"Do you remember the invitation the Express received?" Himeko asked.
"The Family cordially invites its honored guests to Penacony to join the other guests in a grand banquet," Old Yang calmly repeated part of the invitation. "It was precisely because of this invitation that we came here."
"You remember correctly-but there was more to that invitation," Himeko said slowly. "...Witness all the impossibilities within dreams, seek the Clockmaker's Legacy left by the Watchmaker, the father of Penacony, and then answer: why does life slumber?"
Old Yang frowned. "I don't remember that passage in the invitation... Are you saying there was an encrypted message?"
"That's the intriguing part," Himeko said. "The invitation the Family sent was a music box. Wind it up, and a voice would play along with Harmonious Music.
"But the one delivered to us was a little strange... There was a trace of discordant noise mixed into the background of the music it played.
"I transcribed those noises. Their frequencies matched the gravitational waves generated when the Express warps exactly, and using the spatial curvature of the Express's engine as the key, I obtained that message."
Old Yang's expression grew serious. "...A distress signal commonly used by the Nameless."
"We can't draw that conclusion yet. It could also be a prank by the Masked Fools." Himeko shook her head. "Judging by the method alone, the Riddlers or the Fictionologists could have done it too."
"When did you discover this?" Old Yang asked.
"While you were dealing with the Stellaron on the Luofu. I told Pom-Pom right away."
Old Yang fell silent for a moment, recalling the conversation Himeko had had with the blond IPC envoy earlier, before Little Fish and the two from Penacony arrived:
"No wonder you asked to speak earlier, and that IPC envoy mentioned the