If [The Thinker] could not retrieve history that had already been reset, then this Difference Engine that computed the world had its limits. The greatest difficulty Vanessa and the others faced now was that anything they wanted to do would be discovered directly by [The Thinker].
In other words, the entire Secret Society was transparent to the Night Watch Bureau, with no visibility in return.
That left the whole organization like meat on a chopping block. When it went into the pot depended entirely on the Night Watch Bureau's mood.
Things had been manageable when restrictions were lax. They could operate in secret, and the Night Watch Bureau would turn a blind eye.
Now that the Night Watch Bureau had tightened the shackles around their necks, everything had changed.
The canteen had truly become nothing more than a canteen. They could do nothing but cook.
It was only thanks to the Difference Engine that they could communicate secretly in dreams.
Even so, the efficiency of the entire organization's operations had been greatly reduced.
"If we could find [The Thinker]'s limits, or rather, its blind spots, there would be so many ways to exploit them..."
"Was it the resetting of the ruins that made this possible? Simon took the pistol from Dalton before going to the ruins. In theory, that shouldn't have been reset. This resetting of history must follow some kind of pattern."
"Anything with a pattern can be observed, analyzed, and summarized."
"And then... exploited."
Elliot paused, then thought of someone else.
"Perhaps I could ask Miss Elegy."
"The Mourning Poetry Society has survived several dynasties. If there are ways to deceive [The Thinker], even if the society doesn't know the details, it should at least have heard something."
"Neither [The Thinker] nor the Night Watch Bureau was established