Pompadour is somewhat of a voyeur. He was nearly caught once when he tried to install a camera behind the mirror in the women's toilet. I already knew that specific pantry where the meeting took place was often entered by female and male crewmen together, in couples. If he knew this, he must have at least tried to install some surveillance there. So, I fumbled over his storage of recordings for about an hour. And I did find a certain file. It carried no name, but only a heart symbol. And it was coded.
Normally I would stop here, coded or not. But now I had to employ what unenviable hacking skills I had. It was a simple code, but I still had to browse the neural net to find how to break it. I skipped all the recordings before the date and time I needed, of course.
It was audio only. I suppose I should have expected that, since there was no light source inside the pantry. Thanks to this, I can precisely relay what Marat and the mechanic said.
Marat: Lock the door. (The sound of door locking).
Mechanic: Yes?
Marat: My sources have confirmed where exactly the king is. It will be a common Vache, an EFL one, too, so our comrades don't even think of stopping it. Our cell must activate immediately, take over La Rochelle and intercept the royal carriage.
Mechanic: Understood. What do you need me to do?
Marat: Take a cruise disruptor warhead and detonate it on an engine. Find good cover before it detonates, we might need you alive, but don't leave the engine section. Then call the admiral there, if those that survive inside don't already. I will follow him with an escort of marines, but they will be picked and loyal personally to me. Since the engine section is soundproof, no one will notice anything. I will have already taken care of the video surveillance. We shall dispose of Thouars together, and then the rest of the crew as well, virtually in their sleep. Operating La Rochelle may be difficult with the men we'll have left, but even a couple of turrets will be enough to destroy the transport and defend from its escorts. They are likely very few, not to attract attention. Are you in?
Mechanic: I will do my duty, or die trying.
Marat: Don't screw it up. (The sound of door unlocking and opening).
After having listened to this, I checked whether the recording that showed the two men entering the pantry was still there. And I was right, it had been deleted. Pompadour will do anything he's told, without putting thought into it. Does Marat know that I am not like Pompadour? Does he suspect I might have glimpsed the pantry meeting? Will he dispose of me just to keep it secret?
But the real question is, who is Marat? What are his intentions? He is obviously a member of a Council or Maquis cell. Or isn't? If he is, then why did he sabotage his own plan himself, and turn the ship back? No, this doesn't add up. A double agent? A triple agent? An infectee? ...A demon? Has the king really fled? Did the order to destroy Leeds really come from him? Who is responsible for the defeat in New London? What is going on?
I will lay low, serve him for now and monitor everything. And hide this text as good as I can. Perhaps even after I answer the question that overshadows and symbolizes all questions that matter:
Who is Louis-Philippe Marat!?