Master,

In conversation with the Acolytes, the thing that was speaking through the autocherub informed them that they could help each other. It would lead them to an important enemy of the Imperium - one the Inquisition would be glad to have news of - and in return they would do it a small (unspecified) favour. There was talk of an additional reward, too, but it was vague on this point. In response to their questions it said that its name was Afterthought and that it was bored. Humans, it said, were obsessed with "now" and "then" and had no appreciation of the glorious loop and spin of being. It apologised for what had happened to the villagers, but said it had had to relieve the boredom somehow.

While Jacob and Sliver stood entranced, Lazarus and Fenria became aware of another presence - a haggard and frightened-looking man in priest's robes making frantic gestures from inside one of the many mirrors. When Afterthought asked them to follow it into the maze of reflections, they turned away from their companions and followed the priest instead.

It was very hard for me to follow them, Master, but I am always obedient to your wishes.

As the maze faded around them, Fenria and Lazarus found themselves back in the Templum - although the mirrors were no longer there. Instead, the priest was standing at the altar, apparently combining prayer with weight training. He was surprised to see the acolytes and seemed rather flustered when they claimed to have been sent by the Ecclesiarchy. He was worried about the annual tithe estimates, which he was finding hard going because of the poor state of his predecessor's records. Continuing the conversation in his living quarters, they discovered that according to the parish records it was apparently late spring, nearly three months before their arrival in the village. They also discovered that the priest, whose name was Father Sigismund, was expecting to play a role in the villagers' annual mummers' play - whose title this year was "The Coming of the King".

Walking through the village, Fenria and Lazarus found the inhabitants going about their usual daily tasks. A large temporary stage had been set up in the centre of the village, on top of the bunker that held vehicles and equipment for beacon maintenance, but it was screened by heavy curtains. Deciding not to investigate further, they headed for the outskirts of the village and a view of the landing-strip. Needless to say, there was no sign of the supply shuttle.

Heading back into the village, they were approached by Moll and Gunner - a pair of scruffy-looking village teenagers. They had been hiding out in an empty storage cellar, because of problems at home that had begun when a shuttle crashed near the village last winter. Molls mother had died in a fire while trying to rescue survivors from the crash (she found this unlikely - he mother was in the village militia and would have known not to take chances) and her father had become a violent drunk. Gunner, on the other hand, was from a family of hereditary beacon technicians... but his parents no longer spoke to him. Since a few days after the crash, they had done nothing but smile all the time and meet with other "happies" (Gunner's term) to work on the mummers’ play. They assumed that Fenria and Lazarus were Ecclesiarchy investigators and were eager to help.

Gunner knew a number of access codes for the maintenance depot, and with his help Fenria and Lazarus borrowed an ATV and set out for the crash site. Investigating the vehicle, they made a surprising discovery - the emergency-equipment lockers were filled with salvaged armour and weapons from crashed ships. Perhaps the villagers were not entirely innocent? Signs of a firefight at the crash site supported this theory, and an underground cache of looted cargo nearby confirmed it. Also of interest was a tunnel melted through the shuttle's hull - as if someone had used a giant plasma torch - and signs that the main cogitator had been hastily removed from the cockpit.

Returning to the village, they left Gunner to go his own way and headed for the Templum - in time to see Father Sigismund being escorted to the stage by four smiling villagers. Avoiding a confrontation, they went to Gunner's parents' house in search of information. Instead, they found Moll, Gunner, and a dozen village teenagers all armed with weapons from the ATV and looking rather sheepish. They were, they explained, ready to help if there was trouble. Despite misgivings Fenria left them Lazarus' hand-vox with instructions to come if they were called.

Leaving the house they joined bulk of the villagers in front of the stage, where food and drink were being distributed before the play. The villagers were curious but accepted them as Ecclesiarchy agents... and more importantly, they seemed free of strange behaviour and signs of mutation. As people began to take their seats, Fenria and Lazarus slipped away from the crowd and headed for the back of the stage.

The backstage area was full of smiling people, but they were able to sneak into the space below the stage itself. Raising a plank slightly, they were able to see the set: a room whose painted windows showed a city beneath twin suns, a couch, and an ornate circular mirror hung on the wall centre-stage. The mirror seemed too obviously valuable to be a stage-prop, and had what looked like a lasgun burn on its frame.

A figure in tattered robes and a white mask entered and began to speak of the end of ennui and the joyous coming of the King. As the speech finished, Father Sigismund was led on by four mute acolytes in bird-masks and robes. He began a rather hesitant blessing, but was interrupted by the white-masked speaker. "Your Emperor has no power here", he said, gesturing at the mirror, "See!"

It was clearly time to act. While Fenria used her vox to call for the teenagers, Lazarus shot and broke the mirror. A confused fight followed, pitting Fenria, Lazarus, and Father Sigismund against the white-masked sorcerer (as he proved to be) and his knife-wielding acolytes, while the village teenagers peppered the stage with badly-aimed shots. As the fires from sorcerous flame and Lazarus' inferno shells began to spread, the shards of the mirror began to rise from the floor. As the shards arranged themselves into a kind of miniature mirror-maze, Afterthought's voice called to them. "You have made a mess of things, haven't you?” he said, "You'd better come here." Dragging Father Sigismund with them, Fenria and Lazarus dived into the shards and found themselves somewhere else.