96: The Second Extraction Plan
The careful preceding small private *second extraction plan* came together in the careful preceding small private hour of the first six months of the quiet decade.
Lin Wanyue, by her preceding preference, conducted the careful preceding small private mathematical preparation across the careful preceding small private hour of the careful preceding small private inside-night sessions on the foundation platform. The eleven thousand four hundred Aleph-encoded pages — by her preceding read of the central archive's preceding small private security configuration as Madam Hollow had detailed it under interrogation — were *kept in the central archive's preceding small private third tier*, in the careful preceding small private *deepest preceding small private restricted vault* of the central facility's preceding small private architectural design.
The third tier's preceding small private security was — by Madam Hollow's preceding small private testimony — *substantially more demanding* than the third level of the careful preceding small private dorm tier where Lin Wanyue had been preceding-time held.
By the careful preceding small private hour of every careful preceding small private bookkeeping, the careful preceding small private restricted vault would require:
- *one substrate-anchor pair of the careful preceding small private second-tier configuration*, requiring *fourteen* careful preceding small private substrate-anchor stones rather than seven (Master Qing had — by his preceding small private private courtesy at the careful preceding small private hour of two further private meals at the teahouse on the western edge of the royal city — agreed to provide the careful preceding small private *second seven*); - the careful preceding small private *full Aleph schema's preceding small private substrate-mathematics at Sovereign Apex* (Su Yan would, by his preceding read at the careful preceding small private hour of the wedding, reach Sovereign Apex by approximately twelve months); - a careful preceding small private *combat detachment of perhaps forty operatives*, by the careful preceding small private hour of the central archive's preceding small private third tier's preceding standing garrison having been recalibrated, by Madam Hollow's preceding small private absence, to *upgraded* readiness; - a careful preceding small private *substrate-suppression neutralization device*, calibrated by Lin Wanyue's preceding small private private mathematics, that the careful preceding small private full alliance had — by the careful preceding small private hour of the next two years — to *forge* in the foundation platform's preceding small private interior workshop; - and the careful preceding small private *active cooperation* of one or more of the careful preceding small private central facility's preceding small private *interior staff*, by some careful preceding small private hour of preceding small private quiet recruitment.
The fifth requirement — the careful preceding small private *interior cooperation* — was, by every careful preceding small private bookkeeping, *the most demanding*.
Lin Wanyue, by her preceding preference, had — across nine years of preceding small private custody — *identified* approximately *fourteen* of the central facility's preceding small private interior staff as *displaceable from their current Hollow Veil allegiance by small careful preceding small private preceding mutual benefit*. Six of the fourteen were, by her preceding read, *most likely to accept the careful preceding small private displacement* if approached at the careful preceding small private hour of the right preceding small private private channel.
By the careful preceding small private hour of the first year of the quiet decade, Cousin Su Lin's preceding small private intelligence-line — through the careful preceding small private courtesy of Han Yifeng's preceding small private quiet courier line, by Wei Mingfan's preceding small private quiet office, and by Master Qing's preceding small private private courtesy at the Royal Academy of Eastern Yan — had, by the careful preceding small private hour of the careful preceding small private quiet preceding small private channels, *approached* three of the six.
Three of the three accepted.
By the careful preceding small private hour of the close of the first year of the quiet decade, the careful preceding small private *interior cooperation* had — by every careful preceding small private bookkeeping — *been secured*.
The three were: *Wen Bingyu*, the central archive's preceding small private second-tier librarian; *Lao Hou*, the careful preceding small private senior interior steward of the central facility's preceding small private third level; and *Yu Mei*, the careful preceding small private interior physician of the central facility's preceding small private dorm tier.
The three would, by the careful preceding small private hour of the second extraction's preceding small private execution, conduct the careful preceding small private *interior reconnaissance and disabling of the substrate-suppression lattice's preceding small private third tier configuration* by the careful preceding small private hour of perhaps *one full inside hour of preparation* in advance of the extraction party's preceding small private arrival.
By the close of the first year, the careful preceding small private second extraction was — by every careful preceding small private bookkeeping — *one full year ahead of original schedule*.
The careful preceding small private *executable date* of the second extraction was, by Lin Wanyue's preceding read, *eight months from the close of the first year* — that is, by the careful preceding small private hour of *one year and eight months from the wedding*.
Su Yan filed the careful preceding small private executable date.
In his chest, the ember pulsed — slow, considered, *grave* — and the dry voice, very quietly, said: *The careful preceding small private hour of the second extraction will, by every careful preceding small private bookkeeping, be the careful preceding small private most operationally important hour of your preceding-time first arc. Use the careful preceding small private hour well.*
Su Yan inclined his head, in the careful preceding small private dim of the foundation platform's preceding small private silver-gold light, in the direction of the ember.
The careful preceding small private hour of the *second extraction* — by the careful preceding small private hour of one year of careful preceding small private quiet preceding small private patient preceding small private private preparation — was, by every careful preceding small private bookkeeping, *eight months* away.