"Those too, at that. I would think they were most likely affiliated." Arno explains now, the thought having occurred earlier. "If someone wants you to stop speaking, what do they do when they can't make a fuss themselves? They get somebody else to do it. It's like...I hate to use a tired metaphor, but there are quite a few heads involved here. The Hydra comes to mind, only a rather specialized one with far more...I've lost that metaphor before it even got anywhere good, didn't I?" Arno stops, shaking his head a little.

"I think you have, actually in terms of people sprouting up. There are those in this world with the power to make problem for them or their friends disappear. And they do it rather painfully if you can't stop them."