The early morning breeze had brought cold moist ocean air into the city, cloaking the garden terraces in nebulous tendrils of fog that deposited dewdrops on pristine varicolored leaves. From an office in one of the temple spires, Ervin had watched as the red sun had risen rapidly into the sky, casting its rays through the humid air. Ervin felt as if the diffuse orange glow was foreshadowing something ominous.

"He’s a difficult case," Charobim sighed. He and his fellow priests had spent all morning questioning Max regarding his behavior, interests, and interactions with other people at the colony and confirmed what Ervin already knew - Max had been created and conditioned for a very specific environment that was at great odds with his new one.

They had concluded he was neither happy nor unhappy; work was not only something he enjoyed, it was escapism from the alien environment and difficult, undesired social interactions. Left idle, Max would rapidly become unstable, and he made it clear he outright hated his off-days.

"To him, your colony feels threatening," Charobim continued. "If he wasn’t so well-spoken, I would almost say he is hmmm… autistic. But in other regards, he does not appear to be that way. He seems quite defensive of his views."

"Our colony feels threatening," Ervin said with an irked frown. "Yet he likes his homeworld - that had him killed." He leaned back, looking out of the window. From his vantage point in one of the temple’s spires, he could overlook most of the city below. Ervin noticed the sight of the large, red midday sun made him easily irritated. Way too similar to Proxima, he thought. He swore to pay more heed to his manners.

"He likes predictability and purpose. He said that even though he enjoys working, there is little motivation for him to do so."

"On his homeworld, his masters would grant daily blessings on behalf of the Providers. He is conditioned to obey them in all things, even if it costs him his life."

"It appears he was fully aware that he was destined to be terminated after a few days, hmm," Charobim murmured while stroking his beard. "I had expected there to be some kind of deception or denial about that harsh fact."

Ervin unconsciously mirrored Charobim’s pose and moved his hand to his chin, only becoming aware of his motion when he found his own beard missing. He lowered his hand, embarrassed. "His efficiency rating is all that matters to him."

"Permanent death does not worry them, yet a number does. What produces creatures like that…"

"According to commander Woodward, the Providers are using our data to generate disposables," Ervin remarked.

"That is a well-known fact, and one of the reasons why we banned disposables altogether. Although it’s technically not the Providers doing the new people generation job, it’s the Regulators responsibility."

"Who are those?"

"Artificial intelligence."

"I was already surprised not to see any of those around, but it seems there is AI after all?"

"The Regulators don’t communicate with us lowly beings. Providers and Commissioners only. And some knights, such as ser Halim."

"Immediate knights?"

"Yes, those get their energy directly from a Regulator, rather than a Provider."

"Interesting. Who has more authority then, the Regulators or the Providers?"

"There is some separation of powers. The Providers are supposedly the ultimate authority in the Empire, although Compliance can overrule even them in case of Policy violations. And the Regulators process all of our data. No one is exempt from the Data Sharing Policy, not even the Providers."

Ervin was fascinated by the subject, but realized he had come here for another reason. His curiosity would have to wait. "Back to the matter at hand. If it is AI generating disposables from our data…"

He thought for a moment.

"What if they are using a simple evolutionary algorithm?", he asked rhetorically, once again rubbing his hand against his bare chin.

Charobim thought as well. "Hmmm. You are probably onto something there."

"The disposables are not having children, so what if their efficiency rating determines the degree to which particular combinations of data get passed onto the next generation. You would end up with creatures that willingly throw themselves off a cliff, if that would increase their rating."

"That would be very sad, if true," Charobim said. "Think of how many misfits that produces…"

"What if he is such a misfit?", Ervin wondered.

"You could ask him? Given the candor to which Maxproxemix treated him, he probably knows whether that is the case."

"I dislike playing such a guessing game," Ervin said, staring out of the window and once again noticing he was becoming agitated. He paused, breathed himself to calm, and continued. "We are working against a system here. A system that has been running for hundreds of millions of years and is incomprehensible - at least to me. One thing is certain: Max was never intended to be reinstated on Messier 39. If we were to ask a Provider, they’d probably say that we are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole."

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"Hmm, quite likely," Charobim agreed. Rather than fondling with his beard once more, he withdrew his prayer beads from his pocket and started finicking with it. "One other thing of note. He has been reading scripture, last night."

Ervin expressed his surprise and shifted in his chair. "Is he? That has changed; I could never interest him. Did he say anything about it?"

Charobim told Ervin how he had found Max amongst the olive grove that morning, shearing the fruit from its branches onto a waiting tarp below. The vast quantity of trees he had already processed indicated he must have been at his work for hours without pause. Max had explained how he only required twenty minutes of recuperation, and had spent the night reading the rest of the scripture, and had then gone outside to ask one of the gardeners for work.

"He found it confusing. I presumed that was because he cannot place it in its cultural and historical context." Ervin’s astonishment grew, and he told Charobim of his earlier conversation, how Max had compared his duty to the Providers to the devotion of the faithful towards God.

Charobim nodded and continued his explanation. "Ser Max thought that if the scripture would have been more logical and structured, they would have been more convincing, and the Faith would have prospered. I had to explain to him that in ancient history, when many of these texts were written, humanity was sadly anything but rational. And that just as he now found it difficult to understand the texts, so would the common people back then respond with ire to texts that were dry and logical."

"Indeed, the principle of progressive revelation. As humanity advances, so does the Faith."

"Without this principle, Faith would never have survived into this day and age," Charobim agreed. "God reveals to us when Humanity is ready to comprehend, allowing the Faith to adapt to new circumstances."

"Perhaps this is an interesting point. What if Max is now reading scripture, because he is adapting to local conditions," Ervin ventured. "On Messier 39, I am the only person that holds the Faith. Here, to be faithful is the norm."

"Wait - You are the only one of the Faith?" Charobim asked with concern. "Did... everyone else perish?"

"I was the only one," Ervin admitted, lowering his eyes in shame.

Charobim’s eyes flicked left and right, expressing discomfort. His voice changed to a whisper. "How? I thought you were a priest... And… and what of your family?"

"I went to Proxima for personal matters," Ervin said plainly. "My family remained on Earth. Once the matters were resolved, I could not afford the journey back, nor did I have the means to stay. Thus I enrolled with the Dolya, and went along on its ill-fated voyage."

Charobim was silent, looking at Ervin for a long time. Something had shifted in Ervin, and he appeared upset. Charobim assessed Ervin was not entirely forthcoming, but decided not to pursue the matter any further.

Ervin raised himself out of his seat. "Thank you for your assistance so far, ser Charobim," he said formally. "Shall we follow up tomorrow?"

Rather tired himself, Charobim made no effort to stop him. "Have a good evening. And enjoy the Festival of Light," he said.

As Ervin left, he found Luara waiting for him outside.

"Halim has already conducted ser Max back to the estate," she said. "He said the interview strained him, and that he had no interest in the festival. Would you like to travel back by river?", she asked. "There will be many events along the banks."

"I would like that very much," Ervin said with a smile. Luara’s warm voice had lifted his sour mood, and his spirit brightened by the moment.

As they walked downhill towards the river, the festival atmosphere began to kindle. The sun moved quickly across the sky, which was already beginning to display its mellow silver and salmon evening hues. Ervin saw three young children chase each other, one carrying a glowing serpentine kite. As Ervin heard their playful cries disappear into a side street, he realized with a shock that this was the first time in millennia that he had seen children.

He looked at Luara with a puzzled expression. She noticed and explained. "It’s still possible to have children. Although the Providers made it a lot more complicated than it used to be," she added with a laugh.

They made their way to the riverbank, navigating the docks until they reached a pier that held the sandolo that Luara had reserved. Luara helped Ervin board, as the small craft bobbed defiantly. Luara cast off and manned the single oar, swiftly directing the vessel downstream, where it was soon joined by a multitude of similar craft. As the sun sank below the horizon, lights engulfed the river banks. Boats dragged illuminated floating sculptures into position. Ervin watched in admiration as on podia along the riverside, as well as colorful floating barges, musicians and dancers began performing the arts they had spent centuries perfecting.

Fireworks launched and people cheered. From the boats and riverside, people emerged with glowing orbs, casting them into the water in great numbers. The boats around them started to make way as a convoy of large barges emerged from the opposite direction, each conveying an ensemble of illuminated sculptures, priests, dancers, and musicians over the sparkling waters.

As they got closer, Ervin noticed Farshid was on board the lead ship, this time dressed in ornate red-gold robes and seated on a throne of state, in stark contrast with his earlier appearance. Halim stood by his side. Large, colorful red birds flew above, circling effortlessly despite their comparatively small wings.

"Shouldn’t you be on that boat?", Ervin asked.

"I must admit I’ve not performed religious ceremonies in centuries," Luara replied cheerfully. "They get somewhat... repetitive," she added.

"I can imagine," Ervin said, reminded that despite her youthful appearance, Luara was in fact thousands of years his senior. "What is it that you do in your daily life?", he asked.

"City planning. Our population is growing slowly but steadily, mainly due to immigration. We have started developing the other continents of this world."

"Do you enjoy your work?"

"To a degree. Of course, everything gets repetitive after so long. The human mind does not appear to be created to last an eternity, but thankfully, the Equanimity has ways to address these issues."

"I am still learning about all these supposed benefits the Provider technology afforded us. Have you seen much of the Empire?"

"I’ve never left Ophiuchi," Luara admitted, much to Ervin’s surprise. "I have important duties to perform here. The burden of being part of an important family," she said with a smile.

"You should come to visit our world someday," Ervin said, smiling back. "I am sure a diplomatic excuse could be found that requires your presence."

Luara laughed and appeared to give it some thought. "I think I would like that very much," she finally said.