Ervin wobbled around, the new, noticeably lower gravity making him unsure and unsteady. To make matters worse, his body felt a lot stronger than his original aging one.

He waved when he saw Max enter the main terminal hall. Max awkwardly tried to make his way through the milling crowd and caught up. The Ophiuchi terminal was vast in comparison to the very barebones transference station of the Messier 39 colony.

Max closely resembled what he looked like back at the colony, but Ervin had changed considerably. His new form was much younger and he lacked his characteristic beard and glasses. Unlike his body, his clothing was an identical reproduction of the original; a silk beige-golden tunic and turban and an emerald green sash embroidered with a mosaic of golden stars.

It had taken three days to arrange the transference to Ophiuchi. The engineers from Flow had done a reasonable job to produce a suitable body for both of them. In the meantime, Ervin had caught up with Elisa and learned all there was about the disastrous encounter on Earth. He had mentally prepared for a similar worst-case scenario to occur at Ophiuchi, but thus far he liked what he saw. To him, its architecture felt familiar and homely.

Max looked up into the tall atrium that made up the terminal hall. It consisted of curved white metal beams, golden filigree, and pale transparent blue-green material that let in a warm light. It somewhat resembled an elaborate, scaled-up woven rattan lattice. Transparent walkways and balconies lined the inner structure. Great ornamental golden and crystal decorations were suspended in the air, abstractly shaped into clouds and stars, while long burgundy red banners displayed the nine-sided polygon bearing the image of an arm grasping a coiling snake; the symbol of the Ophiuchan faction.

"It’s beautiful," Max said.

"Indeed it is," Ervin answered, surprised at Max’s mention of beauty while he was so indifferent about his appearance and personal space.

Ervin noticed the non-human shapes that stood out from the crowd. He counted half a dozen winged bird-like humanoids, as well as two short, broad-shouldered creatures that wore enormous round brass hats and were concealed under ornately embroidered black robes. "Do you know what those are, Max? Are these alien species?"

"Likely, reverend. I am not familiar with them. However, be aware they could also be humans that adopted more exotic body types."

Ervin continued to look at the two stout black-robed figures as they moved past. The creatures slid across the floor without bobbing, which made him wonder whether there were legs under those robes or the creatures possessed some other manner of locomotion. Ervin caught himself staring and looked away.

"Where do we go now, reverend?", Max asked.

"Our guide is waiting outside at the blue meeting point," Ervin said.

They walked toward the exit, Ervin at a careful pace and Max walking slowly for politeness’ sake.

Does the gravity bother you, reverend?" Max asked.

"It is not bad, just slightly disorientating. I will probably be okay in a few hours. At least it’s not the other way around…"

"Don’t overthink it and do not try to consciously correct your movements. Your body should be equipped with all the muscle memory to walk naturally in this environment. Try to rely on that."

Ervin tried to forget how to walk, and just tried to move forward instead. It suddenly felt easier.

"You are right!", he exclaimed, laughing. "How did you know?"

"Just part of the general knowledge the service department preloaded," Max answered. "Many disposables would have told you this."

"You’re not a disposable anymore, Max," Ervin replied, as they walked towards the terminal main exit. "Despite all that preloaded knowledge, you’ll now have to work on finding your own way in life. No service department to fall back on."

"Equanimity," Max said, referring to the service department that, amongst other things, would assist and counsel people that found themselves lost or unable to deal with life in the Empire.

Ervin laughed. "Right, but give life a try without them first."

"I will, reverend."

They stepped through the revolving doors that made up the exit and were greeted by the sight of a dim but vibrant salmon sky that turned silvery as it reached the horizon. Low in the sky was a relatively large red star. Ervin compared. It was smaller than when he had seen Proxima, but he estimated that it was over half again as large as the sun when viewed from Earth.

They crossed a plaza to walk up to a stone fence and looked down. In the depths below, a river cascaded over several waterfalls. A series of white bridges crossed the chasm. Stretched out before them was a sprawl of terraced gardens as far as the eye could see, filled with trees, topiaries, and flower sculptures made of both Earth plants and a diverse range of alien flora. Ervin could make out various species of palm trees, ferns, and common flowers, and he marveled at alien plants with colorful glowing spines, which made them resemble enormous sea urchins.

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A skyline of evenly spaced tall white and blue towering buildings surrounded the gardens, each a spire that expressed radial symmetry and was lined with balconies, terraces and capped with grey-blue domes. Opposite, a smooth pearly-white spire stood out from the rest of the buildings.

"Max," Ervin pointed. "Is that a Provider structure?"

"It does appear to be constructed of iridomite," Max agreed, referring to the human word for the exotic pearlescent material often associated with Providers. "But such a large structure would require vast amounts of energy to produce."

"Well, it so happens that Providers tend to have ludicrous amounts of energy laying around," Ervin replied jokingly.

Max did not reply to the statement and instead looked for signs that pointed to the blue meeting point. "Shall we go, reverend?", he asked.

Ervin turned away from the view and followed. They went across a narrow bridge into a circular garden plaza, which had a small fountain at its center. At least a hundred people waited there for arrivals, some holding signs with names or organizations. Ervin began to worry that Max looked out of place, as some people gave him stares. Nearly all other people were dressed in traditional silk clothing similar to his, wore turbans, and had their arms adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls.

Ervin made out their names on one of the signs and approached a group of three people. Max’s presence made it obvious to the group that these were indeed the two people they were waiting for. The lead figure placed his hand over his heart and nodded. "Welcome to Istakarrudh, sers. May God smile upon our meeting," he spoke in the traditional greeting in a ringing, charismatic voice that gave him a strong aristocratic presence. He had an athletic youthful appearance, with a tan face that held grey-blue eyes and sported a noticeable aquiline nose. His stylish, shoulder-length dark brown hair was decorated with small golden ornaments, and he wore an embroidered half-cape over a golden silk shirt. Ervin noticed he lacked a turban, wearing a gold and pearl headband instead.

"I am Halim Jehangir-Shawiri, Imperial knight of the Fixer’s Guild", he introduced himself. Gesturing to the woman on the right, he continued. "It is my pleasure to introduce my companions to you. This is Luara Jehangir-Shawiri, court intendant to their Providence," he said, while Ervin and Max exchanged nods with the beige-and-blue robed lady. Her long chestnut hair swayed in the wind, and observant, deep green eyes were set deep in a round, mildly tanned face. She smiled warmly as she returned the greeting. "And this is reverend Charobim Moradi, court esquire to their Providence," Halim concluded, introducing the person to his left. Both exchanged greetings, with Max now imitating the gesture well enough.

"If you’ll be so kind to follow me, I’ll conduct you to our family estate," Halim said, directing the group away from the plaza.

Ervin recalled the complicated Imperial forms of address. Immediate knights like Halim were styled ‘the honorable’, while the other two were titled vassals of a feudal liege, thus styled ‘the notable’. But to his confusion, Halim had not introduced his companions this way.

"Your honor," he began.

Halim smiled. "Please, no need for further formalities. Just ser Halim. We are all equal before God."

Ervin felt relief. The forms of address were intricate and made it all too easy to unintentionally cause offense.

"You are too kind," Ervin said while pondering the interaction he undertook with Halim. Contrasting starkly to the rough, often rude speech of his fellow colonists, Halim’s words were meticulously accentuated and evoked a contagious sense of sophistication. Ervin found himself compelled to use similar melodious, courteous speech in response. "If you would forgive my curiosity, we encountered some non-human-looking creatures earlier. Please tell me, are there aliens living on this world?"

"There are some indeed. Our faith transcends culture and even species. We welcome every being regardless of background. It would appear certain alien species recognize the truth of our beliefs."

"And what of the Providers?"

"I beg your pardon?", Halim blinked.

"I’m sorry. I thought I saw what looked like a Provider structure in the city. Are they sympathetic to this world?", Ervin tried.

Halim didn’t seem to understand. "36 Ophiuchi has a Provider…", he replied.

"There is one living here?"

"Of course. The head of our family, Farshid Jehangir-Shawiri, is a Provider… He has ruled this world for the past four thousand years..."

Ervin stopped, his face displaying shock. "A human is a Provider? I thought all of them were all aliens..."

Luara caught up, smiling proudly and subtly urging Ervin onwards. "We were the third human world to see one of our own ascend to the stratum of Provider. One of our faith, no less. It acknowledges the fact that our faith and values are truly universal, wouldn’t you agree?"

"There is no truth superior to God," Ervin nodded in agreement. "The other Providers… recognize this?"

"The Provider that previously ruled this world was also sympathetic to the faith. They had a great temple built in God’s honor. But unfortunately, there are differences as well…"

"The principle of equality under God...", Ervin sighed.

"Indeed. The Empire does not operate in accordance with the principle of equality. But the Providers allowed us to operate our world without exploiting disposable slave labor and we strive to be self-sufficient where possible."

"I see," Ervin said, as the party descended the stairs that were an entrance of the mass transit network. He marveled at the overall cleanness and the pleasant aesthetics of the environment. Every nook of the city was designed to be in harmony with the greater whole - planters breaking up the pavement in geometric sections, terraced white and blue buildings arranged in patterns from small to tall, all the while the rivers below still followed most of their natural bed. As they entered the subterranean environment, the spectrum of the artificial lighting shifted the colors more towards the blue.

"What has brought you to our world?", Charobim asked Max. His voice was quiet and compassionate.

"Your reverence, I am just here to accompany reverend Sekhon," Max answered. "He experiences difficulty in counseling me and seeks the opinion of others of his kind."

Charobim smiled at hearing the formal form of address. "Here, it’s just ‘ser’ for addressing a person, ser Max. No need for formalities after introduction."

"You are most gracious, ser," Max said.

"I am uncertain whether ser Ervin has come to the right place. We have never dealt with disposables before. The entire stratum is banned from all Ophiuchan worlds."

Max was intrigued. "Then who performs the work people generally rather don't want to do?"

Charobim replied in a warm tone. "We have automated most manual labor, and we perform the remaining work ourselves. Our God demands it. A faith without works would be a dead faith before long."

Max thought about it for a moment. "This is admirable," he finally said.