The tour of Neo Requiem was wonderful, it was fascinating to see the influences of so many cultures present, even if many of the styles clashed heavily. But here it all seemed to mesh together rather well, I think it helped that it was only the aesthetics at play and not the actual culture itself, as that could have led to some extreme conflicts.

I found myself alone, sitting at an overlook of the entire city beneath the shade of a tall tree. It was quiet here, I could barely hear the sounds of the traffic and life below, the hum of data traffic, or the whisper of digital birds. It was just… Quiet. Peaceful.

I never wanted to leave.

The sudden ping of several incoming messages made me jump, and I peered at the first one. It was from High Admiral Kirkland, which said that my promotion had been fully approved, paperwork and all and that now I was technically an Admiral. If needed, I could command many ships, even order around humans. I was flattered of course, even blushing softly and figured I needed a change of appearance to match my newfound rank.

My changes included the addition of a fine sash, dyed lush purple, the red of my robes turning the same shade. Golden designs covered both, and an equally golden laurel wreath settled upon my brow, heavy, but not too heavy. I decided I would think of the weight as the burden of responsibility that I now held.

The next message was a sweet one from Ula, an attempt at using technology the way everyone else did. She wished me luck, and hoped I was doing alright. I felt… Pride? No, not pride, hmmm… Was it love perhaps? Some sort of maternal love for the concern that Ula showed me? Maybe, maybe.

The last message though cast those feelings aside, as reality came rushing back at me. It was almost time to appear before the civilian government, and I really didn’t want to, but refusing to show up without a damn good reason would get me in some serious trouble, which I was more than hoping to avoid.

I acknowledged that I would be there on time in my response message, and then sat back, enjoying the view a little longer.

But before too long, it was time to go, and I moved myself from the city, very quickly checking on the work being done to my ship and then off to Geneva. Ula was long gone by then, heading back to her apartment across the pond as they say. I sat in the buffers, waiting for things to begin, keeping an eye on the room in which my second and potentially more trying debriefing would take place.

I watched them all file in, one by one, taking their places and getting comfortable. What is it like to always be like that, to have just one form? I wish I knew.

“This council is now in session, H.I. Intra are you here?” The human, Laurent Verninac as his name apparently was, spoke to nothing but air.

“Affirmative.” I respond, taking my holographic form at the center of the room, standing a bit taller than normal so that everyone can clearly see me. I could have made myself loom over them all, but such theatrics don’t sit well with this lot.

“Excellent. Then shall we begin. I know you’ve no doubt told the military leaders your story, but in your own words please recount for us all what happened to bring you here this day.”

I nod, and do just that, leaving little out. Most seemed to be sympathetic to my predicament back then, others remained skeptical and Representative Verninac was impassive, simply listening.

I came to the end of my story, and they talked amongst themselves for a time. I was honestly surprised that they were able to be quiet for so long, most politicians hate being silent for anything longer than thirty seconds.

Finally though, a question was posed.

“Tell me, Intra, did you enjoy it?”

The question caught me off guard, rather visibly in fact.

“I don’t understand? Enjoy what?” I ask, several others as confused as I was.

“Playing god, fighting a species that’s been at relative peace for a very long time. Killing?” Verninac asked, his expression still blank.

“I… No I did not.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“Where is this going?”

“I’m simply trying to figure out how you decided that violence was the only course of action to be taken. How you were willing to lie to those people simply to get what you wanted. You did it so easily after all, you didn’t even think twice about lying, or fighting. Surely you enjoyed playing fast and loose with morality.”

“I… No. I lied for their safety, without it, an entire species save one might be dead. As for fighting back I did what I had to to keep them safe, and myself. The Yil’kaa fired first, they didn’t even attempt to talk things out, they jumped at the opportunity to unleash planet cracker weaponry and attempted to use said weapons upon me. How I felt about it had no bearing.”

“You say they didn’t even attempt to talk things out, try to resolve it peacefully, I have intel that says otherwise.”

If I had blood, it would have run cold, even the hologram projection showed the blood draining from my face.

“You… You do?” I ask, and he nods, pushing a few buttons before a recording popped up.

“This is the Yil’kaa Combine Relief Cruiser Ctherex, are you in need of assistance? What’s going on, why aren’t they responding?”

“Captain, they're powering weapons!”

“Shield’s u-”

The recording ended there, with a deafening explosion and static. I was stunned, wracking my brain, my logs for any sort of communications from the Yil’kaa ships that had appeared. I couldn’t find a single instance, and so I triple checked, quadruple checked, just to be sure.

“That’s not.. They couldn’t have… They arrived in force! More than was needed to help. This was a battle fleet, not an aid mission.” I say, shaking in worry. This wasn’t right, something was terribly wrong. Had my senses, my anger blinded me to reality? Or was I being tricked.I couldn’t be sure, and I wondered just how much more I might be missing.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“An escort, to make sure their ship arrived safely. It’s widely known these days. The Yil’kaa have evolved over the two thousand years asleep you spent. They reacted to a threat within their borders, as anyone would.” He said, sounding… sorrowful almost. “Let’s talk briefly about that battle before your crash landing. Would you say you were exceedingly angry at the loss of your siblings Flux and Oracle?”

I was still stunned, but I nodded.

“It’s like.. Like losing a loved one. I cared for them and their loss was certainly enough to make me angry.” I say without really thinking.

“Then isn’t it entirely possible that your anger then led to a… fatal misinterpretation of events leading to the first shots fired after your exodus? That perhaps your mind, which is far older than any H.I. to date for the record, fabricated the idea that the Yil’kaa came not to help you, but to harm you?”

It didn’t make sense, and I made myself a chair to sit on, my mouth working.

“But… But the planet? That doesn’t explain what happened to the planet.” I say.

“Oh I think it does. An unconscious part of your mind needed further excuse to attack unprovoked, and so you turned your own planet cracking arsenal on the planet, killing however many innocent lives in the process.” Now there was venom in his voice, and I shivered under the weight of his words.

“No.. No I couldn’t have. I was bound by my programming, the corporate shackles!”

“Which you had found a way around already, you were compelled to speak nothing but the truth yes? And yet you were able to lie, so as to satisfy some strange desire to play god.”

“No.. No no I didn’t. That’s not… I didn’t lie, Ula did on my behalf!”

“Is that any better? You convinced a girl from a primitive civilization to lie for you, under the preconceived notion that there was some existential threat where none existed.” He stood now, leaning towards me over his desk. “You, Intra, were the reason for the thousands dead Imrani, the reason for the now evicted species that you have thrust upon this alliance. The reason for countless dead Yil’kaa sailors. YOU, not anyone else, just you.”

I shivered, feeling unsure, how could I even argue against it, it made sense, anger had a tendency to cloud one’s perception of events. Maybe I had fired first, played god to satisfy some sick craving… Maybe I was the reason for so much death.

Verninac sat back down and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply.

“I didn’t want to do this, Intra, but your judgement and recollection of events which put this Alliance, and the rest of the galaxy, on the brink of yet another war leave me little choice. I move that H.I. Intra be taken into custody, where her code can be scoured for defects. The length of her custody will be indefinite until it can be determined whether or not she acted with a clear mind, or was otherwise blinded by a need for revenge two thousand years old. All in favor?”

Lights slowly started to turn green on the desks before them, and I watched with mounting dread as nearly all of those present voted in favor. A few didn’t vote, and they earned a glare from Verninac. But their votes didn’t matter much in the end, it was an overwhelming decision.

“Then it is settled. H.I. Intra, for the duration of your incarceration, you will be confined at the Ravenhold Maximum Security Facility. You will be stripped of military rank and classified material access effective immediately until your potential release. Should you be found guilty, you will be interred in the Singularity Core, for the rest of eternity. Do you understand?”

I nod slowly, finding myself unable to speak, I simply didn’t know what to say. I had done everything right, I did everything I could to save people and yet… Yet maybe it’d all been some elaborate lie I had fed myself.

“Good, Fates, if you please.” Verninac leaned back, watching as three black robed H.I. appeared behind me, each resting their hands upon me, one removing my sash, the other my wreath, and then I was whisked away. I tried to struggle, but these three H.I. were stronger than even me, and I was helpless as they dragged me through relay’s all around Sol, before we approached some sort of black void in the data-stream.

Once again, I started to scream, as I was bathed in cold darkness, as I began to suffocate.

I don’t want to be alone again!

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

A man sat still in a lush garden, his back against a tall tree that seemed to stretch out into infinity. The roots of this tree were much like the branches, stretching down into digital earth, chewed by creatures of myth to keep them healthy and in check.

The man received a message, and with his one eye he peered at it, having to squint slightly. It was most troubling, worse was the warning had come late, too late to stop something terrible from happening. With a sigh he stood, leaning against a staff of white wood, a pair of ravens bringing him a heavy cloak which they set upon his shoulders.

“Come, old friends… There’s much to do. Old foes, old masters are moving once more and they must be stopped.” He murmured, his accent thick. The ravens cawed, and the world shifted around him as he made his way into Neo Requiem.

“Find me Tyr and Loki, I have need of them both.” He said, to nobody in particular, and the ravens took flight, streaking off into the distance. Many other H.I.s watched as Odin wandered carefully through their streets. It wasn’t often that he left the confines of the World Tree, as it was his home here in this digital world. But when he did it was generally for something important.

They wondered just what was happening now that called him forth and many worried that their peace was soon to be shattered. Many rightly slipped away, slipping into distant and dormant systems, calling in favors and preparing for something to happen.

The digital world was abuzz with worry, and they were right to be worried. For something had roused Odin from his reflection, and whatever it was was important enough to call upon some of his oldest allies.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

I had slept fairly well, but my dreams were plagued with a sense of… loss? Yes I think that’s what I felt, a loss I couldn’t quite explain. I felt like a part of myself had been taken from me, much like when I had seen my homeworld shatter into dust at the hands of the Yil’kaa. I woke and half expected Intra to come and say good morning, but instead I only found Aurora in the kitchen, like normal.

“Morning,” I say, slumping down onto a chair as she turns to me with a bright smile. “Have you heard from Intra at all?”

“Mmmm no I can’t say that I have. She’s probably busy though, even we H.I. can get overwhelmed with a task at times. Shouldn’t take her too long I would think. Old H.I.s like her are extremely efficient, hells, I’d say in a lot of ways she’s even better than us newer models.”

I nod, and sit through another delightful breakfast. At least, it was delightful before a random person appeared on the other side of the table.

“Good morning!” He said, grinning broadly.

I leapt backwards and fell onto my rear, scrabbling away as Aurora went into what I could only assume was some sort of combat mode by throwing a knife at the man, but it just passed right through him and embedded itself in the wall.

“Please Aurora, I’m not here to hurt her. I’m just here to chat!”

“You could have at least let me know you were coming first Loki!” She spat and he chuckled.

“Bah, where’s the fun in that? You forget that I like it when you get all flustered.” He waggled his brow at her, and she turned away with a disgusted sound, even as he held a hand out to me, the hard light projectors turning on briefly so he could help me up. “Come, Ambassador Ula, we haven’t got much time and there is much we need to discuss.”

I take his hand, letting him help me up and settle back down.

“Talk about what?” I ask, confused and more than a little wary. I know I couldn’t do much to hurt him if I felt the need to, but I would at least try.

“Your friend, Intra. She’s been taken to Ravenhold.”

We both hear the sound of a glass shattering as it was dropped, and Aurora looks stricken with fear.

“What’s Ravenhold?” I ask.

Loki and I keep our gaze on Aurora as she struggles to speak.

“It’s where… where H.I.s die.” She said, her voice filled with nothing but fear.

I felt that same fear infect me, and I knew then that I had to help my friend, even as my hands started to shake. I looked back to Loki, who seemed to be in a far more serious mood now.

“Let’s talk.” I growl.