Vargas hadn't known exactly what had happened. Cain had been sent to try and assassinate one of the Hive; it'd been ordered to check in frequently, and it had... stopped doing that. He'd eventually located its chrysalis, and checked on it now and then himself, but to his confusion there'd been no sign of a battle. He was still worried about that: had an assassin assassinated his assassin..?

Worrying.

But truth be told he had more on his plate these days. Cain was a sidenote, a concern but one that he had to set aside for more pressing matters--and gradually, his hope that it would emerge any time soon had faded. It wasn't that he didn't think about it: he did. But it was mostly in the context of, "I wish this Chaos Forge member were half as useful as Overseer Cain."

Overseer seemed a cursed title, in the Forge.

All of these musings were brought tumbling back when Vargas heard that distant call. He turned, thrilled for the first time in... a very long time. How long had it been-? He found himself striding swiftly in that direction, damn near breaking into a run. "Overseer Cain-? I am here," he called, his voice a bellow that carried.

Vargas stared for a beat, nonplussed. He'd slowed upon sighting his Overseer, but... this was not what he'd expected. He wondered, for a moment--worried, even--that this was fear. He did not want Cain, of all the creatures of the Forge, to fear him--but more worrying was the idea that it might already. On impulse, he pushed out briefly with the power that the little trinket at his ear had granted him.

What he got was... shame? Upset? He slid the magic away and shook his head, nothing but puzzled. "I know you well enough that you would not have abandoned the Forge deliberately," Vargas replied, blunt as ever and equally confused. "You have been absent..." and he glanced off at a wall. He was calculating, in his mind, but likely he looked as though he were searching for a calendar, or a clock, where there was none. Then he looked back to Cain. "...A year? Two? You may report," he added. That was an invitation to explain just where the hell it had been, though he doubted it was anything resembling incompetence.

Cain was anything but that.

Vargas was puzzled, for a moment. He shook his head a little. Poison? No-... it sounded more like magical exhaustion. "Did you tax yourself overmuch? That magic--to exchange bodies, it is intense, yes?" Was that all that had happened?

Or-...

"...Or did you forget to keep yourself warm? -Your own body?" Vargas looked suddenly... troubled? It was difficult to tell past his rigid facial hide, but the way his brow drew ever-so-slightly down indicated something had occurred to him. Something beyond his simple question. "I will bring you up-to-date in a moment, of course," he added, but that troubled expression did not fade.

That troubled expession lingered as Vargas listened, but when Cain had finished, he shook his head abruptly and grunted. "I hope you are right in that it was not the cold. I would feel a fool, then. I located your chrysalis and checked it periodically, and it did not even occur to me to take steps to warm it." The source, then, of his concern--laid bare. "That would have been an idiotic failure. But I suppose enough chrysalises survive Ursa--yours did, in the end, and for that I am pleased."

His gaze swung down, peering at Cain for a beat. His tone took on a slightly more reproachful note. "Nevertheless, I believe I have made it clear that 'failure' applies only to lack of intent. So long as you did not decide to deliberately disregard orders and take a very long nap, my only concern is finding out what happened so that it does not strike again." One massive forelimb came up, simply to wave the entire thing away. "Be aware that all of us--the Masters, everyone--simply fell asleep for... centuries, millennia. I do not know, but long enough that the last we were awake, the Throne was shining red stone. Long enough for rock to crumble. That was... a fading of magic, I think." He pondered this for a moment. Maybe it was just that; a fading of magicka, either localized or within Cain itself. Or maybe the Hive had done something-... No; if they'd known where the chrysalis was, they'd undoubtedly have done more to either destroy or convert his Overseer.

"If one of those you Oversee falls into slumber, I expect you to treat them the same way: if it was not deliberate, they are not to be punished. It happens," Vargas finished. "You may make up for your absence starting now... are you ready to get to work?"

Vargas nodded once. He didn't speak his mind on what Cain had said. Not only that: he tamped down his emotions on it. He knew the hybrid's element, after all. He wasn't sure if it was actively using the same sort of magic he was now capable of... but for it to sense how he felt in that moment would have devastated it. And that would not be fair.

Because Master Vargas heard its dedication--the fact that all it had ever wanted was to serve--and it felt... sad. He felt sad. It was what others might have crueller names for, and he didn't dwell on it, just in case. But--did it not aim for greater things..? Perhaps it did. It wished to see this Nest succeed. Didn't it-? Or was it just... a need to be acknowledged? To contribute, to-... Oh, that was a rabbithole--no mockery intended. Vargas tamped that thought down before that could be picked at, either--by Cain or by him--and addressed the topic at hand. But that faint sadness remained, despite his genuine appreciation for both Cain's loyalty and service.

"I know that. And it is good that you are ready, as there is much happening. The Hive infestations in the various caves are nearly completely cleansed. I am struggling to deal with another rebellious spawn. I still do not have a competent, trained scout. There is a new cave open, one which cycles its contents each--cycle--" (awkward) "and Archon--V-Onyx-Two, if it had not yet earned the name--is its emissary. -Was Andromeda open, when last you were awake? -Cassiopeia?" -And the rest of them, but since they'd opened all at once, he'd leave the rest unspoken and explain only if it were needed. He could not quite remember how long it had been, or when Cain had fallen into hibernation in relation to it all. "Another of the old Overseers has awoken, if she was not yet awake? Nemean was punished for her betrayal, and has returned." Maybe it had known that, too. Maybe it hadn't been as long as Vargas thought.

After living for so long, it all started to blur together, even with a mind as keen as his.