***Saggitarius Arm – V.C.***

***Travil, the Ambassador***

I stayed in the V.C. and spent my time with Iris while we travelled from world to world in order to see the sights. There were so many new things to discover that finding impressive new stuff began to feel boring after a while.

Despite that, the remaining days I had left flew by far too quickly.

The Demons had given no care to secrecy this time around. The Reach had flown us right up to Condr, one of our most populated worlds in this region of space, and landed smack dab in the middle of the largest spaceport available. Before I knew it, we had reached the closest of the Lmir core worlds and were leaving the Reach with me leading the way down the landing ramp.

Outside, we were greeted by two familiar faces, but not the ones that I had anticipated.

I stepped off the ramp and squinted at the soldiers that were swarming the area around the ship. Then I turned my attention to General Edikt and Riar, the female politician who had sent us off a few weeks ago.

“We are back,” I spoke first. “I must admit that I expected… someone with more political power than the people who are currently here.” My eyes wandered over the soldiers that were securing the Reach.

Edikt snorted and eyed the ship’s airlock that had immediately closed up once the last of my people had left. “I am afraid that the political situation has changed since we sent you on your mission. The G.S. informed us that you will have something for us?”

I didn’t fail to notice that some of the soldiers had subtly pointed their guns in my direction. They weren’t quite aiming at us, but that didn’t matter with an automatic weapon. They would put me down in an instant even if they only fired from their hips.

“Of course, general.” I slowly reached into my pocket and handed him the little box that Iris had given me. “We received this from the Demons. I suppose that’s what you are talking about, though I would suggest listening to the other side as well. If we could visit someplace where we can share our experiences, I am certain that together we can make a more educated decision.”

The general took the box from me. “I am afraid that it is out of your hands now, Travil. The G.S. was very informative once they came clear about how the Silent operate. Further, we have been informed that neither you nor Miredin, can be trusted any longer.”

I raised a questioning eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We have been informed that both of you visited this virtual reality?” Riar asked. “Extensively visited their reality. This means that we have to consider the both of you as compromised and no longer capable of making rational decisions on behalf of all Lmir-kind.”

“Visiting the V.C. was necessary to make contact with the Blue,” I replied unapologetically. “If I hadn’t done it, I would have never gotten to talk to someone who is higher up in their power structure.” And I wouldn’t have learned about the A.I.

“And has that changed anything?” the general asked.

I grit my teeth. “No. The Demons won’t stop their advance into our space, but I have learned a lot about their motivations and goals. And unlike the heroic death that the G.S. has in mind for us, they are offering a way forward.”

Riar sighed. “Travil, please say no more, or we might have to arrest you.”

I swallowed. “Just answer me this one question: Does our government know that the G.S. is being controlled by an A.I.? Do they know that aiding the G.S. will result in our assured destruction as a people?”

Edikt narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

I made eye contact with the man, wondering how much I should tell him without giving up too much. “The Demons have another fleet coming three years behind the current one and another one after that. There is no way for us not to see Lmir fall within our lifetimes. We have seen what the Demons can do with their technology. It isn’t just an empty threat. Rest assured that if we keep siding with the G.S., all that will happen is that we will be used up as cannon fodder.”

Slowly, I turned my gaze towards Riar, who looked at least a little discomforted about what was happening. “You have sent me out as First Ambassador to find a way forward for our people. My answer is that from your point of view, there is none. Neither the G.S. nor the Silent are forces that can be negotiated with.”

They didn’t look like they had expected anything else, so I continued. “But I have found one way that might be acceptable to some of us. The Demons would allow us to join their V.C. If we have to choose between a permanent death for G.S. ideology, and the afterlife that the Demons are offering us, then there is only one choice to make. Because even if the V.C. isn’t some form of afterlife, then siding with them will have made no difference for the Lmir as a people. I see no way for the G.S. to stop the Demons before our worlds are burned in the fires of war.”

I pointed at the box in Edikt’s hands. “That is the only way for the Lmir to keep going.”

Edikt opened the box, nodded, and then closed it again. He looked at me while he pocketed the token. “Be glad that I see no reason to arrest you, even if you are misguided. Soldiers!” He gestured for his men. “Get them off the landing field. We have to secure this ship!”

The soldiers closed in and I raised my hands to show that I had no intention of resisting.

Riar looked a little guilty while my people and I were escorted off the premises.

We passed a group of personnel that brought in heavy equipment, presumably to gain entrance into the ship.

Once we were almost off the landing pad, I heard shouts and an alarm went off, together with several flashing lights.

I turned and saw that the landing field had turned into a mess of running people, with some crawling around on the ground while the Reach rose straight up into the air.

“Those military types won’t like that,” Eleu commented drily. “I wonder why they aren’t doing anything to stop it.”

“It was a foolish attempt in the first place.” Miredin laughed. “They won’t shoot down a ship of that size right above a heavily populated planet. If they try something, then they will do it up in space.”

I sighed and turned to enter the spaceport. “It’s just an automated ship. If I have gained any understanding of the Demons by now, then they will blow it up if they really don’t want our military to put their ears to its hull.”

The following hours were a blur as we went through the formalities of returning to our own people. Doctors poked us, psychologists talked to us, and intelligence officers tried to get every detail of information that we could remember of our time with the Silent.

I ambiguously hopped through the wheels of bureaucracy and military. Not a single time did they even give me a chance of making my case in front of someone of importance.

One day later, Eleu and I finally left the spaceport, free Lmir once again. Though, I supposed that all of us were under heavy surveillance from now on.

Eleu frowned while I instructed my communication device to call a transport. “You just gave them the token. Just like that.”

I looked up after I was done. “What else should I have done? I told all of you that I would give our superiors the token and that I would try my best to convince the government to join the V.C.”

It wasn’t the complete truth.

Those people had turned me into a pariah after they had me dedicate my entire life to their cause. And now, after everything I had done, they didn’t even allow me to make my case.

“Yes…” Eleu allowed her voice to fade away. “I guess that it was to be expected from someone with your… education. What are you going to do now?”

She probably meant to say conditioning, but I didn’t mention it.

“I have called a transport that will take me to the nicest beach on this planet,” I proclaimed unapologetically. “And because I have done my job to the best of my ability, I will buy myself something to drink, a lot to drink, and a holo-cast to watch the newsfeeds about how the G.S. is doing against the V.C. I think that Riar made it very clear that this is no longer our affair.”

Eleu looked at me as if she couldn’t believe what I was saying.

I continued laying out my plans. “I will take the government’s generous pay-check and have a nice time until they come to their senses.” I smiled and gave her a nod when one of the hover cars switched to the side lane and stopped in front of us. “You are welcome to join me any time you wish to.”

She pressed her lips together and looked back towards the spaceport. “I think that I will stay with the others for a while. They said something about having one last get together before we part. I want to see what they think. Maybe we can still change the government’s mind. Are you sure that you want to be alone?”

I sighed. “Don’t do anything stupid, Eleu. Like, trying to steal the token from them. And if you must try it, don’t involve Ilinak in it.”

Eleu’s expression went blank. “Why not Ilinak?”

“It was him who sent the gov-types the report of our time on Icarius. Or how do you think they knew to single out Miredin and me?” I opened the hover car’s door and got inside.

“How do you know?” Eleu asked, clearly not believing me.

I shrugged. “Please, we were on the Demon’s ship the entire time and I spent all the time in the V.C. talking to Iris. She had tabs on all of us and she showed me some time ago that he was recording messages. He was the one who sabotaged my efforts by sending a message as soon as we reached the system.”

“That bastard!” Eleu hit the flat of her palm with her fist. “I didn’t share your opinion about the Demons, but I would have never sabotaged you like that!”

“I know.” I smiled. “Watch out for yourself.”

I closed the door and told the driver to take me to the airport. There, I spent my money on a one-way ticket to the most expensive holiday resort and bought myself the latest holo-cast that they had to offer. I wanted to have the best projector possible to follow the news, even if it was the sunniest day.

The journey passed without me taking conscious note of it.

Upon arrival, I immediately checked into my room and bought a large box of the hardest drink I could find. I followed what I had told Eleu to the letter until I finally sat on a beach with white sand, the box with booze next to me and the latest news feed about the Demons clashing with the G.S. fleet at the edge of Lmir space.

Somewhere far away, was Iris’s real body, taking part in a battle that was beyond anything the Lmir had ever been involved in. I sighed and took the music box that she had given me out of my pocket.

Slowly, I opened it and listened once more to the eerie song.

Then I took the little pearl that would decide the Lmir’s fate. Was it right for me to take matters into my own hands? Of course not. To decide the fate of others was beyond the pale for someone like me. I wasn’t even a leader of our people.

But which right did a politician have to decide the fate of those who weren’t interested in his political cause? No more and no less.

And history had been full of people deciding the fates of others.

I crushed the pearl between my thumb and index finger until the shards drew blood.

For a moment, I felt weightless. It was the same feeling that I got when I used the wire mesh to log into the V.C., but nothing changed. I anxiously waited for something more to happen, but it didn’t. I was holding my breath, still sitting at the same beach, a man who had decided his people’s fate out of nothing more than spite. That, and thanks to a lucky opportunity.

Someone stepped next to me and sat down.

“So you did it,” Iris stated the hard truth.

“I did?” I replied without looking at her. Instead, I inched my hand over and took hers in mine. “Is this already the V.C.?”

“It is,” she replied and flicked her fingers, changing the news feed to a real-time version. “They have recruited quite a few ships from your people and are in the process of breaking Icarius’s containments.”

I nodded. There was nothing more to be said as we sat on the beach, anticipating the fireworks.