When we last left the agents of House Viracocha, they had identified a couple promising candidates to hire as mercenaries for House Runasimi's war against House Orlok:
- The Eyeflashes, warrior hypnotists who could induce seizures in their targets
- The Watchers, observant fighters who carefully observed their targets to learn their weaknesses
The next step was to make sure that whoever they chose didn't sell them out, and figure out how to get the best possible price. The team planned their next move in the flying bar at the end of the lounge, attached to the suspensor platform where the conference was taking place.
The agents queried the elderly drug addict Mentat Joe about the loyalties of the two mercenary outfits, hoping he might remember something useful. Joe recalled that the Eyeflashes were majority owned by House Rust. House Rust was a House Minor on Geidi Prime, always trying to imitate their masters' gift for scheming. It wasn't a good idea to hire them as mercenaries. That left the Watchers as the obvious choice. Sister Victoria could use her truthsayer powers to determine whether the Watchers were on the level, and then the group could workshop how to get leverage over them for a better price.
