Upon returning to her abode, the Arboreal Maiden did something she had likely never done before, she flopped down onto a sofa. It was ridiculous, she thought, that she acted so prim and proper in privacy for so long. Surely nobody would hold it against her even if they found out, would they? What would they even say though?

In the end she just laughed it off as ridiculous, sitting back up just in time to see Mercedes slide across the smooth wooden floor through the door way.

"Hel-lo Mercedes." Try as she might to treat the dog as she would a person, she simply could not bring herself to resist the temptation of speaking like a child. "Have you been having fun with the Skwiven?"

The Skwiven acted as Mercedes' caretakers and playmates whenever the Arboreal Maiden was away to take care of official business. They might not be a match for the canine in the fields of endurance and speed, but their number and their ability to climb the tree-like appendages in the inner Sanctum meant they could keep her occupied for hours. They would swing their tails from the low branches, taunting her to jump up and catch them.

The Arboreal Maiden had even seen them get caught a few times, however as was normally the case with the Skwiven, she had no idea how they never ended up hurt. Sure, Mercedes was smart enough to know to be gentle with them, but it still didn't change the fact that she was yanking hem from their perches with her teeth.

Mercedes managed to stop her lateral momentum in time to prevent crashing into the wall, however her new direction promised trouble.

"Here we go again. . ."

Mercedes jumped up over the Arboreal Maiden's head, quite a feat considering the elevation of the couch, only to slam face first into the wall behind her. This had been a somewhat frequent occurrence these past few days, apparently Mercedes had learned how to use Split, though only when it applied to jumping.

By the time she was starting to fall to the ground, whimpering and moaning from the sudden impact, the Arboreal Maiden was already standing up in a position to catch her.

"I didn't tell them because I thought it might discourage them, but I still can't believe how fast you learned to enhance your strength. Was it the Skwiven? Did the Skwiven teach you how to jump like that?" The Arboreal Maiden had placed the dog on the couch, and was in the process of playfully chastising her for going overboard when a Skwiven scampered in. "Already? Impressive. Let's see what you have for me."

- - - - -

"Bribes, evidence tampering, witness and jury intimidation. . . my oh my, I really have dropped the ball here haven't I?" The Arboreal Maiden pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, she was in for a rough couple of weeks. She was going to have to be the one to lead the round-up of those who violated her trust, albeit with the assistance of her subordinates, but it had to be organized in such a way that would ensure nothing slipped through the cracks. The Sanctum's reputation wouldn't allow it. "I may have to introduce a fourth Grand Elder just to ensure that nothing like this happens again. You are free to go."

As the Arboreal Maiden sat down and thought about how she should carry out such an operation, she couldn't help but run her fingers through the now much less enthusiastic Mercedes' fur.

For the Sanctum, an institution which held 'neutrality' as one of its core tenets, corruption was a deadly disease. Corrupt institutions were inherently biased, primarily towards those who held the power to corrupt, and generally did not look good. What was worse for the Sanctum was the fact that it was their judicial system, the body which served to root out corruption everywhere else, that had become tainted.

She couldn't help but worry about what else was left unnoticed.

Fortunately for her, there were a few ways she could spin this to maintain the trust of the galaxy at large, however the Sanctum's reputation might take a hit. That might be a bit problematic, but their current efforts to completely restructure that system should improve their reputation in the long run.

The biggest ordeal she knew for certain she was going to have to face was the backlash of those currently using the corruption to their benefit. Sure she could just tell them off, but some of them might genuinely believe that corruption was actually a neutral action. Though, now that she thought about it, it had been a very long time since she openly flaunted the Sanctum's power, even longer since she herself took a firm stance against external parties.

Was an expedition really in order after all?

"Could I perhaps even use it to. . . no. I shouldn't go that far. I could definitely influence where and what they do so that it will be of some benefit to them, however I cannot give anyone a reason to believe I am offering them undue assistance."

She was considering having the Sanctum's fleet 'stumble across' and dying planet full of 'people who were in desperate need of evacuation'. That was almost certainly a step too far, however she could see a few of the more morally concerned individuals among the armed forces volunteering to assist them once they learned of their plight.

"I suppose it might be alright if I made it clear that there was a certain degree of independence to their actions, nobody would really be hurt by them assisting in the evacuation, nor would it be clear that someone would be receiving help. The only issue would be getting them to understand doing so is allowed. . ."

Try as she might, she couldn't think of a good way to accomplish all of her objectives without her neutrality being under threat of coming into question. She wanted to save that good will for when Donovan and Diana really needed it, like when they were being threatened by some party inside of the Sanctum. People were an important part of their growth strategy, that much could not be ignored, however the total number of Nekh that a handful of ships could transport for a frankly limited amount of time did not amount to much in comparison to the saved headache from a few bigger problems.

"I don't even know if it would serve as good cover for their operation either. I can't help but suspect it would only draw the attention of the surrounding nations." Even when she ignored the damage it would do to the Sanctum's image, it did not seem like a very good idea. It might catch the attention of a few good Samaritans, few in number though they may be, but it was far more likely that the Nekh's more hostile neighbors would see their weakness and make life difficult. Slaving was a decent industry, and the smaller powers were always salivating for the chance to claim easy glory.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The weakened Nekh were too easy target at this point. If anything she should be actively avoiding them. Perhaps if the Nekh's star was on a ten year timer she could set something in motion, some political ploy to justify the Sanctum aiding the Terrans in the salvation of the Nekh, but any seeds she planted now would not have the time to ripen into fruits by the time they were well and truly done for.

"There's just never enough time, is there?"

That's a somewhat ironic statement coming from you.

There was a vine wrapped around her leg now. She had noticed it a while ago, but she didn't feel the need to react. After all the time they had spent together, they were practically a single organism.

'Is it really? I would have thought it quite fitting considering our end goal.'

Perhaps in that light, but as someone who is second in longevity only to me it doesn't carry much weight.

The Arboreal Maiden smiled. It would seem that the Terrans were having more of an effect on her than she had realized.

'True, however when I speak of the goings on of our mortal companions in this universe it couldn't be any different. What do you remember of the Nekh?'

An image of a race with what she now considered to be feline traits was injected into her consciousness.

I take it you mean the race that looks like this?

'Yes. I am certain you will have already gathered some information on the catastrophe they face, but was there anything we did that could have served as the catalyst for the death of their star?'

If we are responsible, then I am not privy to our specific fault. I do seem to recall that they were one of our first forays into the realm of life with a reduced amount of split rather than an increased concentration, however they were not designed to live without it as the Terrans were. I believe there may be a possibility that we were at fault, we may have done something to the star to reduce its output that proved harmful without knowing, but this feels like too long a time difference for it to finally be dying now.

'How do you mean?'

The way stars interact with split can only be described as finicky. They produce a truly absurd quantity, all things considered, however they also consume a huge quantity. They eat what they produce, but not all of it is eaten. Some of it is released into the surrounding space, giving it an ambient concentration.

'Planets and living things alike exhibit similar qualities, I am well aware of this. What is the point you are making?'

Stars serve as the primary producer in what you might think of as the split chain. They produce split, releasing some that can then be absorbed by planets, which in turn will produce and release some that can be absorbed by the life that teems on its surface. Both the planet and the life have the fall back that even if their own ability to produce is hindered, then they may rely on their star to provide at least some of what is needed.

Because they sit atop this chain, stars have no such support, for the most part they must rely on themselves. Failure to produce what is needed to maintain a certain strength inevitably means that the star will begin to weaken with the passage of time until it can produce enough to sustain itself. However, should the reason they are unable to meet their needs be correlated to their strength, meaning that their production is proportional to their power, then a star will very quickly begin to weaken and die.

'So you are saying that it doesn't make sense for such an imbalance to only prove fatal after this much time, at least not if it was our doing.'

Precisely. It is, of course, entirely possible that it is our fault for some other reason, but I do not know what that could be. As I have said, stars are still finicky entities.

The Arboreal Maiden sighed. This was another thing to deal with.

'If it wasn't us, then what could have been the cause? Was it natural? Was it the doing of some god?'

That is not for me to say. What qualifies as 'natural' with regards to stars is hard to say. Despite the reliance of life, something most consider natural, on stars for their continued existence, stars themselves seem very unnatural to me.

'I pray you do not mean to say that there is something sinister about them?'

Is the fact that they become hostile to life, the very thing they serve to create, once they reach a certain strength not proof of how sinister they are? In spite of my ability to create them, and even control them to a limited extent, they existed in this universe before I came into being. Never once have I felt that they were 'natural'. Eons ago, well before the time your kind sprouted from the void, I studied them, how they interacted with split, I came to believe they were 'placed' there by some entity. I still believe this to be the case to some degree.

Perhaps I have already revealed too much, but I would like for us not to discuss this matter further, at least not yet.

'Is it related to our end goal?'

Maybe, possibly, perhaps. For every reason I could give that would relate it to our goal, I could also give one that showed it wasn't. It may be only tangentially related, and if that is the case I do not want to risk what you might do once you learn.

'I understand. Shall we discuss the more pressing matter then? What is the status of your seeds? I performed my own check on them, however your analytical ability far outstrips mine in this field.'

The boy is progressing quite well, better than I had expected actually. It was only a suggestion, but he appears to have seriously decided not to introduce any impurities into his core.

'I know it was an unnecessary step, but how much of an effect will it have? Do you believe it will be possible for him to continue like that?'

Watching his progress will reveal more than anything I could say, but he should be able to keep it up indefinitely if he was able to make it this far. Given how solidly his physiology has developed, even if he had to absorb some impurities for a time out of desperation he should naturally expel all of them in a reasonable amount of time.

'All of them?'

Yes. Should he keep it up, it is entirely possible that said impurities wouldn't even be able to stick. Of course, that is only something I have deemed as theoretical. We should be ecstatic about what he has accomplished thus far.

The Arboreal Maiden sighed once more. In theory, they had already gotten over the most difficult hurdle for this stage of their plan, finding someone viable, but every single time they reached another she couldn't help but feel it was going to be just as if not more difficult. Every time she got that feeling though, they would come through stronger than expected. That could be a problem in its own right though, making them overconfident in their abilities.

'Good news is always welcomed, but what of the other individual I asked you to analyze?'

I am amazed, at least that is what I believe the proper emotion is, that you managed to find it in the first place. Had you not informed me that there might indeed be something to look for I would have passed it over. But yes, it is exactly what you thought it was. However it is only a seed. Whether or not it will sprout is ultimately something I cannot control, neither am I able to tell what it needs to grow. I do feel inclined to say that it will grow, though the reasons behind this can only be described as instinctual. I assume you felt something similar?

'I cannot claim to have felt anything that would suggest it blossom or wither, only that it would grant incredible power should it grow.'

The Arboreal Maiden ruffled Mercedes' fur once more. She wondered what it was like to have a relationship like one the dog and Donovan had. She knew from watching that her current bond with the dog really only ran skin-deep.

'Should I work to bring it under our control? I can think of at least a few uses for it.'

I cannot see a good reason to do so. It is exactly where we want it, is it not?