“Great! Send it to me; i’ll make sure it gets into the right hands.” Freyr smiled distractedly, watching Thebes walk over to them out of the corner of her eye. She focused her attention back on Rareth. “I’ll do my best. I hope you like crowds; because you’re going to get one when this mission gains the administration’s attention. Freyr politely excused herself from the two Rothians and turned to Thebes, who began speaking right away.

“Ma’am, I want to put something on the record. Memnon died a warrior’s death. The entity we encountered said it might be able to bring Memnon back. We want our comrade back, but only if he’ll be able to fight alongside us now. If there is any chance he won’t make it back out in one piece, we’d like you to refrain. It’s what he would have wanted.” Thebes nodded, having finished his piece.”

Freyr stared up at Thebes, flabbergasted. “It said it could...bring people...back?” Thebes nodded again. “Yes ma’am. It said it could try.” Freyr felt almost overwhelmed with joy, which boiled down to steely determination. “Then consider it well and truly noted.” She said, giving the soldier’s forearm a squeeze. “If I can, I'll bring Memnon back. I’ll bring them all back.”

“Dr Lang - Captain Andersen is requesting a debrief.” One of the lab techs called over from the banks of consoles. Freyr nodded her head vigorously, suddenly experiencing a rush of energy she hadn’t felt in months. “Good, ok. All of you, conference room. Now, please!” Freyr gesticulated at the assembled Humans. “That means you and your team as well.” She patted Thebes’ breastplate, rushing past him. “We all need to watch this mission back, right away.”

For the Rothian members of the team, the next few hours were marked almost entirely by discussions and meetings. Rareth personally notified and briefed the necessary individuals remotely, but given the severity of the situation, even they preferred to meet in person. Their ship returned from the excavation site back to dock in Threria: a journey that, at their maximum safe speed, took only minutes once they emerged from the ocean. For those on-board, unless they happened to be looking out of a window, they may have not even noticed until it was announced that they had arrived.

Vreta watched the most important parts of Rareth’s recording on the way back to the city; namely their meeting with this mysterious being. After his own experineces in the Cradle, he was surprised they they had encountered anything willing to be civil with them, let alone helpful. The revelations that had been brought to light by this being could shake the core of their civilization, yet Vreta, strangely, felt almost numb to it by this point. It had been from his own DNA that the hints leading to this had been uncovered. The weeks since had felt like they were leading to this almost as an eventuality.

As a Rahn’Masser agent, Vreta was accustomed to being among the more important individuals in a room at any given time, especially when deployed on a mission, so it did feel somewhat strange to him to be brought into these meetings as what felt like an observer. These developments would certainly impact how his own mission played out, so he was not out of place, but the kinds of people that Rareth met with were far from obscure bureaucrats. The news Rareth was bringing them came with the risk of a potential war against an unknown enemy, and Rothian leadership took that threat exceptionally seriously. By the time their meetings were over, Vreta had ended up exchanging pleasantries with the likes of the High Commissioner Morav’Ki, the administrator who oversaw all of the sector governors of the nation, as well as Grand Admiral Fel’Marazahn, leader of the Rothian military and captain of the flagship Niris’sho’Roth. Vreta even found himself in the presence of Datius Valic’Ans, the Director of the entire Rahn’Masser. He was the Rothian widely considered to be the most powerful individual in their nation, short of the Rahn’Saki.

Ultimately, no one could be sure of how truthfull the being had been with them, but the evidence they had certainly pointed to at least part of its story being true. The notion that Rothian life had not been entirely the product of natural selection was a common point of conversation among the meetings, though Vreta did notice a certain calmness to how the others spoke about it. Even more than he would have expected just out of their professionalism.

The Human science team and Sacred Band piled into a cramped conference room next to the lab. Freyr played Rareth’s recording via the room’s main holographic projector, with viewpoints and sensory data piled up on various other displays. She spooled through at a quick pace, stopping when people had things to add or something interesting was happening. There were a few exclamations and shivers at what the team were put through.

Freyr deftly chopped up the data into dozens of different workstreams and divided them up between her subordinates. They were tasked with analysing everything from the simulation’s geology to the path this entity may have taken before crashing on Rothia. With the precision of a master sculptor, Freyr cut the expedition tape down to a manageable fifteen minute clip complete with all the important annotations.

It was at this point that 595 stumbled in, freshly woken from her seizure and trailing two of the medics. The Agent insisted a few moments were redacted from the final version. Freyr reluctantly agreed, providing 595 plopped down on a free seat and let the medics finish tending to her.

Within two hours, everyone was up to speed and a dossier containing a summary of events, possible scenarios and potential next steps had been created. At this point, Freyr dismissed the Sacred Band and the Drs Ngata and Wetherall to get some downtime. She tried to dismiss 595 too, but she impolitely refused.

Freyr ultimately called Captain Andersen and the Security Council delegate to update them on the whole story. She followed up by sending the Captain an encrypted copy of the dossier. “My god.” Andersen muttered, once she'd finished.

“This is classified Top Secret. I want you to send this to the rest of my team at CRD, and request an emergency session of the Special Circumstance Committee. Tell them the Rothians want to meet within one Outremer day, and that they’re going to want to watch the video first.” The delegate nodded. “Consider it done.”

After the meetings he attended with the Rothian leadership, there were some hours of waiting before he knew what would be happening next. His own role had not changed, in the sense that he would remain as the Rothian liaison to the Human science team, but his objectives had…evolved, thanks to what had been brought to light. One thing that was sure was that this was becoming far more complicated, and serious, than he had ever expected.

Eventually, Vreta did get word that Outremer’s representatives had agreed to a prompt meeting. In attendance would be…everyone, pretty much. Vreta, the Rothian science team, and every major Rothian leader that Vreta had met with over the last few hours would be involved in discussing the next steps. Likewise, they recommended to the Human delegation to send anyone who might be involved with Outremer’s response to these developments.

Given the size of the planned meeting, they were once again back to the Rahn’Masser’s building in Threria. Even for the number of attendees, the conference hall they had been assigned was large and spacious. For those attending remotely, they had the option of controlling a holographic avatar of themselves to attend more “naturally”, as they had made sure the Rothian hologram projectors were synced properly with the respective devices on Outremer.

Naturally, there was some delay in getting everyone into such a meeting on short notice. The science teams, and those who had gone into the simulation, were the most readily available, and the first to arrive. The other, higher-ranking Rothian officials took a bit longer to deal with delegating their other responsibilities, but Vreta knew they were all making this their top priority. One by one, the conference hall filled up with a collection of some of the most powerful individuals from both of their nations. Vreta, on his part, took his seat near to Freyr and the Human science team, as fitting his role of liaison. He spent most of his time before the meeting looking up and familiarizing himself with the identities of the Human attendees he did not recognize. He felt that was the most productive he could be at this point, though there was one other detail he could not help but to notice. It was something that unsettled him, not about any of the Humans, but about the two Datius. Both Rareth’Jharn and Director Valic’Ans almost seemed…nervous. To a Rothian, at least, they seemed visibly anxious, which was something Vreta thought was impossible for the likes of a Datius. Even in the face of certain death, a Datius could remain the very picture of focus and composure, so if there was something that had them worried, Vreta certainly could not bring himself to relax.

Eventually, it got to the point that everyone who was necessary, from both species, seemed to be present and ready to begin. Yet, Valic insisted they were not. The Director, High Commissioner, and Grand Admiral were all physically present in the room, along with nearly everyone who had been involved in the expedition, so Vreta could scarcely think of what Rothian they could possibly be waiting on. However, that question did not take long to answer, and the answer he received was one that left him nothing short of speechless.

When the doors to the conference hall opened, the first thing to step through were two Rothian guards in full, top-of-the-line combat armor at least on-par with Rareth’s combat gear. Though, they only walked a few steps in before stopping on either side of the doors. Vreta was initially confused as to why there would be armed guards in such a meeting, but the person who stepped in afterwards immediately erased any thoughts of such concerns. She was a person who every Rothian would recognize immediately: the Speaker of the Rahn’Saki, Roth’Orsa.

In an instant, every single Rothian who was standing, apart from her guards, dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in reverence. Then every single Rothian who was sitting got up from their chairs so they could do the same. The Rahn’Saki themselves did not have any specific hierarchy among themselves, at least not that the public knew of, but Roth’Orsa was their oldest member, and the most public face of the Rahn’Saki. She had immaculate white scales, with red stripes across much of her body, apart from her stomach. The Rothians were not generally ones for elaborate regalia, but as was traditional for the Rahn’Saki, she wore her own, unique headdress. Each one was chosen to represent the individual members of the Rahn’Saki, and though they did change them through the years, they still retained the same core design. Roth’Orsa’s most recent headdress consisted of a simple headband, which projected a holographic display of a plume of multicolored feathers that formed a crest behind her head and neck.

The Rahn’Saki, in general, were not a public-facing group. Their internal discussions and decision-making were all made behind closed doors. They did not often interact with the public, and there was no official way to directly contact them. To other nations, they always worked through representatives and other intermediaries. There were some occasions for the Rahn’Saki to appear in public and address their people, but those were rare, often tightly-controlled instances. From a Human perspective, they would generally be considered propaganda events. For the Speaker to appear in person came as a surprise for everyone in the room, except perhaps the Datius. To Vreta’s knowledge, the Rahn’Saki had never directly engaged in conversation with representatives of another nation, so this was unprecedented in every way he could think of.

While waiting for the SCC to convene, Freyr had thrown herself at the problem again. The team rapidly filled five physical drawing boards with workings out and ideas. It eventually became clear that Outremer’s high command was unwilling to hold an audience with her while the Rothians were listening in. So Captain Andersen sent a shuttle to collect her, and Freyr answered dozens of initial questions on the short ride back to the Barbarossa. After they were satisfied, Freyr requested the craft turn around so she could return to her team.

When it came time to assemble, Freyr led her delegation into the cavernous conference room and sat in the middle of one of the square table’s sides. Most of the attendees currently in Outremer elected not to use the holographic function. Instead they displayed on a huge screen opposite her as rows of heads and shoulders in boxes. A couple of people even declined to send a video feed, so their box featured a nondescript silhouette of a head in their place.

Around half of the people Freyr had recently debriefed in the shuttle were present. She found President DeWinter, head of the armed forces Group Admiral Lord Hale and Director of Defence Intelligence, Benoit Souza among the sea of faces. They were the people she primarily had answered to before. They were all now in formal dress and looked extremely serious. When the Speaker arrived, an aide appeared in the President’s window to whisper in her ear; one of her eyebrows raised slightly.

After a little while, absolute quiet descended on the hall and the various shufflings stopped. Outremer’s president began transmitting sound to formally greet the room, her face growing larger to fill half of the screen. Her voice was smooth, melodious and stateswomanlike. “Hello. Thank you for joining us this morning. I appreciate the effort many of you have made to be here at such short notice. These are not the circumstances I would have chosen to meet so many honourable members of Rothian society for the first time. However, we must play the cards we are dealt. This is a situation with the potential to affect us all, but i am confident we can come up with an agreeable plan of action. As we are in your chamber, perhaps you would care to fire first?”

While Vreta knew that the Humans were being fairly polite, anything short of reverance towards the Rahn’Saki was considered offensive to at least some of the Rothians present. There were some glances exchanged between a few scientists, and an audible snarl from the Grand Admiral. He was a large, powerful, angry-looking Rothian with dark green scales, patterned with black lines in sharp, geometric arrangements. Fortunately for the Humans, though, the feelings of those being offended on the Speaker’s behalf did not seem to be shared by Roth’Orsa herself. With but a wave of her hand, a simple gesture to the Admiral, he silenced himself and erased any hint of anger from his being, as if it had never existed. She signaled for her people to stand and return to their seats, then took a seat at the head of the table herself opposite of the display of the President.

Although many of those present likely had much to say, there were none who would dare to speak over Roth’Orsa. She stared ahead with a friendly, yet somewhat strange expression. It was hard to place or describe in detail, but there was something about the way the Speaker looked and acted that was not perfectly normal. “I believe politeness would demand I…introduce myself. It would be…rude for me to not inform you of who you speak to. I, this form before you, am Roth’Orsa. I speak for the Rahn’Saki, but we all listen to you. You speak to all of us. We do not want that to be a surprise to you. We have come to a time where we cannot afford our usual patience. For us to preserve life, we must act with decisive purpose. We must think with haste; we must make our judgement. How do your people judge this being we discovered within the device?”

President DeWinter glanced at someone off camera, her eyes flickering as if reading text. Souza’s eyes glazed over briefly when he got a message via implant. Lord Hale just loomed into the conference room with an icy, unblinking stare. DeWinter eventually replied. “We have a lot of different opinions on recent events. The Cradle and it’s origins have been subject to robust political debate ever since we found it, three and a half centuries ago. Some of us are naturally suspicious of it, and assumed it would land us in trouble one day. And some of us are willing to lay down their lives to protect Outremer’s greatest asset.”

An aide came over to whisper in DeWinter’s ear again, but she shooed him away. “If the creature is to be believed, we could be in danger of joining a war we didn’t start, with an enemy that may be more advanced than both our civilisations. I believe the decision we need to make is whether we value our connection to this creature enough to risk peace and stability in the galaxy.”

Roth’Orsa showed little emotion or reaction while she waited for the President’s reply. Though, the constant, unblinking stare she was giving towards DeWinter might have been somewhat unnerving. “We do not think that is a choice for any of us. That is…to say, we think that is a choice that will be forced onto all of us. We have spent weeks discussing this over the last few hours. We have run innumerable calculations…projections of our possible futures. This is a situation with frustratingly many unknown variables; we can make no guarantees. But…the words of the being imply that war may be difficult to avoid without substantial sacrifices.”

No doubt, everyone present had seen the recordings many times, but Roth still took a moment to play the relevant portions aloud for reference: Our…home. It’s begun…waking, hasn’t it?/ I’m so sorry. I fear that means our foe draws nearer, and that puts you in grave danger. You must help us return home, so we may escape. Otherwise, they will destroy us all./ They will crush you if they discover you harboured us. They oppose our desire to spread life throughout the universe. They seek to control it all./ But if you return us to our home, we can start to heal. And then we can lead them away from your civilization. You’ve hidden our home well, behind our shields and underneath your city. But it won’t take long for them to join the dots once they arrive.

Roth continued immediately once she had played back the words. “If the intelligence speaks true, their enemy will attack us when they arrive, because we are on the worlds that harbour them. The being’s plan seems to be to leave with the Cradle to guide the Hegemon away from you. We lack knowledge of the variables to know if the plan will work, but it may. If your choice is to avoid a war, the options we have calculated are for you to allow the Cradle to leave your world, or to evacuate your people from Outremer.”

DeWinter interlinked her fingers and looked gravely at the gathered congregation. “It deeply concerns us that we’d be risking it all on this entity’s plan when it may not work. What if it disappears with the Cradle and this Hegemon still attacks us? You will know already that most of our military and our defensive infrastructure is coordinated indirectly through New Antioch. There is a good reason that - the Cradle has limitless computing power and is essentially impregnable. It means we’ve been punching above our weight for centuries.”

DeWinter reached for a glass of water and looked at someone off camera. Lord Hale took over from her. His voice was storied and gravelly. “That’s correct. And it pains me to say this, but without the Cradle, we will be reliant on Human instinct for months while we rebuild our entire system. Any hope of an optimised resistance against this unknown enemy will be thrown into complete disarray. Our Navy is one of the finest in the galaxy, but without the Cradle, our response will be scrappy and inefficient to start with, at best. We cannot risk it.”

DeWinter nodded, placing the glass back down again. “Dr Lang, is there any way we can keep the Cradle in position on Outremer if we do return this creature to it?” Freyr blinked rapidly and sat up in her seat; she was starting to feel the strain of 36 hours with no sleep. “It’s hard to say, Madame President. We do not know the Cradle’s corporeal capabilities.” She thought for a moment, well aware of all the eyes on her. “It is possible we could convince this entity to stay with us if we agree to, um, join its cause. But we have to consider its other ‘comrades’ as well; something tells me it won't be well disposed to us if we don't retrieve them too.”

By this point, Roth’Orsa’s unending stare towards President DeWinter had gone on long enough that even other Rothians started to notice it. Vreta found her to be…odd, but there was no malice behind her gaze. No anger or irritation. She just seemed to behave strangely, for reasons he could not guess. In any case, she did not delay in the slightest once the Humans were finished speaking. “We gave you the options we calculated to avoid war for your people. If your choice is to keep the Cradle in place, then you choose war.”

Finally, Roth’Orsa broke eye contact for a few moments as she looked around towards the other Human representatives present. “We know our people do make our position on warfare known to the other species of the galaxy. The destruction of life is abhorrent to us. We seek preservation, and pursue peaceful resolution wherever possible. Despite our recommendations, other species do engage in warfare, among themselves and one another. Our position is not to interfere, except by diplomacy, with the wars of other nations. However, our calculations, in this case, lead us to…uncomfortable conclusions. In the most probable futures we have seen…we too choose war. There are few kinds of wars we will fight, but among them is a war of preservation, against extinction. This intelligence we have discovered, though artificial, is life. If it is honest, if it is peaceful with us, then it is our duty to preserve it from extinction. If the enemy known as the Hegemon will not bow to reason, and if they can be defeated, then our choice is war.”

DeWinter nodded rigidly, lips locked together. “The people of Outremer will require evidence. We cannot just move to a war footing without tangible evidence of this threat. It is my understanding that this creature didn’t actually provide us with anything we could corroborate?” Freyr fielded this one too.“That is correct, Madame President. The team asked, but it became too weak to provide any reference points.”

Freyr turned to address the majority of the Rothian delegates next. “We should consider providing it with alternate sources of power. It could be able to use them, meaning we can attempt a safe re-entry in a couple of days. It may be willing to give us the rest of the answers we need.” Another person jumped in almost immediately from the screen. “That would be a poor substitute for moving the asset back to Outremer right away, Dr Lang. Giving it power on Rothia provides no guarantee that it will be well enough to help us with these facts.”

Freyr remembered that voice, but couldn’t place it to a face. She searched the sea of visages to try and find someone else she recognised. “Well, yes. Potentially. Who am I speaking to?” Another face appeared where one of the anonymous silhouettes had been seconds before. He had short, well-groomed grey hair, a timeless complexion and bright augmented blue eyes. Her stomach clenched, seemingly on it’s own, at the sight of him. “Director-General Smith, of The Cradle Institute. I’m pleased to see you again, Dr Lang.” He smiled.

It was hard to say if Roth’Orsa knew anything about Director-General Smith, as she gave little in the way of a discernible reaction to his presence. For the most part, she just continued to stare ahead, still unblinking. At the very least, Vreta figured that she would know everything about him that he did, which was not a great deal, if he was being honest. Still, Vreta would not have been surprised if the Rahn’Saki had ways of gathering information that he was not privy to.

“In the most probable outcomes, the war will come to you whether you prepare for it or not.” Roth’Orsa commented, once the others were finished speaking. Whether or not you agree to return the device to Outremer, it is most likely that the Hegemon will attack you still for harbouring the Cradle itself. Attempting to maintain the status quo would not assist you.”

Roth’Orsa paused for just a moment as her gaze shifted onto the Director-General. “We also believe the Director-General is correct. We could provide the device with immeasurable power, but it may be no more than a waste of time. Our determination on the source of the being’s weakness is inconclusive. It may not be lacking power. Its instability could be the result of other effects caused by separation from the Cradle. We note that this device’s base code had deviated enough from the Cradle to interfere with your equipment upon arrival in the simulation. If that is the source of the problem, additional electricity would not be a solution.”

“Yes, you’re right. But if we could get a Terraformer and Builder inside the simulation, they could create us a lab that’ll give us a shot at realigning the languages. This would allow us unprecedented access to-’”

“Dr Lang, with all due respect; we simply don’t have time for ‘realignment’!” The Director-General interrupted her. “Even without this Hegemon threat, we are still losing a war for control of the Cradle from within. You remember that transit station where we met? It’s now an island, in the middle of an angry sea. Every day we waste means more lives lost.”

Freyr hmphed. She didn’t quite understand what her boss was doing, but she was going to fight for David, Amy, and all the other dead who she hoped were still retrievable somewhere inside the Cradle. Even if that meant being sacrificed on the altar of public opinion in the process. “It is my job to control what the Cradle interacts with. If we do as this thing says, it’s quite likely we’ll lose control of the Cradle forever, and all the lives we’ve lost will be in vain.”

Freyr licked her lips and gulped to moisten her parched throat. “There may be nothing we can do to stop it leaving and taking our best chance of surviving any potential attack with it. But give me enough time with it in its current state, and I may be able to extract the tools we need to repair the Cradle ourselves. We might even find a way to bring the Cradle dead back.”

There was a moment of what Freyr perceived as 'stunned silence' in the conference room. “Forgive me if I’m mistaken, but that sounds a lot like torture, Dr Lang.” The Director-General growled. “It is my duty to give you all of the options. Especially if they can potentially save our planet from chaos." Freyr insisted, folding her arms.

This time, it was Freyr who received Roth’Orsa’s stare. Even though she had not yet given off any signs of malice, Vreta still felt unnerved sitting near the subject of her focus. Though, the great regard in which he held the Rahn’Saki did influence his anxiety. “You are…afraid Dr. Lang, yes? You lost your family within the Cradle, and evidence suggests their minds were taken by the intelligence that has emerged within the Cradle. Since you have been on our world, we have heard you speak of such great pain that would fill any Rothian with grief for years. The being we encountered offered to attempt to return your dead to you, but to do so would require releasing control. As you are now, you have some control over the Cradle. Even if it is fighting back, you still have some tools to influence it. Your family’s fate is currently in your hands, and you are afraid to place it in the hands of any other. You do not know if you want to trust this being with their lives.”

Roth’Orsa required no time to think, and did not hesitate to continue. Any question asked or counterpoint raised, it seemed she could reply to in an instant. We may not have had the opportunity to study the Cradle, but the Rahn’Saki has…knowledge of digitized personalities. Even without having entered it, the Cradle is a place that feels familiar to us. It is not identical to technology we know of, but it…rhymes, so to speak. The only way that it would be possible for your dead and lost to be returned to you would be if there is record of their personality matrices somewhere within the Cradle’s memory. If that is the case, then it would be a trivial task for this being to return those personalities to you, so as long as it has control over the Cradle. It is no different from moving a file on your computer. If there has been too much deviation from the patterns in their organic minds, then it may not be possible to return them to their original bodies, we will admit. However, you would still have their minds. If your people cannot create a digital environment capable of hosting a complete Human mind, then in the interest of preserving their lives, we would be willing to provide them.”

Freyr felt her ears and cheeks burning as the Speaker addressed her. She was talking about things Freyr had tried hard to suppress to fulfil her role as lead scientist. Freyr glanced up at the bank of screens and saw Outremer’s high command regarding her with...pity? Disgust? It was impossible to tell. Many of the top brass may not have been well aware of her conflict of interest. Freyr looked down at her arms and tried not to lose composure.

“How long would it take? Theoretically.” Benoit Souza spoke up. He was very soft spoken; so much that his microphone artificially enhanced the sentence. Freyr looked up, letting out a shuddering breath. “We’d need...a few months at least. Not including the lab setup.” She could tell that wasn’t the answer a lot of them wanted to hear. They had no doubt all been briefed that Outremer’s presence in the Cradle had little more than nine months left.

“I don’t want to rule anything out.” President DeWinter admitted. “How long can we resist this expulsion from the Cradle? Are there any more counter-measures we can take in the short term?” Freyr nodded, glad of the life line. “Yes, we’ve been making strides toward developing a ‘counter-insurgency’ terraform grid which will resist the corruption, and more effective weapons to-”

“Dr Lang, you’ve been away from the Cradle for weeks.” The Director-General stopped her. “The Cradle’s aggression is becoming more sophisticated faster than we can develop the means to stop it. The corruption is no longer limited to the borderlands - if i may, this is footage extracted from one of the labs in NA yesterday. Apologies, it is quite graphic.”

After a short pause, the bank of people on the screen disappeared, replaced by a video clip taken from a CraSec helmet cam. It showed a long corridor with plate glass windows looking into sub-labs. A dozen scientists sprinted toward the camera, pursued by what could only be described as a giant post-aquatic cephalopod. The thing’s body was contorting to fit into the narrow space. Three fleshy arms reached out to grab people and shove them into a beak-like mouth. The soundtrack consisted of blaring alarms and screaming.

The Director-General stopped the clip after about fifteen seconds. “That creature did not despawn after the surge had abated. It is still wreaking havoc as we speak.”

By this point, there was likely little surprise to the fact that Roth’Orsa had a calm, direct response to what the Director-General had showed them. This time, she continued to stare ahead at the screen after the video ended, without actually looking at any of the Human representatives. “Even if you were to give us all information you possess on the Cradle, and give us full access to every aspect of it, we could not guarantee that we would be able to take control of it in time to save your world.” Roth’Orsa said flatly. “There are no guaranteed outcomes in any choice we could make. Our best outcomes require trusting in the word of the being we discovered. There is no way to be sure of its honesty, but all evidence we have access to does…suggest truth in some of its claims. It made the claim that it influenced the development of life on our planet, which is…consistent with the accepted hypothesis of the Rahn’Saki prior to these events.”

Roth’Orsa’s last statement turned the heads of multiple Rothians across the room, including some of the ranking leadership. Vreta was both confused and surprised by what she seemed to be implying. The idea that Rothian life could have been intelligently designed had been a shock to him when the first evidence came to light weeks ago, but Roth seemed to be suggesting that the Rahn’Saki had been considering that possibility even beforehand. Not only did they consider it, but the idea was their favored explanation. He had no idea what had caused them take on such ideas, but it was certainly not a commonly held belief among Rothians as a whole.

Regardless, Roth’Orsa did not pause for so much as a moment to address her own people’s surprise. “We believe, with all data considered, that allowing the being to heal the Cradle is the most likely path to ending the crisis on your world. Were the situation less dire, we would recommend greater caution, but to delay risks losing the option of the being’s assistance. Is Outremer in agreement, overall?”

When the rows of faces appeared back on the screen once the clip had finished, many of them wore truly shocked expressions. About two thirds had been instantly ejected from the meeting by the video’s clearance level, leaving only nine top officials in the conference.

Freyr knew immediately upon surveying the faces of her superiors that the Director-General had gotten his way. He’d wielded top secret footage from her morning briefing and hyperbole like a club to hammer any sense of caution or due process from his audience. She watched, exasperated, as Outremer’s high command discreetly messaged each other while the Speaker made her closing remarks.

Freyr quickly surveyed her colleagues' faces; they looked horrified with the pantomime unfolding before their eyes. She then caught 595’s eye - the agent was grim and pale, still not fully recovered from her re-entry. She gave Freyr an incomprehensible look - what was that? Pain? Fear? Sleep starved elation?

Freyr turned back and hurriedly leaned forward in her seat before the officials gave their answer. “As head of Cradle Research and Development, I would like to formally object to reuniting the artefact, codenamed Rothia 1, with the Cradle. Under Diaspora Colonial Secrets statute 43, article…61, the expedition lead can request thirty Earth days of direct study in-situ before presenting official recommendations to the-”

“Dr Lang I’m terribly sorry, but your conflict of interest with the Cradle’s operation precludes you from using DCS in this way. Especially in Rothian space.” Smith replied coolly, having obviously prepared responses to the primary arcane procedure that Freyr was privy to.

“Dr Lang... As someone who has lost a child too, I know the pain you must be feeling.” President DeWinter soothed; all of the faces had stopped talking to each other and were now watching her closely. “I would give anything to see my babies again. But we must do this, or we risk every future generation of Outreman children. For that reason, I'm authorising the repatriation of this object to the Cradle. I hope you will help us, Freyr.” Dr Lang massaged her eye sockets, resigning herself once again. She nodded slowly. "Of course, Madame President."

For the first time, Roth’Orsa actually paused for an appreciable moment to formulate her response. Vreta imagined the Rahn’Saki were discussing among themselves, perhaps with some disagreements among them to account for the short delay. “If we are in agreement, then we should begin preparations to move the device to Outremer. One of our scientists, Nirann, has already submitted a proposal.” She said, turning her head towards his holographic avatar and gesturing to him. “If you please.”

Nirann was initially surprised to be called upon to speak. The Rahn’Saki doubtless already knew everything he knew, and much more. There was a good reason the rest of them had stayed quiet while the Rahn’Saki were handling diplomacy. Still, he did not hesitate to follow his leaders’ request. “Of course. I am aware that the Cradle has, in the past, been adverse to moving from its position within Outremer’s crust. We do not know if this new device would be similarly stubborn, but in any case, my proposal would bypass such resistance.” Nirann began as he pushed a digital copy of his written proposal to each of the meeting’s attendees still present. “Rather than try to excavate the object, we can simply build a Class 1 gateway around it, underground. At the same time, we bring another gateway to Outremer, then simply send it through the wormhole. Even if the object will allow us to move it with no resistance by other means, this process would still be quicker than the time it would take to excavate it from Rothia safely.”

“In addition, we also need to discuss our cooperation.” Roth’Orsa quickly continued. “This matter has moved far beyond just the concern of Humanity on Outremer. Based on the information available, the list of potential outcomes may impact every living species in our galaxy. We will require full cooperation in the study of these devices, and equal decision-making power for any matter with a potential influence beyond Humanity’s concerns on Outremer.”

“Thank you for submitting that proposal, Nirann. We will need assurances that the gate is only temporary, though.” President DeWinter smiled at the holographic Rothian then turned her head to address at Roth’Orsa.

“We have discussed the arrangement as a group and could potentially agree to expand the clause on exo-Cradle objects. So we can investigate this entity’s compatriots together.” The Director-General nodded encouragingly while DeWinter continued. “But we cannot agree to any expansion of our relationship regarding the Cradle. It is still our asset, and willfully relinquishing control to another civilisation would reflect poorly on this administration. Our top priority right now should be returning this thing home.”

“But you are mistaken, President.” Roth’Orsa replied, unshaken by the Humans’ resistance, and unmoving in her demeanor. “The Cradle is not yours. You did not create it, and as we have learned, its creators are not dead, nor did they willingly abandon it. If what we have learned is accurate, the Cradle is the home of these beings. It belongs to them, and they have the right to it. The Cradle now fits the definition of the native homeworld of an independent, intelligent species within your borders. You do have the right to control first contact, but you do not have the right to deny us access to it for our own…anthropological study and diplomatic activities.”

Roth’Orsa leaned forward, maintaining her stare towards President DeWinter. “Even aside from such legal definitions, what happens with the Cradle no longer just concerns Humanity. Every Rothian, every Tindrel, Ulsix, or Paran. Every single thinking being in our galaxy could be preserved or destroyed based on what happens to the Cradle. Consider, President DeWinter, that we are no longer discussing a piece of technology. We are no longer merely arguing about allowing Rothian scientists to satisfy their curiosity studying an interesting computer. We are discussing an existential threat to the continued existence of the Rothian people. This is no longer a matter of intellectual curiosity for us, President, it is a matter of survival. Consider your answer within that context, before you reply. We will not demand Cradle data you have already gathered through the centuries, none of your technologies nor secrets you have extracted, but we will require full and equal access to study the Cradle as it is now. We will require equal involvement in reuniting the device on Rothia with the Cradle, and an equal voice in the events to come involving it. There is nothing less that is acceptable.”