What she'd observed: the Inquisitor team's staging location was not where Cael's model had placed it.
Cael's model had put the staging in the southwestern district, consistent with the most direct approach vector to the settlement from the Church's operational center.
Seraphina's observation placed it northeast.
Satou read this twice.
Then he put the letter down and looked at Cael.
"Northeast staging," he said.
Cael looked at the map.
He was quiet for a moment — the specific quiet of someone running their own model against new information.
"If they staged northeast," he said slowly, "the approach vector shifts." He traced the route on the map. "Southwest approach is the most direct. Northeast approach is longer but it has a specific advantage." He paused. "It comes from the direction of Loki's territory."
The command post was very quiet.
"He's not coming from the Church's direction," Lyra said. "He's coming from the direction of our ally."
