"That kid is the only chink in Renraku’s armor we’ve been able to find so far," Villiers continued when Lanier remained silent. "We know Renraku arranged for people to infiltrate the otaku." Villiers left unsaid the fact that Fuchi knew about Renraku’s plan only because Lanier had been involved in the planning stages of it. Lanier’s skills as an intelligence gatherer had been too useful for Renraku to pass up. They had never revealed to him why they’d wanted someone to infiltrate a scruffy tribe of techno-mystics living in the Barrens, but they did call upon Lanier’s expertise to help set up the means to do so.