My time has been short and my thread has been pirated, so I've begun this chapter anew.

Maede would rather not have contact with you until the moment itself, and so, since I first brought your case to him, he has asked me to act as his emissary in the meantime. I haven't had a great deal of time of late which is why it took me some time to get back to you. For that, I apologize. I'm sure you are eager to learn what you can, but my life has been tumultuous and hectic of late. Noise and fury, accomplishing nothing, for the most part.

As for business. Maede will have to take time off work in order to accomplish this -- I'd clear out a week if I were you -- and will need to be paid for his time. I can personally assure you this isn't avarice on his part. Maede lives on a shoestring budget. You paying him for his time was upon my insistence, because I won't let a pal of mine starve and put himself through hell for anyone's sake. I'd front the cash myself, but I haven't got it, and I figure it's more proper to ask you than it is to ask my "Uncle".

Like I said, you'll need a week or so off. Don't make plans. Other than the cash, Maede personally would request two stipulations:
1. Maede has an extensive information network, for obvious reasons. He'll know every dirty secret, every lie you've told, everything you've done, every dream you've had. With this level of disclosure, he finds it unlikely you'll ever do or see anything that would make him blanche. That said, if you come to any information about anything at all, no matter how slight you might think it is, you inform him. Or just shake his hand again.
2. Well...this is a bit silly, and I feel slightly sill for having to bring it up, but Maede would... Maede would request your company for dinner on an evening of your mutual choosing. Explanation forthcoming.

If you find these terms agreeable, just get back to me. We might be able to work something out about the cash.

-- Avenger

Yeah, I'll agree to those terms no problem. I'm sure I can manage the cash too. Dinner is acceptable also, but I'll take that further explanation please.

Imagine living on a desert island. Picture, for a moment, living in a world with all the amenities of modern society. You have a car, a house, a toilet, good food, a telly, all the shit like that, but you are completely and utterly alone. The only person on this island is you.

Now, to make things worse, imagine that this island existed behind a pane of glass, and on the other side of that glass was the rest of the world, a bustling city in all it's form and glory. And nobody on the other side of the glass even recognizes that you or the island exists. They are totally ignorant to the fact that you exist there, alone, solitary and desperately lonely.

That's more or less the life that Maede leads. So on those few occassions that he chooses to absorb another person, he likes to make the most out of the relationship as possible. After all, if you only met three people all your life, you'd want them all to be close friends, right?

In short, he'd like a date.

-- Avenger

Okay, I see your point. Assuming he would still want to after he meets me, a date would be okay I guess.

Though I don't claim to know a great deal about your spotted past -- I know a little, which you have told me -- I sincerely doubt that Maede will mind. As I understand it, you don't know a great deal about your own past.

Not to demean you, as I know you to be a charming, genial, beautiful woman, but beggers, as they say, cannot be choosers.

-- Avenger