"Here's our plan."

I finished telling the platoon.

Having gathered our entire squad in one of the living rooms of the palace, I shared my further plan of action and many had incomprehensible expressions on their faces after what they heard from me. For a few moments, everyone around me pondered my words and after a couple of minutes Ashwani suddenly decided to ask something:

"This plan of yours, will it work?"

"One hundred percent."

I nodded confidently.

"Thanks to Ripun it will definitely work."

"Are you sure you can trust him?"

Ashwani said, looking askance at the orange-eyed prophet.

"The prophet’s predictions are accurate. He has already saved us from certain death at the hands of a certain Swidok, so we are inclined to trust him, even if we do not fully understand how his gift of seeing the future works.”

"Boris, if you allow me, I would like to say something."

Fred added his word and I nodded and allowed the chief physician to share his thoughts.

"I have been thinking for a long time about how to explain the work of certain anomalies that come our way. Be it magic, the disappearance of Ashwani, an unplanned jump of a cruiser from subspace into space, the Gods, their essence and, of course, the ability to predict the future. And let I still have difficulty explaining some phenomena, I came to the conclusion that Ripun is most likely a descendant of the pantorians."

After hearing the words, the entire platoon suddenly became nervous, and Ripun himself didn’t really understand who we were talking about now. I myself was no less surprised by what I heard and did not understand what these creatures had to do with it and how they were connected with the gift of foresight. Meanwhile, Fred continued, addressing the platoon members:

"If you remember history courses, you probably know about how humanity first encountered the pantorians. Who can remember that?"

Private Mard rose from one of the living room sofas and answered Fred's question:

"The Pantorians created a wormhole in the planetary system Kistem and landed on the planet Gatrey. The forces of the Gatreynian Republic were unable to repel this sudden attack. The planet fell in a matter of days, and a month later the Pantorian fleet of tens of thousands of ships was already entering the solar system."

"Right."

Fred nodded.

"It was no coincidence that I remembered the pantorians, although these events are the subject of historical discussions, it is still worth recalling some facts. The Pantorians, during their invasion of the human sector, acted as if they knew all the actions of the Republic in advance, predicting every step of the unified command. Everyone blamed this on the excellent pantorian intelligence known as «Mastremus Pantorica» and it really was excellent, but in the end everything turned out to be much simpler. New details were revealed that soon dispelled many myths about the masters of war. After the end of the Pantorian war, it became clear that the pantorians were planning their galactic operations. actively involved large-scale simulations of reality, that is, they created virtual realities and scrolled through time in them, simultaneously developing plans for their operations on their site, and then the pantorians repeated the same, but practiced actions in reality."

"Interesting."

I thought out loud and added something of my own.

"That's why they ended up losing."

"That's right. Although the simulations were perfect and fairly accurate, the pantorians were unable to take into account all the parameters when conducting them. The data turned out to be insufficient to predict absolutely everything and therefore they lost the war. Based on the fact that those who are accepted here To call the dark ones can be the same pantorians, I dare to suggest that they somehow actively influenced the inhabitants of this planet and, with the help of their technologies, projected the same simulations, but on the scale of the entire planet."

"So how does Ripun end up being able to predict the future?"

This time Forn became interested.

"We all know that pantorians always follow their goals to the very end. It is quite possible that they gave up in that war only because they decided that next time they could take all the parameters into account so that they could then continue to establish the so-called 'great order'.»

"And to do this, they began to explore the galaxy so that they could take everything into account in the next planning.”

I finished the conversation for the senior medic, understanding what he was getting at.

"Doesn't this mean that sooner or later they will continue the war?"

"Perhaps, but this will take them at least a couple of thousand years. Exploring the galaxy, especially under the control of the victorious civilizations, is a difficult matter, so this is still a very, very long time away.”

"How did the pantorians carry out these simulations?"

This time Stern, an expert in the field of digital technologies, became interested.

"It is unlikely that there is a supercomputer capable of calculating such a volume of information, especially on the scale of an entire galaxy in all four dimensions. They simply do not and could not have so many resources.”

"You're thinking incorrectly."

Fred said shaking his head.

"These humans would need a computer the size of a star to calculate all the parameters for such a simulation, but the pantorians are known for breaking the technological limit and developing their own technologies in ways we can't even begin to imagine how they work, and all they needed was a measly three hundred years. The fact that they had such technologies and carried out such simulations when planning the occupation of the galaxy is an indisputable fact and it is not yet our responsibility to care whether they continue the war or not."

"Okay, let's say."

I raised my hand to calm Fred's tirade.

"But how does Ripun’s ability work anyway? You said that he is a native, that is, a local inhabitant, judging by the biological scan and physical examination, so how can he be a descendant of the pantorians?”

"There is one assumption that is still worth confirming. The supposed simulation program is artificially built into the strict genetic code of the Ripun genus and it projects simulations either in its own consciousness or in another place where it is possible to store a device simulating the behavior and parameters of an entire planet."

"I didn't understand anything."

I answered honestly, but suddenly, to my surprise, a rather simple answer was given by Ripun himself, who was listening to our conversation.

"I understand! I create a world that I live inside myself, but this world is not in my head, but in some other place. I am only connected to it.”

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After hearing his words, we became much clearer about how his ability works.

This means that he creates in his mind a simulation of the future associated with his life cycle, and when this cycle breaks, the memories from the character of the simulation are transferred to reality or to another period of the simulation, and thoughts at the moment where these simulations begin their countdown. If this is true, then Ripun is indeed a descendant of the pantorians, albeit not by blood, but how did he become one?

To make sure of my thoughts, I decided to find out something by turning to Princess Niana:

"If you allow me, can I find out what role the prophets play in Hippolytus?”

"Certainly."

The pale-skinned, dark-haired girl nodded, clearly surprised by the complex terms she heard here.

"Poor families send their children to the temple of the prophets so that they become either prophets or servants of the prophets, but only very few manage to become a prophet of the future. Ripun is the only prophet in the kingdom of Hippolyta, but there were cases when there was not one prophet in the kingdom, but three at once and all of them harmoniously tied the threads of destinies together, predicting the prosperity of our kingdom or its destruction."

"What is the Temple of the Prophets?"

Hearing my question, the princess visibly groaned, having forgotten to explain something.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to tell you. This place is an ancient temple where people go... people used to go so that the prophet would tell people about their future. Only through internal mortification could they see the future and there were cases when they killed themselves and never returned to life, leaving the temple of the prophets is empty. We... we don’t know where and when the temple of the prophets arose, I don’t think that it was once the house of the dark ones. But maybe... we really don’t know a lot of things.”

"Black water."

Ripun suddenly said.

"What?"

I didn’t understand him when I turned towards the prophet.

"Black water flows in the temple; after drinking it, people began to get very sick and quickly died, but those who could survive the black blood disease could begin to call themselves prophets. I drank the black water, survived and became a prophet.”

"Most likely they were mekhanites."

Fred suggested.

"They can integrate into the human body and begin to modify its structure, turning Ripun into a walking simulation tool, or rather one who could use it remotely."

"So the simulations are not carried out by some device, but by the human brain?”

I asked and received a negative answer from Fred.

"No. The functionality of the human brain is huge, but not sufficient to conduct regular simulations on a planetary scale. Most likely, this "black water” establishes a connection with the working pantorian equipment that produces this very simulation. I have no idea where this equipment is, what it looks like and how exactly it works. But if it exists, and it is definitely of Pantorian origin, then there is no need to doubt Ripun’s abilities.”

All these new details about the pantorians and the prophets were very informative and quite surprising in their essence for us. Now knowing this, we could definitely trust Ripun's predictions, but this does not mean that the plan will be one hundred percent successful. There is a possibility that we will die, and Ripun will be captured alive, that is, he will not be able to warn himself in reality about what awaits him in the future. And he doesn’t look like a person who could kill himself if something happened, he’s too cowardly for that, which means there can be no firm confidence in the success of the operation.

"We have dealt with this issue."

I said.

"It's time to start."

"Wait."

Ashwani suddenly responded.

"What will happen to me?"

"I don't know."

I answered honestly, frowning a little.

"You have the face and name of our friend, but he was erased from reality. Until we figure this out, it’s better to stay with us indefinitely.”

"No."

His answer confused me somewhat, but he hastened to explain.

"I’m not a man from heaven like you, I know exactly who I am and where I was born. I have my own life and you won’t change it by simply taking me supposedly ‘home’.”

"We know, that's why just stay with us until we figure this out.

"Boris"

Fred responded.

"I think he’s right. If he doesn’t want it, then you can’t drag him along with you. Moreover, in the proposed plan, he’s unlikely to help in any way.”

"I will protect the princess."

Ashwani said confidently looking at Niana.

"That way I'll be useful. I'm an adventurer after all."

I don't argue.

I thought, but at that moment Camellia suddenly decided to speak out.

"Furgur would have heard your words."

The red-eyed woman grinned, again putting on a serious, arrogant look and crossing her legs.

"If you want to help, you better figure out who you really are."

"What are you talking about?"

To be honest, along with the others, I also didn’t really understand the words of the white-haired sorceress, but she hastened to clarify this point for us by rising from her chair and approaching Ashwani, standing closely in front of him at arm’s length. It seemed she was about to eat him with her predatory gaze, but it was clear that she was really interested in him.

And why suddenly?

"Have you ever thought about whether you, your memories, what you see and what you hear are real? Of course not. Like any person, you will never doubt what you saw, heard and felt, but you must understand that our world is structured in such a way that all these feelings can simply be faked, inspired, and the body can be changed from the inside and outside."

Camellia came closer, standing face to face with the surprised Ashwani and firmly asked him:

"Are you sure that you are someone you know well?"

"I…"

Ashwani did not find words for some time, hanging his head down. For several moments he thought about the words of the sorceress-adventurer, and then, shaking his head, he simply pushed the sorceress away and said in a dissatisfied tone.

"What are you saying? It’s me! I can’t believe that my life can be just... fiction! I definitely remember my mother, father, the village in which I grew up, how I stroked the headman’s dog and how I ran away from home . It's all true!"

"Then you should check all of this."

Camellia said calmly, not paying attention to his gesture and looking at all of us for a moment.

"These people claim the opposite. They say that you are their friend and you are also from the stars. So prove to them that this is not so."

"Fine."

Nodding his head, he agreed and Ashwani now turned to me.

"I'll stay with you until I figure out who I am. I don't think that really makes sense, but to prove to you that I am me, I'll have to do this."

"I got you."

I nodded and turned this time to Incartia.

"The matter does not need to be postponed to minor conversations. We need a lot of ammunition, as well as mines, grenades and medicine. We will collect everything in heaps, they just need to be duplicated. Once is enough. Can you handle it?”

"I will try."

Said the dark-haired woman sitting on a chair next to Granid.

"I will exhaust myself, but I will do what is necessary"

"Since you decided to help, I’ll give this to you.”

The old wizard said, handing his student a green stone, somewhat reminiscent of an emerald.

"What is this?"

Incartia asked, holding a strange-looking piece of jewelry with a chain in her hands.

"This is an elven soul stone, a rare thing. Keep it close to your chest, it will save you one day.”

Elvish?

I was surprised to hear a familiar word.

I am beginning to suspect more and more that this planet is simply not real. There are so many things here that simply do not exist in nature and that people on Earth invented long ago. How could there be elves here? Or maybe Granid means a completely different creature resembling an elf? Just a similar sounding word? I hope so.

I inadvertently listened to Camellia’s words about whether I am real, what I remember, heard and felt, and whether the world around us is real? Maybe this is such a long dream that I plunged into together with my soldiers? Maybe no one even really died? But the more I think about it, the more I begin to understand that I am simply starting to go crazy.

I would even like to agree with Ashwani. I just can’t believe what I saw, heard and felt could be some kind of fake. I don't believe it and yet I'm starting to doubt it all. Everything here is too strange to be real.

Without thinking about it any more, I simply clapped my hands and looked around at everyone in the living room and said:

"Okay. It's time to start preparing for a small victorious war. There is nothing to be afraid of, Ripun is with us and if something happens, he will predict the future."

"Already."

The prophet said.

Already?

I didn’t understand him and looking at his face, I saw the look of a madman.

His eyes widened so wide as if he had just experienced the most excruciating torment in the whole wide world. It's not hard to guess what happened to him. He had just received a prediction and what he was doing now was clutching his chest with his palm in pain. His breathing became somehow uneven, painful, he was shaking all over quietly, saying:

"It hurts so much."