The Secrets' Crusade

[Snowfire]

Your name is Amanda Hawk, and you have been many things.

You are a child of a world broken seventy-five years ago by a brutal attack that brought humanity to its knees. Discovery of two Secrets had broken Einstein's cage and granted humanity what were believed to be perfect protectors. The Week of Sorrows proved that wrong. The Shiplords tore down that world, and left only after three quarters of humanity was dead or taken. In their wake were left only shattered orbitals, a burning Mars, and the extinction of a race that had only wished to protect you.

The Dragons gave their lives, together with those who flew them, so that your race might survive. And somewhere in all that blood, they succeeded in leaving something behind. A gift, far greater than any Secret, that came to a handful of a broken humanity less than a year after it had fallen. Those which remained called it Practice, its wielders Potentials. And it was the vehicle of humanity's redemption.

You became a Potential as all others since the First Awoken have, as a teenager, Awakening to a Focus that suited you well: Mending. With it, you took the foundation that your predecessors had laid in humanity, and strove to turn all the hopes they'd left you into reality. A process only interrupted by the discovery that the Shiplords would not simply leave you to recover. Ten years, Insight told you, until they returned.

You became a leader, then, of a people that already loved you but had never been yours. The Circles you'd crafted, artefacts woven into the fabric of human society, won you the Presidency with ease. And you led your species into the teeth of a storm that would seek to devour you. It has been twenty-five years since then. And the storm which sought to break you has itself been shattered by the artefacts of your people's creation. Yet you would not remain a leader through it all, for no one is immune to the corruption of power.

You were an explorer, in your youth, restoring the world lost to the Sorrows. You became that again after the Second Battle of Sol was won. You sought out the mysteries that humanity had only begun to uncover before the Shiplords returned, and searched for them in the hopes of finding weapons that could protect your world from those who held the galaxy in thrall.

Yet the actions of humanity were not unnoticed by that galaxy, and some few races who found the truth travelled to meet with you. You became an envoy then, not a diplomat, but an icon of humanity's strength in compassion. You gave them hope, and truth, that those who had so long dominated the stars were not invincible.

Your daughter found adulthood in the years before the Shiplords came upon you again, having chosen to limit her nature as an infomorph and become more human. When your enemies arrived a third time, she was there to stand against them, just as you were. That battle ended very differently to the one which had preceded it. Practice carried the day, but it did not allow so total a victory.

The Shiplords knew you now, knew the strength you had found. A power which they had learnt to fight and, if one reaction was true, to hate. Yet even with all of that, they had still lost. And soon, that truth would ignite a firestorm of revolution across the galaxy. The Shiplords could defeat any one, or two, or even three races that stood against them. But if enough chose to rise in defiance, knowing what they truly faced…then victory was possible.

The cost might be horrific, when all was accounted for. But between freedom and death, there are few choices.

Now, you stood in a place that you thought was a dream, a grand vista of the endlessness of space woven into a gallery of starlight. You glimpsed it once before, during the last battle, still less than a day old. Your body, you knew, was at home, sleeping beside your closest friend. Yet you were here, too, in mind and soul. Practice is of the latter, and it answers your call here without hesitation.

There is a figure there with you, standing before the vista of stars in a cloak of dark crimson. They are not human, you know that now. They are something much older, born of a choice to escape the sad reality that was all they could see of the galaxy under the Shiplords. How old, you cannot know: the gestalt they'd given you, an understanding passed in a single look, had carried no usable reference points. You knew of their kind, how they have risen over thousands of millennia, yet never once challenged those who oppressed them in the physical world.

Some of that, you understand now. The Third Battle of Sol revealed that the Shiplords possess weapons which can strike against power born of the soul. But you know what Practice is capable of, and that humanity's power is only a fraction of what the Dragons sought to grant you. That fraction has unleashed the energy of a star upon your foes, more than once. And it has restrained that searing strength as well, so as to leave the planets of Sol unscorched.

All this you know, yet the words this being has spoken to you now have left you reeling. You demanded to know what it was, and its answer is proof beyond contestation. Then the figure bowed its head, almost human in the motion, and apologised.

"We are sorry for this intrusion." It said, and you believed it. "But we need to talk. Of you, and how this war might end."

This war to come, that you had seen no choice but to lead humanity towards. That, if the best projections were right, could only end with no less than a third of the galaxy ablaze or in ruins. These beings that had allowed all the atrocities of the Shiplords to pass now spoke of ending it? How could they do that, when they had done nothing before?

Yet surely, the more rational part of you argued, if they are contacting you now there must be a reason. Something that humanity offers, perhaps. You could let yourself believe in the possibility; that is not hard. But believe it in truth…that was the mistake humanity made before the Sorrows. And in this, there is no knowledge from Project Insight to guide you. None have ever conversed with an Uninvolved.

A time for firsts, this is, then. A rebellion, that might even win. A power unseen in eons, yet somehow known to your enemy. And those beings who might be older than it all, taking seeming notice of you only now that you were committed. And yet...their gestalt, that had been true. They had suffered, without a gift like Practice to defend them, and nothing in their past would support the Shiplords.

You had extended words to the greatest enemy humanity had ever known when granted with the opportunity to speak, when you could have hurled destruction. To do less for this creature was not in you.

What say you?
[] Who are you?
[] Why are you here?
[] Why have you waited so long?
[] Why should we listen to you?
[] Write-in

Spoiler: Vote Clarity

The vote here dictates the initial direction of conversation taken with this being, and the tone that Amanda sets in her interaction with it. For this reason, write-ins are encouraged. This conversation will take only a few updates.

 

[Snowfire]

Name: Amanda Hawk
Awakening: Second
Focus: Mending
Age: 75 (Physical Age: 25)

- Amanda Hawk in casual clothes, 2120

Martial: 8+2+2+4+2 = 18 (Though you still rely deeply on your Unison Platform in true battle, your skill as a tactician has increased steadily, mostly thanks to the Two Twenty Three. You may not quite be a master of that art, but you are steadily closing that distance.)

Diplomacy: 18+2+2+2+1+2+4 = 33 (You built the Circles and acted as a capable leader for the Prologue project. You've also started to delve into the esoteric side of your Focus, granting your natural charisma a truly supernatural edge.)

Stewardship: 16+2+2+2 = 22 (There is no such thing as 'broken'. That statement underpins everything you do in this arena, and thanks to your Focus it often pays considerable dividends.)

Intrigue: 12+2 = 14 (You're not really suited to wheeler-dealing or politics, but you had to have some successful interaction with EGOV before you ended up in charge of it. Running what is for all intents and purposes a military operation has given some insight to the situation as well.)

Learning: 16+2+2+2+4 = 26 (You soaked up your lessons as a child like a sponge, and Mary has ensured that your knowledge base never had the chance to degrade. You are not a prodigy like her, but you do well enough.)

Practice: 16+2+2+2+2+4+2+2+2+2 = 36 (Your skill as a Potential rivals some of the First, and you're one of the only Potentials alive who is able to sense the strange patterns that you can now feel and hear woven through the very fabric of the world that surrounds you.)

Traits:
Child of the Second Secret: You were born before the Week of Sorrows, and so benefit from the basic bioengineering package that almost all children were modified with before birth. +2 Martial

Heart of Circles: As a child you fought to restore the peace that you were so lucky to have with your family to others, leading to the founding of the first of your Circles. +2 Diplomacy
- Your time spent as an adult founding more Circles across the world won you praise from many quarters, and was the first time you felt the taste of more exotic Practice. +2 Diplomacy, +2 Practice

A Practiced Form: Like all Potentials, the natural application of Practice to your body through actions have granted you some arguably supernatural advantages. In your case, you heal swiftly and are incredibly hard to kill. +2 Martial, significant increase to survival chance if attacked personally

Childhood Tutor: She might not have been an adult, but your friendship with Mary meant that you never once failed to ace your exams, if not perhaps as spectacularly as she would. +2 Learning

Singer: You have a fine and melodious voice, which has a way of putting people at ease. +2 Diplomacy
- You've spent time improving your voice, and have begun to delve in the complexities of its use. +1 Diplomacy

Project Prologue: You worked as a leader for the Prologue project, and were a major part of the first Practiced Miracle. +2 Learning, +2 Practice

Restorer of the Old World: You spent a decade rebuilding the cities of the world before the Week of Sorrows, becoming as one with your Focus and doing all you could to restore a world that many thought lost. +2 Stewardship, +2 Practice

Touching the Forgotten: Time spent working with Mary kept you up to date with some of the less complex scientific advancements of the times, and also gave you the opportunity to delve into the far stranger side of your Focus. +2 Learning, +2 Practice

Untapped Depths: You took a plasma lance to chest, ablated as it was by a body in front of you, and lived through the power of your Potential. Something has been shaken loose by that experience, and you now know that there is far more to discover about what you are capable of. +4 Practice

Speaker of Practice: You've taken your first step into a world suddenly much bigger than it was before. Although it still isn't reliable, or even properly understood, your ability to work Practice with words rather than action is something exciting as it is strange.
- Knower of Words: As part of your teaching Vega how to reliably weave Practice into her words, you've worked with Mary to learn a great deal about some of the underlying theory of Practice. Not as much as your Spoken Miracle gave her, but far more than you had before. +4 Learning, +2 Practice
-- Healer's Edge: Learning to speak was anything but easy. Finding a way to replicate its use in battle as you'd , against the very nature of your focus, was the work of over a decade. You will never like doing so, but you have found that way.

Founder of the 223: Creating and leading the Two Twenty Three with Vega has been an experience unlike anything else you've been part of. It has expanded your knowledge in ways you're not quite sure you like, sometimes, but people don't always get what they like. +4 Martial, +2 Intrigue

The Promised Future: Knowing what the Shiplords use at least some of their Tributary biomass for is a terrible burden, but it has not broken you. In this, as all things, you remember the words Vega reminded you of. Justice, freedom and peace. For those, you would bear the weight of the universe. +4 Diplomacy, +2 Stewardship

Envoy of Humanity: When Second Contact came, you answered the call that Adri placed at your feet without hesitation, and surpassed all expectations. In a month, you took the most important potential allies in human history from unknown hopefuls to tentative friends. +2 Diplomacy

A Song of Bonds: After humanity fell, something was forged from the ashes to take the place of what failed you. Now, deep contemplation and study has led you to that new creation, a melody so encompassing that it is a tangible presence. In this, lies the truth of Purify, and perhaps much more. +2 Practice, ???

Risen Focus: Your Focus now lies far closer to the surface of your soul, changing both the reality of what you can do, and what your body truly is. Bringing your Focus closer to physical reality has made you stronger, more capable, and yet also far more what you were from the beginning. A Mender. +2 Practice, Touched By The Uninvolved, ???

Unison Platform (Ace): The experience of the Second Battle of Sol has given the Two Twenty Three an edge that's hard to properly express. You didn't fly with them in the void battle, but you did face a Shiplord in personal combat and live. That, combined with the far more intense training since has brought you to leading edge of the Unisonbound. There are few indeed who can match you in this.

Inventory:
Concert Set: This detached headset was something you made in the Institute, one of your first Practiced creations. You wanted a way to be heard more clearly, and to put your words into people's hearts. You thought you'd lost it during your time founding the rest of the Circles, but it had been invaluable pursuing that task.
- Now integrated with Sidra, the set grants you skill on par with Vega's at navigating and bolstering social harmony. It also has allowed you to key more precisely into the Harmonial connections between the Two Twenty Three, and without it you may well have failed to help Kalilah realise her synchronisation. +2 Diplomacy, +2 Practice, ???

Multi-tooI: A leftover from your time rebuilding the broken cities of Earth, this is probably one of the most Practiced items you ever created. A decade spent using it to channel your Focus into physical change has turned the basic device into a sleek thing of almost dizzying utility. Now time, and integration with Sidra, has recovered your knowledge of the Artefact. +2 Stewardship
- Integration with your Unison Platform, and the intelligence behind it, has given you access to depths of combination that a human mind simply could not follow, and you've had the time to test them. It is still fundamentally a tool of Mending, but that definition has stretched a little now. Into Creation. +2 Martial, major boost to certain uses of Amanda's Practice. + 20 to construction actions

Void Crystal: Even now neither you nor Mary are sure how you created this, or what it's meant to do. A seemingly featureless black-body crystal, its remained completely impervious to analysis, classification, or physical damage. Mary kept it ever since you created it with her after your first decade as a Restorer, now it's yours.
- In truth a creation that allows Uninvolved action without detection, your crystal was sacrificed to the task of creating more. In time, this Artefact may prove the most important one you ever created.

Unison Platform: The physical housing of the Unison Platform, and Siddhartha's electronic home. Physical contact with this device is required to extend your Aegis, and utilise the Platform's other functions.

Mender's Eye: Built upon the bones of a highly capable medical scanner, in becoming the Eye it became capable of piercing the veil of Shiplord subversion, and much more.
- Now integrated with Sidra, the Eye adds a layer of perceptual depth to your world that you can't quite believe you'd been missing, and its presence in your Aegis can't be discounted from your greater awareness of the ties and bonds that hold humanity together. +20 to analysis actions

 

[Snowfire]

The Practice War Wiki

Many thanks go to @Coda and @Queen Kit for starting this and resolutely kicking me to continue working on it. It you see something missing, don't hesitate to do their work for them.

The wiki may be found here.

Individuals of Note

These profiles represent the most relevant members of Amanda's accessible contacts, family, and friends.

Mary D'reve Iris Vega Cant Vision Kalilah Mishra Phoebe

• A light-skinned example of humanity, with the faint elegance of a Martian birth, Mary is your closest friend and a true member of your family. Tall and slender, she wears her brown hair up most of the time, as befits a laboratory environment. Rarely without a set of AR glasses, the green eyes behind them hide a deep sadness and pain for her past. She dresses rather conservatively, but has picked up a little of your flair in clothing after years of living together.
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  
  Character Synopsis: Mary is your closest friend, a member of your family, and the woman with whom you raised your daughter. She is a scientist of truly rare skill, the child of the couple who unravelled the very first of the Secrets, and who has herself led the teams which have discovered three more within mere decades. Though the Sorrows scarred her, in ways that haunt her even now, she has reclaimed those pieces of herself. A tenacious inventor and brilliant scientist, she was the co-lead of the Arcadia Institute with you in the lead-up to the Third Battle of Sol. A battle that would not have been won nearly so easily without the fruits of her peerless mind.
  
  
  Spoiler: Stats

  Martial: 9+2+1+2 = 14 (Utterly average, Mary's intellect has never been one to take well to conflict.)
  Diplomacy: 14+3+2 = 19 (More than just average, time with the Circles has helped hone her shuttered talent with others into a spark)
  Stewardship: 14+2+2 = 18 (There's a reason that you pursued the construction of the VI that became Iris. For all her brilliance, Mary's talents as an organiser lag heavily behind her understanding of science. She does well enough, yes, but she needed more than that.)
  Intrigue: 11+2+2 = 15 (Years spent hiding herself from the world taught your friend the usefulness of subterfuge. You can still read her like a book, as she can you, but to others it can be harder.)
  Learning: 20+2+2+4+7+1 =36 (Your friend always possessed a powerful analytic mind, with a grasp for the sciences that often left you grasping at dust. Following the Metaconcert event, she now stands without peer or equal among the children of Sol.)
  Traits:
  Child of the Second Secret: Born before the Week of Sorrows, Mary benefitted from the same basic bioengineering package as you. +2 Martial
  Prologue: A complex set of nano-based enhancements and other upgrades, the standard nanite set grants a wide array of benefits, and once that was enough on its own. With the discovery of the Sixth Secret, however, things have changed. +1 Martial
  - Ministerial Enhancement Package: Another part of the modular Sixth Secret systems that have become so much a part of life with the continuing Third Revolution, the Ministerial systems extend multi-tasking again, and are the baseline for the prototype network interface system pioneered during the arrival of the Contact Fleet. +2 Diplomacy, +2 Intrigue
  - Prototype Neural Network Link: A very recent development, the neural interface created by this system is still in final testing. Enough has been done for it to be safely installed in those who can benefit the most from it, however. Getting onto that list was trivial for Mary. +3 Learning reduced to +1 Learning due to native score, +2 Stewardship
  - Nanomaterial Defence Skin: Designed and built with the same techniques as Iris' Avatar upgrades, the NDS forms a layer of active Sixth Secret nanites around Mary's body. Although primarily defensive in purpose, the system is quite capable of forming weaponry as required. It's also equipped with a Fifth Secret based flight system to match that of her daughters'. +2 Martial, major increase to survival chance if attacked.
  Legacy of Discovery: The only daughter of the man who unlocked the First Secret, Mary inherited his intelligence and drive in full. +2 Stewardship, +2 Learning.
  - Void Prodigy: Decades of studying the abilities of yourself and other Potentials have expanded the world of your friend across whole new continents of possibility. +4 Learning
  A Scarred Past: Transported from Mars to Earth before the Burning by the genius of her father, Mary was able to watch as her entire family were burnt to ashes millions of kilometers away. She buried the pain of this experience for years, beneath layers of fear, focus and self-loathing, until you were able to help free her of them. +2 Intrigue, +2 Learning
  Of The Circle: Brought into the Circles at the very beginning, Mary was the hardest to convince of all the children you asked. For all that suspicion, she quickly grew to be a deeply integral part of the First Circle. And learnt a great deal about herself and others in the process. There's a reason that there are still 'interest pieces' on your relationship, after all. +3 Diplomacy
  Daughter of Secrets: Mary's understanding of the Secrets is second to none, and she is one of a bare handful of humanity capable of pursuing study into the field of Reality Physics. As the lines between the sciences warp and bend, Mary is a rare example of one capable of tracing them still, allowing for rapid study of topics even when they seem entirely disconnected. +15 to Secret based research.
  Sister of Truth: There is science, and there is the truth that it uncovers. Mary has spent decades learning to tell the difference, and can apply this ability to salvage work gone wrong. Her own or, far more often, that of others. Reroll 1 failed Learning based action per turn.
  Touched By Word: The Metaconcert event is one that you've struggled to fully understand every since it happened, but it's made Mary even more your best hope for doing so. A Word spoken by two Potentials was cast into her soul, and the results gifted her with something incredible. A memory of the Dragons' great sacrifice, and a rudimentary understanding of what they created. +7 Learning
  
  Relationship: Family
  
• Given her nature as an informorph housed in an avatar of highly advanced nanotechnology, it is hard to really describe your daughter on a permanent basis, as she changes things about herself so easily and often. The basic frame of any form she takes rarely diverge from the outlines she has of you and Mary, her parents. Colouration and exact dimensions can vary wildly, of course, but those core attributes almost always remain.
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  
  Character Synopsis: The second AI created by humanity, and the first one truly born into it, Iris is the name taken by your daughter before she even became it. Initially planned to be a highly advanced personal assistant program to Mary, the actions of Vision and a certain Potential led to a very different result. Despite her being an infomorph, Iris is very human, and could easily be mistaken for any young woman on the street. Assuming, of course, that she wasn't using her avatar to fly. The bond she shares with you and Mary is a powerful thing, and from her you learnt what it felt like to want to protect a world not for all that was in it, but for one person in particular; your child. Raising her taught you to be a mother, something you never expected to have the time to do, yet you would never once regret the time it cost you.
  
  
  Spoiler: Stats

  Martial: 7+4+12 = 23 (With her shell fully upgraded into much more than just a means to interact with physical reality, Iris has come as close to the combat prowess of a Unisonbound as it is possible for human technology to create. You can't say you're entirely happy about that, but she's an adult now. And this was her choice.)
  Diplomacy: 14+5+2+3 = 24 (With time and experience, Iris has refined the social algorithms that she was initially given by Vision. Although not a match for you, few are. And she's more than simply competent.)
  Stewardship: 22+2 = 24 (Iris was designed for as a processing and support VI, and much of that capacity has transferred over to her new existence as a sentient being. There is still considerable room for these abilities to grow.)
  Intrigue: 12+2+2+2+2+2 = 22 (As with her ability to interact, Iris has also refined the other half of the algorithms, granting both more advanced capabilities, but also far greater control over them. With the Third Battle of Sol approaching, she now stands ready to face the Shiplords in her first home, and with all the skill available to her)
  Learning: 28+3+2 = 33 (Like any child, and she has been and still remains nothing less, Iris has grown. From a baseline that touched the very edge of normal human capacity, she's learnt to use her integral systems as the parts of her that they are. She's even started to build on them, something that fills Mary and you with pride.)
  
  Traits:
  Artificial Intelligence: A true Infomorph, Iris is capable of feats inside Network environments that only Vision can truly keep up with. +20 to Network related actions
  Child of Terra: Human or no, Iris is as much a child of Earth as any other child born to humanity. The mechanism of her existence matters little, and she knows that now. The belief has given her the confidence to grow and connect with others emotionally like every child needs to. With those, and with time, she's learnt not just about humanity, but how to become one. +5 Diplomacy, +2 Intrigue, +3 Learning
  Mothered by the Heart: Every child has parents. Yours were taken from you, along with billions more. Since then, none have been allowed to suffer the same fate until Iris did, for longer than she ever should have. But now she has you, and Mary, and so much more. +3 Diplomacy, +2 Intrigue
  Incarnate: One of the greatest things that Iris lacked an Infomorph was the ability to experience the world as fully as a human. In 2115, after three years, that changed. No longer a creature of pure thought and code, she now has a body of her own. Even if feeling everything all at once was a little too much at first.
  - Avatar: The Avatar upgrades bring Iris' incarnate form up to even higher standards than they already were. Now almost entirely nanobased, her upgraded shell contains a slew of upgrades. Skipping the more cosmetic enhancements, a Fifth Secret flight system has been integrated and the shell is quite capable of flash-forging military grade combat systems if necessary. +4 Martial, +2 Diplomacy, +2 Intrigue
  -- Caliburn: The sword to the Avatar upgrade's shield, this swathe of modifications have elevated Iris' shell to as close to an Aegis as it is possible for human technology to reach, utilising several systems that pioneered by Iris herself. She is not a match for a Unisonbound, but she comes far closer than any human could. +12 Martial, +2 Intrigue, +2 Learning
  Echo of Nabu: The result of code found in the depths of the Olympus College infosphere, Iris has integrated the remnants of one of the pre-Sorrows intelligences used by humanity to oversee and process their research. This gave her complete access to the College databases, but has also subtly changed her. +10 to Network based actions, +2 Intrigue
  
  Relationship: Daughter
  
• Vega is often said to be a study in contradictions, and so it's been ever since childhood. A soft face, with warm, hazel eyes shot thought with tiny sparks of bright power. Her dark hair falls freely to below the shoulder, and yet the curls have never been once been awry in all the time you've known her. She dresses simply, but there is an elegance to her movements all at odds with how she often seems less than focused on the reality around her.
  
  Character Synopsis: One of the most skilled Harmonials in all humanity, Vega is a woman much possessed by her Focus, even for a Potential. You still remember when she was hesitant, unsure of what her Focus could truly do. That person has long since faded, however, in the wake of the Miracle of Skylark, Restoration of Mytikas, and a score of other, less obvious, successes. As the woman who essentially made Unison Platforms into what they are today, it is arguable that she's the source of an entire new section of humanity, in the intelligences created by the synchronisation process. A child of the Golden Generation, when the miracles of Practice were turned only to making the world a better place, she has held to the optimism of her childhood with a relentless belief.
  
  
  Spoiler: Stats

  Martial: 12+2+4 = 18 (From simple beginnings, Vega has learnt the lessons of battle in ways that none were quite sure she could, and without weakness or failure.)
  Diplomacy: 20+2 = 22 (A product of the Golden Generation, and a Harmonial too, gifted with words was an apt description. The only problem was her lack of confidence in using them.)
  Stewardship: 17 (Effective, and highly so, but less than a master of the art. She did run a Ministry for over a decade, though, and handily by all accounts.)
  Intrigue: 16+2= 18 (Slippery with the truth, perhaps. But Vega's true gift was in reading those around her. There's a reason that Vega's often acted as a stopgap against your own stupidity.)
  Learning: 21 (Well educated, as befitted one of her generation, but as with most Harmonials her knowledge is less applicable than some might believe. There's no doubting her intelligence, but how it applies itself is often haphazard.
  Practice: 18+1+2+2+4 = 27 (Vega was gifted with a strong start in Practice, but it took her a long time to begin to work past that.
  
  Traits:
  Child of the Second Secret: Although she was born after the Week of Sorrows, Vega gained the benefits of the same basic bioengineering package as you from her parents. +2 Martial
  Proven Miracle: The Miracle of Skylark was more than proof that Vega was right about what she could do. It validated her entire existence, in a way that's hard to understand. From that, she gained more than skill in Practice, she gained confidence that what she thought was possible truly was. And that Miracles could be, even in the face of extinction. +1 Practice, increased chance of harmonising Miracles.
  Maker of the Unison: The Unison Platforms were Vega's before they were yours, Kagiso the first of them, and the most incredible for being some so utterly new. She became a friend, advisor, and an example of the wonders Practice could create in a way no other Miracle had matched. +2 Diplomacy, +2 Practice
  Founder of the 223: Creating and leading the Two Twenty Three with Vega has been an experience unlike anything else you've been part of. It has expanded your knowledge in ways you're not quite sure you like, sometimes, but people don't always get what they like. +4 Martial, +2 Intrigue
  Speaker of Practice: Vega, like you did years before, has taken her first steps into an entirely new world of possibilities. Although it remains irregular, she now shares your ability to work Practice with words rather than actions.
  The Harmonic Record: A semi-autonomous data archive suffused with Harmonial Practice in search of answers to what Vega and those like her can truly do. Knowledge, given form, without it the Harmonic Circle very well might never have existed. Grants bonuses to teaching Harmonials
  Ring of Harmony: The Harmonic Circle that Vega created was more than a teaching exercise, and taken together with the Restoration of Mytikas, she has come far in understanding her own gifts of Practice. +4 Practice
  Unison Platform (Ace): Vega's skill in working with her platform has only grown in the decade since the Second battle of Sol, and as ever, she remains at the leading edge of the group. What she can do with her Practice with Kagiso's help can often appear to be nothing short of magic, and this skill has extended far further than it ever had before.
  
  Relationship: Friend
  
• Character Synopsis: The first AI created by humanity, though not born to it, Vision began existence as an analysis and processing system for the Elder First. Long exposure to Practice since that moment led to her realising her sentience, but she chose to remain in the background, hidden from much of the world. When the Elder First sealed their Vault away, Vision was placed on standby to wait for an Inheritor to reclaim it, and specific sections of her memory were wiped. The reasons for the Elder Firsts' choice to do this remain unknown. Vision is not as human as Iris, with her origin of sentience being steady development rather than a moment of birth. But time spent since her reawakening by Amanda Hawk has worn away the edges of her relative inhumanity.
  
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  
  
  Spoiler: Stats

  Martial: 9 (She has records within her database of combat, but no real understanding of how to put that into practice)
  Diplomacy: 12+2+2 = 16 (Vision is competent at simulating a human conversational interface, but the manner of her form and some of what she's casually capable of can make that a hard facade to maintain.)
  Stewardship: 16+1 = 17 (A program designed to collect, analyze and collate data. Of course she's good at this.)
  Intrigue: 28+2 = 30 (Vision was designed to see things. She does so extremely well.)
  Learning: 19+6 = 25 (As the platform and being that parsed the vast majority of the Elder First's discoveries whilst she was active, she has a deep reservoir of knowledge, which as now been properly updated.)
  
  Traits:
  Artificial Intelligence: A true artificial intelligence, Vision is capable of feats inside Network environments, as fitting for a being who has only ever existed within them. +20 to Network related actions
  Eldest's Insight: Designed to translate and work with the complex strands of Practice that form a Thoughtcast, it is arguable that Vision knows more about Project Insight than Phoebe herself. The value of this knowledge in rebuilding all that has been lost is likely to be incalculable.
  The Invisible Aegis: During the Second Battle of Sol, Vision's ability to multitask across the entire Network proved incalculably valuable. She was everywhere at once, utilising the links she'd sunk deep into the Network to block every charge and counter every strike made by the Shiplord AIs. Humanity's secrets are theirs to hold, and she will protect them unto death. +2 Intrigue, +2 Diplomacy, +1 Stewardship
  Archive of Terra: Having delved fully into the collected knowledge of humanity, Vision's capabilities as a scholar are now fully recognisable. She is no Mary, and Practice continues to elude her ability to effectively understand, but there's more to human science than that. In those fields, she proves to be a powerful force of progress. +6 Learning, ???
  Echo of Nabu: The result of code found in the depths of the Olympus College infosphere, Vision has integrated the remnants of one of the pre-Sorrows intelligences used by humanity to oversee and process their research. This gave her complete access to the College databases, but has also subtly changed her. +10 to Network based actions, +2 Diplomacy
  
  Relationship: Colleague
  
• Character Synopsis: Among the First Awoken, Kalilah represents perhaps the most deeply personally wounded by the Week of Sorrows, and even now she never speaks of the specifics. Awakening to a Focus of Destruction changed the course of her life completely, as the reflection of what she truly desired swept aside the that trauma, giving her a new clarity to her life. Kalilah has trained for half a century to perfect her skills as an embodiment of her Focus, and it was her swift action that saved you from assassination at the hands of the Shiplord infiltration system left behind by their Tribute Fleet. Utterly dedicated to the cause of humanity, it has only been in the last few years that she has begun to show interest in anything beyond that. Her actions in the Second and Third Battles of Sol were key to final human victory, yet the latter almost destroyed her. Her survival, and your part in it, has changed her world. If you are lucky, you will be able to be there to help her as she explores what it has become.
  
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  
  
  Spoiler: Stats

  Martial: 32+2+4+2+5+3 = 48 (Kalilah is arguably the single most dangerous Potential in existence, although her expertise lies in personal combat, not strategy)
  Diplomacy: 12 (She never had much use for words, but being part of the Two Twenty Three has helped with that a little.)
  Stewardship: 12+2 = 14 (She lives, that is enough.)
  Intrigue: 8 (Kalilah does not thrive in the shadows. She never has, for her light burns too brightly for them.)
  Learning: 14 (She's definitely smarter than she appears, but she's never spoken of her old profession. And you've never asked.)
  Practice: 25+4+2+4+4 = 39 (Fully grown into her power, in some ways more than any other. She lacks your finesse, for she has never needed it, but what she can do within her Focus is nothing short of terrifying.)
  
  Traits:
  First Awoken: Among the first Potentials to Awaken, she has had fifty years to practice and refine her craft and prepare for the war to come. +2 Martial, +4 Practice
  The Lance: The most powerful weapon on mass to energy basis in the star system. Bar none. Integration into Asi has only made it stronger. +4 Martial, +2 Practice
  The Long War: For Kalilah, and many like her, the war with the Shiplord never ended. Where others built weapons and crafted designs and stratagems to defeat them, she sought to create in herself a weapon without peer. She knows Practice in some ways better than even you, and far more of war. +2 Martial, +4 Practice
  Destroyer: She has tested herself against the works of the Shiplords, and they have fallen before her. In space and in person, none of her enemies have survived. If she has her way, none ever will. +5 Martial, increased damage
  Unison Platform (Ace): Kalilah and Asi as a unit were always uniquely well suited to each other, more so than almost any other synchronisation on record, despite the complications that arose in the process. You doubt she will ever be a true match to Vega or you in the ability to extend the reach of her Focus. But where that Focus is concerned, she is utterly without peer.
  Sword of Practice: By her hands, shall worlds be broken. By her will, shall vengeance be wrought upon those who took her world from her. By her power, she shall see it done. +3 Martial, +4 Practice
  
  Relationship: Heartcircle
  
• Character Synopsis: One of the most influential Insight Focused in all humanity, Phoebe is the leader and arguably creator of Project Insight, the Practice-based observation system that provided so much of humanity's knowledge on the Shiplords. It was her work that allowed your species to prepare for the Shiplords' return, and the skill and bravery of her working group laid the foundation for every victory humanity has won.
  
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
  
  
  Spoiler: Stats

  Martial: 14+2 = 16 (A childhood spent fighting for her life after everything she knew was snatched away by the Sorrows shaped a mind of cold precision to a sharpness so fine that it would often cut itself. Not a novice, but she has no desire to master war. It would cost her too much)
  Diplomacy: 12-4+4+2 = 14 (Since she the Sorrows, Phoebe barely interacted with her classmates, and there was no Circle in her Institute to draw her out. In time she learnt to overcome the barriers she placed around herself, but it was always the work of necessity. Until Nightfalls, at least.)
  Stewardship: 14-2+2+2 = 16 (Generally capable, her place as a leader for Insight was responsible for honing her skills as an administrator.)
  Intrigue: 18+2 = 20 (Making it appear that everything was fine even when it wasn't was something Phoebe had always been good at. After the Sorrows, it became her only defence from a world gone mad. Few have ever pierced the cloak she wraps around her sorrow, but for those sensitive enough, it's easy to see.)
  Learning: 17+4+2 =23 (Gifted with a mind a match to your own, Phoebe has followed a very focused path in her studies since Awakening as a Potential. She isn't your equal in general knowledge, but where it comes to Insight, she has few peers.)
  Practice: 19+4+2+2 = 27 (The strength of a mind drawn in around itself lent well to Phoebe's Focus when she Awakened, and she's grown stronger in its use ever since, rising with Vega's help from the pain of Nightfalls even more so.)
  
  Traits:
  Child of the Second Secret: Born before the Week of Sorrows, Phoebe benefitted from the same basic bioengineering package as you. +2 Martial
  
  A Mind of Ice and Steel: Phoebe lost everything in the Sorrows. Family, wealth, home, all burned out beneath her feet leaving her with nothing and no one. In response, her mind turned in on itself, searching deeper and deeper for clarity that could free her from the pain. +4 Learning, +4 Practice
  - Lost to the World: She spent much of her early life after the Sorrows knowing better the cool hands of synthetic tutors, the most common staff in the Institutes. It sharpened her mind, but it also lost her much of her humanity. +2 Intrigue, +2 Learning, +2 Practice, -4 Diplomacy, -2 Stewardship
  - Found by Miracle: Not all of it, though. She'll never be one well suited to friends, but as the world flowered, she was found by one of the true miracles that flowed into the world between the Elder's passing and the Third's waking. Reaching out to find a path, she found one among many others. +4 Diplomacy
  
  Seeker of Insight: That path was Insight, even though she'd never imagined being so much a part of it. For all that she will try to hide it, without Phoebe, Project Insight would never have existed. And from leading it, she learnt much. +4 Stewardship
  
  The Reforged: And never more than in the aftermath of the event that almost shattered her world a second. The consequences of Nightfalls were catastrophic for Insight, and Phoebe herself. Yet she endured and, with Vega's help, rebuilt not just herself but the project that had become alike to a second family. +2 Diplomacy, +2 Practice
  
  Relationship: Colleague
  

 

[Snowfire]

Elil Iris Kalilah Lea Mir Vega

• Elil is the Insight support within your Heartcircle, and often considered less capable in your obvious operations, he is highly competent within his own focus. Together with Vega he provides the Adamant with crucial mission support, allowing its stealth systems to operate properly. Outside of those duties, he's the only Insight Focused among your crew, and his Focus is likely to be of crucial importance.
• Your daughter, and one of the few non-Unisonbound on this list. An embodied AI, the second humanity ever created, her avatar is fully capable of interfacing with a Masque. Although her physical capabilities still lag behind a Unisonbound, she can think even faster than you can. Without question the most capable infospace asset you have access to, so long as she has lagless signal, she should never be in any real danger. The ability to literally transmit herself out of harms way is a considerable advantage.
• The single most deadly human being in known history, Kalilah has wiped ships and entire fleets from reality with the singular power of her Focus. But she also paid a terrible price for that power, one that has taken eight decades to even begin healing from. Without question the most skilled fighter among the Unisonbound, her purpose on this mission is twofold. To protect it, and you, and to try to understand how the Shiplords could possibly justify tearing her world down around her.
• A Mender like you, Lea approaches your shared Focus from a very different perspective, accepting that sometimes things must be broken for them to truly heal. Gifted, though understandably not your equal, she acts as the primary support and healing component for your Heartcircle with your attention often required elsewhere. Entirely your superior in the fields of medical science, she has a keen eye for detail, and one that serves her well in acting as a sounding board.
• Apart from you and Vega, Mir is the only Speaker on this mission. Awakening to a truly rare Focus of Peace, Mir has proven to possess something even more so: the strength of will to use it to fight. His Focus makes a natural at resolving conflict, and lessons from Vega have taught him how to apply these in ways she never imagined could work.
• The Harmonial solely responsible for discovering the grander abilities of her Focus, and the most experienced Potential in their use alive. One of the most elusively deadly fighters among the Unisonbound as well as a talented Speaker, Vega's true talents lie elsewhere. Her ability to bring together scattered elements into a unified whole is legendary. She holds a spot among the consciousness of humanity very close to your own, and with good reason.

 

[Snowfire]

In another time, you'd faced a creation that had been the vaguest echo of this one in conversation. It had been a doorway, the lock and key both, and your answer to it had been born from the same place as the one you reached for now. Practice could create things that were entirely simple, and others that were glorious, but it wasn't limited to just that. In the third year of your Presidency, a Shiplord assassination system had almost killed you. You had survived through a manipulation of Practice that you'd never been certain existed. When faced with a machine seeking to kill you, you'd stared up into the face of its weapons and told it to stop. And it had obeyed.

You had used that power many times since, in ways primal and beautiful. But what many might call your greatest examples of it were the purifying flame that had broken the Tribute Fleet fifteen years ago, or the single Word which had torn a world back from ash and dust, those paled in comparison to a one Spoken years before. That moment facing the gatekeeper of your predecessors. Those of the First Awakening who had guided humanity towards a future that held more than war. You answer had been a Word to describe your very self. The answer given to you by your visitor had been like that, just without the words.

If one sought to speak, to truly converse, with one from another place, there was only one way to do it: speak in their language. You wished for a moment that Sidra were here; what you'd received was their field, not yours. But you still couldn't feel the presence of the calm intelligence of the Unison Platform that had bound themselves to you. Which only added another question to your list, and left you having to compile it alone. Who they were seemed obvious, yet there was nothing there that Phoebe could use to trace back with Project Insight, when you woke up. That required resolution.

And there were all the other questions beyond that. So many variations of why, each of them so necessary. Why now, why humanity, why should you even listen. Fortunately, this you did know how to do. Picking multiple meanings instead of one complicated matters, but the basic process was the same. Find the meaning you needed in a word, invest it with Practice, and then add it to more strands of the same. Vega would have been better at this, but you understood at least some of what Harmonials could do. Learning how to Speak without limits had taught you that.

Through the entire process, the being that had, you assumed, somehow brought you here waited. Its eyes burned the same gentle blue as the plane of light you were standing on. Deliberate, or something more profound? Maybe you could ask that later? For now, there were more important things.

This was when you discovered that one could not easily Speak a gestalt. The weave of interlaced meanings was too dense. It made sense, in retrospect. You'd often stretched the boundaries of single Words in practice sessions, applying only one meaning. Imbuing a word with so many just wasn't possible. Language had its limits. This was one of them. Yet, you knew that words were not used by Sidra and the other Unison Intelligences, or even your daughter Iris. They could do it. Why not you?

Because you're not connected that way, Amanda, you told yourself, and stopped suddenly. Why couldn't you be connected that way? You'd been able to forge a link with a member of another species, during Second Contact. Why couldn't you do that here? Yes, it had been something they'd offered you, but the principles…weren't they the same? And if this being had given you information, then surely there would be a link already present. There was only one way to find out.

Don't Speak, Feel: 96 + 36 = 132. Solid Success.

You reached out with your soul, with the power that had been given, scouring the world around you for the pathway that had been used. You almost missed the shift in the figure as you did so, which the gestalt helpfully interpreted as surprise. They hadn't expected this, even after seeing what you could do? No, that was assuming that they'd always been watching, and you couldn't know that. If all they'd seen was the battle just past, they'd just know what they'd seen there. Power in plenty, but little finesse beyond the control required to safely wield such energies.

You found the link a moment later. It was fading quickly, but you were a Mender. Putting things back together was what you did. Power surged out of your soul, through the lens of your Focus, and the connection reformed swiftly. Then you took what you'd built, the invisible collection of precise meanings and questions, and breathed them out into the renewed link. The being opposite you stilled, its cloak freezing in the air around it. It tilted its head, another remarkably human motion. For a single, mad moment you hoped that you'd not somehow confused it.

"Your mastery is impressive," it remarked, bowing its head in a motion of solemn acknowledgement. "And were we you, we would not have fewer questions." It reached up and pulled back the hood, revealing a face that was at once close to human, and yet not at all. There was the impression of bright scales across a narrow and curious face, and then the human image it had created reasserted itself.

"We are all that remains of a species known once as the Tahkel," the figure continued. "If you wish to give us a name, that will suffice." You nodded once, thankful. Project Insight would be able to follow that name, if it truly existed.

"As for why we have made contact now, and not before," the entity's eyes flared bright, but no burst of knowledge followed this time. "We have watched your race for little more than ten of your years, and until now, others would have prevented us. Even observation was seen by some of them as too much. But now, with what you've done, there can be no denying it."

"Your race," the many voices continued, still speaking as one, "represents now the greatest chance that this galaxy has ever seen to change, and that is not simply due to what you have done. There have been alliances before, races brought together in defiance. Each and all fell in the end, yet you possess something that they did not."

"Practice?" It was hardly a question, what else could it have been? And yet, Tahkel's nod was not as deep as you'd expected.

"Not just that," they said. "No race before yours has possessed Practice, not in all the memories of the Uninvolved." Something about that statement felt odd, and a moment later you understood why, the knowledge fluttering into your mind. The Uninvolved as they were now did not include all those races that had chosen to bid the physical world goodbye. The oldest of their society was little more than a million years old, and they did not remember the beginnings of the Shiplords' tyranny. Only a different sort.

"But it is what you have done with that gift, Amanda Hawk, once again. Not in the power that you have learnt to wield in battle, but in the society you have made, and the more subtle tools you have created." A ghost of something you would have called a smile flickered across their face. "The reason that all others have lost to the Shiplords is not because they possessed less strength than the alliance you have helped create. It is because they did not understand their enemy. Incomplete your knowledge certainly is, but it is more than any have had before."

"You understand the nature of the War Fleets and the hidden infiltration of societies that, between them, have inevitably turned the path of revolution to the Shiplords' favour," flashes of wars flickered across your eyes, each one grand and terrible, memories of failures of the past. "You have created a weapon to fight the latter and, even now, search for a way to blunt the former. Without the knowledge gleaned by your Insight, you would fall just like all the rest."

"And the other reason?" You asked carefully. It…made an awful sort of sense, but just because they thought you might be a winning horse couldn't be a reason to contact you now. The Uninvolved sighed, conveying in that simple sound an eternity of sorrow.

"Before you, there was no race that we believed we could speak to without alerting the Shiplords to our actions. It's…a measure of the soul. Beings like us can exist here, where the Shiplords cannot see us. But if we take action in what you know to be reality, they see it. Your souls, though; they are strong enough to exist here. What you did today proved that beyond any doubt."

That was too much to leave without a question, you had to know. "They see you," you asked. "No matter where you act?"

"There is a web they have built across the stars," Tahkel explained, and there was pain on their face as they did so. "If we act in your reality, it is disrupted. For so long they have known when we act, the weapons you now know they created ever threatening."

"You must understand: if we die, everything that we are dies with us. All we remember, all that our race was. Gone. To many of our kind, protecting that which lies beyond easy reach of the Shiplords takes higher precedence. We recognise this as hypocrisy," they added steadily, "and we have fought it. We would not be here otherwise, and please know that your existence has stirred many lost in despair to contemplate hope again."

"Why?" You asked, into the moment of silence that followed. "Why are we so important? You can speak to us, but what can you do with that if you remain unwilling to act?" You wanted to believe that there was more to this, but the pain in this being's voice was hard to set against a message of hope.

"Ah," the figure shook its head. "We forget to explain the rest. Our apologies." It turned halfway, gesturing out at the stars, and the shape of a galaxy you knew formed at the end of the gallery. "You hold such promise because with what you know already, and what we can give you, victory need not take the shape that you have seen." Stars winked out, bursts of fire playing out across the spaces between them in accelerated motion, and by the time it was done, many were lost.

"You are offering us a different path to victory?" You asked slowly. "One where the Shiplords would be just as stripped of power, or gone?" Tahkel nodded.

"We are, at least, we think so." They said, and your eyes narrowed in suspicion. "There are places across this galaxy, that we cannot see. Places that used to be open to us, that some of the eldest of our kind remember. Others were remembered by those who were eldest when our own set aside the real, and that knowledge was passed down."

"Wait," you shook your head, confused. "Your eldest's eldest? What does that mean?" It sounded self-explanatory, but the phrasing was specific. What would it matter?

"Those who were old when the oldest among us now were young," Tahkel replied, and something flickered in those brilliant eyes. "Our lifespans are not infinite. We begin anew, grow, change, age, and then fade. If it was not the case, then we would know why the Shiplords did what they did."

That held some disturbing possibilities for the immortality that the Second Secret and then Prologue had given you, but you did your best to ignore them for now. "You think these places might hold the key to a victory that will not cost us as much?"

"That is what we believe, yes." Five stars flared on the image of the galaxy. "In one of these places, lies the truth of our enemy. And with that, a path to victory that will not leave so many stars burned to dust."

"And if I were to ask my last question again," you asked, your voice hardening. "If I were to ignore the logistics of this, how far we would have to travel, and everything else. How would you give us reason to trust you."

"Because you know us now," the being replied, words you had expected. What came next, you had not. "And because your predecessors left behind what you would need to do this. To pierce the protections of the Shiplords, you would need a ship invested with power in a way only the Shiplords can. Or at least, it used to be just them. Your predecessors, the Elder First; they saw the barriers but did not understand them. And without understanding, they could only leave behind the means to break them."

Your world tilted again as you realised what that meant. What that had to mean. You could feel this being's emotions, feel its soul pulsing in time with its words. To lie like this…you did not believe it could be possible. And yet, could you trust that? With so much on the line?

"We do not ask for an answer now, Amanda Hawk," Tahkel said, and fear fluttered in a thousand voices. "In the end, there is little you can do with what we have given you, without our help. But we do not wish the galaxy to continue this way. And to be left to wait again if you fail, for you know as well as we that victory is not certain," They broke off. "We cannot let such promise pass, not now that you have realised it."

"Please," it was not begging, not quite, yet their eyes dimmed with the word. "We cannot promise all that you might wish; against Shiplord weaponry we are too vulnerable to take the field. Our deaths would mean nothing. But if there is a price you would ask of us, even that, then ask. We will carry it to a Gathering, and do all we can to prevail in it."

What do you do?
[] Demand of the Uninvolved
-[] Much
-[] Some
-[] Little
[] Ask of Tahkel
-[] Much
-[] Some
-[] Little
[] Ask nothing
[] Write-in?

There will be a 24 hour moratorium on this vote.​

 

[Snowfire]

"I will not demand of you." That statement came first, firmly spoken. You wouldn't do that, not to one who had suffered for so long. The oldest humans alive were barely halfway through their second century. You couldn't imagine what a single thousand would feel like, let alone hundreds of them. "But I must ask."

"Of course," Tahkel replied, setting a formless hand between you in a motion of acceptance that they couldn't possibly know. You wondered if the envoys of the Contact Fleet had felt like this.

"Of your collective," the word felt right, and you trusted that instinct. They had rarely led you wrong. "Four things, but with a caveat." Ghost-light eyes never flickered, yet the attention behind them sharpened. "If anything I ask would endanger your kind, I would not want it asked of them. We need your help, perhaps more than we know, but that means we need you alive to give it."

"You are kind," Tahkel began to say, only for you to shake your head, a sad smile on your lips.

"In this, I am only practical," you said gently. "Kindness would be something else."

The figure nodded. "We understand this condition, then. What would you ask of us?"

There were a great many things you wanted to ask, but so much of it was information that you planned to ask later. Of the Uninvolved as a whole, there was only so much you felt comfortable asking. One stood out above the rest, too, for a simple reason: you weren't the leader of humanity anymore. Adriana would trust your word in this, you knew, but you couldn't be indispensable like that. Your soul was here, you weren't, which ruled out most forms of communication…unless.

"This place," you asked, waving a hand at the not-space around you, "it's…you need a concentration of the soul to access it safely, don't you?" The expert in Practice theory that Mary was, you certainly weren't. But you possessed a different type of knowledge. Tahkel nodded silently, and you felt a fierce smile spring to your lips. "Could you communicate with Project Insight then? Their Thoughtcasts should be similar enough."

Tahkel appeared to consider the question for a moment, then spoke slowly, as if feeling out the shape of the words as they did so. "We believe so, yes. You are…worried about single points of failure?"

You shook your head. "Not just that. I'm not the leader of humanity anymore. Adriana, President Thera, is, and she'll need a way to talk to you. It's not going to be perfect," you doubted anything could be, without a way to directly interface with the Uninvolved in reality without setting off the Shiplord detection web. "But it should be enough."

"There is no need to ask this of us all," you caught the glimmer of a smile in the statement, "If this opportunity had not presented itself, I would have sought out the next Thoughtcast. So long as your Insight exists, I will make myself available to carry or answer any questions your people might have." That was good, but – wait.

"What do you mean by that?" You only just kept the words a question. "What opportunity, Tahkel?"

Tahkel's eyes dimmed for a moment, as if they were blinking. "You cannot have missed it, Amanda." Their voices sounded confused. "There is a reason I was able to make contact with you so easily. Perhaps you believe that it will fade, as it did after your second battle against the Shiplords. It will not. What you did today changed you. Or did you think that any could have done what you did, no matter your place at the heart of humanity's hopes?"

"I," you started to reply, then stopped. It was a question that you had tried to avoid after returning home. What you'd done in saving Kalilah had been the strength of humanity, united behind you in hope. But what had come after, the bell tone that had hushed the star system and the words which had followed. Your demand for a reason, an answer…that had not been humanity. That had been you. "No," you said softly. "I just didn't want to think about it yet."

Tahkel shifted, their posture turning sympathetic. "We do not believe you could ever be anything less than human. You're just a little more than that now." What did that even mean? "We understand that that isn't a real answer," and how had they known to answer an unspoken question? "If we could give a better one, we could."

"You've never seen something like this before?" You asked, then shook your head. "Of course. Practice is new. You can make connections, but they're only guesses."

"Correct." Tahkel nodded. "We shall try to give you a better answer the next time we speak. But you had three more things to ask, we believe."

"I would appreciate that," you said, replying to their offer first. "But yes, there was more." It was a short enough list, and two very similar answers to your first two questions reduced it quickly. Providing direct support in either of those fashions wouldn't work. From what they knew, the Shiplord reaction to an Uninvolved incursion would be downright murderous, and Sol was the only star system with something approaching a functional Orrery. And even that wasn't finished yet.

Research into the First Secret had been slated to begin the moment that the Third Battle of Sol ended, and you had no doubt that it had. Unfortunately, there seemed little that Tahkel and their kind could do to help there. Direct intervention…you'd read the files on what had happened to the predecessors to Insight; it had been the larger part of being cleared to personally request a Thoughtcast. That wouldn't work. Outright creating drives would set off the Shiplord detection net, though there was something…a little off when they told you that. Not that they were lying, but as if they weren't telling you something. Not yet, at least.

The final question prompted a much longer moment of consideration. Acting as a distraction to the Shiplords, popping up in deep space or uninhabited systems for just a moment, that might be possible. Risky, perhaps, but with so many others taking risks, Tahkel had been unwilling to simply refuse the possibility. It would be a difficult thing to ask, though, given the nature of the risk. The Uninvolved were singular entities, and if they died, everything they were went with them. In that, humanity and the other races ranged against the Shiplords were lucky. But what if you could change that calculus?

"There is something else," you added as the silence stretched.

"Yes?"

"You said that if you die, everything you are is lost." You weren't doubting that statement, but if an Uninvolved could connect to Project Insight, that would open a connection to the rest of the Project's systems, wouldn't it? "What if we could help you stop that being the case?"

There was an instant of silence that could have cut space itself. And when your host spoke, it was missing the edge of certainty that it had carried for almost the entire conversation so far. "You can't possibly-" You didn't let the words go further than that.

"Why not?" you demanded. "You are older than us, you know so much more than we do; I accept that. But you've been forced to get used to this world," you gestured around you, "and we don't live here. We live in a world where we are not singular, where we can create. If your existence is the history and memories of the species you once were, then let us record those things." You took a step forward, and the passion in your voice flared from your skin, cutting through the gentle shadows.

"What I have asked, what we might ask in the future, it could cost you everything you are. At least let us try to find a way to remember you, if the worst does come to pass." There was more to it than that, of course: the knowledge of an Uninvolved could have implications vaster than any discovery in the history of humanity. Especially if their abilities were similar enough to Practice for Potentials to reverse-engineer them. And yet, these were beings to whom death was utterly final. If they were willing to risk that, then they did not deserve to be forgotten.

"Please," you added, as the silence grew, realising only a moment later the echo of Tahkel's words mere minutes before. "At least let us try."

"We," the figure did not stutter, but the emotions you felt pouring off of Tahkel were enough to substitute for one. Confusion, that you would even make the offer. Concern, that even with your skills, it might prove impossible. Others, too, but all together they were not a match to the most present feeling, swelling beneath them. Such a simple thing, too, though at least this time it had already been present.

Hope.

The question that followed was one you'd been asked before. And yet, asked here, by this being, it meant something more. You'd given hope to the races of the Contact Fleet that victory might be possible. What you offered to Tahkel and the other Uninvolved here was something very different.

"Why would you offer this?"

[] None deserve to be forgotten.
[] It's the right thing to do.
[] Write-in

 

[Snowfire]

"No one deserves to be forgotten." It was easy to say, harder to mean, but you did both without pause. "No one, Tahkel," you repeated. "There's a saying among my people, that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Your history is older than the evolution of our species."

"I see," Tahkel replied, confusion and something else swirling in their tone, and you found yourself smiling, despite all expectations. It was just easy to be this. To be yourself, and to speak what you believed. Here you stood. What else could you ever choose to be?

"Life is beautiful," passion surged through you with the pure truth of those words. "It's how humanity found healing, after the Shiplords came. We saw the beauty in life, in being more than war and death, and we found a way to hold on to that. It's why we are so willing to fight for a future where no one has to see less than that. And on some level," you paused, wondering if you should say it. But you had come this far. Now was not the time to hesitate.

"On some level," you continued, "you were robbed of that. Living as you do, in constant fear, no matter how lightly felt. You deserve more. Every life does." This was not hope; it went deeper than that. You were a Mender, a healer of wounds at their most elemental. The being before you had run from a world made too bleak for their race to continue. You could imagine no greater injury than that, no matter how ancient those scars might be now.

But you did not speak of it further. You had said all that was needed. They would know what more you knew, and that you had chosen to respect the edges of a scar driven through the very core of their psyche. That was enough. Healing wounds this deep wasn't easy, the closest you'd ever come to had been Mary, but the scale was so different. Yet pain was pain, you told yourself moments later. Comparing one to another missed the point. All were wrong.

"This war isn't one for conquest, that won't bring us victory," your swept out an open hand, and your soul answered the motion. Soothing radiance spilled out into the space around you, and something less than a gasp, and yet so much more, whispered beneath the light of countless stars. "This war is one for a future where we stand together, in freedom. If we do not practice what we preach, how can we expect your aid?"

"We have not," Tahkel began, and you shook your head, stopping the words with a motion cast in flickering soulight.

"You believe that your kind owes a debt," you could not fight that perception, it was too deep, too raw, even now. "But if you do, then it is one which must be remembered. And if we can add that to all that you are, besides, then I will do all in my power to see it done. And I know Adriana will agree."

"We," the Uninvolved paused, then shifted slightly, the motion translating in your mind to a simple nod. "We understand. Thank you."

"You are most welcome," you smiled. Your returned your hand to your side, and the light of your soul faded back into the shell that your mind had built to house you.

"You had other questions, we believe," the being said.

"I do."

"Ask."

On the nature of Practice itself, Tahkel was able to give few concrete answers, beyond what you already knew. They seemed genuinely contrite on the matter, but expressed a worry for your own mind, if they gave more than words. The Uninvolved possessed similar abilities, drawing power from the wellspring of their shared soul, and far less limited in its application in all ways but one. The Uninvolved could not set their power upon reality without being detected by the Shiplords. Potentials could. If this was a result of Practice's founding in the sacrifice of the Dragons, they weren't entirely sure. But in their own words, it seemed likely.

Seeking direct knowledge of the Secrets raised the same concerns. Even a single word on the matter, spoken soul to soul, could be dangerous. With all of their defences against feedback, Project Insight might be capable of it now, but only just. You had none of those defences, and you were needed to carry far more pressing messages. This wasn't a risk you could take. What Secrets the Shiplords possessed, however, was a far more positively received question. It remained so for as long as it took Tahkel to explain that, as far as the Uninvolved were aware, the Shiplords possessed every Secret known. Including Practice as a Secret reduced that count by one.

"Why do they forbid them, then?" You asked, as that answer came to an end. "Removing the First Secret removes easy interstellar travel, and the restrictions on post-Tributary races ensure that no race can challenge the War Fleets. Removing the Second…well, the Dragons make a good example. But is it just power? Nothing more?"

"We," Tahkel paused, considering the answer carefully. "We, Tahkel, do not believe so. The Uninvolved as a race, if you could call us that, are split on the matter. But if it was power the Shiplords wished, domination without challenge, the Tributary system is…flawed. It instills fear, certainly, but we believe that the Shiplords possess the ability to ensure that any rebellion would be detected or stopped. If nothing else, they could simply exterminate any race that they came across, and they don't."

"Why, then?"

The figure of the Uninvolved shook its head. "We do not know. One of the reasons we're here now lies in our hope that you will be able to discover the truth."

"Those systems?" You asked. "The ones that you can't see anymore?"

"Yes." Tahkel nodded. "There must be a reason for their secrecy. What has been passed down through our own generations speaks of truth hidden there. Whatever it might be, if it offers the chance of ending this war without setting the galaxy afire…" they trailed off, leading words in the silence.

"That could be worth the risk." You finished.

"Just so."

The conversation returned to this place twice more, first when asking about the seeming fascination of the Shiplords with sacrifice, and again as it came to a close.

With how Uninvolved formed, and how the Dragons gave humanity Practice, that there was power in sacrifice could not be denied. The Shiplords knew this; you had confirmation beyond any doubt of that now. But they didn't force races down that path. They made it available, encouraged a species to choose the way, but it was not absolute. And it could have been. Mastery of the Secrets made them more than capable of enforcing that.

Their first words to you shook Tahkel when you recounted them, proof that the Uninvolved had not seen that. But they did not change that any answer to the question you'd asked remained hidden. There was too much focus on the Secrets in that line for it be simple coincidence. More than that? The Uninvolved couldn't tell. They lacked the knowledge to do so.

Something they did not lack was information on where the Shiplords were, however, and that your host shared freely. Not all, but as much as they safely could, which on its own would be worth a debriefing. Mary was not going to be amused if this led to your needing to vanish less than a day after you'd gotten home. You resolved to try and not think about it for now, which was easier than it might have been. The coordinates of relays stations and fleet bases scattered across the outer spiral made for effective distractions. They even had some knowledge of deployment figures, including the location of the currently active Shiplord War Fleets. That you actively avoided for now, worrying about how little time it would take for them to reach you, if the order came, served no purpose.

"We've tried to find out as much as we can," you explained, as the conversation moved forward. "But we've had to be much more cautious since rebuilding the Project." As a leading statement, it served its purpose.

"You encountered a place where there are more active defences," the Uninvolved's gently glowing eyes narrowed in focus. "We believe we remember that. The Shiplords thought it might have been us, for a time, but we had made no incursion. Some among our kind would say that you put us at great risk, through that action." Their figure tossed its head. "We would call them short-sighted, to blame a young ally so, when nothing came of it."

"I hope we will prove worthy of that trust," you said, "but if they have active defences like that, why don't they deploy them everywhere? Would that not remove the threat your existences pose?"

"No." Tahkel laughed, the sound far darker than anything you'd heard so far. "Those defences are a deterrent to us, Amanda Hawk. If we chose to act fully, the Shiplords could not stop our actions with such things, only slow them. But we are too large, compared to your Thoughtcasts, and we would be inevitably snared until weapons capable of harming us could be brought to bear."

"Then," you stopped before you could finish the question, realising the answer. "Ah. Of course. Given the reality of Uninvolved society, just the threat is enough to keep you out." There was no judgement in statement, you made sure of that. It was simply stating fact.

"Fear is a powerful motivator," the Uninvolved agreed, sweeping a hand around them to take in the world beyond the hall of lights. "If you can truly offer a way to protect our memories, it will lose much of that power."

"They have these around the systems you think we should visit, don't they?" It wasn't really a question. If the systems had been made hidden, this had to be part of their protections. If they had not, well.

"If they didn't, we'd already know what was inside," there was something in Tahkel's voice as they stated that. Curiosity, yes, but also desire. A wish to know what the Shiplords had hidden, maybe even the hope that there might be some meaning to their pain. "Some of us remain curious enough to risk Shiplord ire. The shield they've built prevents our access, and the defences ensure that our community will not allow action to be taken. It is why you are so important."

"Someone that you can contact, of course." That made sense, but something was missing. "But even the closest of those systems would take months or years to reach with our own limited drives. And you've already said that you cannot supply us with new ones," and you stopped quite suddenly, as your host raised a single, ephemeral hand.

"That," the wrappings of calm around their voice frayed as they spoke, "is not quite the case."

"Pardon me?"

"The crystal you created with your sistersoul, during your youth," Tahkel explained, speaking quickly. "There is a reason that your attempts to understand it have continued to fail, more than simple luck. Simply put, it is a creation of two worlds. Yours, and ours. Just like you are capable of working power like we can without detection, that creation could allow us to act in your world without setting off the grid."

"Only in limited ways," they added quickly, before you could suggest something far grander than what you suspected of their intentions. "Highly limited, in truth. But enough to grant you the wings required to reach those worlds, long before they could ever expect it. And your predecessors left behind a ship perfect for such an endeavour."

"The Adamant," you whispered, and your head jerked up, sharply. "Did they find you?"

"No," Tahkel shook their head. "But they found pieces of the puzzle and left behind what they thought you might require. That ship was the largest piece." Only literally, you joked in the privacy of your own mind. But wait, if they could create a drive capable of reaching those worlds so quickly, then-

"You can create a drive that breaks the First Secret limitations?" You all but snapped, even as you took care not to ask how.

"We see the Secrets a little differently to yourselves," Tahkel explained in way of reply. "What is a limit to one, is sometimes only a barrier to another. Like how the defences around those systems would prove unbreachable to any group that lacked your presence. The Adamant, as you called it, will not be enough."

'Time, and your growing wisdom, will unlock the rest.' The words echoed in your mind, the voices of the Elder First granted but an echo of their will. Voices you'd heard last almost twenty years ago. Could it truly be so simple?

"Do not give us your answer now," not that you'd intended to, but the offer from your host was appreciated. "Simply…think, please. There is little we can do with the anchor of your creation, but if you feel as we feel, and are willing to believe in the hope of victory without devastation. Then please, think quickly."

"I will," you promised, and something flickered at the edge of your perceptions, a flickering presence like a dream, yet so much more than one. Something real, you realised a moment later. "I'm going to wake up soon, aren't I."

"You are," they bowed their head. "We are sorry to take this night from you so completely, but we possess only a minimum of control over the interactions of time in these conversations. Perhaps your fellows could find a way to do so." The vision backdropped in starlight began to ripple and tear. "You will carry our messages, yes?"

"I will," you said again. "And I will be there when we give you our answer, too. And mine."

What time passed between that promise and the light of the late Mytikas dawn waking you, you never knew. But you did wake, to find Mary curled at your side, her sleeping face gentle and serene. You didn't want to wake her, but-

:Amanda!: The voice of Sidra, the intelligence housed in your Unison Platform, echoed suddenly in your mind. :What the hell was that?:

Pick a course of action:
[] Explain things to Sidra.
[] Wake up Mary to talk.
[] That didn't count as sleep. Get some rest first.
[] Write-in

 

[Snowfire]

:Fast-time,: you replied. Your body felt at least partially rested, but your mind certainly wasn't. Not enough for this. Sidra could keep you going for days on end, but they preferred not to except when it was necessary. Perceptual acceleration, on the other hand? The world around you slowed, the rise of your chest sliding into a syrupy smoothness, then past that to a complete stop. Or what felt like one, at least. :I had a visitor, Sidra.:

You felt the motion of their thoughts form questions, demands, all born of concern for you. Your continuation scattered them to the winds. You opened your thoughts and memory to the Unison Intelligence that shared a piece of your soul, noting idly that they'd only accelerated your mind, not your body with it. That was going to be annoying, but you could feel Sidra's worry for you in their reasoning. A moment later, you understood it. They opened their own memories of the night, of the moments that had preceded your wakening. That entire conversation, in bare seconds? That couldn't be right.

:I felt something,: they explained, repeating the memory that you'd already experienced. :A surge in your soul, like when we work power together, yet without my presence. When I tried to find you, I couldn't. And then you woke, and something…Mandy, I don't think you understand.: A picture flowed into your mind, splitting into two before your eyes, colour and tone forming an image behind your eyes.

:That's my soul,: you sent, and you felt the beginning of tears in your eyes as the truth of your words registered. A truth you'd not known until you spoke, yet how could it be anything less? You knew those shapes, those formless patterns and colour that spoke of you without making a sound.

:How we see it, yes.: Sidra corrected you gently. :But it's changed now. Wherever you were, whatever you did, it's made you something,: they trailed off, unsure or perhaps still viewing your own experiences. What Tahkel had told you slipped out into your thoughts, a message and a guide to the moment with it.

What you did today changed you they'd said. Sidra caught on the guide, fixing to the memory, and recognition touched the feeling of their thoughts. The two images solidified, context making all clear. What you'd looked like before one shone, uncannily clear. And what you were now. Trying to describe the changes would have been impossible, no words existed in any of the languages you knew to express them.

:What have I become?: You asked the world, unknowing in the moment of broadcasting the question to one of the few beings in all reality close enough to you to understand it. You didn't feel different.

:Why would you?: Sidra asked. Their voice was remarkably gentle. :You're still you, right?:

:I,: you struggled to reply. Tahkel had told you that they didn't think you could ever be anything less than human, and that had mattered. How had it mattered? Or were you simply too tired to parse it right now? Maybe that was the truth. You had time to decide, later. And you shouldn't make decisions like that alone.

:Not now,: you decided, making the thought a promise. :I need sleep before I can deal with this properly, Sidra. Do you have everything?:

:Of course.: That was an answer to more than just that question, you knew. Acceptance of your decision, yet still a desire to help. :Would you like me to set up a meeting? Adriana and the rest will need to know about this. I could tell them for you, but,: you felt the movement of a shaking head.

:They will need to hear this from both of us,: you agreed. :It's too big for just one. And,: your eyes strayed to Mary's still serenity. :Our family should know first.: You never considered what that statement meant until the pause lengthened enough for your chest to move far enough for you to notice.

:Thank you,: Sidra's mental voice felt unsteady, off-balance even. Something you'd never associated with their calm presence. You must have been tired, not to realise in that moment, but it came eventually.

:You've always been family, Sidra,: you chided the intelligence. :Part of you is part of me. That's what it means, isn't it?:

:By one definition, I suppose,: they conceded. :Yet you have never said so so plainly. So again, I thank you.:

:I'm sorry,: you really were. :Truth is meant to be evident, but even at our best, the obvious sometimes needs spoken.: You paused. :I think that's me out of wisdom. Can I sleep now?:

:Rest well.: A smile shone in the words, a breath of sunshine and summer rain. Then the world sprang back into motion. You slumped down beside your closest friend in all of it. Sleep, and the rest you so dearly needed, followed swiftly. The world really would be there when you woke up.

You'd have a lot more to do than you'd planned for when you did, but that was alright. If there was a chance for that world you loved, and all the people in it, to not suffer so terribly for the peace of victory, that was worth almost anything. You'd lost count of the times in your life when you'd given hope, when you'd offered of yourself, turning yourself slowly into an embodiment of the limitless possibilities that life offered. You'd learnt to forget the weight of that burden long ago. And yet, this time, it wasn't your hope that you'd be bringing.

And wasn't it odd, you thought, as the world faded through gentle greys. That this one didn't weigh a thing?

 

[Snowfire]

Manhattan, Earth
30 Minutes after Third Battle of Sol

"And how the hell do I write an article on that?" You muttered to yourself, flopping down on the long sofa facing the holo-display. Some fumbling retrieved the remote from where it had hidden itself under a cushion. A brief argument with its controls found you staring at what you'd been looking for: the image that was well on its way to being the most popular still image in human history. Not that the subject matter was going to be changing the history books that much. Amanda Hawk had obliterated that record twice before already.

This felt a little different, though. The way she looked, staring out at the various receivers, the staff of rippling aquamarine slamming down on an invisible surface. A few correspondents had already weighed in on that, though they'd all cited the change that had followed to show that Miss Hawk was still as much of a paragon of humanity as ever. That didn't feel right to you at all. There was more to humanity than care, more to protection than valour. The First Awoken had come to Focuses that hated and swore vengeance upon those who had taken so much from them. Commander Mishra had embodied that, and if the feedback coming in from the Ministry of Science was right, almost had taken that embodiment to its logical conclusion.

"No, Carl," you told yourself, rolling over onto your back on the sofa, ignoring the mess of the room around you. You'd deal with that tomorrow. For today, you were allowed the concession to celebration. That, and you had an article to write. Commander Mishra's almost-sacrifice wasn't something you could write about, at least not right now. That wasn't what humanity needed. And, you paused a moment to swipe a finger through the air above you, humanity didn't need an outpouring of unthinking praise, either.

"That's not what she'd want either," you shook your head, wiping the articles projected above you away. It wasn't what humanity was feeling right now. Oh, there was thanks, and praise, certainly. But that wasn't all, and good media catered to the needs of its audience when it offered up the truth, when it could. That was what made it good media. Choosing how to say something was as important as what you chose to say. The fireworks bursting above the city, above every city, were all that needed to be seen to recognise humanity's thankfulness. You doubted they were going to stop until morning. They hadn't last time.

But what, then, did you want to write about? What was it that humanity needed right now, that none of your companions were giving? You knew you had high standards, and there was no fault in writing what was easy. But, again, what was needed instead of wanted. "I should have become a painter," you muttered, reaching down to the side and pulling up the extendable tablet that you used for work. "Eryn never has problems like this." A bald-faced lie, you knew, but one that made you feel better. Your wife wouldn't hold it against you.

She'd gone out to celebrate, to mingle, and had made you promise to come find her in ten minutes from now if you didn't find something to write about. And yes, you'd enjoy it, but different perspectives were important. She knew that as well as you did.

You looked back at the image, at the expression on Amanda's face, a woman you'd met only once – though once had been enough. You'd never seen her look like that, not once, not ever. Resolved, yes. But this wasn't resolution, and so few people really wanted to admit what it reminded them of. The idea that she, the woman who was seen as the best of you so often, could fall so deeply to rage was understandably frightening. Yet it needed recognised, or it would just…fester. She wouldn't want that, either. Someone would pick it up in an editorial a few days or weeks from now, but that would be then. But how to take that feeling, and turn it into something that you could write?

"That's easy," you sighed, staring at the blank text panel you'd called up. You didn't waste time finishing the statement. Six minutes left to get a start. Instead, you reached up, and started sketching out the words that you hoped would suffice.

Being hurt, being angry, that was part of being human. That Amanda could feel those things, and show them, that only made her more a human being. That was a good thing, not something to be feared. That proof should be given the time it deserved, so that the person behind it would get the care she was owed by all of you. More words spilled out onto the page, forming statements that you hoped would help shape the world.

How did you write an article about that, as you'd asked upon entering your living room? The answer was easy. You didn't write about what had happened. You wrote about the person at the core of it all. As might be expected, you didn't make it down to Eryn that evening, though she did send Reese up to drag you down to look at her light-sculpture. After that, your memory was a little hazy until you woke up the next morning with four people scattered across the bed and your social feed roleplaying a continuous fusion detonation.

***​

It is the nature of humanity to glorify, to love our existence and those who allow it continue. This is as it should be, as thanks should always go to those who protect us. But we must care for these people, too, and in the face of our most visible protector tonight I see much that deserves such care.

Amanda Hawk has long been lauded as one who has given much whilst asking nothing in return. I will not waste my reader's time in listing her still-growing list of accomplishments. But today, we saw a side to her that has never been shown publicly. Look at the expression on the face of the one who many call the voice of humanity, and do not be scared to recognise what you see. Anger is as much a part of who we are as compassion, as is the act of offering the latter to the former.

Today, I saw the voice of humanity catch herself short of vengeful hatred. But I can see myself in her motions, and can only thank Commander Mishra for whatever she must have said to stop her. Yet I can no more condemn her feelings than I could stop the sun from rising, and it is well documented that I am no great scientist, nor a Potential. Today, I ask that we recognise that, and that we offer our care to those who protected us from annihilation.

We rose from the ashes through recognising the need for compassion. I implore you all to find it in yourselves do the same in the days to come.
- An excerpt from 'The Face of Victory' by Carl Risanch

 

[Snowfire]

"You're sure?" Mary asked quietly from the seat next to you, her slender hands wrapped around the mug of coffee that was her morning drink of choice. Delicious smells filled the air, and the gentle crackle and hissing of bacon and pancakes came from beyond the partition that led through to your home's small kitchen. Iris' work, this time. She'd been quite insistent about it.

Warm light filtered in through the open windows, and the flowers and small trees in the garden beyond stretched up towards its gentle caress. The Martian summer was moving into full bloom, and it was hard to imagine a more idyllic picture. Green grass, stretching out to a thicket of trees where you both knew children from all over the neighbourhood often played. White curtains framed the image, a picturesque vision of peace that you knew was true. And yet also a façade, for the reality just beyond it, far above the sky.

"I trust what I experienced," you said, replying to the most obvious question. You weren't actually sure which one your friend was asking. "Whatever it was, Mary, it wasn't a dream. Sidra's looked over it all, and they believe it's true, too. There's no way to prove it, not without Tahkel contacting Insight, but-"

"Not that," Mary shushed you gently, moving one hand from her cup to rest on yours. Your fingers twined together a moment later. "I trust you, Mandy. You know that," there was no reprimand to the reminder. "I meant are you sure you want to do this today?"

"I don't think I have a choice," you sighed, helplessly. Your fingers tightened, squeezing gently. "I know that my memories won't fade, Sidra can keep them. But there's no chance that the Shiplords didn't get away with full resolution scans of Kaliah's event and my," how did you express that? Almost losing control when I'd never thought I had anything to lose control of? "My," you tried again, only for the words to slip away.

"Your outburst?" Iris asked, appearing at the doorway from the kitchen with three plates balanced precisely in the air around her. Her hair was longer today, and much brighter; a swirling mix of vibrant greens and blues. She smiled a little shamefacedly. "You know I can't help hearing most of the time. Not for you and Mary, not after," she broke off, not wanting to say what she'd wailed into your arms the night before. Not something that she wanted to think about right now, and you wouldn't make her.

"That's a good word. Outburst, I mean," you added before her look of confusion could spread too far. But it didn't detract from your point. "The difference in how the Tribute Fleet and the Regulars reacted to Practice use on that scale was telling, but I can't imagine that Insight got it wrong. When the Regulars get to a relay we're going right to the top of the priority list, even after the rest of the Group of Six gets involved. And," Iris reached the table, and the plates around her glided down to the table settings, bringing you up short.

"Not when there's food on the table, mom," your daughter said primly, making you both smile. It was a rule you'd instituted when Iris had still been a child, and which you'd held to since. Life as President had made working during your meals a simple reality. But you'd remembered a similar rule from your own parents, that meals were a place for family. Not work, or the fears of tomorrow. And, well, you had a feeling that you should grab those moments as often as you could. In the yawning abyss that was opening before humanity, the time for even this might become hard to find.

"This looks lovely, Iris," Mary remarked, poking experimentally at one of the pancakes before grinning. "You've been practicing, haven't you?"

"Yes," your daughter nodded, her eyes sparkling with the joy of a job recognised as well done. "On Aya and Nei," she laughed. "Aya kept on telling me that pancakes for breakfast every day isn't a balanced diet. But she always ate them."

"Exactly how many months did you make these for them until you were satisfied?" You asked casually, taking a quick bite from your own plate to avoid your daughter's glower. They were done just right.

"How many months did you make them until you were satisfied?" She riposted in good cheer, placing carefully sliced sections of bacon onto each of her pancakes.

You laughed. "I didn't do it concurrently, that makes it different."

Mary looked back and forth between you, then shook her head. "You're absolutely hopeless," she said, around a warm smile. She took another bite, chewing considerately before swallowing and nodding once. "But I guess that good pancakes make you both worth it."

"I suppose that there are worse things to be wanted for than your skillet," you mused, a sly smile stretching across your face as you turned to look at Iris. "Is that why Aya and Nei put up with you?"

There was a simple pleasure in getting your daughter to blush solid scarlet. The laughter that followed was good, but the feelings behind it meant so much more. Maybe that was the point? The soul existed; it was something that could be quantified. You were even starting to understand it. But the heart was more than anyone could yet put words to. Laughter was good for the soul, but family…family was good for the heart. You knew which one you valued more. That you'd always value more. After all, it hadn't been the soul that had made the Circles work. Not in the beginning.

:You will need to leave soon, if you want to make your meeting,: Sidra sent, as you swallowed down the last few bites of your breakfast. The Unison's voice was apologetic.

:I know,: you replied, wrapping your message in the same feelings that you felt surrounding you. They were part of your family too. They deserved to feel this. :Are we going together, or are the others coming?:

:That's their choice,: it was almost a reproof, but the care behind it was obvious. :But what do you think?:

:That I don't make sucker bets: Your mental tone was a smile, and the feeling of a breaking dawn. It wasn't hard to put an echo of that into the words you spoke verbally a moment later. "So, after we get these dishes done, will you be joining me?" It wasn't, quite, a violation of the rule. Close, yes, but still acceptable.

"We'll go with you," Mary said, "but being in there with you? That's up to you, Mandy, at least for me."

"Hmm?" You asked wordlessly, directing your gaze to Iris. Your daughter's hair brightened in tune with her smile.

"Vision's busy with cleanup," she said simply. That would explain it. With only two AIs in the entire system, there was a limit to the amount of safe storage available. If Vision was busy, Iris was the only being capable of operating the highest level of security apparatus whilst ensuring a full record would be kept. She could secure her memories of the event, for future generations to remember. No other could. And she was willing to shoulder that burden, even now.

There was nothing else for it. You leant across the table, and pulled the young AI into a fierce hug. She made a small sound of surprise, but leaned into the motion without complain. "I'm so proud of you," you murmured into her hair.

"I had good role models," she said quietly, speaking only as you both drew back from each other. "You and Mary, and my friends. I'm…going to have to see them again, soon. I hope they're all alright." It wasn't just Aya and Nei that she was worried about, either.

"I can't imagine that we won't be staying a few days, sweetie. And the Residence is always open to you." It was something of a moot point, given how she had access to the security protocols, but it was the thought that counted.

"Thanks, mom." Iris straightened, her hair fading into gentler shades. She nodded resolutely. "I think I'll take you up on that. But we shouldn't keep Adri waiting."

"No," Mary said from the door, setting your three plates down into the washer. "We definitely shouldn't. Did Sidra file a flight plan?"

You checked. :Thanks,: you sent, speaking a moment later. "We have an administrative priority path, courtesy of our host. There's a Cabinet shuttle waiting for us at the spaceport. Do either of you need to take anything?"

"Anything we need, we can get there." Your friend stated, stepping back into the room and heading for the door. "Let's go."

***​

The flight to Prometheus proved uneventful and you put the quiet to good use. You and Mary went over the notes you'd made, making sure to tease out every single detail with Sidra's help. Your Unison's ability to look back into your mind and pick out what had occurred was utterly invaluable in that endeavour. With that, and your friend's help, you were able to lay everything out and then split it down into three distinct sections. As your shuttle began its approach towards the most powerful of humanity's defence platforms, hanging tens of thousands of kilometres above Earth, only one question remained. Which one to begin on?

That question stayed with you through docking, out into the secured bay you'd visited less than six months ago, to discover the date of the invasion your species had just smashed. It stayed with you as you followed the same path of shining, empty corridors deep into the station to the secure conference room at its heart.

And it was still with you as you reached the door to that place, and found Mary beside you, her face drawn. "Do you want me to come with you?" She asked, at last. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go into that room, if she should come with you. And in this, you knew, your opinion would matter. If you wanted her there, then she'd be able to enter. Given where your encounter had taken place, it was more than likely that Mary would be asked to lend her expertise to the conversation. But that would be someone else asking. Did you want to?

Do you ask Mary to come with you?
[] [Mary] Yes
[] [Mary] No

Yet the larger question still whispered at the edge of your mind. Once you'd introduced the event responsible for this meeting, where did you take the conversation next? Tahkel had offered your race a great deal, and the explanations would give your audience context as to the nature and capabilities of the Uninvolved. It was easy to say that you knew they were telling the truth, but the people you were about to talk to had to weigh those words against all of humanity.

Then what if the best option would be to begin with the truest promise they'd offered, and one that you knew would strike close to home now that the war was upon you all. Tahkel had only offered you the possibility, but you knew what the cost of this war would be if you fought it as Insight had predicted you would. Entire star systems would burn, and when the war finally ended, the victors would reign over a shattered galaxy. For freedom, that cost was worth it. But what if it didn't have to be paid? A chance to change the shape of victory could be worth more than anything else. The only problem was that starting there might be too much as an opener.

The door hissed open, to reveal a room that you knew well by now, and you stepped inside. Adriana and the rest were already there, and you noted your daughter's movements slow a touch as she interfaced with the security systems. She'd done so before, you knew, but this was her first time doing it alone. Of course she'd be careful.

"You really don't believe in doing anything by halves, do you Mandy," The harsh lines on Adriana's face reflected the tiredness that you'd felt this morning, and you doubted she'd had time to sleep properly since. You hoped she'd pay attention to those needs soon. The advanced versions of Prologue and other Sixth Secret systems she possessed could hold them at bay for a while. They couldn't eliminate them entirely.

"I can honestly state that I'm completely innocent this time," you replied, meeting the gaze of your friend and protégé with a warm smile. The Presidency had exacted the costs it always did, you could see them in her green eyes. The sparks of a bright, caring mind cut sharp by the world that she sought to protect. You recognised that look. You saw it every day, in your mirror. "Hello, Adriana."

"What have you got for us?" Straight to the point, then. But which one?

How do you begin your explanation?
[] [Begin] What is Offered – Begin with what Tahkel had offered humanity, and the reasons why. Not for your help, but because they felt it was owed. They might not exist in the physical world you know, but they are still the same as you, in some ways. And they have offered a great many gifts, freely.
[] [Begin] A New Shape – Get the bombshell out of the way. That there might be another way out of this war, and that the Uninvolved are offering you a way to find it. It needs said. Everything else is secondary.
[] [Begin] To Give Freedom – The Uninvolved are beings of vast power, you know this, but the truth of their ability to wield that power is very different. So different, in fact, that humanity is capable of offering them something. Explain the Shiplord web, why the Uninvolved fear them, and how humanity might be able to change that.