Valen wakes up, blinking as the light enters the rafters of his tenement flat. He looks at the rickety dresser next to his bed, and blinks. On it, there is a note, with an address and a time. Pinned there with a dagger.

Wow, someone has a flair for the dramatic.

He looks at his locks on his door, the only entrance to the room, and the boobytrap alarm he has set against the door. Both are designed to only be dismantled from the inside of the room. Nor has any of the crinkle paper on the floor been disturbed. Nor did the squeaky boards on the floor squeak when the intruder came to visit.

There isn't a single board in this entire building that doesn't squeak. Showoff.

At the appointed time, he is at the appointed place, with a booklet full of lecture notes in his own personal shorthand and cypher, waiting for his signal.