"- is that a mosaic? Who in the world thought that was a good idea?"

"The - station infrastructure committee approved it, sir?"

"The station infrastructure committee needs a six week maximally condescending safety course! You guys are so lucky you didn't get some asshole instead of me!"

"Wait, safety? What's the safety issue? And who are you?"

"I'm the demon you summoned with this mosaic!"

"Look, if there's a safety issue with the mosaic, you have my attention, and I will stop the construction if one exists, but I'm not just going to stop it over unspecified warnings of danger from someone with no credentials."

"...did you notice that I wasn't here a minute ago? That I appeared out of nowhere?"

"I did notice that."

"He means that literally, sir." another of the workers interrupts. "He appeared out of thin air in the middle of the circle. I thought I was seeing things."

The first worker to speak is now looking at Cam and attempting to gauge from his reaction to this claim.

"Yeah. Since that's what happens when you summon demons." He waggles a wing illustratively.

"You're saying you're a demon who's summoned by mosaics? Look, normally I'd be happy for a chance to show off my acting skills with an impromptu role in a reality TV skit like this, but this mosaic project is a big deal and if you want me to play along with anything that jeopardises it I'll want it approved by my parents' secretary."

Cam sighs and starts reading the binding. Is this even a binding.

It is not a binding. It appears to be a long, grandiose and deliberately bizarre poem about the narrator's attempts to return to their hometown, Santoro, in which they are aided by apparently extensive magical powers and hindered by a strange and hostile environment in which they find themself. The poem talks extensively and very positively about Santoro in the course of discussing how much the narrator misses it, and avoids clear world-building regarding the hostile environment and the narrator's magical powers in favour of repeated unexpected and unexplained abilities and problems being introduced on both sides. A tile-layer has recently lain some tiles forming part of the poem in which the narrator summons a demon and is continuing to lay tiles containing more of the poem.

All the tiles featuring in this design, laid or not, are so much clay dust now!

This gets expressions of shock, dismay, concern and fear from most people present, including, initially, the man who has been doing most of the talking, who stares at the mosaic briefly before grabbing Cam hard and yelling "WHAT DID YOU DO?!". The other mosaic makers mostly seem to have frozen.

"Wow, personal space?"

"You destroyed my mosaic! You're going to pay for this! Silverio, help me hold him so I can call station police!"

"I'm not going to help you fight a demon. I can call the station police to try to get things sorted out peacefully if you're both OK with that?".

"Sounds fine to me. Sir, please let go of me while we wait for the cops."

"I'm not going to let go of you, vandal!"

Meanwhile, Silverio is speaking on the phone:

"A fight has broken out in Main Square. No. One of them is Anton Lewis, I don't recognise the other but he's not one of the workers. I'm one of the workers, we know eachother. Anton didn't seem to know him either. Jeans, and what look like blue bat wings attached to his back. Yes, jeans and blue bat wings. Yes. No. Right now Anton has restrained the other man. No one looks to be seriously injured so far. Neither of them has done anything that looked like it was aimed at killing or seriously injuring the other. Neither of them is visibly armed or has used weapons against the other but the man with the bat wings did something to the mosaic that I don't know how he did but might have been some sort of hidden weapon. No. He made the tiles crumble into dust. I don't know how he did it. It all happened at once. It didn't damage anything except the mosaic tiles. No. He said he was a demon who had been summoned by the mosaic. I have no idea. No, I told you, I don't know him. I have never seen him before. I don't know. Yes. That's right. No. No. No, just Anton and the demon, everyone else has been staying out of it. Yes. Yes. No. That depends on whether you count the attack on the mosaic as part of the fight. Goodbye.

" The police say they've dispatched someone."

"Oh good. In what ways is it acceptable around these parts to escalate when being wrestled?"

"I wouldn't know, I'm sorry, sir. I wouldn't escalate in your circumstances, but I'm not a lawyer, or local enough to be a good guide to local customs."

"Figures." He stops trying to keep his feet and sits down, wings flaring out.

A little while later, several people arrive in identical pale blue clothing with dark blue embroidered symbols (a hat, the letters "SDRS" and a knot, all in a wreath, over crossed trumpets) on the chest. When they do, Anton releases Cam.

"What's going on here?"

"This man destroyed my mosaic. I demand that he and his co-conspirators be punished appropriately."

They look questioningly towards Cam.

"I told him the mosaic was a safety hazard. He didn't believe me. I can replace it with a safe mosaic if we come to some kind of reasonable agreement about what that would be. Ideally, it would not summon demons with dangerous magical powers into an unprepared setting."

"So you destroyed the mosaic because it presented a safety hazard?"

"It was preposterous! He claimed he was a demon who had been summoned by the mosaic! He had Lindiwe claim to have seen him appear out of thin air in the middle of the mosaic!"

"Is that accurate?"

"Yes, that's right. I assume this gentleman wasn't looking at the time. Is there a security camera?"

"There is a security camera."

"He's probably doctored the footage. He bribed Lindiwe and did something to sabotage the mosaic tiles, so he's clearly put effort into setting this up."

"What did he do to the mosaic tiles?"

"I don't know, but he did something to make them all crumble to dust at once."

"I see. So you" (he indicates Cam) "claim to be a demon who was summoned by Anton's mosaic and destroyed it to prevent it from summoning more such demons, and you" (he indicates Anton) "claim that he set up an elaborate hoax to pretend to be such a demon, including bribing your employees, the sabotage of the mosaic's tiles through an unclear method and the hacking of the station's security cameras?"

"Yes."

"The specific mosaic actually was expended when I arrived; I wanted to prevent it being copied."

"So it's one demon per mosaic? Did you have reason to expect someone was about to copy the mosaic?"

"No specific reason but it's hard to be too careful when possible results of summoning the wrong demon include 'the planet is sucked into a black hole'."

"I see. So you're alleging that in the process of designing the mosaic Anton accidentally created a design for a dangerous occult demon-summoning ritual and you destroyed the mosaic to keep the ritual secret? Would you be willing to work with Anton to modify the design into one that you'd be willing be made?"

"I shouldn't have to modify my design over this nonsense!"

"It's a decoration for a public space. Working around other people's demands could be considered a part of the job."

"Will I get credit for it?"

"I can't unilaterally guarantee that but if he's willing to compensate the station for the additional work time I expect it can be arranged."

"I want to remain in charge of the design. And I am absolutely not letting him have co-designer credits."

"I really don't care about design credit. You just have to have it not say that you're summoning a demon. Uh, or anything else."