The throne room was the largest and most impressive room in the palace, apart from the army training areas. Lying on her massive throne, carved from the rock itself, the queen did not appear in the least to be small despite the immensity that surrounded her, but only more important.

The heights of the room were covered with hangings, wires and nets on which elite guards moved, the queen's defense attendants, one of the only armed groups not to have been diminished by the recent crisis. Faced with such a strike force, a group of A-level invaders, even guided by an S-level, would probably not stand a chance.

On the ground, the nurses were busy. They caught the eggs and took them to the hatching chambers corresponding to their castes. The noble eggs were kept nearby and the larvae, from their hatching to their first molt after three years, crawled into every corner of the room. From time to time the nurses moved them, fed them or taught them, under the watchful eyes of the queen.

Those eyes were all on Xicackna for the moment as the queen and the older nobles listened intently to her story. She told everything, without neglecting the slightest detail. Her eyes were clouded with tears and she wasn't sure she was very coherent, but she trusted Xa-tar-Lona's infinite wisdom to get the gist of it. The queen had been alive for over a century and she would know what to do.

As the little princess finished her story, the adults looked at each other with serious looks. She felt the information passing between them through the hive mind, but it was so fast that she could only perceive it in fragments.

Feeling despair overcome her, she burst into tears:

"And I… Waaaa! No use… Waaaaa!"

The queen's face lowered to her, her many eyes looking at her lovingly. Her voice resonated in her particularly, because it was addressed to her alone:

"My little Xicackna, calm down. Why do you think you were of no use?"

"They… they are all dead! And I didn't do anything... Not even the slightest injury to a monster... I'm a zeeeeeeeero!"

"Do you really think that’s why I sent you there? You weren't there to fight. You shouldn't have taken any risk! You're still so little... Captain Kurk... I still wonder where the System got that name... It was right to save you. And thanks to it, you were useful, contrary to what you think. In this war, it is not brute force that will give us victory: it’s information!"

"Information?"

"Yes. Knowing who these monsters are, why they attack us, what their strengths and weaknesses are, what they think... You received the Analyst class, which is perfect for this..."

"But, to gain XP, I have to fight!"

"That's... another problem that we'll deal with later. All you need to know is that you did a good job reporting this information to us. We may have lost a battle and an outpost, but the knowledge gained makes the sacrifices of... of Xyry-Yria and her troops worth their salt."

The queen's gaze filled with sadness. Xicackna felt her mother's large secondary legs grab her and lift her off the ground to press her against the maternal shell. Surrounded by the unique pheromones that her mother generated, the little princess felt swept through by a wave of well-being.

"You did a good job Xicackna. You were absolutely right to choose “Thought Observation”: it was the best choice for your work. Now, rest: you really need it…"

The princess's eyes closed and she fell into a deep, soothing sleep.

Xicackna woke up in great shape, responding to a discreet request via the hive mind. Looking around with fresh eyes, she saw that the queen's chief advisors were still there, although she was sure she had been asleep for a long time.

The participants were still discussing the situation and the strategies to adopt. Her awakening was expected and she was invited to join the conversation.

"This information," summarized engineer Xana-Eloba, "is as interesting as it is… disturbing."

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"This story of “regressor” especially," added Archmage Xaza-Yaban. "A time traveler... How to fight such an aberration?"

"I think," replied Xom-Telba, "that we should rather be wary of this... Kangtal, or whatever its name is. Its “King of Thieves” skill has dangerous potential. Over time, it will grow in power!"

"It's not like we could send an army after it in the Human world, but it's easier to imagine ways to counter it than against this so-called time traveler."

Xicackna looked in annoyance at the engineer princess who seemed to doubt what she had said.

"It really is a regressor! Worse than a time traveler: it returns to its own past when it dies, with all its knowledge! And what's more, it killed me... apparently... Why don't you believe me!"

"I didn't say I don't believe you. The information you extracted from its thoughts is very valuable..."

"And," interrupted Prince Bole-Hozy, "we can assume that this guy has some mental problems. Seriously: it's creating a real novel in its head if its superficial thoughts are like that."

"I suppose it's a way for it to maintain its sanity," Xubu-Lemonay supposed. "If it has experienced the same events and traumas many times, even if it’s a monster, I suppose it can endanger its mental health."

"Regardless," said Xana-Eloba, "we know that time travel is impossible. The nature of time is that it does not exist outside of the present. The future does not exist and the past no longer exists: our ancestors themselves, in ancestral times, proved it."

"How then can we interpret this?"

Xana-Eloba nodded politely to thank the queen for her question. Since Xicackna had mentioned the abominable power of the monster, she had thought up numerous theoretical models to try to explain this mystery.

"First of all, we know that the phenomenon comes from this System. If we do not yet understand how it works and our models often end with mentions of unknown energies or properties, this does not prevent us from having a good idea of the possibilities and limits offered. We now know that our prison is located on the edge of a galaxy. Ours, perhaps, or another more distant one. The System therefore acts on a galactic, even intergalactic, scale. I suppose that the original energy comes from the exploitation of suns..."

"Ehm, interrupted Xom-Telba, what does this have to do with the temporal question?"

Several nobles and the queen herself supported this question. The engineer frowned, then she resumed her explanation, trying to get a little straighter to the point:

"Well, let’s say… The only way to produce the appearance of time travel would be to return all the samples of matter to the place they previously occupied. Presumably the phenomenon would also affect memories in the same way, to complete the illusion. However, even if the System used all the energy in the universe, it would be strictly impossible."

"Even with all the energy in the universe?" the queen wondered.

"Yes. You see Mother, to cause the entire universe to take a leap backwards, it would take more energy than the universe contains, just to coordinate the reversal of the movement. I therefore think that the pseudo-rewind of time is limited to a specific zone of influence. Perhaps to all the planets victims of the System. We can assume that its creators have excluded themselves and that they must have fun watching us make the same mistakes again and again."

"Overall," remarked Xom-Telba, "this doesn't change anything on our scale. For us, it is as if a time travel had indeed taken place, taking us back to a previous state."

"Yes, but knowing this allows us to deduce two things!"

"Come on, give us your answer rather than making us wait!"

"Tss… You really have no patience…"

The look of all the participants told Xana-Eloba that the oldest princess was not the only one impatiently awaiting her conclusion. She considered prolonging the suspense a little longer. Both because it amused her, but also because she was a little angry with others for not being able to follow all of her reasoning. It's not like she's explaining complicated things.

"Okay. First, it means that this regressor has probably captured the attention of some of the masters of the System. Otherwise, they would not use so much energy to watch the same events happen over and over again. It is also reasonable to assume that only this monster has this power. Otherwise, it would be quite complicated to organize. Second, we can assume that not all creatures that have died so far are dead. If it is possible to return matter to a previous state, it is impossible to bring a dead person back to life. So, we can assume that our enemies have found a way to temporarily stop death. If we could find out how they do it, then we could eliminate this enemy for good: it will then be enough to free its being from the System after its death. Thus, it will die for good and we will be protected from another so-called regression!"

Silence followed the engineer's statements. If some still had difficulty understanding everything, others weighed the serious implications that flowed from this theory.

"I see," affirmed the queen, "so stay attentive to any information allowing us to get rid of this danger once and for all. There's nothing more we can do at the moment... Of course, avoid killing this specific monster at all costs if we ever want to get out of this."

The hive council remained silent for a moment, but it was clear that everyone was meditating on the immeasurable threat that weighed on them. How to win against monsters with such terrifying powers?

Like a soft whisper, the thought of the queen invaded their minds as she sought to distract them from the despair that was gripping them:

"Let us not worry more than necessary about what we cannot control. The secret project is about to bear fruit: we are on the eve of carrying out our first response against the monstrous hordes!"