Глава 15

Warning.

Unknown threat.

Identifying error code... identification failed.

Simulating path... simulation failed.

Rebooting bottom-level computing area...

Assessing danger level...

Repeat.

And there I was, thinking that all I had to do—after I find a successor—was hand out candies to the children.

You have never proclaimed such a revelation before.

(Unknown language) Incoming data... Originium...

(Unknown language) A warning, or yet another swan song of hope?

(Unknown language) Where are you, kindred? What have you encountered?

The wind brushes past the throne. The sovereign's gaze moves away from the depths of the void outside his domain.

This music exists outside of order. How did it invade my Pavillon, my Leithanien?

The traces of genesis?

Silence is broken.

Priestess's figure, shattered by the golden waves of information, disappears without a trace.

The sea of data dashes against Theresis even more furiously.

His mind grows crowded. His body begins to crack.

The waves of information take away the blood that flows from his wounds. Originium crystals multiply in every cell...

Theresis is completely inundated.

Blood-red seawater gushes from the bottomless abyss, melting into the golden sea.

The sea of data in the Assimilated Universe turns a dark red, like blood, the color of the Sarkaz.

Finally, a tiny figure rises from the sea.

We took control of Amnannam, Theresa.

I can feel the direction that the waves flow now, and the massive amounts of data that I cannot comprehend—

He wants to share his joy, but there is only the sound of the waves in the boundless void.

He can no longer hear even his own heartbeat. There is only him here.

There is no longer any meaning in staying here.

He will return alone to Terra, to the land that belongs to him—

The rhombus in the void grows faint and broken...

Priestess's consciousness once again falls into slumber.

The spread of Originium has been far slower than expected, and she has unexpectedly lost part of her control over it.

Two Terrans, a frail and overlooked race.

I'm starting to understand why you're so interested in them... {@nickname}.

As her consciousness fades into darkness, she turns her gaze to the land known as Terra...

She sees the one they call Doctor walking with the Cautus and AMa-10 into the dark passage that leads to the underground throne room—

She sees the city of Londinium cry out in pain in the fires of war—

...She sees death—

A disintegrating Cautus, whose information is melting into the Assimilated Universe's sea of data—

Then, she reaches out.

(Unknown language) And that was the last time you saw Priestess?

(Unknown language) Yes.

(Unknown language) I still have many unanswered questions. Time is no longer my major concern.

(Unknown language) Do you not miss your home, traveler?

'Miss.'

—The Cautus answered this question many times when she lived on the ship that housed the gods.

There is no future in the fragments of time reconstructed from information.

Her best friends soon forget her existence entirely.

She can know all there it is to them, but she will never truly be part of life here.

'I'm just a traveler lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the distant past.'

(Unknown language) I'm having another learning session with Presence.

(Unknown language) Are you sure you don't want to come and talk to her?

(Unknown language) You seem eager to resolve our conflict, Hierda, but I'm afraid I must decline.

They will not change.

They are simply recreations of data.

(Unknown language) Very well.

The Cautus looks out beyond the porthole and counts silently. When the count reaches thirty, life from the star will once again shine upon the surface of the broken planet.

It's breath-taking, no matter how many times I see it...

Life and death emerging at the same time—

A scene that she had never seen on that land. A scene that she does not wish her brethren to see.

'Farewell. I'm leaving.'

In the blink of an eye, the Cautus finds herself back on that pale soil.

Priestess welcomes her with a smile.

Have you found your answer?

The Cautus shakes her head.

Where are you going?

Terra. Your home.

I want to give you a choice, Hierda.

You can stay, learn the knowledge that you thirst for, and find answers to the questions in your heart.

Or, I can send you back home.

Home...? To Terra?!

However, it may mean forsaking forever the chance to find those answers.

What's more, you will find that you have become very different from your erstwhile kin. It will bring you even more pain.

I will respect your decision, Hierda.

I, I—

At the same time, you step into the space within the rift.

This place...

It's not the Abyss...

(Angry roar)

Did PRTS bring us out here?

It's not that simple. We are the only ones here.

The deck is completely silent.

You turn around and notice the absence of the elite operators and Ascalon—

Black... rain?

No. Massive amounts of Originium dust. Protect yourself.

Protect the Doctor, Mon3tr.

Dr. Kal'tsit! Beneath our feet!

The deck is crystallizing rapidly. At this rate...

Black Originium dust accumulates on the deck. Tiny Originium clusters grow like wild grass.

You can see them spreading as far as one's eyes can reach, gleaming enchantingly in the sun.

Warn all operators still on Rhodes Island to be prepared for Catastrophe, Amiya.

Understood.

I'm not getting through! All communications have failed—

It's too quiet.

The sight before you is inconceivable, different from any Catastrophe that you have witnessed before.

The Originium expands at an impossible pace.

You look down at the deck, now completely covered in Originium, and see only your shadow.

Doctor—

You turn around to see a stunned look on Kal'tsit's face.