This genuinely surprised Elliot.
He went through the records again and confirmed that this was the first time Vanessa had triggered [Veil].
"An attempt to probe her was misdirected-at a time like this?"
Elliot frowned.
He had only just had Maeve use [Crescent Moon Prayer], and Vanessa had immediately been targeted by a probe. That was far too much of a coincidence.
"A coincidence-there are no coincidences in the Supernatural."
Elliot took a deep breath. Could it be the Difference Engine?
The Night Watch Bureau's [The Thinker]?
[The Thinker] calculated the world. Maeve had summoned a Worm capable of destroying the world, and Vanessa had been recorded as her Cult Leader. That seemed perfectly reasonable.
But that was not the case.
Elliot had specifically looked into this. [The Thinker]'s calculations were limited to what lay within the world. Anything outside this layer of history or beyond the Surface World could not be captured and recorded.
Victoria had mentioned this too. Whenever she spoke privately with Vanessa, she would draw Vanessa into some sort of basic state, where everything in the Library ceased to exist and Spider Silk covered the floor instead.
Like Elliot contacting his Believers in dreams, this involved leaving reality to evade [The Thinker]'s probes.
"In other words, someone else has set their sights on Vanessa."
Elliot's expression darkened.
He had specifically chosen to summon the Worm in a dream to avoid attracting attention.
Yet someone had actually managed to pinpoint, through the world's surface, that it was Vanessa's Believer summoning the Worm?
That was far too formidable an ability.
"Vanessa has [Veil], but Maeve doesn't. She might already have been discovered!"
Elliot paced rapidly around the room, considering countermeasures.
"No, I have to do something. I can't just sit here and let them catch us!"
Elliot picked