For Services Rendered [Jesse]

The base camp outside the tomb has grown with each of Jesse's visits, the people there carefully packing each relic, carting the day's haul to somewhere in the Nexus every evening. Better cameras have been procured, a whole portable photo studio's worth of lights, tripods, high-grade lenses.

Today, when Jesse arrives, Schön waits beside a number of polished sandalwood boxes, some large, some small. "Good morning," the thin man calls with a smile. "At last, I've something to reward your patience: the pieces you requested are in."