After a lengthy debriefing by their hosts, Hal and Greyla were allowed to return to their quarters where they found Widhbo lounging on the sofa surrounded by the eerie glow of an energy field.

"Widhbo!" Hal exclaimed. "I never know where you'll turn up next."

"Or what trouble you’ve caused," Greyla added.

"Well, I'm glad to see you too," Widhbo replied.

"Who are these people, Widhbo?" Hal asked as he and Greyla settled into their chairs.

"Oh they're not people, Hal," Widhbo replied. "I thought that much was evident." Widhbo reached out a talon and scratched his left ear in a slow deliberate manner.

"They look human,” Greyla said. "So if they aren't people, what are they?"

"Illusions, plasma projections just like you. Magitons."

"I suppose that's the norm out in space," Hal said. "I wonder what planet they're from."

"Who knows. They may have been people or one of any number of species. It hardly matters what you once were or where one originated after a few hundred years. They seemed a bit cold-blooded in my estimation," Widhbo said. "Eventually you become something else entirely. They uploaded and evolved, much as you were attempting to do, but successfully in their case.”

“So they will always live here on the ship? In space?” Greyla asked.

“It appears so. Remember, all we have seen is what they want us to see. You are humans, so they projected themselves as human to interact with you. I might mention they did not offer me the same courtesy. They didn’t sprout a single feather during my interview.” Widbho said. He spread out uncomfortably on the sofa which was ill suited to his body.

“How do you know all of this exactly,” Hal asked.

“I may have asked a few questions myself. They were so busy examining me, they didn’t notice a little telepathic probing.”

“So what are they, the self appointed masters of the galaxy?” Greyla asked.

“Their will is law. They control everything because they know best. And also perhaps because they have a humongous battleship,” Widhbo said. “Isn't it obvious? Just do as you’re told and they may keep you on as pets."

"Pets!" Greyla started at the word and got up from her chair.

"Hold on," Hal said, shaking his head. "What's your point Widhbo? What are you not telling us?"

"While you two love birds were being... ," Widhbo began.

"Don't call us that!" Greyla insisted. "You know we've broken up."

"Whatever. Etaine didn't protest." Widhbo said, shrugging. "Anyway, while you were being coddled, I was treated far more harshly. They interrogated me for the past two days. Simply awful!"

"Who's Etaine?" Greyla asked, looking at Hal with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Your ghost, dear. Your crazy, creepy ghost." Widhbo gazed about the room and tapped the floor as he was prone to do when bored or agitated.

"They cleaned up your program Etaine, I mean Greyla. I'll fill you in later," Hal said. "It's really not important."

"Wait just a minute, Hal," Greyla said. "You said I survived. That you found me in the archives and we planned this escape. I thought I simply had a memory lapse from the stress."

"That's exactly what happened, except it was your ghost I found in the archives. Nova apparently was under the control of this evil thing on board the Sora and.... and when he attacked you, he devoured your body. Your mind barely escaped. It was fractured, but still somewhat functional. You called yourself Etaine because your identity was lost for a long while."

Greyla turned back to Widhbo. "What do you mean crazy and creepy?"

"Oh, Greyla, do you really want to go there?" Widhbo asked. "That's why they scrubbed you."

"I want to know what happened while I was Etaine."

"Nothing 'happened'. Not between us anyway." Hal said, turning his head sharply to glare at Widhbo.

Widhbo smiled and transformed his face into the ghoulish mask that Etaine had used on the bridge. then imitating her ghost voice, he said, "Not all survivors are friendly."

"That's enough, Widhbo!" Hal said. He got up from his chair and positioned himself between Widhbo and Greyta. "Stop this right now or I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Oh, I can't leave. I'm their prisoner."

"What do you mean, prisoner?" Hal asked.

"They blame me for everything that went wrong."

"You?" Hal asked.

"I know! Why? I asked the same question. But no, I am responsible because I'm clearly the more intelligent and superior life form. It's all on me."

Greyla had lapsed into silence. She smirked at Widhbo’s boast of intellect, but said nothing.

"You couldn't possibly have stopped any of this." Hal said.

Widhbo looked at the ceiling and corners of the room. "If anyone is listening, you should record that last statement."

"It isn't anyone's fault, unless you blame it on the thing which took over the Sora," Hal added.

"Ah, the devourer. But he can't help being a demon, now can he? No. I should have stopped him," Widhbo said. "I failed, that's all. I simply failed."

"That doesn't make you to blame for what he did,” Hal said.

"They won't accept the judgement of a mere human. But, I thank you for the kind words. They implied they might lighten my sentence if you spoke well of me."

"You're being sentenced? For what?"

"I was put on trial. I was prosecuted for murder and judged guilty even before they spoke with either of you. They claim to have defended me with impartiality, but I saw no shred of defense."

"That doesn't seem fair," Greyla spoke at last. "As much as I detest you at times, fair is fair."

"Thank you, Greyla. You're such a dear after all. I'm sorry we never hit it off,” Widhbo said and raised a wing tip in a gesture of apology. “If I don't see you again, I apologize if my blunt truths have offended you."

"Let's just call it a personality conflict."

"I don't deny having a personality. That may be a crime here." Widhbo glanced at the ceiling and corners again.

"So what's the hold up? On the sentencing?" Hal asked.

"They wanted to speak with both of you, and now they've gone to find Tajlon.”

“Tajlon’s still alive?” Greyla asked.

“He is. Thanks to being locked up in a prison cell outside the Sora. My idea by the way,” Widhbo replied and looked up to the ceiling again. “He will have the final sway in my fate. Such a good boy."

“If anyone could straighten this mess out, it would be Tajlon,” Hal mused.

“After I lost all empathic contact with him, I feared Jejliard must have killed him,” Greyla said. A few tears of joy trickled down one cheek.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to rest. These past three days have been exhausting." Widhbo got up and moved to a far corner of the room, adjusted his rather large wings, curled them about his body like a cocoon and shut them out.