It might be intriguing to have Lara be the first contact with those new aliens of yours next. If anyone can sense their cloaked energy signature it's surely her. And it's another way of linking and progressing two sub plots.

> > This will really hark back to our previous conversation about Liu Xi evolving and doing and being things she's not been before. I expect she'll face quite a lot of emotional and physical trauma before she gets to her "pay off" scenes with the Void Scholar. > Liu Xi is well aware that her previous patterns weren't terribly successful, so she would definitely be looking for something different.

Noted.

> > > It's sounding like Liu Xi will probably have to be saved...again. Just when she might have been the world's savior. > > I does sound like that, doesn't it? But actually that would be a narrative weakness. The real job is to get people thinking "How the hell does she get out of that? How can anybody save her now?" and then give her her moment. As I say, that'll be a while yet. > Not really a narrative weakness, just the sudden turnaround in status. At first it looked like Liu Xi would be able to get out of her mess eventually and probably help rescue the others. Now it looks more like Liu Xi is in serious trouble and the others will recover and rescue her.

Let's go for the third, unexpected option, whatever that turns out to be.

> > I haven't worked out the detail of how this all ties up yet. > You never know. Xander has designed weirder things before.

And probably will again.