[[The Apple-of-the-Eye]], the Hour that lives on the footsteps of the Glory, had always feared both the Tail and the Engine. Soon, the emissaries of the Tail were joined by the Lie’s crystalline servants, who pushed them to rail against their treacherous, mechanical ally and to join with the old Guild and their Anaconda-patron, who still held at least a semblance of honour. The Tail was held in check by the Anaconda, always, but the Engine had never known restraint. If the serpent-Hours were to unite against it, then maybe it could be devoured. The Anaconda itself had all but tied itself in furious knots to hear of the Tail’s defeat. While the Anaconda wished the Tail defeated and gone, it demanded that it alone be the one to strike the killing blow, not some upstart machine that did not know its place.