It doesn't take Bruce long to notice Seoraj is missing, but longer than he'd have liked to ascertain it's not because he's been spirited away from the city. (The sensation at that initial thought - somewhere in his chest - isn't one he's looking into further.) They speak frequently enough (for him), usually in the mornings, sitting inside his wooden house with worn mugs full of tea, or just over the CiD. Beyond that, a gregarious fixture of the neighborhood running a rather noisy trade suddenly up and vanishing draws attention.

He finds the tower in a relative heartbeat. He argues with the woman (doesn't get anywhere), experiments with the party-goers (nothing), sends a series of highly irritable texts (that yield no help), finds the castle impenetrable and generally has every militant and scientific impulse in him shot down.

And so with extreme, grudging prejudice, he begins the errand he's sent on, impatient and very nearly pissed off - not worried, because being worried would imply he's over-invested and doubts Seoraj's ability to look after himself (though he did get kidnapped, so maybe he should be w- no). It's a puzzle and he'll sort it out; the likes of a magic tower aren't going to thwart him. Anger, he knows well, is the best of all motivators. The chill doesn't settle into his bones until he finds the first chest.

Somehow, he'd been imagining doll parts.