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<08/14/149,565 {Avion 148} - 16:00 | Altiri Temple, Genosis, Altiri Sector Space>

In the place we call the Altiri Temple, each minute without words carries a desolate and eerie silence among the low-pitch rumble of the station sub-systems. Cascading on time, each minute in my jail cell felt like eternity, as I confused my surroundings with that of the main room of my old ship, lost in the thought which now consumed me.

In all this time, I asked myself how far I have fallen, if I have fallen at all. About two cycles ago, I was leader of the top ranked aggressor group in all of the Altiri Military, most popular and most known for our collective roles in skills and in leadership. Yet now, I stand alone, isolated in this room of darkness, more separated from all life than I've ever felt before.

I had yet to truly consider beyond mere fact just how hellish this long wait will be, the wait before I can talk to my Reed. A purge is known to take anywhere between two weeks and two years to forge completion, with the average being one year. During this time, I shall never know what Reed will go through, his life and his world now invisible to me, with my long range clairvoyance disabled for good. I tried to invoke the ability from here, and sure enough, our scientific scryers of the purge were not exaggerating their claims.

I will be forced to second guess my own choice, my decision to send this purge, for there is strong probability of my goal to end in failure, with a cost irreversible. May this be the punishment I am to face for defying The Unity, or is it merely part of payment given to invoke a purge? Without ability to see the future, I may never know until such time is upon me.

I haven't changed my mind. I won't apologize for what I have done... However, my fears cannot so easily be extinguished. Regardless of what happens with the purge, I am soon to be charged with treason against The Unity by the queen herself, once I am brought to the throne room. Will I be exiled? Will I be imprisoned forever? Would they go as far as to execute me? I don't actually know how bad this will turn out, because no Altiri has ever done this before and lived to tell about it. I won't be getting out of this, and so all I may expect now is something horrible, something terrifying to my heart, something that sends shivers through my body even as I am alone.

"Prepare yourself Lumina. It is time." Livvia, tasked with guiding me to my fate, opened the lock on the prison door, opening a path out of my cell, but not my freedom. I knew already that she was prepared to take myself and all of my sisters to gather in the throne room for our verdict.

"Of course." Offering no resistance, I followed Royal Scryer Livvia around the hallways and narrow corridors, until I was led into the large and well-decorated throne room, where all of my sisters were awaiting me in silence, as the queen sat in her royal chair of frozen water and ice, below the large overhanging cutout glowing in light for the symbol of The Unity. I have been in this throne room thousands of times in my life, and it has never felt so cold and sheltering as it was now.

The protocols made the initiation of this moment very brief, and after I sat down, the queen took a long deep breath, opening her eyes to address myself alone. The quiet eerie space of this room combined with the low humming of the advanced A/C system set a new kind of tone I never would have recognized before now. Even without projecting her thoughts into telepathy or showing any in her body language, I somehow knew that the queen was far beyond angry and upset with me, so I dared not to speak out of term.

"Lumina, leader of the Cy-Stars; you have been brought before me at this hour, because The Unity has found your recent actions in violation of numerous laws and interests established and designed for all Altiri aggressor groups. What you have done is irrefutable. What your sisters have done also warrants similar attention. Despite this, amidst the fear growing in you, I sense a stronger stability within your silent thought processes. Are you not concerned with the punishment I threaten to bring to you all?"

Only now, after being asked a direct question was I expected to speak, and with the absence of all other Royal Scryers, I felt a bit more comfortable speaking with my great queen, this time as a person rather than a figure head. "Of course I am concerned, but I am not surprised, my great queen. Even if I do not agree that what I have done was wrong, it was still against the law, a law which I have clearly broken."

"This is the paradox that digs into my comfort zone. I know you Lumina. I've known you for such a long time, since long before the Fall of Zinod. Your actions on August 11th have no logic behind them, but instead, a chaotic nexus of emotion which even your sisters cannot fully identity. Aside from our current misunderstanding, you appear to be locked in the will, that the illegal purge you have sent was worth doing again, if given a second chance under all the same circumstances, as if, you don't feel all that bad about what you have done."

"I won't deny your assumption. I trust that I have made the right call."

"I never expected in all my lifetime to see someone like you do something like this. All Altiri have a powerful hatred for heathens, and you alone carry this feeling so strongly. I have seen it burst from your soul in prior training sessions held in this temple. Lumina! Do you suddenly renounce your dedication to mark heathens as enemy of The Unity, to that which you swore in during your choice to remain in our defensive mission against such threats?"

"I do not renounce my hatred, my great queen. Heathens still exist everywhere in the ACS system, and their presence will never be recognized as benevolent by The Unity, or by myself."

"And what of your sisters? Do they believe sympathizing with heathens from another world is acceptable in the slightest?"

Every one of us nodded our heads for no, adamantly refusing to ever harbor any positive feeling for our very enemy. I knew this was about to confuse the queen, but I held my tongue in patience, to highlight the core of my motivation before her. "Why then did Lumina decide to purge a male of the human race? Why did the rest of you fail to stand against a crazy idea, or to report what she had in mind?"

If the queen really was listening to my conversation with Ethsia, then she should know already, but I won't make this harder than it has to be. "Because, my great queen. I have been made aware, and am still convinced at this very moment, that the target of the person I have purged lacks any and all heathen influence and behavior, despite being a male. His traits are neither feminine nor masculine, and I waited years of observation to strengthen such confirmations."

"Does this excuse align with the rest of you? Hurma? I will ask you, as I know deep down that your anger to our enemy shines brightly among us all."

"I may only confirm, that Lumina spent total and exclusive focus in her observations of the subject, while the rest of us cycled between targets more regularly. I state no lies, my great queen. My sister Lumina became attached and obsessed with the very person she was to observe, and while we did stand against her decision in the beginning, I eventually chose to help her, because I realized Lumina would never be happy without the possibility of making contact with him."

"And so, your purge was never about trying to influence or change the behavior of what you perceived to be an existing heathen, but rather a desperation to communicate with one you judged free from the clutches of Legasso's predecessive behavior? I feel this is only a partial truth, that your attachment to Reed runs far deeper than any of you let on."

"I... I just want to talk to him, to be there for him as a friend." Admitting this much to the queen was openly embarrassing, and I wasn't entirely sure of my feelings in the first place, now that she put it out to question. However, despite my innocent sounding resolve, the queen finally let her rage show before us all.

"Regardless of your reasons for treachery, you went behind our backs, defiled our rules and our trust, and did something that would greatly impact our entire history! You, Lumina, do not have any certainty that the man you speak of is really free from heathenism, just as Hurma attempted to warn you. Every aggressor group in the entire military now knows what you have done, the ability to cover this up already beyond my capability. So now, I have no choice but to make examples out of all of you. There are already preexisting punishments for those we brand as traitors of The Unity. Under these statements, you would be exiled from our military, stripped of all your ranking and privileges, and held in our prison district for the longest possible time, unable to rejoin society on Karnak. If I let you all go, it makes a statement to every other aggressor group out there, that breaking our trust so much is suddenly acceptable and okay, and I cannot allow that to happen in our own unity!"

"I'm sorry, my great queen. I wish I could have done things the right way, but there was never a right way to purge my target."

"Precisely." With her calm response, the rest of us gasped looking up at her, as the queen folded and held the ends of her arms, still furious, but with more to add. "I will never justify what you have done Lumina. However, I must concur that the very reason you broke our trust in the first place, was because you were convinced beyond all doubt, that had you gone through the proper means of securing permission to institute your purge, it would have outright been denied, where other aggressor groups in the past had been approved. You would not be wrong in your assumption, though this hardly affects the volley of your mistakes."

"I understand."

"Face me, Cy-Star leader!"

Nervous as hell, I locked my worried eyes with my queen, wondering when she would quit stalling and move onto the verdict already, the wait and anticipation hurting more each second. "Yes, my great queen."

The queen glared deeply into my eyes, using her ability to read my mind even though there was nothing loudly on it. I don't know what she was looking for, but it appeared she found something anyway. "You claim to be apologetic for your crime, yet your eyes show more passion in you than I've ever seen before. Your priorities still shift in the same direction, and so I must ask... How much do you really care for this subject, who now carries an activated purge signal?"

How much do I care? Is that really a question? "I care about Reed a great deal. To me, he might be the very reason and purpose behind my involvement with the human race, a reason that justifies what we have already done to their world indirectly. My aim is to help him."

"And yet you carry with that goal immense risk that he will not help you. You state that Reed is not a heathen as you say, but if he is, he will reject your connection the moment he understands what is going on, and he will reject our influence as well."

"That won't happen my great queen. I trust in myself that I am right, that Reed is not like the others. There might even be more exceptions to the rule that I have yet to see." Even if I'm shaking, I'm not going to admit that he is a heathen, not until evidence to the contrary slaps me in the face.

"Curious," the queen mumbled lowly. "It appears, whether I lock you in a cell or not, you will try to commune with your subject node and do all you can to bring him over to us?"

"I will, for he is the person I chose for a purge, and I chose him for good reason."

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The room fell deadly silent for some time before the queen spoke again, after holding her mind in deep thought. "There are other reasons why we require permission to purge. It isn't always about the gender of the target or subject. Am I safe to assume you already know this?"

"I... I'm not sure about what those other reasons are." This is strange! Why isn't she screaming at us like before? What is she going to do with us?

"Most of this pertains to physiological and medical knowledge of the subject, gathered long in advance before approval is given. I shouldn't have to remind you that many humans are prone to physical and psychological ailments which may complicate or even prevent a purge from completing on them. We, as Royal Scryers, examine the chosen subject prior to purge for this purpose, so that the aggressor group in question does not waste a perfectly good purge for no reason. However, another point of interest is the target's general morality about the world around them. This typically has little bearing on our decision for approval, but it would most certainly impact everything if the same human carries views and opinions that lean on or favor heathenism. Given how the Earth is populated by so many, there are, and have been for some time, women which also present heathenism characteristics."

Unable to ask why she was stalling, I could only involve myself in her curious conversation. "I, I know what you speak of. I too have seen innocent women become corrupted with violent views by the very heathens they involve themselves in. The fact that it spreads regardless of gender is abhorrent."

"So it is. The additional consequences of your unscheduled purge also means we, as Royal Scryers, have absolutely zero data collected on your subject. We know not where he lives, what kind of life he endures, what habits he invokes, and what personality traits he subscribes to."

"Do Royal Scryers keep their eyes on purged humans even after that purge is complete?"

"Not normally, but in highly unique or irregular situations, our focus would be sustained on such a subject. The aggressor group attached to that subject would have no idea we are doing it, because of their lost clairvoyance given the purge, where we would always hold the capability. Before I continue to the verdict, I must request in very precise detail, the target identification data of the person you have chosen, beyond simply his name."

"Yes, my great queen. My target node is Reed, and he lives on Motion Street, in a small town encased deep into the state of Georgia. He is thirteen years old at present, and in middle school. Our purge was conducted sometime between five and six A.M., on August 11th, 2009, as the date would read in their world. Dark hair, blue eyes, skinny for his size, and well reserved and quiet, as much as he is insightful of his surroundings."

"Georgia? Isn't that one of the warmer states to the south?"

"It is. I purged Reed despite knowing the difficulty of the climate in the area, and am willing to put up with that as well."

"Understood..." The queen sighed, adding one more digression before making her ruling. "You must realize by now, that there are consequences for all of us depending on what will happen between you and Reed. This is after all, the first time in all of history that a male human has ever been purged before, and this also means that, whether or not the purge cycle is successful, this male human will obtain our knowledge about the world we live in. He will have dreams about the Altiri, recognitions about the eye of The Unity, familiarity with the blizzards of our world, and understanding that our kind has a potent hatred for his kind."

I wonder where she is going with this...

"One of the required protocols we share between our agreements and aggressor groups involved in a purge, is that the human node be sworn to secrecy about our world. We have known for the longest time that drastic change and cultural challenge may arise on a grand, global scale within ACS414, if knowledge about our race of psionic observers reaches every corner of every intelligent human. I have personally wanted to keep this kind of interference to a minimum, and we have made great stride so far with minor setbacks. The triple purge incident nearly blew the lid of our secret to many, but instead only had the consequential transfer of our ancient music. It isn't possible to ask a purged subject to remain quiet about what they learn in the first place, if they have no master node to guide and direct them. This means, if your purge fails in any manner, or if Reed refuses your involvement in his life, there is great threat that he will spread word about our culture, likely in short-sighted, inaccurate details, whether or not he himself believes the knowledge to be truthful or fiction."

"I do see how that would be a negative consequence."

"That is merely the beginning of our fears. If word about our existence and our purge experiment got out to the entire human race, there is no end to the possibility for what may come of it. More importantly, if word about us ever was to spread, it should do so with utmost accuracy and understanding from which it echoes. If instead, a heathen, enemy of our unity were to learn of our truth more exclusively than the world around him, with knowledge that we are his enemy, our entire impact to this world will be dragged into negative and aggressive resistance, assuming that heathen wishes to challenge us, which is likely. Consequently, if our discovery is then made aware to the world carrying the negative weight of hatred against us, then our involvement through purging will be seen as an unwanted, aggressive, and intrusive action. In either case, hostile reactions to our discovery can lead to epic damages within the societies of this fragile planet, and drive Altiri morale below levels rarely seen before. Do you understand from this, why I add caution to your involvement with Reed, disregarding what is already known? If you turn out to be wrong, or if your purge fails, and Reed presents himself to be the heathen we think we know him to be, then your own actions will inflict an unknown but certain damage to our reputation within that world, if Reed does decide to share the visions we carry, unloading within his mind. The purge will warp his personality during the process, holding his adhesion and opinion of us highly, until the purge completes or fails, reverting his personality back to how it was, with knowledge of us learned."

It was a long mouthful, but I knew now why the queen wanted to tell me this before administering punishment. She wishes me to see the additional vectors of what could go wrong in this purge, so that I understand what more there is at stake, though all I still care about is being Reed's friend, rather than his enemy. "I see now, that my actions have consequences for all of us, not limited to only myself and my sisters. I don't know what else to say, because this will all depend on whether Reed accepts my presence or not."

"My thoughts exactly. Your progress of the purge, especially once the process completes, is now more important and highly integral to our continued operations. There still remains the chance - that Reed can be swayed to our way of thinking, brought to our side of The Unity, and to be turned from potential enemy into a great ally who understands our purpose and our resolve. I don't think so myself, but it may be possible for you to prevent Reed from being influenced by the negativity and evil around him, and if this is possible, I must at least allow this route of time to play out. I have already made my decision for all of you. Rise now, so that you may bear the burden of thy judgment."

Without resistance, all of us stood on our feet, tall and facing our doom with the bravest of stance, before the queen finally made her ruling.

"If this situation were simple, I'd personally torture the eleven of you myself, hold public displays of your shortcomings, and diminish all you are to nothingness, to never deliver you an ounce of freedom ever again. However, the complexity of this situation requires more flexibility. It is my decree, that each and every member of the Cy-Stars aggressor group, will now be bound to delayed punishment, of timing and details entirely dependent on whether or not Lumina can get Reed to declare The Unity as his ally and fall under our allegiance."

"What?" "Is she saying—" My sisters and I both went into a bit of shock, wondering if we misheard our great queen. "Are you saying, we're not going to be punished for this?"

"Not quite. You should all silence your minds and listen to me well. I said, your punishment will be conditional, based on the total success of your purge, which will have to be judged in incremental progress after the successful completion of the purge. The punishment that Ethsia suggested you all receive, shall be brought down before all of you, if, by any means, Reed fails to at least judge The Unity in a positive regard. This means many things. If the purge fails or Reed rejects continued communication with Lumina, this will count as an automatic failure to satisfy my conditions. If Reed, regardless of purge success, is later determined to host many heathen qualities and traits within him, then the punishment shall be administered, and Lumina will bear greater weight and torture for her error in judgment. If Reed does accept Lumina's communication, does believe that this world is real, does refrain from heathen influences, yet still falls short of having an opinion of us that is at least above neutral, then I shall still personally count this as condition for punishment, perhaps with reduced severity as we discuss them later."

"I see," Hurma realized aloud. "So, you're sending us back to our ships, but our time to pay will eventually come."

"There is only one basis of possibility that will enable me to pardon your entire team for what you have done, and know that I will never offer this to any other aggressor group who takes repeated action of you. Lumina? Reed is your purged subject. You claim to know him well. You claim he is a rare exception, a man who is not a heathen of his own world, and a man who will see yourself and those you represent as allies rather than enemies. While your assumptions may be based on blind faith, the truth is, our future is always uncertain and unknowable. So, I am giving you this one chance to prove yourself, to prove that you personally made a call that was right for you and your team. You must convince Reed that we Altiri are no direct threat to the human world, and that any influence of heathenism should be seen as evil, as it is seen this way in our world. Whether he believes our world exists or not may not actually bring any bearing on this condition, but keep in mind, a human who believes they have gone insane is likely to reject your continued communications. I will give as much additional time following the purge as needed, but not too much time. If you can show me, convince me, with Reed right here before us, that he is the person you trust him to be, then I will not levy any further consequence or punishment to your or your team. The Cy-Stars however, will fall far from its current ranking as the top position, though this is hardly something I feel any of us will care about in extra detail."

I was breathless, unable to comprehend how or why I was given this ultimatum. The queen, taking pity on me? After all of this, she's going to simply give us a slap on the wrist and let us go?

"Are these terms acceptable to you, Lumina?" The queen had to wait for my answer, since I was still bewildered and slow to process anything given this way out of a horrible future.

"They are, and thank you so much for giving me this chance, my great queen! I'm sorry I went this far to purge him! I—"

The queen cut me off with her hand motion, certain as I that I would go as far to kiss her feet for her conditional pardon. "Focus, Lumina! Do not assert so soon that you have been given back your full freedom. As I said before, turning Reed's allegiance to our side is going to be impossible. It would prove that not every single male of the human race are heathens, and since that is something we know is not true, I very much doubt you can pull it off. However, I must give you this chance for two reasons. One is to give you the opportunity to learn firsthand and personally just how cruel humans can be, compared to how we want to see them. The other reason, is that I wish to prevent this situation from going out of control. As important as it is to make examples out of all of you, it is even more important that we ensure our enemy from the other side of the universe, does not gauge us as their enemy, less it may lead to no future purges for anybody. Once again Lumina, you will do anything it takes to brainwash Reed into believing we are his ally."

"Uh, hold on. I won't do that!"

"Lumina! Don't squander the chance we've been given!" Ashiela wasn't about to fight the queen on her ruling, but I knew I was going to have to elaborate what I meant.

"What I mean is, I won't resort to deceptive tactics, lies, or brainwashing to get Reed on our side. In fact, I'm not even going to assert a focus on his indoctrination. I'm only doing this because I want to be there for him, and for him to know we are there for him. If Reed recognizes that I'm willing to help him, and that I will never trick him or lie to him about our world, I'm certain he will still chose to support us of his own volition."

"The tactics used to turn Reed into someone I deem worthy of, is entirely up to you, Lumina. However, you should consider my advice greatly. Heathens don't listen to reason, nor do they see the good in others through kindness. They only look at people to exploit and use. Your method will fail, if Reed is a heathen, even if in the slightest amount."

"I don't believe you." Despite the strong yet silent protest of my sisters behind me, I stood taller, holding my gaze to the queen's face, and she held her rivaling eyes to mine. "I won't lie to him about anything. I won't try to trick Reed or deceive him. If he is to see us as allies, he must make that choice on his own with everything known, including my own intentions. For that reason, I shall refrain from telling him about the deal you and I currently have, to prevent using coercion through sympathy as well."

Junko tried to protest first. "Don't make this more difficult on yourself Lumina. Why does it matter so much to you that every thought and choice he has is based entirely on his own?"

"Because Junko," I informed with much resolve. "I want my connection with Reed to be as genuine as possible. It's what he would want too. Reed looks to the world around him, struggling for friends, but refusing anything that seems shallow or fake. I understand that feeling more than you might realize, and I am not going to fail this way."

"Very well," the queen agreed skeptically. "We shall see what those passions of yours are made of, Lumina. The choice has been made. For now, all of you shall return to your ships, station yourself to corral position, and passively wait for the purge to complete. We have brought your docked ships into our hangar at the temple during your brief imprisonment. In the meantime, I will do all I can to ensure none of the other aggressor groups tries to communicate with you or bother you. Now more than ever, our communication ban will have to be strictly enforced. I will of course make exceptions for you, the Stryders, and Radion, so long as you keep it calm and quiet looking."

"My queen," Luna intercepted. "What about the other Royal Scryers? None of them are even in the room to hear your decision. Will they not protest to your judgment once they are aware of this?"

"They shall," the queen answered with clarity. "The very reason I had all other personnel removed from my throne room, was to isolate their predictable protests between them and myself. The Royal Scryers will be angered by this decision greatly, but it is not their place to rule on this matter. I make the verdict and enforce the rules on incidents as large as this. So, they will protest, but I will educate them on the importance of all they have failed to foresee. Our entire future involvement with the human race may now be in jeopardy, if Reed becomes a publicly declared enemy of The Unity, and I will do all I can so that this does not happen."

"What of the other aggressor groups, who will undoubtingly question their perception of our freedom?"

Answering to Derria, the queen solidified her plan of action. "There will have to be an announcement, perhaps made through intentional rumor, that the punishment to be administered to the offending aggressor group will be certain, but delayed for up to a few years, pending additional investigations. Trying to downplay your wrongdoing will be difficult though, even for me, unless of course you fail in the task I deliver."

Words cannot express how relieved I am that the queen is cutting us so much slack. I thought for sure we would all never see beyond the temple walls ever again. "My great queen, I will not fail us. I can't thank you enough for giving me the chance to prove myself, and I will make certain my purge was never in vain."

"For the sake of yourself, and our futures linked, I hope that is a truth you will carry out to the fullest extent of your potential, Lumina. As for the rest of you, it is wise to assist Lumina where possible if she needs help or support. I am not allowing the Cy-Stars aggressor group to be disbanded, until this matter comes to a close. All of you are now dismissed. Please leave us with care in your mind."

"Very well. We will all make you proud!" I couldn't hide the building excitement within me. Most of what I felt was in my confidence restored, that I may get to talk to Reed after all, and that my purge would be absolutely worth every moment. Even I had not expected the many surprises life had to throw in my way.

It was impossible to relax though. I have been given a mission by the queen, which closely ties in with my personal interests. There is still the chance that I fail, though I must maintain my confidence and patience for what must be done. For now, all I can do is wait.