"W-well, you see ... This is a circuitous approach to working you into the palace. Were we to simply disguise you with a glamour or a transmogrification, then that would be easy to detect. Simple mental compulsions are often too literal, and moles can only lie so effectively."

"What does any of this have to do with the dead body in front of me?"

The alchemist cleared his throat and glanced nervously at Stephen, who still lay pinned next to the body. "I have developed a process that will allow me to create a simulacrum based off of a dead body. I can recreate the personality, but I cannot create a sufficiently complex compulsion to make it an effective spy."

"This is where I come in?" Thomas asked, glancing back and forth between the two other men.

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