everything was rushed, we still had to follow procedure," Angel said. "And that's how you ended up as the final decider."
"So I'm basically the emergency option," Angela said.
"You're the fast option," Angel corrected.
Angela narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't sound like a compliment."
"Not an insult either."
Angela sighed. "This whole situation feels weird."
"It is," Angel said. "That's why I think people will come late. The meeting was rushed, people are unprepared, and some are probably still arguing."
"That makes sense," Angela said.
Angel nodded. "So we have time."
Angela clapped her hands once. "Then let's go see the sarcophagus. You said walking there takes time, right?"
"It does."
"You don't mind?"
"No, I don't," Angel said. "Let's go."