Valar seemed to be weighing his options. Try and one-up Eliza and get beaten like a drum by Thug or try and weasel his way out with his tail between his legs. Valar went for option B. [[ Of course, ]] he said. [[ I apologize, ]] he added with a complete and obvious lack of sincerity. [[ This dreadful heat has simply sapped my patience. My associates and I have actually been checking on the possibility that the protective shield surrounding the device might 'interact' with it somehow. When the Heaven's Eye closed the gate, it was attached to a mechanical device, which means that there might be components...