At such a time, a voice boomed across Chernobyl, backed by Intent.
"When I heard a Terminal Observable Existence had come back to life," it said, and the voice carried a cruel, eccentric dialect, "I thought, well, that will be difficult to pinpoint, won't it? So many possible reasons. So I did the sensible thing. I attacked. You learn a great deal about a situation by disturbing it and watching what rushes to protect what."
The voice was patient and pleased with itself.
"And what did I learn? I learned that the Source Lifeforms, our presumed culprits, did not behave like culprits. They behaved like beings as surprised as I was. So, not them. Then I watched where they positioned themselves, and how very interesting, they have arranged themselves protectively around two beings who are not Source Lifeforms at all."
