[In the grand scheme of things, they had not been on the road long -- at least compared to the length of time they'd spent in the castle overall. But the short return had been jarring nonetheless; enclosed by great stone walls, echoing corridors, the presence of others when he had grown used to a traveling party of three. It was as though they had been afforded a freedom, and returning to "civilization" as they knew it restricted it, put them back under obligation to act as though they were being watched. That the walls had eyes and ears.

And now, as they ride along the road, thick forests obscuring their view to the north, they had once more been granted the privilege of the wide outdoors, and Stephen feels more pointedly how fleeting it would be. Days more and their mission would be over.

At least there would be a warm bed at the castle, he thinks. You win some, you lose some.]

Let's not tempt fate any more than we already have.

[What more could go wrong? He'd rather not think about it, and hopes against hope that fate would be kind to them for this last run. Still, Stephen takes out the watch he had been fiddling with in the last few minutes, looking at its face to see if their proximity to the Singularity produced any change in its baseline reading. So far, nothing.]

As for the Singularity, who knows? It might. I expect some kind of fluctuation due to our proximity alone. Right now, not a lot to go on from this thing alone.

[He holds up the watch, eyebrows raised, then fastens it around his belt again.]

But after all's said and done... this'll be it. Back to life in the castle.