Knight captures the rook. Checkmate in 4 moves!

A week has passed.

To reassure visitors and defend the Empire’s image, London law enforcement officers have arrived in Edinburgh. The possessions continue to increase, allowing nationalists and the church to point the finger at the depraved foreigners who have recently arrived. Adler is about to begin her experiments on human guinea pigs.

Meical asks Oxford for information about the Egyptian artefact, and learns that it was stolen and that the investigation has come to nothing.

The coterie decides to throw a spanner in the Marquess‘s works.
To this end, they search for his pawns on the Edinburgh chessboard and investigate his recent activities.
They find two key figures: a high-ranking police officer and a prominent politician.
They also uncover one of his hideouts and meeting places where he attacks the Prince for having allowed the Londoners to take control of the city’s security. The Marquess blows hot and cold.

We need to undermine him, so two scandals to bring down his allies: a drugs scandal for the police officer and a sex scandal for the politician.

The police officer is the easiest target, and Cornie knows a police officer who could use this to his advantage to climb the ranks. Admittedly, fabricating a crime from scratch isn’t exactly honourable, but if Wheeler doesn’t know about it, so much the better for him. A Marquess agent is bound to be corrupt anyway.

So Cornie produces some decent-quality opium, Meical fakes an account book, Balthazar supplies cash, and Pidge hides it all at Clark’s place. Meical uses a contact at the Edinburgh Evening News to cover the story and put Wheeler in the spotlight.
Then a group of trusted police officers discover the evidence and arrest Clark. The arrest doesn’t go smoothly, and Finn and his gang spread the news throughout various neighbourhoods of the city.
Clark is out and won’t be granted bail, but the Marquess will certainly be on his guard now.

It’s time to turn our attention to scientific research. Research that still doesn’t make sense and is progressing slowly. The first test subjects aren’t responding well and don’t seem to be gaining anything.
Liquefying the aether requires an insane amount of energy, yet the results are disappointing. They’re missing the artefact.

One evening, Saira visits the lab, and the coterie tells her that the scientists are Mages. She explains that Mages can reshape reality. If enough people believe in the Mages’ wonders, then those wonders become the norm. And the World’s Fair is a good opportunity to win over the crowds. She is in contact with a London alchemist, and unlike Langhans, she believes that Mages are dangerous. Of course, if the coterie can make use of them, they’ll have a valuable ace up their sleeve.

Grace tells Balthazar about a city-wide ritual designed to absorb the freed spirits and control their energy. She needs to make preparations, and she needs the Scarab, fetters, and helpers. They also need to find out which locations are most suitable for this ritual.

The coterie wants to continue fighting the Marquess. They are also hesitant to be frank with the Mages in order to persuade them to form a supernatural alliance.