"Please wait." Screwllum answered steadily, then deployed the intricately structured Engraving Anchor onto the airship's deck. The anchor radiated a stable positioning halo.
Seeing this, Laigushi spoke with a hint of understanding in his voice:
"So that's how it is."
"Your [contingency plan] requires a Scepter—and the head of a genius."
Screwllum stood to one side and solemnly reminded Herta:
"Herta, you know my stance."
"Whether it succeeds or fails, your plan plays right into [Destruction]'s hands."
Laigushi spoke with the air of someone watching a show:
"Screwllum, can't you see? Her chances are slim, but not nonexistent."
Herta turned back, her gaze sweeping over them both with impatience:
"What are you two babbling about? If anyone else wants to stop me, hurry up. I'm on a schedule."
"If nobody says anything, I'll take that as consent. What about you, Zandar?"
At this, Laigushi replied:
"As an adversary, I sincerely hope you stop."
"But as fellow seekers of [Erudition], if your flash of inspiration can bring more variables to the proof..."
"I don't mind witnessing it firsthand."
"But you will also become a [perfect scholar]—"
"Probability: one in ten thousand."
Once everything around them had been arranged, Herta took a deep breath and activated the Engraving Anchor.
The device emitted an intense hum as energy began to gather.
Her gaze was clear, as though it pierced through the layers of mist before her and fixed upon that sole possibility:
"Looks like the [lock] can only become the key."
She lifted her head, her voice amplified through the Engraving Anchor and sent into the unknown distance:
"Geniuses who walk among the stars, the galaxy has reached the brink of life and death!"
"I, Herta, Genius Society #83, summon you—"
"I demand that a Society meeting be convened at once—let the grandest