Homecoming (Closed)

[The Ctan]

Duat, Capital World of the Great Civilization

The woman stood on the slopes outside the small village of Grennie, with her thick coat pulled up and hood set against the rain. Low fences bound out the edge of a road that was less than a track and which roved downward through ploughed fields to the distant lakeside, hills on all sides showing the old glaciation that had sculpted the area and thick with the coniferous Duati Pine, genetically crafted to grow in the nutrient poor soil of the more hospitable southern reaches of the Serenity Islands, while hardier scrub-bushes and grasses grew, and neutri-crops waved in the light breeze.

She watched as the fallow field provided ample space for the hounds to run, they were big, magewrought beasts, lupine and healthy wolfhounds, their grey coats visible against the sea of dark green. The fence was wood, there was no need to improve it, but the regularity with which its nails were set, precisely the same distance on each rail and picket, it looked handmade, but that was only convincing from a distance. Like so much else in life it lacked authenticity.

But she would gladly accept it for the benefits it offered. Chief of these was seclusion. Grennie was a village, in name, but in truth it was four houses, including hers, close enough that when you wanted the leisure of being able to greet a neighbour, you had it, but also secluded enough to forget life outside of the simple matters of fire and cooking, the warmth of wood and stone. Far, indeed, from the city of Isasrach which she had ordered built and had lived in for longer than she could remember.

Her hounds returned to her side, and she reached down to grasp the worried stick they had, holding it, and leaned on another forked stick, still in the never-ending prime of unfading life.

Aiyana Tiercean was enjoying the simple quiet of the land. No one could think of any part of Duat as truly wild, far below, machines and engines filled the planetary core, and no animal lived in the woodlands without the leave of the environmental group, a carefully regulated commission that managed the ecology of the great park-world.

She returned home, opening a door on its latch, she had the standard forms of locking, but she had left the door open, the AI core buried beneath the house would know when it needed to keep someone out, and no simple physical lock was necessary. She glanced to the small crystalline device that glowed with lambent green, drawing her attention for but a moment before she set it aside, she could see that there were new messages waiting since she had left, on her personal contact list, but she would deal with it later.

She felt as old as she was, she looked young, but she was by far the oldest human in the Great Civilization, both from birth to present in sidereal time, and in terms of relative years lived. Still, centuries of steering the culture around her had been draining, the workload expected on the legislation and management commission was astonishing, and her skull was still laced with augmentative devices that left her feeling stretched at times.

Since the defeat of the Centrist party, she had taken the opportunity to resign her position in the Senate, and the ‘High Council,’ as the commission was informally known, and she was able to rest at last. And rest, she did, ignoring her messages and heading into the white paneled kitchen with its view of the courtyard-garden, and touching the stove that sat in the centre of the room as an aisle-table, a few touches to its surface brought up a recipe in colour on its surface, and depressed cooking depressions appeared in it as the black living metal deformed, and she flagged one for boiling water, the bowl filling from beneath, and rings of warning showing that the living metal was heating within, as she poured rice into it, sliced chicken breast followed, though it had not come from the actual animal, of course, she was not a believer in raising animals as food animals, as most of the C’tani were – she had no objection to the practice, but at the technology level of the great civilization it was unnecessary and beyond farms that existed to keep ancient breeds around, the majority of meat was either game or vat-cultured, in her case, cultured, as she had no desire to hunt either, and she searched her cool-cupboards for sauces, vegetables, breads, laying them on the table and approving its suggested settings.

She decamped from the kitchen to the covered colonnade of the courtyard, and petted the older of her dogs, Rianda, and lowered herself into a chair, thickly padded, she did not look old, of course, she had never left the prime of life, but she felt a disconnect nonetheless. She reached up to the shelf beside the chair and took a slim flute, bringing it to her lips. She paused, and breathed out, setting it down for a moment and reaching the bin beside the fireplace, throwing a few small, chopped logs atop those already there, “House, light the fire,” she said; flames flickered into being, the scent of the pinewood burning filling the room as she began to play.

The song was one she could still recall, but which she never remembered learning, from her childhood, all of the years ago, she felt the tug of familiarity and hope in it, she had written it down, and played it for the noosphere several times, during her tenure as a senator, when she had been able to make the time, what little it left her.

The chime of the stove interrupted her reverie, and she stood, setting the flute down as she rose, and walked into the kitchen, first laying out food for her dogs, before taking a bowl of ceraplas and holding it under the edge of the stove, which had mixed and stirred her food as instructed, and which frictionlessly glided it across the deforming surface, pouring it into the bowl, letting her take the heated bread as she stood straight again, and took a spoon, sitting down again to eat. The wind was cold and the fire, rustically warm, offered a counterpoint to the chill on the wind, letting her settle and sigh back into her chair as she ate.

Soon, she drifted to a gentle sleep, a pleasure that she allowed herself, as Rianda paced and sat watching the door.

The message stone’s glow was the only light when she woke, its green lambency a recusing light that reminded her that her quiet home was not the end of her responsibilities. She had left office, and no more stood for the position she had once held, but so many wished to speak with her that she had to admit that even now, there were those who had a claim on her time.

She looked at it and nodded, making the Sign of Activation.

At once, information leapt from it, displaying colourless green images across the middle of the room silent and busy, information described in the strange sine-text of the necrontyr, information dense but difficult to learn. She of course, had learnt it, there were several forms of written necrontyr, the simple cuneiform text that was used for clarity, and for everyday writing, oftentimes known at Low Necrontyr, the sine script, called High Necrontyr at times, and the diaglyphs, even richer in information but readable only with difficulty to non-machines, which were used as complex situational tasks.

The script messages were precis of recordings, generated by machine, that described in some detail who had called, how they had seemed to the sophisticated recognition systems, and what had been said. There were several calls, it automatically profiled the messages by relevance, those who knew her and had something interesting to say, those who were simply calling her to pester her or to seek endorsement or advice were shuffled out of the way, pending referral to an AI who would politely help those that needed help and rebuff those who simply sought to lay stress on her time, a service any number of AIs offered for public convenience.

The first several were marked with a character that jumped out immediately, the sunburst-under-moon symbol the nation used as its sigil, indicating not only a governmental message but a priority one.

She frowned.

Cyldno, her successor, had called her no less than three times in the last week. By the slow pace of life in the Great Civilization’s heartland, that was excessive. She tapped her fingers twice, her gaze providing the selection of message, and the hologram appeared, the high-horned near human woman shimmering into full-colour being as though she were physically present.

“Honoured Aldaconciga,” she said, “I apologize for interrupting your sabbatical, and I understand entirely if you will find this an inconvenience, but pray accept this call in the spirit it was meant,” she said, “I have been asked by the Commission to contact you. A matter has arisen that we believe that you are uniquely qualified to assist with. I would not have contacted you if there was anyone who could do aid us in this matter with even half the success that we believe you will enjoy,” she said. “Please accept this apology, and allow my simulacra to explain matters for you.”

She nodded, “Proceed,” she said.

The image shifted, the simulacra appeared as Cyldno, of course, but bore the rune of the simulacra, a sine-script character, beside her, almost but not quite invisible, showing that though it was an image of a true person, it was a sub-sapient computer’s simulation of a briefing document with the personality traits of the originator. It was a form of attachment considered diffident and polite, because it required the crux of a mind-print to operate, far from enough to reproduce the mind of the sender, but enough that they had to spent some time preparing for the scan that produced such a thing.

“My thanks, Honoured Aldaconciga,” the term was a honorific, Elder Councilwoman, or High Councilwoman, was the literal translation from the yet-unborn human language that was nonetheless popular within the Great Civilization’s great tapestry, most often in common it was rendered Lady-Senator, a title that hooked into the gravitas many cultures had for their hereditary rulers, though in the translation guides for countries with a more Republican bent it was rendered more literally, “please allow me to explain,” the Simulacra said, “my principal wishes to speak with you on the matter of the United Kingdom of Malgrave.”

Aiyana’s mouth curled into a deep frown of disapproval, and she nodded for the simulacra to continue.

“It has recently come to our attention that the Malgraveans have been seeking to reach out to us in the hope of establishing an alliance, to secure themselves against the potential aggressive reach of the minor Neobarb faction that recently attacked the neighbouring country of Imeriata, as well as the possible overreach of the Imeriatans with the patronage of the Allanean government. This has come in the form of editorial…”

“Pray come to the point,” Aiyana said, and the Simulacra nodded.

“Given your particular heritage it was.”

“No,” she said, “Dismiss! Off!”

The Simulacra winked out, and she rose to her feet, the dogs stirring from their slumber at her feet as she marched into the study, a room thick with the smell of permaparchment and paper. On the desk was a metallic cylinder, or roll, and it was the only overt sign of technology present, she unrolled it, and touched a control printed in embossed metal on it, causing it to flow like water and alter its form, becoming a fan, that began projecting hard-light holograms, also called soligrams, that took the form of screens floating above it, and solid keys, she liked the feedback, and other input devices near at hand.

She slipped the pen from the center of the fan, the stylus was tapering silver and as she did an inclined writing pane appeared before her, which she leaned on, writing in the same ornate sine script that she had red before, simulated black ink trickling from the slender nib onto the surface before her.

Aldaconciga Aiyana Tiercean to Aldaconciga Cyldno ita Sarnekh,

There is nothing of value but truth. You and I both know that the matter we discuss has been explored as a theoretical before, and I have stated my objection in the past, which was then upheld, that I will have nothing to do with feeding the delusions of a people who read into ancestry a form of disturbing divinity. I hold no grudge against them, as well you know, and wish you all the best in the relations you seek to establish with them, but the legacy of my people is scattered far, and I will not have it used as a matter of manipulation as cynical as that of the neo-barbarian horde these very same people seek refuge against. There is nothing you can do to persuade me, this matter is resolved with finality. If you honour integrity, you will not approach me in this matter again.

- Aiyana

She paused, and leaned back. A moment of anger had propelled her pen, and carried it through to the conclusion of her brief message, the curling circular recursive script giving her a moment of consideration. Necrontyr was a language with a strongly logical structure, but even so it had a poetry to it.

The legacy of her people.

Legacy was a deep concept for the Great Civilization, it underpinned so much. To remember the past was one thing, and to honour it, another, easy concept. The C’tani did not simply seek that, however, they sought to justify their past; not to deny it, long soul-searching was needed by many and the subject of much poetry and cultural media.

But this Great Civilization, though it was likely to be her legacy, was not her people’s legacy.

She looked at the letter, long and hard, and the pen trembled in her hand. She set it down, but did not send the message, rising from the seek wooden chair. The study looked into the courtyard, but Aiyana did not wish to look into the courtyard.

She strode out, opening the side door from the study into the open portico beyond, drawing her sleeves down, looking out across the smoothed grass before the doorway. A black pillar, square, a locus for teleportation, stood beside her doorway, but there was little more than that in the way of roads in Grennie.

She looked at the other houses, and the cold sky that now spat spigots of intermittent rain down toward the land. She stood, and let her hair grow wet in the light specks, wiping her forehead twice, once with a sweep of the palm, then the back of the hand. The air was fresh, clean, perfect.

She stood and wondered, gazing deep into the distance.

It was a hard decision to make alone. She did not think Cyldno was a cruel woman, or that she was being deceptive, nor that she would seek exploitation, but nonetheless, the idea of, well.

She could permit the numinous influence she would fast accrue with the Malgraveans to be, if she wished, she could go and use such a thing to win influence, but it was deeply against the morals she had held through both her lives, this one, and the half-remembered past that loomed in her dreams.

She would think on it again, she had risen in the night, and the dark sky showed little of the stars, the cylinder orbitals, the orbital plates and the countless starships above, nor the true stars beyond them, as though a deep mantle had been thrown over the world, giving her the privacy she wanted.

The Malgraveans might well be her people’s legacy, she was perhaps a Malgravean in spirit as much as anything else; to leave matters in the hands of others, was that abandoning her first duty?

Rianda nuzzled her hand, with a perplexed whine, and she looked down at the hound, “Don’t be silly,” she said, “I’m fine, just a little… quandary,” she said, “don’t you worry,” she added, with a small mind touch that eased the animal’s anxiety, her words impelled to empathic feelings of loving assurance the hound understood. She went in, leaving the door on the latch, and walked to the Iron Scroll, bidding it with a gesture to save the message but not send it. “Repreq and compliments,” she said, “general; dream-dust, urgent.”

She received a confirmation almost immediately, there were some things that were rare enough that even in the Great Civilization, they carried a price, dream dust was one of them, an eldar creation, a psychic creation and therefore limited, even the archano-mechanical transformers that were used to create ‘magical’ effects in great quantity were not adequate to reproduce it.

Soon enough, a scarab with gilded wings alighted nearby, dispatched from whoever had sent it to her with a compliment slip, which she read with a small smile, and wrote a brief response with a true ink-pen.

She poured out dark wine, misty and almost-black with its red colour, to dissolve the small phial of the dust, it stimulated the mind, but more than that, it allowed one to link one’s mind, or to dream with an altered state. She drank it from a cup, hardly genteel by many standards, but she cared not for that, and climbed the stair to her bedchamber.


Sleep came, and deep sheets all but absorbed her, carrying away her weariness.

Dreams came, too, sharp thoughts of the city that had been her home as a child, that she had rebuilt with greater vision as a monument to her unremembered life in the form of the famous Isasrach. Dreams of her husband, before all else, dreams of haggard death that stalked angular corridors and of worlds ruined, of waves of renewal and the long decision to leave a haunted galaxy, her choice to stay, to watch, and to protect those who would come after.

She woke to the sound of a sweet Langourbird, and rose with a sigh of thought, passing through the morning ritual of cleansing, little more than a vibrostat and the odious battle to reign in her hair, before she slunk back to the study.

She called up the letter and looked at it.

She wiped most of it away with her hand, replacing the body of the letter with a single line of sine-script, joined up inscriptions of circles and lines.

On my own terms, and only with full support will I do as you ask, this must be understood.

She sighed, reflecting, and considering.

“Send,” she said.

__ __ __

Transmission Source: Aldaconciga (ret.) Aiyana Tiercean
Destination: Lead Scientist Claudia Donovan, United Kingdom of Malgrave
Subject: An invitation to the Ancestral Study Institute
Security: N/A - Open Letter

Dear Claudia,

We have not spoken before, though I have been aware of you and your institute for some time, and I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this message. Our cultures have long been friendly, Ayad Gathalim, one of my staff during my time as the head of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, fondly recalls meeting your people during one of the first ventures of the Malgravean People into foreign affairs.

This amity is something that many of our people wish to extend, and I understand that that feeling is mutual; there is much that we can offer to one another, and I would like to do what I may as a citizen of the Great Civilization, to further this friendship.

I am also aware that a great many of your people are deeply interested in something most near to my heart; the matter of what you call Ancestral Study. The cultures and peoples of relevance to your studies are one of my own fascinations, and I would like to extend an invitation.

The Great Ship Remembrance of Rythek, an all-purpose habitation, exploration and recreation vessel, is scheduled to make a visit to one of the worlds we believe to have been colonized by your ancestors in past ages in a month’s time, and I feel it would be only fair to extend an open invitation for your organization to send a delegation to join the Remembrance of Rythek on its cruise. There is no explicit limitation on the expedition's size, we have earmarked capacity for one hundred, but the Remembrance can support many more, and is additionally happy to offer space to Malgravean citizens on a nonprejudicial basis, with a current comfortable excess capacity of fifty five thousand.

Furthermore, I would like to offer you a personal invitation to join me on this expedition, to further the goals of mutual cooperation, historical research, and friendship between our peoples.

~ Aiyana

[Malgrave]

Ministry of Science and Engineering, Epping, Malgrave

While it was true that the Malgravean mainland and the research colony had escaped any physical damage from Atumite orbital bombardment, with the Queen's noble sacrifice being noted to have prevented the large-scale suffering that was inflicted upon the Imerian population it was also false to say that the Malgravean government and by extension it's people had escaped without harm. In the immediate weeks and months that followed the country suffered immensely as the population noted with much sadness that the current Queen-regent was appearing to suffer physically and indeed mentally from the loss of her wife and unborn child, and while that improved briefly after a short visit to the coronation of the new Imerian High King people still noted with concern that the Queen-regent and several other government ministers were working far too hard even when you factored in typical Malgravean working hours.

Since that date everyone from the Minister of Science and Engineering to the Ministry of State Security had been called into to try and track down the location of the Malgavean Queen and the future heir to the throne, but recently the search had received yet another setback when it was announced that now even the Queen-regent had been snatched from her room in Wizna apparently for a "visit" with Queen Wells. In the space for a few hours everyone that had once been focused on the search for the Queen was instead focused on preventing a constitutional crisis from emerging, with some saying that the nation should temporarily be turned into an "Ancestral Republic" with the powers of President going to the current head of the Ancestral Study Group but calmer heads had prevailed and instead the role of Head of State and Head of Government was currently filled by the Prime Minister who understandably had her security arrangements tripled by the Special Investigative Service.

In short Claudia Donovan was extremely stressed out, not only did she had to deal with idiots that wanted her to become President of some sort of Ancestral Republic, an arrangement she neither desired or hoped for but she had to organise the ongoing work of the Ministry of Science and Engineering to implement democratic ethics reform, coordinate the expansion of foreign companies into the research colony, oversee the work being carried out in Crystal Spires and Imeriata and maintain other planned works in Kouralia and Rohane Alista and that was without adding the various tasks she had to do as Lead Scientist of the Ancestral Study Group and current Chair of the Free Democratic Youth, an organisation that also had it's own vision of international expansion.

It was frankly remarkable that Claudia had not gone insane from all the work related stress that she had encountered over the last few months, and yet despite her busy work schedule she had also managed to go on several international visits including ones that cemented the new relationship between Malgrave and the Dornalian Republic, despite this Claudia could not help but feel like she had not been able to sleep in several months and the mountain of caffeinated drinks in the recycling bin near her old wooden desk hinted that was indeed the case.

As she began to read a message that had been sent to her address at the Ancestral Study Group all of the previous month's stress and political bickering melted away, the Minister shocked into a brief spell of silence before she scrambled to the nearby phone not caring about the assorted papers that fell onto the fall with a heavy thud.

Prime Minister's Office, Epping, Malgrave

In normal circumstances the Prime Minister's office was a rather calm environment, and on the good days the Prime Minister was frequently able to sneak away with her wife for a quick afternoon meal but in recent times the once calm atmosphere and been replaced with one of barely organised chaos. Like Claudia the Prime Minister had been awash with extra work since she had taken on the role of Interim Head of State, on top of dealing with those that wanted to establish an Ancestral Republic, the increased public appearances she had to make as Head of State she also had to deal with the security situation with reports of increased terrorist activity occurring near Tillingham as the remnants of the crushed Patriotic Front and the aptly named New New Malgravean Communist Party saw the situation as ripe for exploitation.

Despite these new pressures the Malgravean Prime Minister was feeling rather happy, glad that the country had unified rather quickly after losing not just one but two highly popular figures from the royal family, but that had changed with one brief phone call with Claudia, the current and rather eccentric Minister of Science and Engineering. It appeared that the C'tan had a vessel that was visiting a world that had once been colonised by the ancestors, now in usual times but would be a time for great celebration but these were not normal times and considering the security situation in the country it was now a certainty that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister would be refused permission to join the expedition, still the opportunity to see a planet that had once been lived upon by the ancestors was a matter of national importance and after devising a quick lottery system for the awarding of the tickets the Prime Minister had gladly given the Minister of Science and Engineering permission to respond to the message, although she had reminded her several times to pass the message through Eliot Reymont, the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs before sending it off.

Official Communique of United Kingdom of Malgrave

---

To: Aldaconciga (ret.) Aiyana Tiercean
Subject: Great Ship Remembrance of Rythek
Encryption: Light

---

Aldaconciga Aiyana Tiercean,

It is quite an honour to receive an invitation to visit a world that was possibly colonised by the ancestors, and I assure you that we have been incredibly responsible in how the fifty-thousand tickets are being allocated. In order to remove the threat of wealthy and the speed of purchase being a factor in these tickets we have simply implemented a system of progressive pricing that will mean that those less-advantaged will be able to afford tickets and those wealthier will provide greater funds to the numerous charities that will receive the proceeds from the venture, in addition we have also contracted the sorting of these tickets to a Dornalian AI system to ensure that no cheating will occur during this remarkable event.

As I said earlier it is an honour to receive such an invitation and I hope that this is the start of fruitful and strong diplomatic relations between our two civilisations.

Claudia Donovan, Minister of Science and Engineering and current Lead Scientist of the Ancestral Study Institute.

[The Ctan]

What it was for one’s world to grow beyond one’s control. Things were fledgeling now, Aiyana felt, the whole experience of being part of the newly ‘great’ civilization had a sort of dissonance to it, there was tremendous enthusiasm from many of its people, but she could not feel it herself any more. She had been part of the foundations, she had seen institutions change and settle, and she felt something like a bird must feel when its child takes wing; she supposed. But less proud perhaps. Deep down there were still the issues she had always feared.

She mused at times on the nature of the future, the seers, those who could pass the most stringent tests, said that all would be well, but she did not wholly believe them.

The gift didn’t help. Looking at it brought her a deep unease, a sense of lost dreams. She reached out to hesitantly touch it, stroking her hand across its smooth surface. She looked up at its arc and stroked her hand along its surface.

They had brought it from a ruined excavation site, extracting it from blast fused glass, a relic of another time, she’d had a good idea where to look for it, and though the expedition they had sent to find the cousins, the survivors, strange as they were of her people, before contacting the Malgraveans had been a failure, they had found this.

It was one thing to remember these things, it was another to see the grave of her people of old, and sigh in the wistfulness of memory. Most of the Great Civilization’s people could know that while their ancestral-cultures may well have been more widespread, they had a poor record. Not so her. In dreams she remembered things from times past, her life as a Monitor, her Childhood, and she knew that the culture she had built now was in part an imitation of that of her lost life.

She turned away from the gift and sat down, the chair beneath her folding to accomodate her body, soligraphic keys providing haptic feedback as she typed, she could have worked the code by thought, but this was how she had done it in her lost life, and this made things clearer. The Gift needed an update, an amendment to reject certain inbound connections.

“That would conflict with protocol one seventeen in the critical errors section,” Virgil said.

She frowned, reaching up to scratch her forehead for a moment, before changing the error system. “Thank you,” she said, reluctantly, looking at the block-characters of Lantean script that hung in neat rows before her tired eyes.

“What may I ask do you want the additions to do?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be authentic,” she said. “The force fields you installed will work for most purposes, but the device used to destroy the last Astrea Porta used by the Malgraveans would bypass any such fields,” she said.

“What was that weapon anyway?”

“It was intended as a device for safe destruction of portals in high gravitational distort environments. Not as a weapon to be used against civilian populations,” she said.

“And this code will help?”

“Early Alteran ships carrying such constructs were powered by a high intensity warp field, which destabilized the wormhole connection when engaged.”

“And you want to build a cut-off mechanism using the same principles?”

“I already have,” she said, “it’s not too difficult to generate the field,” she added, “though it’s quite energy intensive, but I’m trying to have the connection to such a destruct device automatically trigger it, and that means overriding the original code.”

“Do you want me to help?”

“No, I’ll get it,” she said.




The Remembrance of Rythek was a vast and highly capable ship. It had been called hence from Soltan, the Dark World, a system that few visited, dark and shrouded in one of the galaxy’s deep places, it was a world with cities but without population, a planet with farms that turned over soil and marked time with bacteria intended to stir the soil and keep it ready forever. More than a colony, it was a built to house billions; should the need for a new world ever arise that could hold such a population.

The Remembrance had raised up towers of dark metal in the reaches of the forests housed millions of cloned animals in cryo-sleep, awaiting the day when it might be needed. The Sublimation of Virtue had joined it, a similar, though smaller class of vessel, the Sublimation was perhaps three kilometers long and had come from a planet that had no formal name, where it had raised a Dolmen Gate, the long preparations for a conflict unlike any other were being slowly drawn.

A half million tickets soon turned into far more than that factoring in families and children, additional school groups and more, and the initial release soon ran up to the best part of a million. Those million people needed places to be, places to go and places to live. They also needed, it had to be said, places to be entertained; that wouldn’t seem plausible for what was in essence becoming a pilgrimage ship, but it was no more than practical.

At approximately two cubic meters per person - surprisingly little when phrased that way, but in line with the standards of elite ocean-going cruise ships - the Remembrance had to convert from its general bays almost four million cubic meters to passenger space, factoring in the CELLS needs of those passengers.

That hardly accounted for the dome-space on the upper and lower surfaces - the gravity planes of the ship were not unidirectional - of the ship that housed gardens of a variety of biomes and ecologies, some terran, some necrontyr, some quite exotic.

At most times the Remembrance was home to tens of thousands of people, a travelling splinter of the Great Civilization, miles across it was not unlike a cruise liner, but considerably more.

Not every vessel called a Great Ship was heavily populated, the Sublimation of Virtue, of which Virgil was the avatar-incarnation, rated the same classification though it was often unmanned and had a standing passenger capacity of less than three thousand. Instead the designation was given to any vessel capable of - in time - rebuilding the technological society of the Great Civilization on its own.

The Remembrance then, was larger, seven miles from its crescent-bows to its stern, slipping into Terran orbit like a catfish, languid and stately. Its sub-craft bays had been tasked with a multitude of modules that would provide transport from various cities and airports. They could have easily offered to teleport people, but while that was not difficult, it was simply more seemly for anyone’s first experience of space-flight to at least have a view.

From the trailing edge of the ship’s bulky industrial midsection, a transport module slipped free. Forty meters long, it was not unlike a bullet in shape, only when it had crossed the last gasps of flaming atmospheric re-entry did its upper surfaces alter, plastoid-materials folding back to give it the shape of a surface boat as it folded flat, navigating according to pre-filed and possibly confusing flight-plan to the Salvai river, some miles from Epping, where it would operate as a conventional watercraft, and come in to the harbour.

The exact nature of the cargo hadn’t been defined, save that it was a gift related to the Ancestors; and that Aiyana and other C’tani dignitaries would be with it.

No one could say the C’tani didn’t seek to make an entrance.

[Malgrave]

Epping, Malgrave

A few years ago the sudden appearance of an alien vessel over the Malgravean capital would've been confined to various ASG-backed projects about the return of the ancestors or ghoulish fears about the arrival of a second Atumite fleet, but now the arrival of the C'tani ship was met with rapturous applause as tens of thousands of Malgraveans from all walks of life flooded the streets of the capital to greet the arrival vessel, the resulting pandemonium causing the city to come to a virtual standstill.

In fact Epping was not the only city impacted by the arrival of the C'tani vessel and rolling footage from drones controlled by the Malgravean Central Broadcasting Corporation highlighted similar scenes happening in the Pakosc, Omsk, Aurora, Cerne and countless other small settlements on the mainland and the research colony, as millions awaited expectantly to see the first major interaction between the C'tani and Malgravean government's, and as the river vessel made its way towards the central docks it would be able to get a good look at the city.

Epping was designed and constructed in the immediate aftermath of the exodus to act as a central hub to organise the reconstruction of the Malgravean state, and lead the expansionist drive that would eventually go on to establish the frontier cities of Pakosc and Rensk. Of course it wasn't the oldest city in the country as Aurora, the first coastal settlement establishment by the Malgravean government after the exodus could claim to be the oldest Malgravean city still in existence, but while Aurora had been constructed in relative haste in order to provide immediate food and shelter to the Malgravean population Epping had been designed from the ground up to act as a future blueprint for all future cities, and the presence of the double-layered metro networks, extensive public parks and the clear inner sectors designated to residential, light commercial and cultural purposes indicated that industry was designed to be kept as far away from the main city as possible. In fact the C'tani river vessel and anyone on board would be able to see that the major industrial enterprises were focused on the very northern edge of the city, although they maintained access to the capitals metro grid and the high speed rail network that connected the various industrial centres of Malgrave to the major ports.

Of course not everyone in Malgrave had the luxury of being able to suddenly abandon their posts, and the workers of the Epping-Salvai Central Port Authority could only watch from their vantage point inside the industrial sector as a couple of pilot vessels made its way to greet the river-bound vessel that had been dropped from the spaceship. It was suspected that the advanced C'tani craft did not require such precautions, but in the mind of the Malgraveans it never helped to come prepared and it gave the Port Authority something impressive to include in its next batch of recruitment brochures.

As the C'tan river vessel was being gently guided towards an appropriate docking space in the capital other preparations were being repeated tenfold in cities and large residential settlements across the country, as up to a million people clambered to areas filled with short-range transport craft; with entire families, classrooms and delegations from the Ancestral Study Group, the Gabriel Narutowicz Pioneers and the Free Democratic Youth all preparing for the journey of a lifetime. In Epping a majority of the preparation work had been completed months ago, and now the focus was on ensuring the safe passage of the C'tani gift. It had been decided that as the gift was linked with a historical trip to a suspected ancestral world it would be directed to a new position outside the central headquarters of the Ancestral Study Organisation.

The central headquarters of the Ancestral Study Organisation was clearly designed with the future in mind, or at least a view of the future from the 1960's, with the building comprised of three central towers dedicated to ancestral research, recreation and social solidarity and contemplation on ascension. In typical Malgravean fashion the ASG headquarters was located in the centre of the city, with a wide circle around the facility dedicated to parks and plazas so one could properly pay respects and take in the work and resources that went into the construction of the three towers.

Aiyana and the other C'tani dignitaries would eventually find themselves and the gift positioned on the innermost circular central plaza located closest to the ASG headquarters, the outer edge dedicated to a series of paths that led to a series of outer garden and playgrounds that were used by the local population as a place of exercise and entertainment. In the centre of the plaza stood the foundations of an old statue recently moved to house the gift, the cement foundation in clear contrast to the polished marble tiles that comprised the rest of the plaza

Claudia Donovan, the current Minister of Science and Engineering and the Lead Scientist of the Ancestral Study Group stood next to this concrete foundation, in typical fashion the young Minister had been informed by the foreign office to dress up for the event but instead had decided to simply wear a hooded jumper with the familiar logo of the Royal Institute for the Advancement of Universal Technology and a simple dark black pair of jeans. Alongside Claudia stood Eliot Reymont, with the recently appointed Foreign Minister actually adhering the guidelines put forward by her department and wearing a navy blue business suit.

Katia De Campo, Aurelia Wyrzykowski and Nadzieja Brzezicki led the rest of the welcoming party, with the Defence Minister deciding to wear the uniform she was entitled to as a Junior Colonel of the Royal Marines, while the remaining two Ministers decided to play it safe and follow the guidelines established by the foreign office by simply wearing a more up market version of the suit they typically wore to parliament or during a usual day in the office.

[The Ctan]

If the Malgravean delegation had chosen to adhere to international standards in their choice of garments for the most part, the C’tani had quite the opposite intention. Instead, their formalwear was entirely traditional, and international standards, or what the C’tani called Solarian Formalwear, had little purchase on state occasions. Instead, they had opted for a range of formalwear.

Aiyana was no longer a state official, but the etiquette said that this was unchanged, and so she had a striking blood-blue underlayer to her garments, which were gold-trimmed silver, moving with a fluidity that suggested a degree of plasticity to the metallic garments, and they were lined with hieratic necrontyr sine script from either side of her chest sweeping down to the floor. There was a degree of obvious showy wealth to these garments, but they had a history to them that was more complex than simple ostentation; the materials they used were layered with barium salts and strange living metals that resisted radiation, reminiscent of the radiation-suits and cloaks used by the Necrontyr on their ancient homeworlds. She had at least neglected the wide-flared headdress though which looked too much like a terran crown for her taste.

The official leader of the delegation, Proaldaconciga Devangi Pancholi ita Dyvanakh ita Merenakh, her full name, was dressed in the formalwear of her original homeland, a pleated side-fastened sari worn loose around the shoulders and fastened with heavy gilded brooches, worn with jewellery of gold and rubies. She wore no specific badges of rank or station, but she was at the head of the party nonetheless, next to Aiyana.

In the next row disembarking came Cylando ita Sarnekh, Aiyana’s replacement, the first non-human of the group, though he was clearly of a species close enough to human to be called part of the same genus; to many in the audience it would seem as though he was perhaps an extreme exaple of body modification, his head naturally boasted two high horn structures, and instead of hair he had short tentacles with banded blue and black skin, his tattooed face was vividly marked, and he wore a variation of the fan-headdress of the C’tani which rested against these horns. His garment was the same as Aiyana’s otherwise, though cut for a male, and he walked with his hands in his sleeves.

Virgil rounded out the group, along with the avatar of the Greatship Remembrance of Rythek, and while Virgil presented as human, dark haired and dressed in a loose variant of the formalwear the Senators wore, with different inscriptions, Kaleth, wore a face that was necrontyr in appearance, stark white hair and grey-blue skin giving him an appearance of a necrontyr, and he wore robes of deep blue, trimmed with crimson the colour of fresh blood.

With them came the burnished forms of necrons, who carried high staff-like rods with jewelled sigils on them, their blackened frames gleaming like wet oil, parts faded as tarnished gold, their eyes irridescent sapphires. These were a guard who contrived to appear quite ceremonial.

As they arrived in the square before the Ancestral Study Group headquarters, these guardians stepped aside from one another, their gift was held in place between gravitic generators, and it flipped to a horizontal position; they had covered it with a sheet of ink-black fabric, which was plucked free by the motion and the gravitational forces, revealing itself to be two devices. It was a stargate, similar to the one the that they had lost, but different. Polished steel in colour, its design was similar but subtly different, at least in colouration from the previous one, and it seemed to have a slightly different mechanism.

It was indicative of the non-belligerent nature of Malgravean society, and their apparent trust of the C’tani civilisation that the Malgravean delegation didn’t comprise of an honour guard from the Royal Marines or the Royal Guard. In fact the Malgraveans only maintained such units for their own royal family, important national holidays or when entertaining dignitaries from the more militaristic Kouralian Union.

Of course that didn’t stop all of the Malgraveans present from attempting to put on a decent welcome, and the entire delegation quickly bowed in greeting as per the tradition towards their C’tani guests, although a certain Amelia Lowwe had her attentions focused solely towards the C’tani shipmind and the reason for it’s presence amongst the C’tani delegation.

Virgil’s eyes looked to hers and he smiled, waving toward the stargate with a one hand as the guest delegation returned the bow; all of them had the same gesture, bringing the heels together smartly, to click them twice, and bowing from the waist, it was a militant gesture in some cultures, but to the C’tani was one of several everyday greeting gestures; perhaps a touch formal.

Claudia Donovan bowed again to each of the C'tani delegation, the Lead Scientist and Minister was technically the most senior government figure at the welcoming ceremony and she was tasked with greeting the new arrivals and thanking them for the gift about to be placed in front of the ASG headquarters, although she couldn't help but feel a little speechless when the gift was unveiled to be a Ring of the Ancestors.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome you to the headquarters of the Ancestral Study Organisation Proaldaconciga Devangi” she said unable to keep herself from looking at the stargate every few seconds. “We are forever thankful that you have decided to donate a new Ring of the Ancestors to replace the older model that was unfortunately destroyed a few years ago during our unfortunate encounter with another spacefaring race.”

Amelia smiled back at Virgil and gave him a polite wave, although her attention was clearly captured by the stargate and a litany of experiments that could be conducted now they had access to such technology.

“It is certainly a great honour to receive technology of the ancestors from the C’tani civilisation, and I hope that we can prove that we’re responsible enough to maintain such advanced technology.” Eliot added wishing to take-over responsibility of what was essentially a matter for the foreign office. “I must apologise for the absence of our Prime Minister and our Deputy Prime Minister but since the disappearance of our Queen and Queen-regent we’ve had to take certain procedures in order to protect our internal security and avoid any future destabilising events.”

“I can assure you,” Devangi said, “if there are any destabilizing events today they will not be by our design, but we do understand entirely, and we encourage any reasonable precaution,” she said, “I am pleased to return the Gate of Agartha to you,” she said, “it was a Malgravean discovery, at least in part, in that it was originally discovered by Amelia Lowwe’s group, sadly, the Cyla Agartha complex was destroyed by hostile forces, but the Gate was excavated; we believe it to be the last Stargate constructed for Earth, and likely the one used most recently by your direct ancestors,” she said. “It seemed only fitting that it should be given to you who would appreciate it most.”

“We have made some small updates and constructed a new dialing device based on the designs of the original,” Aiyana said, “to its internal coding, to protect it from attack similar to the one that destroyed the previous stargate you discovered,” she said, “and to ensure that other similar crises cannot happen. We would ask that you keep it in Epping, and available for the use of the public; if nothing else, we have another like it on Duat, the C’tani homeworld, and it will make travel easier for those who wish to visit us.

“We certainly don’t expect any trouble from your delegation Proaldaconciga Devangi,” Eliot said defensively “It’s just that the SIS has grown incredibly protective since the early 90’s and recent events with the Queen and Queen-regent has only driven that nature into overdrive,” she said her tone becoming more positive when the topic changed to the stargate. “We are incredibly grateful of the sacrifices made by Amelia Lowwe’s party in their quest to uncover information about the ancestors and the process of ascension.”

“It’s impressive that you managed to recover the Ring of the Ancestors from the ruins of Agartha but I am still upset that I allowed my own personal excitement to get the better of me.” Amelia said, of course she was somewhat proud of her achievements during her travels but her journey to the ancestral site still held bittersweet memories since it directly led to her second period of enslavement under Atumite rule.

“I doubt it could have been done better,” Aiyana said, looking at the woman, “and there is much more to be discovered yet, be sure of that,” she said, “It will be our pleasure to help as we may,” she said, and looked to Virgil.

“We have prepared an excursion vessel,” Virgil said, “one of our smaller exploration craft, which will be departing soon,” he added, “to ensure that there is no appreciable danger on our journey; we would have done so sooner, but it seemed best to ensure that Malgraveans could be involved at every stage of the exploration; we should like to invite you to come with us, Amelia,” he said. “And any others who wish to go from the Ancestral Study Group and Royal Institute for the Advancement of Universal Technology,” he added, “the capacity is sixty, plus the crew; we should warn that it is possible that some ancient planetary defence system may still exist, and if so there may be an element of personal risk.”

Amelia rushed forward and practically tackled Virgil as she hugged him, the Malgravean positively giggling in delight as she wondered of the possibilities of being one of the first Malgravean to visit a world of the ancestors.

“It would be an honour to be a member of this exploration vessel.” she said coughing in an attempt to calm her excitable manner.

“I’d love to be a member of this expedition but I am afraid I must oversee the members of the Ancestral Study Organisation on the main vessel.” Claudia said visibly disappointed at missing out on the adventure despite the possibility of danger.

“I’d also like to join this exploration vessel. If that is possible?” Katia asked, the Junior Colonel wasn’t that fussed about the danger involved but she didn’t want to intrude between anything happening between Amelia Lowwe and the C’tani avatar.

“In that case I guess I will be attending as well.” Aurelia added, she would’ve preferred to stay on the other vessel but now she had to ensure that her wife didn’t do anything stupid while “exploring” the foreign ship.

“I hope I don’t offend you Comrade Virgil when I say that I will be sticking with the main vessel.” Nadzieja said, the Minister of Finance didn’t fancy the prospect of being shot at by an automated defence system designed by the very ancestors she wanted to meet.

“I will also be travelling with the main ship.” Eliot said, although she didn’t mention her reasons for sticking with the main vessel.

“I can assure you that you won’t be missing out on much in the way of discoveries,” Aiyana said, “the majority of our resources will be travelling with the main vessel; the schema of our expedition is,” she made a gesture not unlike a mage conjouring, a hologram appearing before her, “We will be sending probes through the system,” she said, the planets in the system already hung there like jewels surrounding a bright fire in the form of the primary star, “followed by a brief excursion to verify if full starships are threatened, we’ll be launching probes into orbit of each planet in the system after this, and then the Remembrance will join the main vessel,” she said, “the [i]Remembrance[i] will also be spending a few weeks for orientation and preparation at the Ilcathelma-Aritane Orbital, one of our remote habitats, which has large areas intended for outdoor training and survival orientation; there may be a level of danger, and certainly anyone wanting to travel outside of cleared zones should have a degree of experience with such things.”


Princess Luna had in fact insisted, quite adamantly, that Malgraveans had to be given a degree of outdoor training, after having heard report of Amelia’s group failing to assemble a rope bridge for three hours, with three of them falling off; it turned out after some investigation that the Gabriel Narutowicz Pioneers had precisely no mandatory actual pioneering courses on their curriculum.

“It would also be incredibly awkward if the Lead Scientist of the Ancestral Study Organisation was accidentally destroyed by an old ancient defence system,” Claudia said, although she was still partially disappointed by the lack of adventure.

“A large contingent of the Malgraveans present would’ve received mandatory military training from the Territorial Defence Force so I am certain that they’ll be able to handle themselves in the greater outdoors.” Katia said feeling the need to defend the capability of her fellow citizens, especially since she had undergone extensive training with the TDF and the Royal Marines over the years.

“It would still be welcome to undergo some training at this facility,” Eliot said, “I believe that a portion of the scientific community attending the journey are like our own Amelia Lowwe and didn’t enter service with the Territorial Defence Force because their skills were deemed vital to the pursuit of ascension.”

“I technically served two weeks with the Territorial Defence Force,” Claudia said with a small grin, “Sadly they didn’t take kindly to my attempts to improve the quality of the local computer network...and the base explosives so I found myself returned to civilian duties.”

“I was already at the RIAU and so I didn’t receive my conscription papers, and well I was part of the Gabriel Narutowicz Pioneers and the Free Democratic Youth but my local chapters didn’t teach anything about those outdoorsy things.” Amelia added.

“Shall we test the Gate of Agartha?” Aiyana said, “We should be able to dial Eclar- Duat,” she corrected herself, “without any trouble,” she said, “that will also reactivate the stargate and establish primacy as the main Earth stargate; we have a number of security features that can be discussed later,” she said, looking to Claudia with a small smile, “If you would like to do the honours,” she said, “the symbols you want are,” she waved to the control device, and gestured to them in turn.

Claudia once again bowed to each member of the C’tani delegation, too emotional to thank them individually, although she did notice Aiyana’s slip of the tongue and internally noted it down for the future.

“It’s an honour to be the first one to test the Ring of the Ancestors.” she said as she slowly began to press the seven glyphs

Unlike its cousins this stargate did not have moving parts, instead it was entirely solid state, the chosen glyph illuminating in sequence, an undulating slightly harsh edged buzzing sound echoing from the stargate before each one lit in sequence, to simulate the movement of the older style until it illuminated under each of the seven locks visible above the ground-level surface, on the seventh, a stylized vertical line with a circle next to it, the gate activated; for the crowd present and those watching at home it was likely the first time they had seen the Ring of the Ancestors actually functioning, and Aiyana gave a broad, fond, smile.

Claudia slowly moved towards the stargate, she had read reports on the old stargate project and understood the theories behind it but she never had the opportunity to see it in action before it was destroyed.

“It’s amazing,” Just the energy the gate must release to create a stable wormhole....is astronomical” she said lightly touching the portal created. “you can actually see the fluctuations in the event horizon.” she added quite shocked by the spectacle in front of her, as, well nothing quite compared to seeing the real thing

“Indeed.” Amelia said walking up beside her old friend. “I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing one of these in action.”

Aiyana fought the urge to correct them; to her the energy required was actually impressively low; compared to the energy conversion processes it had to perform in turning entire human bodies, to say nothing of gateships or bulk-cargo units, into energy and then back into matter; the transporter process was one that other lesser civilizations had mastered, however, so it was one that was less outwardly impressive, but often those other cultures had learned it by studying stargates. Instead she looked to Virgil.

“We have radio contact with Duat,” he said, “if anyone would like to step through, it is quite safe,” he said, “we’ll have you back in a moment or two.”

“It would be my first trip through a stable wormhole,” Claudia said, although she didn’t actually move from her position in front of the stargate “...so i’m going to be transferred into energy and then reformed into living matter on the other side.”

“That’s correct,” Aiyana said, “there’s an element of simulated conciousness, too, that makes you aware of it. As the sending stargate has just been moved and activated after a long dormancy, you may experience an extreme sensation of cold as you are reintegrated on the other side, that’s normal, and has no medical effect that you wouldn’t get from dropping a dozen ice-cubes down the back of your shirt.”

“I’ll have to read about that later,” she said “now I just have to punch the tyres and step through the wormhole myself to gain some first hand information on the experience” she added briefly hesitating before somewhat awkwardly stepping through the active wormhole.
The visual sensation was of passing through a tube of numinous cyan and blue light, there was no pain, no sensation of the body being dissolved; perhaps the most important and underrated part of the machine was that which allowed the body to step into the dissemination puddle and be disassembled but retain consciousness, simulating in its buffers the entire experience. The illusion was multi-sensory, but not disorienting (one could do that when one was also simulating the inner ear as well.

Claudia stepped out in a wide room with an armourglass window opposite, looking down over the night curve of an unfamiliar world. Cool-coloured metallic walls rose on either side of the gate-room and several people around the stargate waited for her. A tall elven man looked at her with a smile, “Hello,” he said, holding out his hand to steady her in case she fell, “Welcome to the Mictlan system, you’ve travelled a little over five hundred light years.”

Of course, she was absolutely covered in frozen condensation from the effect; as clever as the Alterans were, there was some bugs in the process, and there was ice across her entire body and clothes.

Claudia immediately started shivering as soon as she stepped clear of the wormhole, the Malgravean almost slipping to the floor as her shoes were unaccustomed to the sudden cold conditions they found themselves in, although she found herself supported by an extremely tall elf.

“I think I would’ve had an embarrassing trip if you weren’t here to lend a helping hand,” Claudia said bowing in greeting despite the harsh cold she felt. “I’m Claudia Donovan, the Minister of Science and Engineering of the United Kingdom of Malgrave...although I suspect that you might of been told that before my arrival.”

He smiled, “Axatirno nos Olormaranwe, the other First Senator, I was indeed,” he said, “You’ll want to stand clear; you can’t go back through I’m told, you’ll need to wait to see if anyone else comes through then we can send you back. It should be a smooth trip back,” he said, holding her hand lightly and stepping away from the stargate as another greeter stepped up.

Claudia smiled in return, although she was still feeling the cold from the journey through the stargate, “I’ve been told that matter can only travel one way through an active wormhole. Is that why I can’t just step back to return home?”

“The wormhole isn’t actually the problem, I believe it’s an engineering limitation to prevent two people walking into it at the same time and turning into something with more limbs than teeth,” the elf said.

Nadzieja Brzezicki chose that time to step through the stargate, she figured that travelling with the exploration ship was too dangerous but a little trip through the ring of the ancestors would provide her with something to tell her local ASG centre.

Another C’tani was of course there to help her, and she received much the same treatment, and the pair were helped to avoid from falling, before being walked to the window for a moment or two; which had both a spectacular view from a dedicated space station, and of course, a space heater that at least took the edge off.

“You certainly are a tall bunch of people,” Nadzieja said, she wasn’t as cold as Claudia was when she left the stargate but the space heater was certainly appreciated nonetheless “What exactly am I looking at here? It’s an impressive view and I feel quite honoured to see it but I don’t exactly know where I am at the moment.”

“This is Duat,” the woman with her said, “the capital-world and homeworld of the Great Civilization. You have come approximately five hundred light years,” she said, “I’m Skya by the by,” she said, “nice to meet you,” she said, “You can just about see the Lopra Highlands there,” she said, pointing to an area on the edge of a wide area with less lights, possibly a sea or open rural area, where a string of city lights was visible.

“It’s amazing to think that we’ve travelled such a great distance in such a short space of time while our earlier probes have been travelling for decades and they’ve only just left the confines of our solar system.” Claudia said once again amazed by the sheer science and indeed engineering behind her brief journey.

“I’m Nadzieja Brzezicki, the Minister of Finance of the United Kingdom of Malgrave,” Nadzieja said bowing in greeting. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and get a glimpse of another part of the galaxy.” she added turning her attention to admiring the scenery, from here she could only see a relatively small portion of the surrounding area but she imagined that she would be able to use the gift or a small shuttle to visit here in the future.

The stargate shut down, and almost immediately began to dial again; the Duat stargate was the same model as the Gift, and its only difference was the point of origin glyph. It was in fact much younger, only a few decades or centuries old, far more recent than any other in the galaxy, save those constructed by imitators such as the Atumites.

“I guess we’re returning home, eh?” Nadzieja told Claudia with a grin, despite her previous fears about travelling through the stargate she had enjoyed herself during this short journey

Claudia smiled in return and once again bowed towards the C’tani helpers, although at this point the excessive bowing was providing a noticeable strain on her spine.

“I imagine that we can return in the future,” she said focusing her attention on the First Senator that had stopped her from falling. “Isn’t that right First Senator?”

“Of course,” Axatirno said, “that is the point after all,” he added, “at least of this station,” he added with a small smile, “Do say hello to my compatriot.”

“In that case I will certainly plan one of my future vacations here, although Skya I might require a tour guide to ensure I don’t get lost.” Nadzieja said.

“I wouldn’t think it would be possible to get lost in the C’tani civilisation unless you actively tried and turned off your implants.” Claudia said, of course she didn’t actually know how stuff worked and so was just making educated guesses based on her experiences at home.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll have the kinks worked out in Malgravean implant accessibility within a few hours,” he said, as they headed back toward the stargate, and he gave a small smile, “I’d love to have you stay, but I’m sure people are eager to see that the gate works and isn’t just sending you nowhere,” he said.

Nadzieja seemed visibly excited to be stepping through the stargate again, and after a small bow she stepped into the portal and vanished.

“I imagine Amelia would try and work out the possibility that we accidentally got sent to a black hole if we stayed around any longer,” Claudia said with a chuckle, although a small part of her actually suspected that her friend would probably do something like that, “Once more into the breach I go.” she said stepping into the portal after Nadzieja.

[Malgrave]

The Remembrance of Rythek’s flight bays were a busy space, akin to a busy rail terminus, it was laid across with wide bridges and platforms that had been set up to allow thousands of modules, short range transport craft similar to the one that the group had arrived in were set out in a wide grid in hundreds of meters across the portside bay. The scale of the engineering that had constructed the vessel was obvious from this and more than a few things about the design stood out as immediately strange; the ceiling of the room was a mirror of the ground levels, with gravity reversed above; or perhaps below. It was not immediately obvious which side was which, for although a wide aperture showed the glowing curve of the Earth below.

Waiting on one of the long platforms Aiyana seemed quite comfortable, her expression was a warm smile, and she had changed from the formal robes she’d worn earlier to a looser garment of pale white intelligent fabrics that glistened slightly in the influence of pale lights that shone from amidst the platforms on the ceiling.

“Welcome to the Remembrance,” she said, to each of those who disembarked from the module that the Ancestral Study Group’s leader had been scheduled to be aboard, she did not offer her hands, instead she had her hands within the sleeves of her robe, wanting to avoid bowing to literally everyone, though she did concede to a nod of her head to each.

Eliot Reymont was the first member of the Malgravean delegation to exit the shuttlecraft, she technically wasn’t the most senior member of the delegation but Claudia had been distracted by the journey, and the technical layout of the ship for several minutes now and she suspected that the C’tani wouldn’t be amused if they had to wait for several minutes outside their own spaceship. Nadzieja Brzezicki followed closely behind, the recently appointed Minister was slightly intimidated by the sheer superiority of the technology on display and she kept close to her friend. Emily Lowwe was the next to leave, in typical fashion the young scientist was wearing the same-old uniform that she wore to work, but she had a somewhat noticeable spring in her step and she had a Kouralian/Malgravean flagpin attached to her lapel. At that point Claudia Donovan finally left the ship and joined the rest of the delegation, her arrival causing Eliot Reymont to spring into action.

“It’s an honour to be here, Comrade Tiercean,” Eliot said bowing to the C’tani in greeting, with her fellow delegation members following in kind, “I hope that our citizens have found their way to their residential quarters without causing anyone trouble.”

Aiyana bowed and when she straightened up again, reaching up to adjust the ringlets of her hair she smiled broadly, “I’ve no doubt that they’re a delight,” she said, looking around the vast space, there were many there, still disembarking, and the crowds were all around, the sound of children’s laughter and conversation was a susurrus that filled the space. “I’m much more concerned that they’re enjoying themselves, and you, as well,” she said to Eliot, “I trust your trip was pleasant enough?” she asked, the transport modules they were using were a sleek design intended for short range flights, with transparent surfaces that resembled nothing so much as a combination between a rail carriage and an aircraft, their propulsion mechanisms hidden on the lower parts of them.

“You must be wanting to explore?” she asked, “shall we go?” she added a moment later, “I do hope no one is afraid of spiders by the by,” she added, with a slightly mischievous grin.

In the background Aiyana and the delegation would be able to see hundreds of Malgravean families departing from their own shuttlecraft, as they left some of the parents gently guarded their children in order to prevent them from running wild across the flight deck, but others simply lifted their child onto their shoulders so that they’d be able to get a good look at the seemingly endless row of C’tani spaceships, with both sets of children laughing as their parents tried to keep them entertained as they made their way to their rooms.

On closer inspection Aiyana would be able to notice a stark difference between the parents and their children, as around a quarter of the parents each wore a surgical mask in order to protect themselves from anything nearby that could cause trouble with their weakened immune system. In comparison the younger children had no problems, and they each sought to touch and talk to everyone they saw.

“It was an incredible experience,” Eliot said, although next time she could certainly do without the deep scientific discussion that broke out between Emily and Claudia, “I’m certain that you’ve created enough recreation facilities to keep us busy, although the fact that we’re visiting a world of the ancestors should be enough excitement for some of us.”

Nadzieja Brzezicki paled somewhat at the last comment, “Spiders? Why do you ask?” she said nervously looking around her for the cursed creatures.

“Well it’ll be a little disappointing if anyone’s blazé about it,” Aiyana said, as she walked along the platform, watching a raised baggage line cycle past, for hand-luggage, “it’s actually rather exciting for me,” she said, “I haven’t been anywhere new in what seems like centuries,” she said, “but yes, we have a wide range of recreation aboard, the ship has park-domes and we also have ball courts, theatres, gymnasia, libraries, simulation chambers and so forth.”

“Why would anyone set themselves on fire over poor entertainment?” Claudia said speaking for the confused group, “It sounds like the cultural district of every Malgravean city....minus the simulation chambers.”

“Do you have a tennis court?” Emily asked, “I’m quite busy these days but I do like to set aside at least one day a week for a friendly game.” she added, of course it typical delved into a more competitive affair and numerous injuries but the C’tani figure didn’t need to know that

When Aiyana walked forward she would start to feel a small tugging sensation on the bottom of her left arm, as one of the female children from the earlier group tried to get her attention without alerting her parents.

“Oh, blazé, it means indifferent to,” she said, and she paused as she smiled, looking at the girl who had caught her sleeve, and she smiled, “Hi there,” she said, turning around and crouching down a little, “are you with someone? Oh, yes,” she said, soon finding the nearby parents, or seeming to, “what can I help you with?”

In response the small girl simply blushed and briefly buried her head into her arms seemingly taken over by a bout of shyness, “Are you an ancient? Mummy said we going to an ancient world.”

Aiyana paused for a moment, a strange expression in her features, “We are all going to an ancient world together,” she said, and wondered how to phrase herself for a moment, the answer was of course, yes but she didn’t want to say that, and she didn’t like lying; at least when she could manage without it, “Maybe we’ll find some Ancients,” she said, “but we know that most of them ascended long ago,” she said, with a pang of loneliness, “What’s your name?”

“My name is Rosario,” she said with a massive grin, obviously quite pleased to introduce herself to the C’tani, “You are my friend now so we can see the ancients together!” she added as she gave Aiyana a small hug to try and cheer her up

At that point her parents finally caught up with her, a young brunette sweeping her up into her arms despite her own relative short stature, the Malgravean laying down a series of affectionate familial kisses on her cheeks and forehead, continuing despite the over dramatic protests from her embarrassed child.

”Rosario Agresta. What have I told you about running off on your own? the parent said in Malgravean ancient

As that was happening the other parent deeply bowed to every member of the group, the Malgravean muttering small apologise to herself before she stood up and started speaking to the party “I apologise if we’ve accidentally interrupted any important official business, Comrades. It’s just that Rosario is extremely curious, and we were confused by one of the machines”

“Oh, think nothing of it,” Aiyana said, “It’s wonderful to be curious, it should be encouraged,” she said, and looked up to Rosario, “Nice to meet you Rosario,” she said, in the same language, or at least, almost the same language, she had a strong foreign accent that sounded almost but not quite silly, and some of her pronunciation was off, “I hope there’s nothing wrong with any of the machines?” she asked.

“You’ll find out in time that curiosity is a celebrated trait in Malgrave,” Claudia said crouching until she was level with the child, “I spent my early years working with my father in his engineering workshop, and we only had a few accidents over the years.” she added with a smile.

“Oh. It’s just that we’ve never interacted with some of these machines before,” one of the parents said blushing from their own embarrassment. “It won’t happen again.”

”Do you want to watch me run later,” Rosario asked, although she spoke ancient at a far slower pace compared to the adults I am super fast! she added in an excitable tone

“Of course,” she said, “I’ll be reachable on the,” she said a word, and paused, switching to Common, “the internal communication system, you just need to ask for Aiyana and if I’m not too busy showing important people around, you’ll get through to me,” she said.

Rosario beamed another smile and gave Aiyana another hug before she was once again lifted into the air by one of her parents.

“We shall let you continue on with your previous discussion,” one of the parents said switching to common, “I would be delighted if you could spare a few minutes to spend with Rosario at the local park.”

“I’ll make sure I do,” Aiyana said, with a broad smile, “thank you,” she said, and turned to the group, “And, well, yes, the necrontyr like spiders and bugs of all sorts; their homeworld had many arachni-forms on it, and many of the maintenance machines that run the ship are based on the ancient species that populated their homeworld; I’d recommend letting the tour guide know that if you go to the engineering spaces,” she said to Nadzieja, “though you may be relieved to know that the robots on the passenger decks are more like these,” she said, waving to a passing android of burnished green metal, its face was handsome and impassive, as though a statue had stepped down from a plinth and was currently engaged in passing out leaflets.

A cleaning machine passed by their group, a trilobite-machine the size of a discus that buffed along the floor, headed toward a drinks spillage somewhere down the platform. “Of course there are these.”

“Are these creatures sentient?” Claudia asked, although it was impossible to determine if she was talking about the spiders or the robots handing out the leaflets to a bunch of passing Malgraveans, “I’d be interested in taking a look and seeing how these robots function, but not if they are sentient.”

“In that case i’ll stay clear of the engineering sector,” Nadzieja said with a slight chuckle, “I’ll leave that to Claudia and all of the other gearheads” she added, all colour draining from her body as she spotted the strange robot crawling along the floor.

“You should probably create some sort of application that interacts with the MalTec Ascension and informs someone if they are about to run into those types of creatures,” Eliot said placing a calming hand on Nadzieja’s shoulders.

“I could provide some assistance with this project, although Claudia was instrumental in developing the MalTec Ascension so she could probably provide a greater level of assistance.” Emily told Aiyana, although she had helped develop the interface that allowed the SIS to link up with other implants used by foreign intelligence services.

“I’m going to be fair too busy, although you certainly shouldn’t miss your shuttle because you wanted to mess around. It’s not like a MalTra train,” Claudia said with a sad smile, “I bet that a lot of people are going to require the services of the ASG on this trip, and it wouldn’t be fair if I delegated all the work to my assistants.”

“Oh,” Emily said with a slight frown, “I don’t think I am going to miss the shuttle, and someone should call for me if that is the case, right?”

“Oh yes certainly,” Aiyana said, “we have tracking software but I’m not sure you would find that such things really help,” she said, “they tend to just make you paranoid,” she said, though she didn’t explain the reasons, “But I understand there’s already a project to interface the local noospherics to the Ascension,” she said. “That should be up and running within a short time period, perhaps you would like to take a look at that?” she asked Claudia, “and no, the androids here aren’t sapient, nor are the other maintenance mechanoids, the ship-mind can speak through them or control them directly, but they’re just another part of the structure of the ship,” she said as they reached the edge of the bay and passed into a wide corridor, though smaller than the duplex flight deck, this was an area with access to internal elevator and conveyor systems, “I’m sure you won’t mind being near my own quarters,” Aiyana said, “to maximise efficiency all single occupancy staterooms are the same, there’s a few long term inhabitants of the ship who have larger quarters but that’s not me,” she said.

They passed a busker close by, a necrontyr man with a short beard, pale as driven snow, who held a long stringed instrument in a vertical position against the crook of his arm, singing as he played with nimble fingers.

Now, the speed of c is a wall, they say, when you're pushing the speed of light
That cuts you off from yesterday, pushing the speed of light
But you know someday you're gonna win that race
And fly back the years to your starting space
And you'll stay awhile 'fore you're back in space, pushing the speed of light
Pushing the speed of light

It was an old, traditional song, and not a necrontyr one, but it seemed appropriate, Aiyana paused for a moment, looking at the man and then walked to one of the elevators; the area was a cross-shaped docking area for internal elevators and they were relatively free form within their tubes, moving in internal tracks almost like blood cells; when one set of doors closed, the elevator was moved away, and another slotted into place, replacing it shortly after and the doors opening.

For the Rythek’s shipmind, the whole operation was almost autonomic, landing remote modules and running appliance services were tasks that were coordinated locally, rather than driven by the main shipmind itself, and the similarity to blood cells and vessels did not end there, the mind paid no more direct concious attention to the elevators than Aiyana did to her heart (though like the Ancient, it could interfere with that autonomic system if it desired), instead its main priority at the moment was getting to know its new passengers. There were going to be the best part of a million additional people on board, and that made the Rememberence both giddy and worried; and of course, there were those thousands, tens of thousands, even, of C’tani on board. Aiyana and her compatriots were in no way alone, the journey had excited more than

Claudia smiled suitably pleased at the responses she received from Aiyana, although Nadzieja just frowned somewhat disturbed of the idea that a C'tani spider or other multiple-legged creature could be hiding around the next corner or working away inside one of the maintenance ducts.

"I am just going to hope that the spider-robots stay away from me," Nadzieja said with a blank expression, "I definitely won't imagine that they are in the walls and plotting to smother me in my sleep." she added with a sharp nod.

"If I have time I should be able to give a passing glance to the work being done," Claudia said with a smile, although she doubted that she would have any free time whatsoever during this trip, "I should be able to determine any possible snags that might pop-up while trying to connect the two systems together," she added turning her attention back to the robots, "In that case would it be possible to inspect some of the inner workings of these robots? It should be interesting to see how they compare to some of the basic maintenance and cleaning droids in operation in Malgrave."

"I don't think the shipmind would be pleased if you started tearing into different kinds of robots, especially if the ship is linked to them," Eliot said, the fact that Claudia had asked for permission was certainly a step in the right direction but she didn't want to have to explain some form of mechanical accident to the Prime Minister, "I don't have a problem being located next to your quarters. I imagine it's quite difficult trying to fit close to a million Malgravean citizens considering our health problems and other requirements."
Emily frowned at the comment about health concerns, although the surprise addition of local music cheered her up and she gave the busker a few Malvian notes, "I would've loved to invite Elena here, but she couldn't find the time to get off work and I don't think she would approve of my decision to join the exploration shuttle."

He took the notes and examined them, he’d not actually been playing for money, but he wasn’t going to complain, and folded them with one hand in a dextrous move, slipping them into a pocket before he continued.

If the necrontyr looked at the notes he would notice that the 20 Malvian note had a picture of Nikola Tesla, the former Malgravean Prime Minister on one side and a basic outline of the headquarters of the Ancestral Study Group on the other side.

“If you want to examine a robot,” Aiyana said, “I suggest doing so in one of the fabrication centers or workshops, they’re quite high-energy and tampering with them while they’re active can be quite harmful,” she said, “they also defend themselves as a rule if someone comes at them with a screwdriver outside of their maintenance routine,” she said, trying to say that in a way that wouldn’t alarm Nadzieja, for indeed most of the bug-shaped machines were dual-purpose and acted as the ship’s security force, and that wasn’t something she expected the arachnophobe would be comfortable with.

“I’ll try and make my way over to a fabrication centre,” Claudia said with a smile, she might of been considered eccentric by some of her counterparts but she was a keen engineer and understood the importance of working in the proper environment, “I certainly won’t be trying to take apart a drone when they are working, that would be rather rude.”

“I suggest that you inform every Malgravean on the ship with a scientific or engineering background about those workshops,” Eliot said, she doubted that anyone would try to take apart a machine while it was working but it only took one idiot to mess things up, “When did you learn Malgravean ancient by the way? I don’t know many people that speak the language of the ancestors outside of Malgrave.”

“Oh, I happen to be something of an expert in early Alteran society,” she said, “it’s always been an interest of mine,” she said, “I’m glad you approve,” she added, “I’m sure we can inform people, that won’t be a problem, and we do have quite a lot of multipurpose rooms that can be converted if there is demand,” she said, as the elevator doors closed, and there was a soft purr from the sides of the elevator, though there was no sensation of motion at all.

“An expert?” Claudia said interjecting herself into the conversation, “I have to ask if you’ve seen the artefacts and records on display at the headquarters of the ASG, or if you’ve taken a look at the teaching materials sent to students attending local ASG centres.”

“It’s a pleasure to talk to someone that can understand the language of the ancestors, but you might want to practice with a Malgravean since I noticed a few slight mistakes earlier on,”” Eliot said before switching back to common, “I imagine that a lot of people will focus on spending time with their families, but it helps to be prepared.”

“You say that like robot construction isn’t a family activity,” she said with a broad smile, as the elevator doors opened again, here, they were in a wide high-ceilinged corridor with long walls interspersed by mosaic inlays of startling clarity depicting historical scenes, these were machine-assembled, and if one looked very closely there was no sign of bonding agents, instead the millions of tiles had been created at the same time the walls had been, as pre-fabricated sections elsewhere in the ship, “And, I’m sure I would love to practice,” she said. She’d given a small smile when Eliot had said so, though she was consciously not offended, and she had to admit, for all she knew the Malgraveans had correctly based their pronunciations on a later version of the language, the dialect that had been her mother tongue was probably not the one that had been in use when her people’s descendants had returned to Malgrave, after all, though Ancient changed little over the millennia, it did change.

“We should be taking on baggage soon, so if anything’s not in your rooms, it will probably arrive later,” she said, waving her hand to one of the smooth metal doors, with her name written beside it on a small screen.

The door slid open to reveal what was in all honesty a slightly underwhelming cabin design, there was only so much one could do to spruce up the basic pattern and it was set with a high bed that was covered in braided covers, warm pastel hues for drapes that looked over a window set in the far side of the bedroom, and various accoutrements, a writing desk, food-preparation unit and a few other simple necessities.

Aiyana paused, thinking for a moment, “I can’t say that I’ve seen much of the Study Group’s materials, or at least, I’ve seen a few of the more academic books but I’m not entirely sure what your members normally have as the curriculum for introduction materials,” she paused by the doorway.

“It’s considered a family activity by some in Malgrave, but I imagine that people will be looking to find entertainment that they usually can’t find back home,” Eliot said with a smile, she had also spent hundreds of hours in workshops growing up but she wanted to use her time checking out other facilities, “I am certain that you’ll have time to practice during your journey. I suspect that quite a few Malgraveans will be trying to brush up on their own ancient during this journey, and active members of the ASG like to communicate in the language socially as well.”

Emily shoved her head into Aiyana’s room without much thought, the Malgravean was curious about how the C’tani organised their own residential quarters, and she found herself surprised by the rather basic nature of the room.

“You said that this is your room?” she said as she looked over the room again, “It reminds me of the small room i’ve got besides my office in the research colony.”

“In that case I certainly hope that the writing desk and the selection of Spirean teas have managed to arrive on time,” Nadzieja said, “I can’t get much sleep without a relaxing cup of tea, and I hope to continue writing my report into how recent increases in the rate of universal basic income, and the childcare system have impacted the population.”

Aiyana rested her hand on the crown of Emily’s head for a moment and gently pushed her back out of the door, guiding her back a step, “If you want to come in, you can ask!” she said, “but there’s nothing too special in here,” she added, “I don’t normally live aboard, my home is back on Duat,” she said.

Claudia grinned again seemingly pleased to talk about the workings on the ASG again, “ASG centres have several books on information we’ve gathered from the limited supply of ancient artefacts we were able to bring to the new homeland after the exodus, and new items we’ve uncovered since leaving isolation.” she said, “ASG centres are also quite independent so they maintain their own teaching standards. For example Omsk teaches about the spiritual and magical connection with the ancestors while Pakosc tends to put a bit of engineering into its lessons.”

Emily just frowned upon being pushed out of Aiyana’s room, although the sparkle in her eye indicated that this wasn’t the first time she had been pushed out of a room in this manner, “Oh. It’s not my main room as well, and it used to be a storage space for old papers. It’s just that Elena is rather insistent that I maintain a decent sleeping schedule for some reason.”

“You should,” Aiyana said, “sleeping is quite important,” she said, and grinned at Claudia, seeming to find the lady quite amusing, “I have been meaning to ask a little more about your people, in fact, the exodus, you were not one people before that? How did evidence of the ancestors become so important?” she paused, “Would you like to come in, some of you?” she asked, and looked upward, “Remembrance, can you pop some more seats in here?”

“Of course,” the ship’s voice said, and a few more chairs appeared with soft squeaking-pop noises, similar to small hydrogen explosions in sound, the small compressed thunderclap of air pressure equalizing.

She stepped back and waved with an open gesture to indicate anyone that wanted to come in could.

“I understand that sleep is important. It’s just tha--” Emily said cutting off her own reply short as she rushed to inspect some of the new furniture that had entered the room. “Did the ship just create these pieces of furniture or did it transport them from a storage facility?” she asked suitably impressed by the technological display
Claudia was also impressed by the sudden appearance of the furniture, and in usual circumstances she would’ve worked together with her colleague but she had questions to answer about Malgrave. “I believe someone has given you the wrong information. Malgrave was established in 1910 before the exodus.” Claudia said her nose scrunching up in confusion, “Are you interested in learning about how people from different cultures and backgrounds came together to form the Malgravean nation? We simply existed as an independent scientific and engineering institution and contracted our assistance to other government's across the world.” she said her previous confused expression once again turning into a smile as she came to talk about her favourite subject, “We were rather ignorant about our connection to the ancestors until Luana Caivano and Claudia De Campo uncovered and activated an ancient site around one hundred years ago. At the same time the organisation were getting rather tired of working for government's that didn’t always respect science or engineering, and so they came together and decided to establish an independent state based on science, engineering and equality. Malgrave was originally established on the land that contained the original ancient site but that was lost after the exodus and we haven’t be able to return or reclaim the land.”

The C’tani woman moved to one of the new seats, “Teleported from other rooms I expect, creation would be similar though,” she said, and gave Claudia a look of interest, “What manner of site are we talking about? A habitation or something more specific?” she was interested despite herself, she had not been entirely aware of their history, but she expected there would be a touch of both, if her people were anything to go by.

“It’s purpose wasn’t exactly known before we were forced to flee and establish our new homeland,” Claudia said as Eliot and Nadzieja moved into the room and quietly occupied a couple of the seats, “It was theorised that it could’ve been used as an advanced medical facility or somewhere to prepare for stasis or an advanced form of reproduction, but unfortunately a lot of our records about the facility were destroyed when one of our ships sank during the exodus.” she explained nervously rubbing her shoulder as she finished her “It’s the reason that every Malgravean citizen is able to use ancient technology today.”

“That sounds remarkably interesting, do you have any images of the place?” Aiyana wondered, “it seems like a rather important archeological find in itself,” she added. She was curious, but also she wondered if there wasn’t an answer to the Malgravean Immunodeficiency to be found there, if they had indeed used technology in some Alteran medical center to alter themselves, then perhaps the genetic disorder endemic to their population would still remain in the data-crystals of such a place. It had been in vogue from time to time to make cosmetic alterations to the largely perfected Alteran-human biology, and sometimes they had needed additional mentoring or healing at a genetic level.

“We have a few photographs and artefacts from the site in the headquarters of the ASG,” Claudia explained, “We use them during public holidays to remember our former homeland, our connection to the ancestors and our continuing journey towards ascension.”

At that point Eliot Reymont interjected herself into the conversation, the subject technically involved foreign affairs and she believed that it could benefit from an expert. “In recent years we have attempted to peacefully negotiate the return of our former homeland from its current imperialist occupier, the Imerians,” Eliot said obviously upset over the current status of the former homeland, “It shouldn’t be that difficult since we’re technically allies, but for some reason they have refused to even consider negotiations and they’re still rather annoyed that we sunk a few of their slaver vessels a few years ago.”

“If we’d known at the time that we defeated them, we would have made a point to expel the settlers along with freeing the slaves,” Aiyana said, “it was quite a shame, but perhaps the chance to deal with the Imerians once more will arise,” she added, “I ordered the invasion of their country, perhaps I should on reflection, not have given it back.”

“I imagine you didn’t know much about Malgrave in that time period since we had only recently left isolation,” Eliot said, although she was certainly pleased with the sentiment behind the C’tani’s words. “We have tried to track behind those who remained behind to delay the Imerian advance, and those who just simply couldn’t join the transport fleet for medical or pure logistical reasons but we haven’t had much success.”

“It’s possible that they were put into slavery after they occupied the island,” Nadzieja said from the comfort of her seat, “Since we haven’t heard anything it’s also possible that the Imerians simply killed everyone on the island and just continued filling the territory with their own settlers.”

“Now there we might be able to help, the treaty we imposed upon the Imerians gives us an unlimited right to travel there and interview and support former slaves, including in repatriating them to other countries,” she said, “I suspect we can do something about that,” she added, “there are many non-governmental and governmental organizations involved already.”

Eliot opened her mouth to speak but no words actually came out, although her colleagues shared a similar look of shock. “I see,” she said as she began to slowly take in the new information, “How would you figure out those that have a connection to Malgrave? I can’t imagine the Imerians would be very forthcoming with that information. As I mentioned earlier they don’t hold Malgraveans in high regard at the moment.”

“Simple enough, we ask, we ask them where they came from, it’s only been a few generations, beyond which if they have Malgravean Immunodeficiency we will know by that means, and if you get a few interested in immigration who aren’t originally Malgraveans, then would that be a serious barrier?” she asked.

Claudia shuddered at the mention of MIDD. “I can’t imagine how they’ve managed to survive without the proper medication required to boost the immune system and counteract some of the mental issues caused by MIDD.”

“I’d probably only have ten or twenty years left to live instead of thirty without the proper medication,” Emily said with a sad smile, “I feel for my comrades currently stuck in Imeriata without the proper care and medical attention they require.”

“We would be extremely thankful if you would help us connect with our long lost comrades.” Nadzieja said with a smile, “I can also say that we’d be extremely willing to give full citizenship status to any Imerian former-slave that wishes to join our homeland. It should be relatively easy for them to find employment as we have plenty of infrastructure projects ongoing at the moment.”

“I will make inquiries as soon as I may,” Aiyana said, her blue eyes settling on Emily for a moment, wondering at her mood, and at her sadly reduced lifespan, she gave a moment to reach out and squeeze her hand. “But please, tell me more about your history with the Ancients, as I say, it’s something very much of interest to me.”

“We are extremely thankful for your assistance in this matter.” Eliot said briefly bowing in respect towards Aiyana, the action repeated by all of the other Malgraveans in the room.

Emily seemed rather confused by the comforting touch by the C’tani, to her it was rather common knowledge that she’d have a reduced lifespan and she had come to terms with that fact quite a few years ago. “I don’t have much of a personal connections with the ancestors, unless you count the work my older sister has done.” Emily said her expression turning considerably brighter as she started to think about Amelia’s adventures. “I still can’t quite believe that my sister has risked her lives on multiple occasions and undergone some quite horrific experiences to gain a deeper understanding of the process of ascension, and save countless beings.”

“Ah yes, she even found the Cardin people, and revived them from their stasis,” she said, “quite impressive, I think I saw her once,” she said, “but hopefully we can help find some concrete information on the Alterans for you today,” she said. She was a little wierded out by the Malgraveans bowing in thanks to her as she sat, it felt strangely disconcerting, and for a moment she inwardly shuddered at the prospect of being worshipped by the Malgraveans, and calmed herself slightly.

“You know the Royal Institute used to consider assignment given to Amelia to be a bit of a punishment. It either involved tedious paperwork or extreme danger, and well quite a few people died trying to explore the galaxy on their own.” Emily said shuddering at some of the so-called samples that had been returned from those unlucky explorers, “Amelia was given the assignment because she had a habit of accidentally improving her superiors work, and well when you combine that with our.....biological ancestors it meant that she wasn’t that popular in the Institute for a while, but since she returned home a national hero her status within the institute has changed.”

“I should hope so, especially as those dangers seem to have manifested a few times,” she said, “I can see why being sent to the Revenant Worlds and the more dangerous parts of Crystal Spires were not exactly seen as choice assignments, though she seems to have thrived nonetheless.”

“I just hope that I can benefit the community on the same level,” Emily said with an optimistic nod of her head, although she was already considered an expert on nanotechnology and several other fields, “I’ve already been shot once though and I didn’t like it so I am going to take a more peaceful approach towards gaining a deeper understanding of the ancients.”

“I am sure your sister didn’t like being shot or any of the other things,” she said with a small smile, “though I certainly wouldn’t wish that on you.”

“Oh! No!” Emily said with a slight squeal of embarrassment, “I-I-I just meant that I didn’t like being shot. Amelia isn’t fond of violence as well but she persists to uncover more information on the ancestors. I just wasn’t allowed to serve in the TDF so I imagine that would be a drawback for any dangerous missions.”

“I think I just realised that i’m the only Malgravean here to have served in the TDF” Eliot said with a slight chuckle.

Claudia sheepishly raised her hand, “I technically served in the TDF for a few weeks, but apparently they don’t like it when you try and improve their equipment. I mean who would’ve thought that improving explosives and the bases electronic systems would be seen as a bad thing.”

Nadzieja also raised her hand rather meekly. “I also served in the TDF but I didn’t serve in any combat role. I wrote about the minimum wage, welfare payments and over social solidarity issues for Defence Monthly!” she said obviously quite proud of her time spent in the military.

“I just failed the standard medical test,” Emily said with an awkward shrug of her shoulders, “I guess the C’tani don’t have any form of conscripted military service.”

“We have nothing of that nature, no,” she said, “though in fairness, we have rather a lot of military resources that we hardly use anyway,” she said, “longstanding paranoia. I was in a military once, or at least a paramilitary, but that was a very long time ago,” she said, “Speaking of defence matters,” she said, “I should like to speak to you, Miss Reymont, about Malgravean Defence, if you are prepared to have a private conversation about that, later?”

“It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you,” Emily said with a smile, although it was hard to tell if she was joking or being paranoid herself, “I can’t imagine that you’d use up much of your military capacity anyway unless you got into a galaxy-sized war.”

“I’d be prepared to talk about defence matters,” Eliot said, she was quite surprised to receive the request but it worked with her government's plans to shore up their defence against a future Atumite attack

“Oh I should not worry about a galactic war, such a thing can’t really happen, though there have been some big ones, they’ve all been stupid, and we’ve kept out of them, which is probably why we have so many resources,” she said, “But, I think you would all like to have a moment to unpack, and then we can maybe have dinner?” she asked Eliot, “I have a menu planned, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t worry about a massive galactic war. I’m more worried about the speed of MIDD research and the threat from Atum.” Emily said

“I certainly don’t mind,” Eliot said, in all honesty she had forgotten to eat breakfast in the rush to get ready for today, “I’m a pescatarian but I don’t mind if you wish to eat meat for any of your meals.”

“I don’t eat meat unless it’s been produced artificially,” she said, “but in deference to Malgravean custom I had made a point to exclude meat and fish as well,” she said, “I’m sure that you will enjoy in any case,” she said, and stood, feeling awkward as she did, “Your staterooms await, ladies.”

“We have the technology to produce meat artificially as well, but we just haven’t developed a taste for meat,” Eliot said with a smile, “I--We are extremely thankful that you’ve invited us into your residence.” she finished, the Malgraveans once again bowing in respect towards Aiyana

Claudia actually suppressed a yawn as she bowed, in typical fashion she hadn’t had much sleep but the added stress of organising the visit meant that she was positively exhausted and ready to nap. “I’ll have to conduct a personal experiment on the beds provided by the C’tani” she said with a smirk

Aiyana grimaced a little but at least got to bow back this time, “Any problems, please do inquire with the ship, they’re conformal standard beds, but we can run up anything else you might require.”

[The Ctan]

Aiyana met Eliot a little while later, she had changed from her formal robes to a more practical and everyday form of dress, short sleeves on a loose-fitting white blouse, almost thick enough to qualify as a jacket, an impression boosted by the pockets on either side above the waist, worn with tighter trousers that accommodate shoes with a low wedge heel. “Ready to go?” she asked, pressing her palm against a panel beside the door, her voice coming through seemingly without any mechanical artifice save a small chime before she spoke.

Eliot had also changed into a different outfit upon visiting her room, and she now wore a tight-fitted jumper that served to keep her warm and hopefully present a nice sight for her dinner partner, alongside this she decided to wear a medium length skirt and some rather comfortable flats, as she typically associated anything else with boring work functions. “I’m ready,” Eliot said bowing in greeting towards Aiyana “I have to say that you look wonderful,” she added with a smile.

The C’tani woman looked at her with a smile, her blue eyes looking down for a moment, “I’m not the only one,” she said, “lovely,” she added, before tilting her heel a little, and giving the woman a grin, “I hope you don’t mind taking a more scenic route, I understand you’re rather fond of trains? There’s an internal freight system we can take a ride on, which might interest you.”

Eliot felt her face redden at the compliment and she turned away and concentrated on walking forwards for a minute, although her face only became a deeper shade of red at the mention of the trains. “I don’t mind that at all. I usually take a few walks across one of the public parks in Epping whenever I feel the work is getting too much,” she said, “My father used to work for MalTra so I have been fascinated with trains from an early age, although my own period at MalTra wasn’t exactly enjoyable I still enjoy travelling on trains and I do get to see the new models being built from time to time.” she added stopping herself before went on another rant about public transport, “I’ll be delighted to use this network.”

She smiled, and walked through the corridors of the residential area, “I’d love to hear more about it,” she said, “transport and travel is something quite important to me,” she said, and then walked that back a little, “among other things of course,” she said, “I don’t work at the moment, of course, blissful retirement,” she said, “but I think I can understand what you mean when you talk about the pressure,” she said, “still, it’s important work,” she said, “I hope you find time to enjoy representing your people.”

“In that case, I would be happy to talk with you about our current transport policy,” Eliot said with a warm smile, “You see when Malgrave left isolation we didn’t have a large amount of resources to rebuild society, so for a few years, the transportation network was rather basic and tended to be focused on trams. In the early ’50s however we started to construct a national train network between our cities, and we also started work on the Epping metro network. It led to a few financial problems at the time since we constructed two layers of tunnels at the same time, but our engineers predicted that the increasing population and the drift of people moving towards the capital would increase strain on the network and make a single layer rather ineffective in a few decades time,” she said taking a moment to breathe and relax before she continued, “I guess you could say that we’ve fallen in love with trains and public transportation since that date. We do have a road network for buses and private vehicles but the major motorways are all toll-operated and that tends to cut down on traffic numbers.” she said turning red once more as she realised how much she had rambled “I love representing the people of Epping. It’s just that walking in the public parks tends to freshen my mind, although I have completely stolen the conversation now. I feel somewhat selfish.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said, “I could listen to you talk for quite a while, about such things, without being in the least bit bored,” she said, “I wonder if it’s in your blood, your Ancestors were very keen on public transport too,” she said, and gave the woman a small smile as she paused, “Here we are,” she said, stopping at a recessed section of the wall with a control terminal beside it, that she waved her hand over, the wall-segment sliding upward slowly to reveal a small carriage within, perhaps large enough for three or four people to sit on each side, “Here we are,” she said, “this is an inspection pod, rather than a passenger unit,” she said; a window in the forward section looked out on what seemed to be a wall, “Take a seat,” she said, as she stepped in, and the doors closed behind them, lights stirring to life, and the wall before them parting along its sides, grey-green metal sliding noiselessly apart, twin doors forming a lozenge shaped aperture with rows of lights leading to different areas, the machine stirred into life and began to move, a soft hum coming from it, and a supple feeling of acceleration. It was a combination of a precision machine and an underground tunnel, the pod moving almost like a piston in its shaft, seeming to touch walls on all sides of its cylindrical section.

“I wouldn’t say that yet,” Eliot said with a smirk, “You haven’t heard me talking about the decision by MalTra to update the current train model used in the metro network or how the construction of the high-speed rail network towards Pakosc was nearly stopped completely due to financial and security concerns,” she added stepping into the carriage in an attempt to hide her reddened face once more. “Is it called an inspection pod because it’s used to inspect different sections of the ship?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her as she blindly sat down on one of the seats inside the carriage “We have something similar that is used to check the metro network during off-peak hours.”

“Quite so,” she said, “in all honesty the number of times you would actually need something like this on a Great Ship is very limited, but it’s nice to have the option, the internal rail lines are something like,” she paused, “ah, there we are,” she said, as the passageway opened up before them, several far larger trains, almost like worms within the tubes, passing by, “a digestive system, you might say. The ship has internal teleportation technology, and the elevators we use are something like a circulatory system, but for moving bulk matter a larger system like this is more efficient,” she said. They could feel the slight rattle of a far larger construct passing them by, perhaps twenty meters in length, articulated in sections, the larger transport pod was not lit on the outside, the lights shining from its gunmetal surface. “The freightways and lightning-rail,” she paused, “I didn’t name it, honest, systems on C’tani worlds are similar, though much bigger.”

“The power for these pods is a form of static electricity, harnessed and converted to regular current flows for the discrete components, though living metal can absorb any electron flow,” she said, “meaning that they are extremely efficient, recovering some of the energy they use by waste heat; the faster they go the more efficient they are. Sadly the ship isn’t that big, and we’re nearly there.”

“I’ve heard the metro network of Epping and other cities described as a circulatory system in the past, but I don’t think I have ever heard it compared to a digestive system,” she said, “Although it certainly makes sense, and well I think we saw some of the internal transportation technology earlier when we visited your room.” she said pausing as she felt the vehicle rumble slightly and she let herself scan the passing construct, once again finding herself impressed by the living metal that seemed to be popular with the C’tani, “I’ve been told that we’re not that good at naming things ourselves. MalTra used to be called the Malgravean State-Owned Rail Transportation, Infrastructure and Research Corporation before it was renamed in the early ’90s.” she said, “Just don’t tell Claudia or the Lowwe sisters about this technology. It’s certainly interesting and different from the system that we use in Malgrave, but I really don’t want to have a conversation with them about taking apart foreign technology to see how it works.”

“Well,” she said, “I know that one of the Lowwe sisters is applying for dual nationality, so perhaps she will be able to find out how these things work, but I think that we have some more ideas on that topic,” she paused, “though taking things like this apart without understanding the necessary tools is rather dangerous. Living metal does not like being taken apart, as a rule, and will try to regenerate itself. Once, I remember, some of our guards found an attempted tech-thief who had accidentally walled himself into a building and needed to be extracted before he could be arrested.”

“I believe she isn’t the first Malgravean citizen to gain dual C’tani-Malgravean citizenship, but she is certainly one of the most eccentric people I have had the pleasure of meeting,” she said pausing as she tried to think of a diplomatic approach. “I like to believe that they wouldn’t get involved in anything dangerous, and they certainly won’t get involved in any illegal behaviour while on the ship. We do respect the C’tani laws on technology, although Claudia does like to pretend to grumble from time to time.

“No, I believe not,” Aiyana said as they reached their destination, the inspection pod reversing along a different line, and slotting into place. Aiyana rose, as the doors at the front of the pod closed and the rear hatch opened, revealing a service corridor, darker than the others, the sea-green colour of the metal surface gleaming wet, with green lighting. Machine-insects the size of footballs scuttled across the ceiling, avoiding them, mimicking the appearance and behaviour of their natural cousins.

Eliot felt herself shudder as she saw the machine-insects scuttle along, she wasn’t particularly scared of insects but it was still quite disturbing to see large robotic forms of insects walking along a partially lit hallway. “I am quite thankful that Nadzieja isn’t here. I imagine she’d be freaking out at the moment,” she said pausing again. “I take it that we’re not passing one of the main corridors of the ship? Where are we going exactly?”

“We’re just under the atmospheric processors for the garden decks,” she paused, and walked to a ladder, with several handholds designed for different anatomies on a three-sided shape, that extended upward, “Just up a deck,” she said, and paused, keeping an eye on Eliot, with a teasing grin.

“Does that mean we’re going to one of the gardens?” she asked, the curiosity of her people had gotten them into trouble before but now she just wanted to know where the C’tani was taking her. “In that case, I hope you prepared a blanket,” she said feeling her face warm up again under Aiyana’s teasing grin as she climbed the ladder

Aiyana watched the Malgravean woman as she climbed the ladder, and hopped easily up after her, the landing above was a smaller area, and a doorway led into a wide corridor that opened into a tiered garden area. The dome itself was perhaps two kilometres across its widest point, and it was ringed along the edge with dining and recreational areas that were currently quite crowded; overhead, the gleaming curve of Earth could be seen, and below, down a short flight of stairs, a wide garden area of green-red grass and spindly, off-world trees that branched in wide spans of leaflike photosynthetic fronds could be seen. “Got it in one,” she said, “and we can picnic if you want,” she said, “I had been thinking of somewhere with a view, though,” she said, “maybe a walk after if you wish?”

Eliot recognised Aiyana’s focus on her as she climbed the ladder, and she once again noticed her face redden as she clambered her way to the surface. Uncharacteristically however only a few drops of blood escaped as the Malgravean Minister focused all of her attention on the domed garden, of course, cities like Epping had dozens of public parks but it was quite a different spectacle to be standing in the middle of an artificial garden on a spaceship that currently held a breathtaking view of Terra.

“I’m quite glad that we entered the park from the service tunnels,” Eliot said with a smile as she offered to help Aiyana exit the tunnel, “It was nice to talk privately, and I am not a massive fan of crowds despite my love of public transport.” she added, of course, the fear of getting an illness was a factor behind the Malgravean fear of crowds, “I can’t quite remember the last time I was able to enjoy a picnic, and a walk sounds rather appealing considering the view.”

Aiyana drew out a handkerchief from her pocket and held it out, “You seem to be bleeding,” she said, “would you like to sit down?” she asked, waving to one of the closer eateries, with scattered Malgraveans near-about from the passengers, androids like the one in the docking bays seemed to provide some of the staff, though others were humans, elves and other peoples.

Eliot muttered a quiet thank you as she accepted the offered handkerchief, although she was still rather embarrassed to caught bleeding. “It’s just a rather common problem that Malgraveans have with---ladders.” she lied as she took a nearby seat. In the background, a small Malgravean was enjoying a large strawberry ice cream cone, the child waving to the new arrivals as his father distracted his mother from immediately moving to clean the massive pile of ice cream that had formed around the kid's face and clothing.

Aiyana gave the child a wave and a smile, drawing a seat for her guest and sitting down for a moment, tapping the smooth surface of the table to dismiss a menu that appeared, and she smiled, “That’s not, in fact, true,” she said, “I can tell, I’ve heard things about Malgraveans, you know,” she added with a broad smile, pretending innocence.

“It could be true,” Eliot said, although she suspected that Aiyana saw quite easily through her attempted lie, “You’ve heard some things about the Malgraveans but I don’t think you know the little known details like our nosebleeds,” she said with a semi-confident smile, even if the nosebleed was a rather common trope in Malgravean cultural productions like Adventurer High.

She reached over to touch Eliot’s face, the gesture was sudden, as though she’d forgotten something, and she caressed her forehead, and cheekbone, a strange feeling of wellness spread from the contact, as Aiyana closed her eyes, and the nose-bleed stopped immediately.

Eliot jumped slightly in her seat startled by the rather sudden contact from Aiyana, although it wasn’t exactly unpleasant and she soon found herself leaning into the touch as a strange positive sensation flowed through her body.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, “It seemed like I should help you through that,” she added, and smiled. “So, picnic?” she asked, “I will just go and get what we need if you wish,” she said.

“I wasn’t aware that you had been blessed with the gift of the ancestors,” Eliot said as she felt the aftermath of the magical contact, “It typically heals itself after a few minutes but I am thankful that you hastened the process, and I can assist you with the preparations for this picnic,” she asked

“Of course,” she said, and reached to the menu, calling up her pre-booked menu and making a few changes, standing up and reaching for Eliot, holding out her hand, “I have some policy questions I will want to ask you too,” she said, “horrid though I feel for bringing business into this.”

“I don’t mind whatsoever. It’s quite a common occurrence for members of the government that are currently in a relationship, especially people like Katia De Campo and Aurelia Wyrzykowski.” she said smiling as she accepted the offered hand. “So feel free to ask questions on government policy, although I obviously can’t give you any classified details as I don’t fancy being buried as a traitor,” she said continuing to hold the hand that was offered to her

“Well,” she said, “We have an ulterior motive for this trip, as you can probably tell, there have been a few mentions in the Royal Malgravean Times that your people would benefit from an alliance with the Great Civilization, would you agree that that is reasonable?” she asked as she stepped up to a counter, a set of baskets and indeed, a large blanket, was soon procured, as well as several dishes that were served in covered, heat-retaining bowls. A hot picnic was strange, but not unreasonable, “What’s your poison for soft-drinks?” she asked.

“The so-called Great Humiliation didn’t result in the same orbital bombardment destruction suffered by the Imerians but our Queen was still forced to surrender herself,” Eliot said a frown forming on her face as she remembered the brief war, “We have established an alliance of sorts with the Dornalians but we’re still quite worried about the threat posed by a second invasion so I guess some figures took to the Royal Malgravean Times to vocalise their concerns and try to gain the attention of someone in the C’tan.” she said her nose scrunching up in confusion even as she was pleased to see the blanket and the food. “I don’t drink any poison soft-drinks.”

“Idiom, Eliot,” she said, “by that, I mean what manner of drinks do you like? I don’t think anything on the alcoholic side would be wise,” she said, not just because Malgraveans had an infamously low tolerance for it, “as we’re discussing important matters.”

“Oh,” Eliot said feeling slightly stupid for failing to understand the term, “I often drink a glass of Teslade whenever I am in the mood for a soft drink.” she said before adding “I don’t drink alcohol that often. I find it makes people act quite silly and well we are going to be discussing policy matters.”

“Quite,” she said, and ordered up a substantial bottle of the Malgravean drink, examining it for a moment, and putting it into the basket, hooking it onto one arm, “In some of the articles aggression from a certain newly-monarchist Kingdom of the Free was a concern too.”

“Oh. We are quite concerned that they might attempt to destroy the economic system that we’ve established and implement their own rather backwards capitalist system.” Eliot said repeating some of the earlier anti-capitalist remarks she had made during her speech at the Verdant Front conference in Liverpool. “I should also warn you that Teslade is an acquired taste despite its presence as the national drink. The Deputy Prime Minister despises the stuff but she pretends to like it to please her wife.” she said with a slight chuckle.

“I see,” she said, “I’ll give it a go,” she added, and walked down the steps toward the garden, “As you know, our own relations with them have soured significantly, and the Spireans recently became, for want of a better word, and believe me, a better word is being ruminated on, a C’tani protectorate for fear of the same aggression, I would say it’s not an unfounded fear, all told,” she added.

“It’s an apple-flavoured drink so you definitely won’t like it if you don’t like the taste of apples,” Eliot said as she walked alongside Aiyana, “I’ve also been told that it isn’t as sweet as some foreign drinks, but Catherine Lowwe told me that the sugar levels of some foreign drinks are absurdly high.” she said wishing to get the pleasant subject of soft drinks out of the way before moving onto more professional matters, “We try to maintain a healthy relationship with them, and we’ve allowed them to finance some construction in the research colony but we’re still fearful of their alliance with the Imerians and how that impacts the balance of the region, and C’tani protectorate does make it sound like a rather one-sided relationship compared to an alliance or a relationship.”

“Quite. It has a distastefully imperialist air, though it did serve to at least reassure the Spirean public; that was after all a Spirean initiative. We’re hoping to come up with something more lasting and respectable sounding now, though. And we’d like you to be a part of that,” she paused, looking to either side to ensure that no one was able to overhear them, “specifically we are hoping to put together a new alliance, and this one to be very much an exclusive, if you would say it, a partnership between ourselves, Malgrave and Crystal Spires.”

“I’ve already told you that the Malgraveans aren’t exactly the best at naming things, but I shall try and help you think of something that doesn’t sound too imperialistic,” Eliot said finding herself smiling once more as the Spireans were mentioned. “Crystal Spires introduced our people to the gift of the ancestors, and people have been taking part in charitable efforts in the country for the past few years. We would be quite proud to enter an alliance that contains Crystal Spires and the C’tani.”

“I’m thinking Commonality, as the leading name, nice and vague, and means nothing particular beyond the commonality of purpose, also, isn’t a terrible acronym or something-of-something,” she said, “but, entirely up for debate,” she said, “There are some suggested ideas, but I’d like to ask what you would like to get out of such an arrangement, as a nation, and I understand of course, we’re just talking about ideas here,” she added.

“You could say that we’re all working towards a common ideal or goal, and you said that it sounds harmless enough and doesn’t bring up any negative imperialistic notions,” she said “As the Royal Malgravean Times mentioned we’ve like to secure our people from further Atumite attack. Besides, I imagine the Malgravean economy would benefit with the establishment of strong relationships between our two peoples, our cultural productions would also hopefully receive a greater audience and hopefully, we can bring more people to live and work on the research colony and other more recent territories.” she said, “What do you hope to get out of any such agreement?”

“That’s a good question. Ultimately, there’s not much that we expect to gain in defensive terms, though we do outsource some military manufacturing to Crystal Spires,” she said, “but I think, the most important angle is the scholarly angle. We are hoping to create a combined exploration agency, for which we will provide starships, though once we can train enough people we would place a portion of these under Spirean and Malgravean control. Of course, exploration ships do need to be armed, and the design specifications we’ve been discussing have a significant defensive capacity built into them. A first-generation vessel is being prepared, that’s going to be the one that we’ll be on, assuming you’re coming with us at least, going to the Alteran system,” she said. “They will feature the full suite of C’tani systems, unlike other export vessels, but we’re wanting to avoid just giving our technology away; we have propagation concerns, as you can imagine.”

“I didn’t think you’d expect to gain much of a defensive boost from any alliance you establish with us. Malgrave isn’t exactly known as an international military powerhouse, and well that notion is quite distressing as it would take valuable resources away from more valuable civilian research and engineering projects.” Eliot said seemingly disturbed by the idea of having a large military “I believe I heard about this scouting vessel when we talked briefly outside the headquarters of the ASG in Epping. I have to say that I don’t like the possibility of entering a hostile system, but I could be convinced to toss caution to the breeze as some people say.” she said, “I also understand your concerns about the technology that will be contained on these vessels but I can assure you that we can be quite responsible when it comes to technology, and well we wouldn’t want to ruin any newfound friendship between our two peoples over a few gadgets.”

“Indeed, well, I would hope that I can convince you to come, as I say, it is very much a test of concept,” she said, “in terms of what we would like to provide to Malgrave; we would also like to establish a close working relationship on scientific research and other matters, the concern, perhaps, is not to simply overbuild everything Malgravean with our own equivalents, of course, that might be somewhat mitigated if you find and successfully integrate more Ancestral technology in the future,” she added.

“You’ll just have to find a way to convince me, and I’ll have to think of an excuse for my sudden change of opinion that doesn’t lead to Claudia making any crude attempts at Dornalian humour,” she said “we’d be quite glad to work with the C’tani on scientific research and these other matters, and well I am certain that you won’t just build over everything we’ve developed over the last few years. If we manage to find some interesting ancient technology on this ancestral world I imagine we could develop something that prevents that some happening as well, and I hope that we can find something that will help us develop a cure against MIDD.”

“Well, with the fact that we’re going to be giving such ships to Malgravean crews, or at least Malgravean-led crews, in the future, you as Foreign Minister should have plenty of interest in seeing what you’re getting, I would think,” she said, “as for MIDD, I do hope that we will find something that helps with it,” she mused, “I have heard much of the condition, but I have to ask, is it why Malgraveans get nosebleeds when they blush?” she teased, “from someone looking a bit too frankly?”

“I suppose that sounds like a logical reason to join the scouting vessel, although I wonder the SIS won’t be pleased when they hear how many senior Ministers we crammed into a single scout ship,” she joked “I am hopeful that MIDD will be cured in a few decades. It’s something that both of the Lowwe Sisters are looking into, although the latter is also looking into a fail-safe device that will allow us to live on without the need for...well our current biological form,” she added her face turning a bright red at the next question, “It’s nothing to do with MIDD! It just means that we’ve been single for a while or we’ve been using magic for an extended period”

“I had imagined it was a proclivity that was related, strange if not,” she said, “I hear that all Malgraveans tend to have nose-bleeds at times of, say, romantic thoughts,” she teased, looking at Eliot’s reaction as she swept down onto the loose, fern-like growths that passed for grass here, fronded things that burst inefficient, ground-covering star shapes that almost tessellated, blowing in the wind and leaving visible footprints, though they would recover.

Eliot concentrated on the grass below her feet for a few moments, although a small part of her wondered if she was going to be constantly blushing around the C’tani delegate, “It’s said that one of the signs of a successful coupling is a lack of nosebleeds, so you are quite correct.” she said, “You mentioned earlier that you wish to discuss certain Malgravean policies? I don’t suppose it was just about the name of our eventual alliance.”

“Of course, and some of the things we would like in exchange are quite significant, others, less so,” she said, “there are some things we would like to ask of allies who we’re actually going to support in this way, among one of them is that they refrain from developing weapons of mass destruction for use on inhabited areas. It’s rather more of a concern we have for the Spireans, than yourselves, as they’ve had a history of using such things, while I know that Malgrave does not.”

“You are referring to the Spireans previous deployment of nuclear weapons? It concerned quite a few in the Malgravean government at the time,” Eliot said with a frown, it had actually soured relations between the two government's for a few months, “As for Malgrave we don’t have weapons of mass destruction, and we have no desire to develop them. We don’t look highly upon weapons research, and it doesn’t receive the same support compared to other more productive enterprises,” she said with a smile, “I’d rather be known as a nation that produces advanced electronics and medicines over one that is known for producing tanks and other war machines.”

“I thought that one would be quite reasonable. We would also like to form an expeditionary service which will recruit from and train Malgravean and Spirean personnel on the aforementioned starships, one that we would initially have control of; and of course, provide the training for,” she said. “There would be a paramilitary element, one could say, though it will not be a defensive agency in and of itself.”

“I understand that the Royal Institute for the Advancement of Universal Technology has already established its own task force dedicated to exploring the universe, but we wouldn’t be opposed to joining this expeditionary service,” she said, “We have received a complement of vessels from the Dornalian Republic that are capable of travelling the stars, but our resources are currently limited and I imagine the experience gathered from these vessels would be instrumental in preventing any future orbital bombardments.”

“You and the Sprieans have more in common than that, as well, in that previous generations of your people have enjoyed far more sophisticated space flight capacity than you currently do,” the Alteran woman said, “perhaps this expedition will allow us to uncover more of the secrets of the Ancients, if so then it may well be that you will swiftly develop the means to travel interstellar distances, there is fundamentally not much wrong with that, but we are of course concerned for the same reason we ever are; there are so many things that can go wrong with hyperdrive and similar technologies; we give our medical knowledge freely, but we keep many things to ourselves not just to maintain our own power but because we fear the applications they may have; hyperdrive and similar technologies are comparatively minor, we’d be happy to instruct you on their use, but it may take twenty years or more before Malgrave has a full indigenous technological base to produce such things; there are people out there who simply buy technology and begin using it immediately, and never truly understand the implications of what we have.”

“You mean that the Spireans also had the ability to travel among the stars? I was not aware that their ancestors possessed such advanced technology,” she said, internally reminding herself to contact the local Spirean ambassador when she returned home. “I certainly hope that this expedition grants us a deeper understanding of The Ancestors. Sadly we were unable to carry a large number of artefacts during the Great Exodus, so even the ASG Headquarters only has a small portion of writings and artistic depictions of various vessels and cityscapes.” she added with a sad smile, “We are quite proud of our ability to adapt and understand the scientific concepts behind new technologies. In any case, we wouldn’t attempt to mass-produce starships without a fundamental understanding of the hyperdrive technology, although I suspect our engineers and scientists will try and beat the estimated timeline by a few years,” she said before adding, “In the meantime, the ASG has purchased a few small transport ships and is currently undertaking a few exploration missions of their own. It’s quite a dangerous universe but I understand that they’ve been training a few specialist crews that have a higher understanding of the technology they are using.”

“So I’ve heard,” Aiyana said, “that’s part of the reason that we’re so keen to do this; it is better to help than watch if you’re going to make any errors,” she said with a shrug, before picking out a spot between the high non-terran trees, “in the same way, the Spireans have been working on a prototype Faster Than Light drive which might just blow their entire continent into the sea,” she said, “That’s not to say that we’re smarter than you, but we’ve had all the nasty disasters happen to us already and made it through, so we should at least point out where the problems are,” she said, putting down the basket and spreading the blanket she’d brought with her on the ground.

“I understand that they’ve been quite successful so far, although that is partially due to some foreign assistance they’ve received from the Dornalian Republic,” Eliot said before she positioned herself on the offered blanket, “I wasn’t aware that the Spireans were experimenting with their own Faster Than Light drive. It’s quite an impressive feat when you consider the tragedy that was inflicted against their people a few years ago, and the vast charitable efforts that were required to prevent further disasters from taking place, including significant financial contributions from my government,” she said, “I think someone from the RIAU or the ASG would say that scientific advancement and the journey towards ascension requires some form of sacrifice. I’m just content knowing that we don’t conduct potentially dangerous experiments on the Malgravean mainland.” she said, since the Great Humiliation the RIAU had put more resources into developing its own FTL system but it had been dissuaded from starting non-theoretical work until sufficient agreements were negotiated by the Foreign Ministry.

“Well, this project was initiated before the aforementioned tragedies,” Aiyana said, “though they did try to keep quiet about it, it was a significant factor, along with other fears of being outcompeted by Spirean industry, in the Treefolken decision to attack the Spireans,” she added, “the project still exists but is hardly their priority at the moment,” she said, setting the hamper down, “though, if it would make you feel any better we would be able to refinance that debt,” she suggested, “The Malgravean government’s contribution to Spirean stability in terms of personnel is already more than generous.”

“I remember we had to work to prevent shortages of food, medicine and power alongside the usual security concerns,” Eliot said, “It is understandable that a potentially dangerous scientific experiment wouldn’t receive the attention of the new government,” she said pausing as she contemplated Aiyana’s offer, “We had the resources, technology, the personnel and the experience required to reconstruct the Spirean nation and prevent further loss of life. It would’ve been incredibly cruel if we just sat idly by and didn’t offer any assistance, especially considering our failure to adequately intervene and prevent the disaster from happening in the first place. It caused a few minor financial problems but we’d be willing to implement another relief effort if another country experienced similar issues.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Aiyana said, and opened up the basket, sitting down, “We should have done more too, but in any case, going forward, we need to think about Malgravean issues, too. The Civil War casts a long shadow,” she said, “which is where we come to another thing that we’d like, if we were to go forward with the Commonality plan; would be for the Malgravean State of Emergency to end; that would send the right message I would think. And we are a little concerned with a potential overreach in your intelligence agency.”

“In a few months Malgrave will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Epping-Rensk Agreement, the peace treaty that officially dissolved the Socialist Republic and put an end to the civil war,” Eliot said, “It was supposed to bring an era of peace but it just led to the counter-insurgency period of the conflict, and well that required the presence of TDF checkpoints and the continuation of the State of Emergency. After the success of Operation Tempest the government had planned to end the longstanding State of Emergency, but the Great Humiliation and the current location of our Queen pushed back that particular agenda for a few months,” she said, in simple terms, the government had been overwhelmed in the immediate months following the war and it was determined that ending the State of Emergency wasn’t worth the political effort, “I believe the Prime Minister is going to attempt to end the State of Emergency in a few weeks, although I must say that I am rather confused about any concerns about the Special Investigative Service.”

“Why,” Aiyana said, “have you heard the story of how Telissat became the supreme leader of the Great Civilization?” she asked, “He was regarded as a hero for what might be termed a renegade action, though it was strictly speaking, legal. He rescued the woman who is now his wife while she was imprisoned by the Freestian intelligence services in Fargon, their main colony away from their home continent, and many other political prisoners. She was tortured of course,” Aiyana said.

“Torture? I can’t imagine that the SIS would stoop to such a barbaric practice to gain information from a prisoner,” Eliot said, “I was also told that it is a rather ineffective measure at gaining reliable intelligence so I doubt that a Malgravean intelligence service would break our own legislation against the cruel treatment of prisoners.”

“The point of torture is not to obtain information, it is to intimidate a group. You no doubt have done it many times,” Aiyana looked at Eliot, “how would you know what the SIS is up to?” She paused, “Do you have oversight authority of them?”

“I know that the Minister of State Security and the Minister of Justice is directly responsible for the oversight of SIS operations. Is that what you mean?” Eliot asked, “I like to think that the Minister of Justice would prevent the SIS from engaging in torture and other actions that go against Malgravean principles.”

“And if they have a dossier on them?” She paused, “The legal authority you give to the SIS is concerning, the fact that the SIS has been known to engage in actions that are entirely unreviewed at the highest levels of your government is more so. Such as the raid on Imeriata that was attempted,” she said. “Such a thing should likely be beyond their sanction.”

“I don’t think they would have a dossier on members of the government, that would seem rather concerning,” Eliot said pausing as she considered the new information, “I am not aware of any attempted raid on Imeriata by the SIS, and I am certain that I would’ve been made aware of such an operation due to the possibility that it damage our international standing.”

“You were not,” she said, “But I don’t think you’re legally allowed to know about it in Malgrave, perhaps they’d put you in prison,” she paused, “don’t worry, I might even rescue you, as Telissat did Abha Amris,” was she teasing, flirting, perhaps.

“In that case, I guess I will have to convince you that I am worth the effort of a prison break,” Eliot remarked, “but I can’t imagine that the SIS would prevent me from finding out information about past operations, although if I wanted to I could always go to the Prime Minister. I mean the SIS is supposed to work in the best interests of the Malgravean people and the previous history doesn’t bring up anything that suggests anything otherwise.”

“Your people are gratifying devotees of the scientific method, far more than most,” Aiyana said, “so I’m going to give you a premise and then some papers to look up,” she said, “the rate of death when including suicide and sudden MIDD treatment incidents, as well as accidental death, for politicians in Malgrave is unusually high. The paper that our reports reference on this is Factor Analysis of Malgravean Politically Exposed Persons, by A. E. i. Quell, but there are others,” she said, “you, Eliot, are more than five times more likely to die of suddenly defective MIDD treatments, or to be hit by a car, than the average Malgravean.”

“You are suggesting that the SIS has assassinated politicians in the past? It is possible that they’ve been involved in the deaths of foreign officials but I highly doubt that they would stoop to that level of involvement in the Malgravean political system, they are supposed to be the sword and shield of the Malgravean people not a rogue actor,” Eliot remarked before adding, “I imagine that it would be possible to gain a copy of this report on board this vessel? While I don’t believe that the SIS would do such a thing it is quite foolish to let your initial assumptions guide your principles when prevented with evidence to the contrary. If this report is accurate I could see merit in establishing new protocols to oversee SIS operations.”

“Of course,” she said, “we can also give you the information that our statisticians worked from,” she said, “and your own people can attempt to falsify their results. There’s another paper that is particularly damming,” she said, “that links the people and groups known to be on SIS watchlists to an even tighter correlation with accidental death,” she said. “I’ll send you what we have; I’m also going to send it to your entire press corps,” she said.

“It was rather suspicious that the Leader of the Agricultural Coalition went missing a few years ago since he loved to make a spectacle during press conferences by making rather radical and hateful comments,” Eliot said, “I mean the Deputy Prime Minister was rather upset after he made some comments about her wife but I can’t imagine that she would allow the SIS to murder a member of a political party, and then the Interim Leader of the Socialist Party did have an unfortunate incident while repairing a section of his apartment,” she mused, “I understand that the current Prime Minister is about to resign in a few weeks, so the next Prime Minister will have the legislative energy to push for a series of comprehensive reforms. If this report is accurate then I imagine that strict oversight of the SIS will be on the agenda.”

“That is good to know,” she said, “I’m also going to pass you some information on what we did to the Midlonian,” a nation that was no longer extant, “and specifically the Midlonian Intelligence and Research Agency,” she said, “it should be understood by the leaders of the SIS that should you, or researchers working on correlating our finds, turn up dead, or something similar,” she said, “something similar will happen to them. There will not be much of an SIS if every one of their agent’s appearances is listed online for the entire world.”

“I imagine it would be rather hard to function as an intelligence agency if everyone knows who works for you,” Eliot mused, “I am rather grateful that you would go to such lengths to protect myself and these researchers from a hypothetical threat. I haven’t met the individual in charge of the SIS but from what I have been told through the Prime Minister I believe that they wish to serve the Malgravean people and would be willing to accept some restrictions. I am thinking about the SIS being made responsible to a newly formed Intelligence Oversight Committee and an Independent Judicial Commission to oversee all operations performed by the SIS and punish agents responsible for breaking Malgravean law.”

“That sounds like the kind of assurance we’d want before pursuing closer relations,” she said, “if it’s any consolation for the SIS, we do actually value human intelligence, particularly as it’s something the Great Civilization is utterly, obscenely, rubbish at, we don’t even try and run a major external intelligence gathering service via infiltration, though we are good enough at surveillance and signals intelligence to make up for it,” she said.

“You have given us valuable information on the internal happenings of our own intelligence service, and spurred us to take measures that will protect quite a few people from rather unsavoury actions,” Eliot said, “I can say that we would be quite happy to use our intelligence service to assist your own efforts. I know that preparations are being made at the moment to gather a list of political and economic figures in a far-right regime that will shortly be liberated and as the TDF is currently deployed in Crystal Spires they likely have a presence in that area as well.”

“We would caution that we have been given broad discretion over political violence in Crystal Spires to deal with the various noble criminals, and we regard it as a criminal matter,” Aiyana said, “anyone who is planning terrorism in Crystal Spires must have their day in court, it is important that the system works. Intelligence agents interfering in that would not be particularly helpful.”

“I can say with certainty that we wouldn’t get involved in political violence in Crystal Spires. It would undermine the current mission of the Foreign Ministry to promote stability in that region and help the local citizens improve their standard of living after a rather troubling period in their history,” Eliot said, “I actually spoke to Emily Gosling, the current Ambassador to Crystal Spires and she has been coordinating efforts by the ASG to lead charitable efforts in the country. I’d like to think that the ASG is in a good position to provide charitable assistance around the world, although not every nation would be a viable candidate due to their own economic strength, hostility towards the ASG or even negative historical reactions to Malgrave.”

“The Ancestral Study Group is, often misunderstood,” she said, “there are so many who think that the Alterans,” a word that few Malgraveans had heard, “are supposed to be gods, without understanding the core concepts of the practice that were outlined at the Imerian sites.”

“I presume you mean Ancient? I haven’t heard the Ancestors referred to as Alterans before unless that is a C’tani delegation for them.” Eliot said, “It is quite a sad fact that many of the artefacts remain lost to the Malgravean people on our original homeland, although the heroic stand the Army and the Royal Guard made in order to ensure that the ancestral chair remained in Malgravean hands is a story that every Malgravean citizen knows. It is even the reason we have a Wells on the throne.”

Aiyana’s blush was swift and she let a smile linger for a moment, “Something like that,” she said, “But tell me more,” she said, “I’d like to hear about how a - the ancestral throne led to the Wells Monarchy,” she said.

“You understand that Malgrave was formed relatively recently compared to some of the older civilizations that currently exist in the region, apparently when the first Malgravean settlers landed they accidentally disturbed a small Imerian fishing outpost. It is said that the area was large enough for several people to be found in slavery which was resolved rather quickly with the swift execution of everyone involved in that practice and the liberation of every single slave uncovered,” Eliot remarked, “It is known that the Imerians were rather insulted by our settlement process and soon launched a massive invasion to retake the territory, of course, while Malgravean forces presented a rather tough resistance the sheer numbers of the Imerians resulted in the Malgraveans withdrawing, but the process to evacuate the Ancestral Sites was rather delayed as movements to protect the civilian population obviously took priority. It, therefore, fell to Junior Colonel Edward Wronski and Queen Celestia Rossini as officers in the Army and Royal Guard respectively to protect the artefacts, while this happened Joseph Wells managed to activate some form of defence mechanism that afforded the civilian fleet an opportunity to escape. I am told that it was a form of flashing light that stopped the Imerian assault on the last remaining merchant ships but eye witness testimony isn’t that accurate at the best of times.”

“Yellow lights?” Aiyana asked, curiously.

“It was described as rapidly moving small objects that decimated the Imerian positions on land and forced their naval vessels to stop chasing the last merchant ships. In the aftermath, it was decided that Joseph Wells seemingly had the approval of the ancestors since his actions and saved quite a few thousand Malgraveans and he was appointed as the King after a small referendum on the issue, and well his daughter was eventually nominated as his successor and passed her own referendum.”

“I suppose no one considered that there wasn’t any real approval required?” she asked, “It sounds more like a weapons system to me,” she said, “Where is the throne now?”

“I mean that he had a strong enough connection with the ancestors to use such a device during a moment of crisis. We know that the Ancestors don’t actually interfere with our daily actions, so sadly it is unlikely that we’ll be able to talk to them unless we reach ascension ourselves,” she mused, “As for the throne or control chair it is currently on top of the headquarters of the Ancestral Study Group. You can actually sit on the chair if you so wish since the room is now open to the public.”

“What happens if you sit on it?” Aiyana asked, dissembling a little, “have you done so?” She gave a wide smile, she paused, looking around the area they had walked, “How does this look,” she said, looking around the clearing, grass had grown in tufts and patches, and smooth flat rocks had been laid, they had the appearance of being laid out deliberately to be sat on to admire the wide dome of the ship’s garden above them.

“When it has power I know that it can show the person a detailed scan of our solar system and a few others,” Eliot replied, “I really haven’t had the courage to sit on it but I was present when someone from the ASG demonstrated its capabilities. It is quite an awe-inspiring display,” she said with a smile, “I believe this is quite a pleasant location for a picnic. It’s prime viewing location for that rather impressive dome, quite the feat of engineering.”

She set the sheet she’d brought out over some of the stone and set the basket on the ground beneath it, taking the pots from it, “I take it that the chair doesn’t work for everyone?” She asked, “I should like to give it a go sometime, perhaps I’ll visit,” she said.

Eliot moved to assist the C’tani delegate set-up the picnic arrangement, “It is known that the chair only works with those that share a connection to the ancestors. It is always quite interesting whenever a foreign national sits upon the chair and winds up activating it, sometimes they even go from the chair to requesting citizenship,” she said with a slight chuckle, “So unless you have an unknown connection to the ancients the chair will remain dormant but still I imagine it would be a nice experience. It’s even going to be Ancestor Day in Malgrave in a few weeks time.”

“I’ll make sure to be there,” the C’tani woman said, "you never know."

[The Ctan]

The Remembrance of Rythek

The restaurant was one of many aboard the Great-Ship that its screen showed the relay images of the destination world, a gently turning orb of green and blue, limned in the near-distance by four moons. Reports from drones and expeditions to its surface had held most rapt for hours, even after the contact drones-ships had given the all-clear to approach with the inhabited vessels and the next phase was being prepared.

Of course, neither Eliot nor Aiyana were going to be among the first to the surface, neither being professional archaeologists. Aiyana knew its old name, but for now, it was known as merely the Alteran World.

Dinner, in this case, was a spiced fish fillet dish, steam curling upward from the wide metal dish on the table between the two, as she ladled a bowl from the skillet between them, Aiyana looked at Eliot, sitting down again. Despite the opulence of the surroundings, whose ceiling was adorned with golden stars set in a midnight-blue lacquer, there was no wait staff; instead, the meal was simply created in place.

“Do you think they’ll find much?” Aiyana asked, slightly wistfully.

Eliot found herself distracted both by the image of the Alteran world bellow them and the process of which the meal was being served to them, the Malgravean had heard some reports of the technology being used for food before and had seen it earlier across the ship but it was still a rather strange experience and took some time getting used to.

“I am not an expert in the particular field but I imagine that it depends on a multitude of factors ranging from the cause of the current state of the site, with simple abandonment being preferable to destruction by conquest or natural disaster and the conditions that have fallen on the planet since that date.” Eliot remarked, “I suppose it also depends on the skill of the people involved but I would hope that they’d only send out the most qualified individuals for such an important task.”

“I’d think the most likely scenario given what we know would be mass-ascension, indeed I’d hope that that was was the case,” she said, with some feeling, looking wistfully at the armourglass window, and the more crowded tables closer to it, “I don’t know though,” she said, and that too was true. “But, we can only wait,” the announcements made of anything found were being given across the ship. “In the meantime, I wanted to ask you a question. If you don’t mind answering.”

“If that prediction is correct then I suspect those in the greatest danger will be those trying to tell Claudia that she has to be patient, as she is the current Lead Scientist of the ASG she has somewhat of a vested interest in ensuring that the site is secure.” Eliot said muttering something under her breath that sounded like a complaint about untrustworthy tall people turning up to claim the land for themselves, “I don’t mind being asked a question, go ahead.”

“What do you think the C’tani want from Malgrave?” she asked, “I know the answer of course,” she said, “but why Malgrave specifically, aside from charming productions such as Adventurer High and the many beautiful women there.” She looked into Eliot’s brown eyes as she spoke, her head tilted over a steaming spoon, looking intently at the other woman.

“I imagine that the C’tani respect the Malgravean commitment to science and engineering for starters, and as we haven’t committed outright acts of aggression against our immediate neighbours then perhaps they see that we could be a useful tool in filling in the gaps that can’t be filled with those rather cute Necron things,” Eliot said returning Aiyana’s gaze with an equal amount of passion, “It is also possible that the C’tani could be interested in our connection to the Ancients but I am rather unsure if they have any interest in that themselves beyond the possibility of advanced technology in certain fields that they aren’t well versed on.”

“You’re not wrong, of course,” she said, “all that is true, there’s perhaps two different modes of thinking, what the C’tani call the medium term is far future for most civilizations. You may have heard that they, we, have the ambition to unite the galaxy, as much as possible in one overarching culture?” She paused, “There are people who have heard that and taken the idea that the C’tani want to conquer everyone like they did Altea, and there are some C’tani who think that’s a good idea but they’re ultra-conservatives and mostly lunatics.”

“I have spoken to Dystans before that speak about decades and centuries as they were rather short-term plans before, to a Malgravean that is both highly irregular due to our relatively short lifespan but also quite reasonable since we hope one day to be able to ascend into another plane and then when that happens time will become somewhat without meaning.” Eliot explained with a gentle hum, “I have heard some rumours that the C’tan wish to conquer everything in the Mystrian region but I always subscribed that to the realm of individuals that are quite paranoid about losing power or perhaps even individuals that wish that they could hold that same strong grip on Mystria themselves. I believe that this long-term partnership between the Malgravean people and the C’tan would be quite beneficial for everyone involved, especially if it involves more dinners such as this in the future.”

“There may be a great many more dinners,” she said, “for you particularly, and yes, I suspect envy has a great deal to do with such fears, but they’re not utterly unfounded, though we have done away with calling ourselves an ‘Empire’ we are still keen to expand in a way,” she said, “in tens of thousands of years we would like the Malgravean people to join us; before is entirely possible, of course,” she said, “but you are quite right, the intellectual focus of your people makes you interesting, it’s an overarching vision and a cultural commitment, and there is a great deal that we don’t know that you may one day accomplish. Beyond that though, the Alterans,” she waved at the Ancestral planet, “knew much that the C’tani do not; they were not as advanced in some areas, megastructure engineering, high energy power generation, and some other things, but medicine, and more,” she said, “what we would like is to see Malgrave rediscover much that knowledge and share it with us.”

“In that case, I look forward to that portion of the arrangement,” Eliot said with a small smirk of her own, “Since stepping into the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs I have picked up that quite a few nation's are motivated by a mixture of envy, fear and greed, and whenever someone starts talking about expansion or even peaceful development someone takes it as a challenge and the start of a competition,” the Malgravean remarked with a sigh, “In Malgrave we obviously find ourselves quite aghast if someone tried to take our sovereignty away from us by forceful means, and despite allegations to the contrary the Malgravean people are formidable fighters when pushed into a corner. It is just that in the long-term, and I mean several thousand years into the future we see ourselves as having made the journey towards Ascension, and well I don’t think that a floating ball of energy reserves the right to be annoyed about lines on a map or rankings of power,” Eliot said with a small chuckle, “It is quite a large desire of the ASG and by extension the Malgravean people to gain a deeper understanding of the technology that was used by our ancestors, and if we could use it to help people in this present moment with healing and other areas that would be an added bonus, as well what if the benefit of all of this knowledge if it cannot be used to help people?”

“And that is another part of it, of course,” she said, “do you know of how Necrons... became Necrons?” she asked, “It is a grim tale, the necrontyr species you see today,” she waved over to one across the room, a vague greeting to excuse their gaze, “and the military machines are similar, the ancient necrontyr people transferred their minds, and even after a fashion their souls, in some accounts, to machines, to escape a plague,” she did not elaborate too much, “some longed to revert their minds to flesh and blood, some were content with machines, and some wanted to progress; as you can see, the return to flesh happened, though those Necrons whom we wake and convert back are different in appearance to their original bodies, and far healthier,” she said. “Those who wish to remain as machines, of course, do so but with many improvements. But Ascension, that is something that has not yet been achieved except in the most flawed way. That is also a common interest we have with the Malgravean people.”

“It was presumed that they took that form gradually over several centuries as technology progressed, somewhat akin to the transhumanism projects that I have seen being promoted in other nation's.” Eliot said shooting her own wave over towards the Necron guard, “It saddens me to learn that this process wasn’t entirely voluntary. I am aware that researchers in my homeland have been looking at the construction of artificial bodies as an alternative solution to MIDD and some cooperation has been made with the Dornalians on this front.” the Malgravean said with a slight frown, “It does please me to hear that those that took the process are being given the choice to switch to a flesh form or I guess upgrade to a more beneficial artificial form, and although I shouldn’t be surprised to learn that some other cultures outside of Malgrave have a common wish to ascend to another plane, but I am rather glad to hear it. Does that mean that the C’tan have reason to support the ASG in their efforts?”

“Oh it was in many cases and could have been almost universally I expect, but it was terribly mishandled,” she said, “still, the details are a ghastly tale and not one that I’d want to dwell on too much,” she said, for it was not her story after all but that of others, “but yes, there is a growing interest in alignment with the Malgraveans among those who consider this a goal, though they do tend to use the word Ascension rather than Ancestral,” she said, smiling at some in-joke. “The Ancestral Study Group is not after all a doctrinal religion in the same way that many rivals might be considered so.”

“I imagine it is a tale better told by those that it impacted personally, and well they might get rather upset if they heard an outsider talking about it in a rather casual manner such as this.” Eliot reasoned, “It is rather interesting and pleasing that there is a group of people that have taken an interest in the message of the ASG though. In the past, I have heard that members of the ASG stationed in foreign nations have been insulted and in certain cases physically attacked due to the perceived thought that the ASG is some manner of religious cult or that it acts as a direct conduit for the Malgravean government which is quite disturbing considering the charitable outreach that the group does in places like Crystal Spires and the various parts of Altea.” she said with a slight frown as she remembered reading the reports in question, “It is a minor hope that the C’tan will be able to ensure greater protections for people travelling in Mystria that travel under the banner of the ASG and similar organisations.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, with an incline of her head, “it is somewhat different here, in that an introduction to comparative religion is part of the standard educational curriculum, Ascension Study isn’t really a religion, but it can be,” she said, her eyes flicking up to the world beyond the windows again. “But people are very attached to their ideas of sanctity, and often read them into other religions. The Ancestral Study is certainly ‘the thing that the Malgraveans have in place of Rasmer’ even if it has radically different practices and ideas of what it should or should not be saying.”

“It has been a rather different experience in Malgrave since our educational system during the isolationist years only taught the religious and social practices of the nation's that we were aware of just prior to entering isolation, so since that time period the number of religions and social principles has increased steadily,” Eliot explained, “I understand that other nation's that profess to have a similar love of science and engineering take a rather negative outlook towards religion but in Malgrave the faith of our citizens has seen them through some rather horrific moments during our past, and I think it would be rather cruel to ask them and the newcomers arriving on our shores to abandon this connection. It certainly doesn’t make them weaker scientists or engineers, and in certain cases, it has even provided a boon to the occasional project.” she said before quickly adding, “It is one of the first times that I have heard the ASG being compared to one of the Imerian faiths though.”

“Merely an example,” she said, “the thing that they miss when they make such criticism is that there is a core of empiricism to Ancestral Study, though I doubt the Ancestors would care much for some of the things that are said to be expressly in their image, the Anti-Sex movement was... well they did manage to reproduce for millions of years,” she said with a teasing smile.

“I do admire the meticulous nature of the researchers employed by the ASG and the volunteers that work for the organisation as well but I have always been a greater admirer of its charity work. I understand that the Malgravean concept of social solidarity has become perhaps somewhat overused but it is a good concept that I think has led to us becoming better people overall,” Eliot remarked before her own smirk developed, “I spent most of my time in the Gabriel Narutowicz Pioneers and the Free Democratic Youth and well the only interest I had in the anti-sex movement was shutting it down.”

“Oh indeed, and you deserve rewards for that, though of course, it has still had lasting effects,” she said, “and really I think it is important to make sure that such prudishness doesn’t cause a lasting impact on your people. I’m prepared to make sure that you personally avoid such a fate,” she said, her eyebrows raised, her foot stroking against Eliot’s calf under the table.

“Oh?” Eliot said an incredibly deep blush making its way up from her neck to her face as the C’tani continued to speak, “You were quite correct earlier when you said that we Malgraveans are quite an empirical people, so perhaps it would be best to ensure that nobody has suffered from the mere existence of the ASL.” the Malgravean said muttering something under her breath when she noticed that her nose was bleeding again

“We should see to that after, if nothing exciting comes back from the probes,” she said, “I will be careful, don’t worry,” she teased, standing up, stepping around the table and gently wiping Eliot’s nose before touching her, a warm feeling following the touch to heal the stress wound.

“I have heard that ways exist to reduce that apparent risk,” Eliot said her blush deepening after the healing touch was made, “In all this excitement I had nearly forgotten about the probes that had been sent out earlier, but sometimes we need a good distraction to make us less aware of the passage of time something I imagine is even more important for people that don’t have the fleeting lifespan of people such as myself.”

“Oh you might be a little daunted by what we’ve picked up, but don’t worry, we feel affection no less sharply,” she said, and let her hand press against the back of Eliot’s neck, leaning in to press her lips to hers in a soft, tender kiss.

Eliot started to formulate her own reply to the C’tani’s comment but decided to roll with the adage that less was more and simply returned Aiyana’s affections in kind.