Ic: Gooooood! Ambages thought contentedly. Very good.
"It's been a pleasure, Toa Alyo, and I look forward to seeing what the next days bring," he saluted as he got up and extended his hand. "I'll send you any information I can dig up that could help us in this case. With some foresight I think we can do this without issue. And of course, Mata Nui be with you." He smiled congenially as he led Alyo to the foyer and opened the door, bidding his warmest regards to the toa as he closed the door after him.
Alyo may have been an intelligent man, but he was also prone to the same weaknesses any normal man would have. He was eager for more, greedy for power and maybe even money. It led him to be stoic in Le-Koro and made him the way he was even there. And while the promise of being more powerful for working with Ambages on this special project may have made him wary at first, the second attack Ambages staged speared him deep into the psychological armor he had, compromising him. Suddenly, his distrust of Ambages was withered away, replaced with genuine faith in the matoran's good intentions. Alyo would be perfect for the plot, an innocent sacrifice to die before Ambages' foot to be a stepping stone for a greater position.
He looked about and found his loyal butler standing patiently but with a face of consternation. "Mas'r, Ah have sumthin' rathah import to say."
"Indeed?" he said, intrigued but still thinking of the conversation with Alyo.
"Yea, mas'r! Come, auay from the doors, away frum pryin' ears." Now Ambages was devoting his full attention to his servant. No time before was there this level of urgency and worry coming from the good man. Whatever sparked this in him must have been grave indeed. Ambages followed him for once and waited for him to speak. "Mas'r, there a man, a group of toa, who I heard in the Sanctum. I went there ta pay mah respects for Nuju, see, and when Ah stood in line to kiss that there casket I heard these men talkin' to Matoro."
"What did they say?" Ambages asked, interested but still not concerned.
"They called ya a piraka!" the servant exclaimed. "They accus'd ya of betrayin' de Matoran an' the Great Spirit! Dey want to search this place an' maybe even arrest ya!"
"Then this is grave news indeed," Ambages surmised, "and requires immediate action."
"Ya-- ya didn't actually do all dat, didja?" the servant asked, eyes wide.
"No... I didn't," Ambages denied, "but you have to understand the sort of people these are." He had a good hunch they were representatives from the ILS, likely seeking retribution against him for the destruction of Pala-Koro. But while they rightfully were casting blame in his direction, they could not possibly have anything amounting to evidence of his crimes, or else they wouldn't have gone to Matoro to seek permission to search his home. No, they were swimming in misinformation, trying to reach a goal they could never as much as glimpse as a mirage. "They are desperate and will take anything that could possibly amount to the vaguest of evidence to hold me accountable for their fabricated crimes. And for that, we must take care to release the possessions they will consider useful for them."
The servant nodded, loyal and understanding. "What then?"
"I have nothing to fear and neither do you. We'll wait for them and let them search. But first we must act quickly. Send a dove to headmaster Kaccio, tell him I need something taken to the school right this instance. I'll put the things away. Go now!"
"Yes mas'r!"
Ambages moved quickly from the living room to his study, the only room he held the objects relative to the Pyramid Plan. He believed he'd planned for an eventuality such as this, having kept an iron chest here just for such an event. He effortlessly pulled it out from under his desk and opened it up. Turning his eyes to the matrix, he chess table, and the drawer that kept the contracts he gilded for the plan. With haste but care he placed the objects into the chest neatly, placing the paper contracts on top of the chess table. He reverently disassembled the matrix, an intricate layout of the interactions and deaths of everyone involved with the master plot, and placed it in, too. With a great measure of relief he was thankful he sent all the dossiers of the people on Mata Nui to the school already, kept safe under the watchful eye of Kaccio in the new library he had made.
Sighing at the contents of the chest, he gently closed the lid and sealed it with a lock. With a little struggle he tugged the box away from the study and locked the door after himself as he left it as was his custom. Placing the box at the rear entrance of his home, he would just wait for Kaccio now. The headmaster was never late, and he prayed to himself that this would not be an exceptional occasion.