Peripatetic: walking about, wandering from place to place.

"In the absence of anything useful to do, Violet's life rapidly became anxiously peripatetic."

Something's happened, but I still have nothing to do. I hate this marginally less than I hated 'nothing happening and I have nothing to do'. So, thank you. Scarlett's in Ascendancy Point, it seems. All the transmissions lead there, everything indicates that it must be the place. I have been informed in the strongest possible terms that I must not go to Ascendancy Point, must not indicate by anything that I do that Ascendancy Point is of any greater interest to me than it was a few days ago. So there's a window of my apartment where I can see the tip of the Point, if I crane my neck to the right. That's where I've been standing a lot recently. Craning my neck to the right, looking at the Point, wondering how Lettie is.

Other than that I have been mostly: wandering the city and ignoring calls from my now-more-than-ever-not-quite boyfriend. There's nothing he can do anyway, and even though he seems concerned about Lettie now it doesn't help. And trying to fend off questions about why I keep walking to the window, staring at the Point, is getting harder and harder. I've been ignoring all calls, in fact. I've had supportive little key messages: from Aiko and from Garnet and from Patrick and from, I can't bear it, Fleming Heath. I can't reply to them, especially not that one. Fleming said he wanted to talk to me but what could I say to him? What would he say to me?

I have picked up my key and made one call, though - I spoke to Helena Frye today. Kurt was wary about giving me her personal contact details, but I twisted his arm. Not literally, although I probably would have gone there if he hadn't given in. She answered with a barked-out "Frye."

I introduced myself.

"Ah," she said, "McAllister's friend."

"Not just that," I said, "Scarlett's sister."

"Yes." She paused. "Well, what can I do for you?"

"Listen," I tried to work out what it was I'd been planning to say. This already felt like it wasn't going so well. "I want to help. Scarlett's my sister, and I'm sick of feeling useless, and I just... I want to help."

"I quite understand that." She didn't sound unkind. "But as I'm sure you'll appreciate, we're strongly opposed to involving family members in our work in these cases. For obvious reasons."

I'd known she'd say this. What else could she say?

"But I..."

"Yes?"

"I know a lot about the Third Power," I blurted, "a hell of a lot, maybe even more than Kurt. We've been working on this together all this time, you know. I've seen the mines at Lancewood and the works at Viendenbourg. I've looked through secret documents about the Third Power. I know Ascendancy Point, I've even tracked down a Third Power agent working there. I just think... I think I could be useful," I finished, lamely.

"I appreciate your interest, Ms Kiteway, but that seems very unlikely."

"Look, can I at least... can I just come in and talk to you?"

"I'm not sure what that would accomplish."

"I just. Look. Please." That's not a thing I hear myself say very often.

She paused. I could hear her thinking.

"Very well then. You can have fifteen minutes of my time this evening, after 9pm. But I very much doubt it'll change anything."

So, between then and now I need to find a way to convince Helena Frye that I could be useful to her. Or at least that I could make things difficult for her if she doesn't let me in. I'm sure I'll think of something.

And in the meantime I keep asking myself: can it really be true, what the Third Power seem to think? Could Scarlett really be the one behind the theft of the Cube? It seems unlikely, but I when I stand back I have to admit it's possible. It's not like she's not resourceful, plucky, determined. It's not like she hasn't lied to me, to all of us before. But somehow it doesn't quite add up. If it's true, it'd mean she'd been lying to me, to all of us, for the past three years and I can't see that from Scarlett somehow. I just hope I soon get to ask her myself.