A few mid-level officials had listened to the entire recording. All had broken down in gibbering terror by the end, but they'd managed to agree with Armsmaster's analysis of the tape's contents. Thus, it had come to pass that Piggot found herself in a conference room with all of the regional PRT directors, as well as Chief Director Costa-Brown.

Well, most of them. A few, evidently having heard certain rumors, had sent alternates in their stead. The others, herself included, had immediate successors on standby, just in case. For similar reasons, the president wasn't actually listening in, but would be informed of any important points by a representative, provided the latter managed to retain his sanity.

They'd stomached the first portion of the recording relatively well. Some, after hearing of the reliability of the information, were already scheming to use their newfound knowledge to their advantage. Playback was resumed.

"Three out now, three that we know are coming, possibly three more described to us, and 11 more that we know jack crap about… Assuming they really are Eden's weapons, of course. But hopefully getting Eidolon some therapy should fix it."

"And if it doesn't? Can we take him out?"

"Remember, even Contessa can't actually use her power on him; she has to construct a model of him, or something." Who the hell is this Contessa? "And if the advice we gave him restores his powers... Yeah, I guess that's the worst case scenario. Scion might be the only chance to dispose of them, then."

"Really hoping it doesn't come to that. Of course, they'll become docile after that, until Scion dies, but that doesn't do us much good."

"It's not like we could do anything about Eidolon finding out... We really ought to be focusing on what we can fix, not getting distracted by the endbringers. That means working to build up our forces for the final battle... And also, maybe the question of what to do with the nine."

"If Jack Slash doesn't die before two years, the world ends. If he does die, it gets postponed by, like what? Eighteen years? Seems like a no-brainer."

Most of the regional directors responded rather strongly upon first hearing that piece of information. Piggot didn't miss the chief director's controlled reaction.

"Except it was supposed to be a lot worse if it's dragged out. All that conflict going on in the interim depletes everything. Maybe the world dies with a whimper instead, I dunno. Or maybe the entity will harvest its shards-"

"But we know about the shards, about how they cause conflict. We know the endbringer fights are meaningless-"

"Are you suggesting that we leave all those civilians to their fate, and round up all parahumans to prepare for the last hurrah? Even if we had to, what makes you think world governments would agree?"

"Contessa would vet the plan, of course. And remember that through Alexandria, Cauldron controls the PRT. If we have to-"

The playback was cut off at a signal from the Chief Director. Some were proposing hunting London for Scion's controller in order to kill Eidolon, others suggested a crack team to corner Alexandria and ask her a few pointed questions. As some of the more careful directors insisted on consulting Protectorate thinkers, Rebecca Costa-Brown withdrew.

The two who were at the root of the mess found themselves face to face with all but one of the bigwigs of Cauldron, who played back the recording in full once more. Alexandria had to admit that they were remarkably calm, given their surroundings.

"You two don't seem perturbed by the fact that we, along with a good portion of the PRT and the protectorate, have heard these plans of yours," stated Doctor Mother, who normally showed no signs of unease, was still perhaps the calmest person in the room, Tweedledee and Tweedledum excepted. Nonetheless, Alexandria thought she detected some previously absent tension in the head of Cauldron's baring. Or maybe she her perception of the French woman was different, now that she learned the latter was no more a doctor than she was a mother. The recording hadn't gone into details about how Cauldron had actually developed its technologies.

As one of the pair replied gamely, Alexandria wondered what she should ask them about first. The truth about the organization she'd devoted her adult life to? The designer of the endbringers? The 'eldritch god' they called Wildbow? But it was they who asked the first question.

"Uh... Where's Contessa?"

"She's been out cold for past day or so," Alexandria informed them. "One of our failed experiments manifested a power-cancelling ability, took her by surprise. She should be up and about soon..." She trailed off at the sight of the two faces in front of her, both of which were distorted by abject horror.

"Then she hasn't been-"

"None of this was on her path-"

Alexandria interrupted, forcefully. "The two of you have caused an immense amount of trouble for us. If you value your lives, you'll speak so we can understand you."

Her threat, she noted, didn't seem to frighten either of them any further.