"I don't believe him," as soon as we left the transport cabin, Trebal burst out. "That life-sucking bastard is clearly trying to lure us into a trap!"
"I hope the universe doesn't gain any more black holes after my words," Chaya echoed, "but I agree with Trebal."
The girls walked on either side of me and slightly behind. I suspect it wasn't by chance—it was easier for them to attack my ears that way. And through them—directly into my brain, to conduct coverage from the flanks.
"Are there any other ideas why he told us this?" I asked.
"Yes," the Dorandan girl blurted out in a tone as if I should have thought of it myself. "For example, the wraiths finally managed to establish contact with Koschei during the battle at 'Aurora' and planned to weaken us. After which they were just waiting for a convenient moment for this. And now, we are walking towards them with open arms. And instead of small forces, a whole fleet of hive ships might be waiting for us there."
"Maybe," I agreed. "Or maybe not."
"Is that the only argument you have?" Chaya clarified.
"Okay, ladies," I stopped in the middle of the corridor and glared at both of them. "If you find me another explanation for why Koschei decided to sacrifice himself to lure us into a trap, then I'm open to suggestions. He's not an idiot, even if he's a soldier. And he knows that if something goes wrong with us, he'll be dissected with particular cynicism. Have you encountered such self-sacrifice among wraiths?" Trebal opened her mouth, but I stopped her. "I'm not talking about soldiers."
"Perhaps he is counting on the trap to benefit him," Chaya objected. "Or maybe this Styx is his close associate. And he intends to free him that way. Maybe the goal of the trap is to capture one of us and exchange him for Koschei."
"If so, then that's exactly what we'll do," I said.
"Excuse me?" Chaya's eyes widened.
"Didn't you find the Ancients' laboratory where they irradiated people and created explosive tumors inside them?" I clarified.
In known events, in addition to other "fun" Ancient inventions, there was also this. The laboratory in Atlantis irradiated a person (at least, that's how it was in the series, but it was intended for wraiths. And it was unsuccessfully tested on them, which is why the project was closed), after which an explosive tumor matured inside him. The neoplasm collected the necessary microelements from the body and after a few hours exploded everything around it with the power of a good piece of plastic explosive.
Moreover, when I say "a good piece of plastic explosive," I mean that the detonation was so powerful that it pierced the walls in Atlantis. And only charges of enormous power, or significant mass, are capable of this. Beton-811 is not a toy. If Nif-Nif built his house out of it, the wolf would inflate his own thin intestine faster than deflate the dwelling of the first pig. By the way, it's quite possible that it was from Beton-811 that the Ascended built Naf-Naf's, the third pig's, house. I believe this more than that a pig had enough brains for cementing stone masonry.
"Yes, and I closed it," Chaya mumbled. "I disabled everything there, sealed it, and prohibited access to anyone with a clearance level lower than mine."
"In that case, if they really want to lure us into a trap, then, before you return Koschei to them, take him to this wonderful establishment and irradiate him thoroughly," I suggested.
"Misha, that's unlikely to work," Chaya warned. "The Lantians couldn't make the tumor kill wraiths in one hundred percent of cases. Due to their regeneration, it negated the efforts to form the tumor."
"So, if we fail, you should make this thing work," I said. "Or make sure Koschei can't regenerate. Cut off his hand, or something."
"Is this our Plan B?" Trebal clarified in a displeased tone.
"No, it's Plan G."
"And why G specifically?" Chaya frowned. But, before I could answer, she closed her eyes as if she didn't want to imagine it, and held out her palm. "Please, still no explanations. I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it."
"So, we only have two alternative versions?" Trebal clarified. "That they are luring us into a trap to kill us, or to capture us? That's it, no other options?"
"There are," I admitted. "And it consists of Koschei not benefiting from lying to us. For collaborating with humans, he will be killed by his own kind. And, if they want to capture us, then you, Chaya, will have to blackmail him."
"Do you still believe that he is actually afraid of Styx?" Chaya asked.
"Yes, because it was on his damaged cruiser with damaged engines that the Queen of Death went into battle," I shared information. "He knew about it, tried to dissuade her, but didn't reveal the true reason why he asked her not to use his cruiser. Not to mention that he developed the plan to move her from the flagship super-hive to another ship, so as not to make Atlantis a target. He is guilty all around—certainly to Styx. And the wise man will not forgive such a thing—in fact, it is treason to his own queen. It's possible that Styx even knows about Koschei's role in Death's defeat."
"These are all guesses," Trebal threw back at me as I resumed my movement. "We did wonderfully attacking the wraiths when we played by our own rules. But all problems arise from chance."
"They will arise in any case," I admitted. "Spies, scanners, consequences of our actions, or something else—but we will be at war with the wraiths. This will happen a priori. And it's best to take advantage of the current situation to show them clearly: we will not just defend ourselves, as ten thousand years ago."
"We have almost nothing to defend ourselves with," Chaya reminded them. "Only 'Ares' has enough ammunition for a good fight. Atlantis's arsenals are practically empty."
"'Hippaphoralkus' hasn't even finished repairs yet, let alone the number of projectiles," Trebal said through clenched teeth. "And you want to go straight into the enemy's maw without knowing what awaits us there!"
"Ladies!" I stopped again. "I understand your concern, but right now you could support me with advice."
"We are supporting you," Chaya said. "We advise you not to do anything foolish."
"Not the advice I need," I admitted.
"This is the only logical one," Trebal spread her hands. "We don't know what awaits us!"
"And you haven't said a word about your plan," Chaya added. "You just sent Captains Asan and Labrey to prepare their ships and combat detachments. Just like Larrin to Taranis, and generally stirred up all our combat forces! Specific orders and preparation time are not a plan!"
"That's exactly why we're going to the infirmary," I assured them, returning to my original direction of movement.
As last time, both girls followed me.
The infirmary doors opened as I approached—the city reacted to the actions and thoughts of those with the Ancient gene. Those who didn't have it, or had a weak version of it, like Seliza, Fren, or Larrin (as well as a good dozen Dorandans), had to use the good old control panels.
Speaking of Seliza.
Seeing me, the girl tore herself away from contemplating the monitor of her work computer and smiled kindly.
She had a small office near the entrance where she could do her theoretical work, not directly related to treatment. And that's what she was doing when we entered: browsing Atlantis's medical database.
"Hello," she greeted, noticing my approach. "Can I help with anything?"
"Hello. You can," I sat down on a chair next to her. Chaya and Trebal greeted the girl but remained standing. "Seliza, light of our medicine, tell me one simple thing."
"Yes, of course," the disciple of Kirik blinked her eyes. Speaking of Kirik—I noticed out of the corner of my eye that our head of security had appeared in the infirmary doorway. With a wraith stunner in his holster. He was expecting me nearby. I just wish I knew in advance against whom he intended to use it if the situation got too far. "Anything I can do."
Seliza's "blinking eyes" were not called that for nothing. The initiation had transformed her from a child into a young girl. And, despite her weak Ancient gene, she could give many of the Ancient women in Atlantis a run for their money. Not only with her real youth and freshness, innocent spontaneity, and kind gaze.
But also with long, thick eyelashes, which she blinked intensely every time she got nervous. And she got nervous often.
"Koschei," I immediately stated the purpose of my visit. "Except for Kirik, you are the only one who visited him."
"Of course I visited," the girl said.
"Why?"
Seliza was bewildered.
"What do you mean, why?" she asked in surprise. "I'm in charge of ensuring the people in Atlantis are healthy. And first and foremost, those he brings back to life."
"Elaborate, Seliza," Kirik requested. "You told me you had authorization from Chaiya."
"And I gave it to her," the Proculucian stated, clearly not understanding what was happening. "She clears every visit to Koschei with me."
"Then you both tell me why our only medic is visiting our only wraith," I asked. "And why don't I know about it?"
"Because it's a technical aspect concerning the people in Atlantis," Chaiya explained. "Just like repairing doors, lighting, the drainage system, ventilation, and so on. I don't inform you about those either, I only report in generalized weekly reports about what problems have been fixed to a greater or lesser extent in a specific part of the city."
"I reported in the reports on the restored patients about their health status at the time of discharge," Seliza blinked even more. "I didn't think I needed to describe it in detail."
"Just tell me why you went to see him," Trebal said. "And no, Chaiya, not you. Her."
The Dorandan immediately realized something bad was happening. And it was better to hear it directly from the executor first. I ruled out Chaiya's involvement in anything a priori. But if Seliz started to prevaricate and act like a naughty puppy.
"It's about a ferment," the girl behaved completely calmly. She reached for her computer and brought up information from several files on the monitor. "We didn't notice it right away. But observing the behavior of a number of those brought back to life, the Ancients, we noticed a peculiarity in their behavior. Usually phlegmatic, they became slightly agitated, including in... " a blush appeared on the girl's face. "In interpersonal relationships. The first one I suspected of wrongdoing was Captain Trebal."
"I don't understand," the Dorandan said in a deathly voice. "What are you talking about?"
"Look," Seliza pointed to the lines of text in a good dozen files. "These are the results of medical scans immediately after the reverse feeding procedure. A number of hormones are elevated, but within the upper limits of normal, so they didn't attract much attention. However, such analyses are not for everyone. I started to figure out what was going on. It could have been an individual reaction of the body to reverse feeding or something similar. But when the frequency of repetitions of such an upper threshold appeared, I became worried and informed Chaiya. I took samples from everyone brought back to life and determined that the longer the time passed since the reverse feeding, the lower the hormone levels. These were mainly hormones responsible for mood and sexual," her ears even turned red, "arousal. Therefore, I began an investigation and discovered that there is a different amount of wraith ferment in the blood of those brought back to life after the procedure. Some have more, some have less. Consequently, the first ones also had higher hormone levels. From which I concluded a connection. But further, when there was less and less ferment, the hormonal pattern leveled out. True, then hormones responsible for irritability, nervousness, and other negative processes began to predominate. These people began to seek antidepressants, which partially stabilized their situation."
"What does Koschei have to do with this?" I asked.
"Wraiths inject the ferment into the victim's body when they feed on them," the girl said.
"But Koschei doesn't feed on our people."
"And he also knows little about his physiology," Seliza declared. "He's quite stupid in science. I took some samples from him..."
"Some?" I clarified.
"One hundred and twenty-five, to be precise," the girl blinked her eyes. "And I found out that either he wanted to hide it, or he simply doesn't know that the ferment is injected into the victim's body not only during feeding, but also during the reverse process. Then I conducted a chemical analysis of his ferment and established that it is precisely it, upon entering the body, that affects the hormonal pattern. As long as there is enough of it in the blood, people are literally happy and productive. However, when it breaks down, they experience anxiety, apathy, anger. There is a correlation of how the ferment acts on the human body."
"First it cheers and strengthens, and in the end it makes you suffer," I said grimly.
"An ideal method of control," Chaiya added. "I think that's how acolytes appear."
"For humans, it's dangerous due to addiction," the "Blinking Eyes" confirmed. "The presence of ferment in the blood of wraiths will not cause addiction, but in us – it will. Some organisms successfully fight the ferment on their own and there are no consequences. But those whose bodies were severely damaged receive more ferment. And, consequently, it affects their bodies more. Therefore, when I told Chaiya everything, we decided to act preemptively. We didn't need a crowd of Ancients addicted to wraith ferment."
"But we need to continue bringing people back to life," Chaiya continued. "And do it in such a way that the Ancients going through apathy don't decide they can cheer themselves up by visiting a wraith."
"Depression from being underwater in a confined space," I realized, looking at the Proculucian. "Is that your 'legend'?"
"Actually, it's a correct diagnosis, because almost everyone has it, except for the 'newcomers' among those brought back to life," Chaiya said. "And even then, it's because they are under the influence of the ferment."
"Depression was an excellent excuse, so I developed medicines that would accelerate the breakdown of the ferment and remove it from the body faster," Seliza said. "We tested the trials on Fren and a couple of other girls with increased libido after resurrection and got results. Combined with antidepressants, it helps to imperceptibly withdraw people from drug addiction. And, considering that the treatment is prescribed immediately after the medical examination and identification of indications for the pills, there is no addiction as such. People just visit each other at night with a lifted mood for a while."
"I think not just in mood," Trebal said. "Did I understand correctly that my emotional swings after reverse feeding are because of the ferment?"
"To a significant extent," Seliza confirmed, casting a quick glance at Chaiya. "And your genetics..."
"It's perfect," Trebal cut off.
"Not entirely," the girl blushed. "There are certain medical problems with a number of functions..."
"Stop," I interrupted. "Seliza, don't talk about diagnoses in front of strangers. I think Trebal would like to hear about her health herself, without unnecessary ears."
"But you are her superior," the girl blinked. "And Chaiya..."
"Chaiya is not my superior," Trebal snapped. I wonder if she's under the ferment or just got worked up herself? "We have equivalent positions."
"Mikhail, I'll talk to Seliza about tact," Kirik assured. His voice clearly sounded relieved.
And in my eyes, this man grew.
Not only did he receive and review all the data from the wraith visits, confirming that no one except him and Seliz had descended to the wraith without my knowledge, but he also didn't hide it. Although he could have, out of an excess of protective feelings. After all, there were moments when the girl came to the wraith alone. And this was Kirik's mistake, for which he already received a reprimand. Just because the girl doesn't know how to open the chamber and doesn't have the necessary codes and genetic clearance doesn't mean you can leave her alone with the wraith.
It wasn't difficult to guess from the wording of my question that I didn't know that anyone other than me was seeing the wraith.
"Undoubtedly," I agreed. "And also that one should not tell the prisoner what is happening with us."
"What?" Kirik became alert, looking sternly at Seliza. "What did you tell the wraith?"
"Oh, nothing special," the song of my youth came to mind. "Flutter your eyelashes and take off." Seliza fluttered them so fast that it seemed she would actually take off. "When I was questioning him about wraiths, physiology, scanning him through the bars, he talked to me. He asked why such a young queen was doing the work of smart ones. He said I should be taught to rule, not to serve. I told him that we have someone to rule, and that in his understanding, I am a little queen and everything suits me. I reminded him that he himself said that wraiths have queens who serve other queens. Usually the first are young and weak, and the second are experienced and strong."
"Well, at least he didn't call you an old woman," Trebal chuckled, looking at Chaiya. Sar ignored the jab.
"What else did you talk about?"
"He asked which of the two – Trebal or Chaiya – were the queens of our hive. I understood from his previous conversations that women mean a lot to wraiths. They literally worship queens. And the stronger the alliance of queens, the more dangerous they are. Therefore, I told him that Trebal and Chaiya rule together. And also that there are other queens and we have a strong hive with strong warriors, Ancient ships, and brave, strong commanders. The latter, by the way, are called blades among them. And scientists are smart ones. And their soldiers are very stupid. They don't think for themselves, they are born with only a small set of thoughts. I would even say that these are algorithms of action for certain events. They are very strong on their own, but stupid. Therefore, commanders must always be with them – otherwise they might not do what is necessary. The stronger the commander, the more warriors he has under his command at once. I said that Mikhail is a very strong blade – he has thousands of warriors and smart ones under his command. Koschei said that he had seen Ancient blades and smart ones who commanded entire planets with millions of people on them. But none lived longer than a couple of weeks after meeting him. I remember being offended then and told him not to talk nonsense. Because, although we don't have millions of soldiers, he is not free either."
"I can imagine his face at that moment," Trebal said with a hint of admiration. "A ten-thousand-year-old wraith, nose-deep in his own predicament, being lectured by a recently initiated young girl."
"Wraiths are much like beetles or insects," Seliza continued. "Each queen has a consort and close blades. A consort is needed to conceive new wraiths and great honor for the consort if a new queen appears. He said that wraith queens prefer to choose consorts from their own hives. I told him that this is bad, because then there is a risk of degeneration. Moreover, considering the small populations of hives – no more than five thousand individuals – degeneration will occur quite quickly."
Pale blue skin...
"Continue," I asked. "Did you talk about anything else?"
"He was interested in which of the queens you serve, Mikhail," Seliza admitted. "The Queen-Blade," she looked at Trebal, "or the Queen-Smart One," and this gaze was already addressed to Chaiya. "I said that you don't serve them, but they serve you. And voluntarily, which shocked him. Wraiths never share one consort among queens. And generally try not to allow several queens in one hive. Even their alliances are not one hive, but many independent ones. A confederation, so to speak. And their queens are used to being either smart, or strong, or cunning. They try to resolve their disagreements through negotiations, but if they realize that the opponent will not yield, they try to kill her and seize control of her hive. And then the queen's hive will increase, and among the blades there will be competition for the right to be the queen's consort. And the joined blades are ready to do anything to satisfy the queen's wishes and whims. They are not argued with, but if a commander rules in the hive, then subordinate commander-blades can question his orders," the girl frowned. "He also said something about gifts... Ah, I remember!" she beamed. "If a hive is in disgrace, wants to atone for its guilt, reconciliation or merger after recent disagreements or war, they must deliver a valuable gift to the other hive, otherwise it will be impolite and one cannot dream of a true alliance."
"Anything else?" I could only ask.
"No," the girl said.
"Did he threaten you, intimidate you into talking to him?" Kirik asked. The "fugitive" understood that the girl had told him, if not valuable, then important information.
"No, not really," Seliza stated after thinking. "At first, of course, he was irritated, and when you were around, he didn't want to talk. But alone – yes. He's a very interesting conversationalist."
"Really?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"Yes," sparks lit up in the girl's eyes. "Do you know that he is one of the first wraiths? He even had a daughter once. But she died many thousands of years ago."
"A queen?" Trebal asked.
"He said she was very small when the Ancients killed her," Seliza said sadly. "I asked if it could have been an accident, but he said there are no accidents when Lantian warships destroy your home."
"As well as wraith ones," Kirik remarked.
"They need to eat," Seliza shrugged. "That's their nature."
"Are you defending wraiths?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"No, not at all," Seliza waved her hands. "I'm just stating facts. They kill people to live. And they don't perceive us as intelligent beings – at least, most of the galaxy's population doesn't. They respect strength and only strength. And those who cannot resist them are simply food for them. That's their philosophy."
"The philosophy of murderers," Trebal said harshly.
"And they also like it when we suffer during feeding," Seliza suddenly said. "Our emotions add 'spice' to the feeding process... 'Spice,' as he put it."
"Next time, I'll sprinkle him with full broken hands of spices," Kirik promised.
"Calm down," I asked. "Seliz, did he tell you anything about their ships?"
"A little," the girl said. "He said they are alive and also need to eat. Especially when they are wounded."
"How do they eat?"
"They fall into a slumber and absorb minerals to get building material for regeneration. This takes a long time, as it is based on the DNA of mollusks from a distant planet. They found it many thousands of years ago when they fled from the Ancients and went into hiding. He says," she smiled, "the queens and their consorts told the others that it was beautiful there. Orbital gates, beautiful landscapes."
"He's quite the romantic," Trebal snorted.
"Hold back the sarcasm," Chaiya asked, approaching the girl. "Seliz, did Koschei tell you why they went to this planet with orbital gates?"
"They were hiding from the Ancients," she said. "They wanted to kill them because they are what they are. But the wraiths decided they had enough of being test subjects. So they fled – the nine first queens and ninety-nine first commanders. They killed the Ancient scientists who studied them to prolong their lives, stole their equipment, and went on the run."
"Equipment?" I became interested. "What kind of weapon?"
"Some kind of terrible weapon," the girl shrugged. "He called it a mad invention that threatened all wraiths in the galaxy."
"What else did he say?" I asked quickly. "The planet's coordinates? The type of weapon? The planet's name?"
"He said he had never been there," the girl blinked. "Only some of the first wraiths had been there. And even then, because they didn't trust the others. Competition had already arisen between them. And those queens with their blades who wanted to flee and hide from the Lantians were losing to those who wanted war with them. So the first ones hid everything they stole from the Ancients so that others wouldn't do it. For which they were eventually killed."
"I can't believe it," Kirik said. "Somewhere in the galaxy there is a weapon that kills all wraiths, and we don't even know where to look for it!?"
"Too simple," Trebal declared.
"Too dangerous," Chaiya echoed.
"For whom?" Kirik wondered. "For wraiths? I don't care! Let them all die!"
"It's not certain that all will die, it's not certain that they will die, and it's not certain that it's wraiths," I said, getting up from my chair. "Seliza, you did a great job. I apologize for being harsh with you. My nerves are just frayed."
"Oh, it's nothing," the girl said distractedly. "If you want, I'll report every action to you now. If problems arise..."
"Work as before," I asked, standing in the doorway. "But report everything the wraith told you to me or Chaiya, Trebal. Agreed?"
"Of course!" the girl beamed. "I have some free time now, I'll write down everything I remember in a file and send it to you!"
"That would be wonderful," I assured her. Looking at my companions, I said:
"Let's go. We learned what we needed."
"And even more," Chaiya added grimly.
"Mikhail," Kirik ran ahead and stood in front of me. "The device! The Ancient weapon! We need to find it!"
"We need to," I agreed. "Find it, study it, and most likely, put it in the same box of brilliantly insane inventions that we have scattered all over Atlantis."
"Why?" the former "fugitive" wondered.
"If the invention worked as intended, the Ancients would have used it immediately," I explained. "And based on our experience, and known events, the more promising the weapon the Ancients create, the more tragic the consequences are for everyone around."
"Are you crazy?" Kirik recoiled. "We have a whole city of Ancients! We can definitely make it work as it should! This is our chance!"
"A chance," I agreed. "And we will do everything to find this weapon. Study it and understand what exactly it does."
"It kills wraiths," the former "fugitive" insisted. "It avenges millions killed by them! To hell with this Styx! We must find this weapon!"
"And we will find it," I assured, lowering my voice. "And we will do as I said. Find it, study it, then study it again, recheck it, and only then decide what we will do with it. And this decision is immutable. Is that clear?"
Kirik inhaled and exhaled loudly.
"Yes," he admitted reluctantly.
"And also," I added, "no one should know what Seliza told us about this weapon. I hope it's clear why?"
"Yes," the former "fugitive" grimaced.
"Kirik," I walked up to him closely. "Any weapon of mass destruction made by the Ancients... Especially," I emphasized, "if it's made by the Ancients, should be perceived primarily as a threat to humans. If you don't believe me, let Chaiya tell you how dangerous and unpredictable things they created here. And what came of it. Nanites, Project Arcturus, Project Aterro, and a lot more – these are illusory easy victories at the cost of colossal sacrifices among innocent people. The entire galaxy could become extinct if we believe that some strange thing, designated as the coveted 'defeat everyone' button, is actually safe. Do you understand me?"
The man sighed.
"I understand. Forgive me, I got carried away," he said. "The desire to get rid of these creatures... I've seen too many deaths at their hands not to be happy that they can all be destroyed at once."
"If it were possible without colossal destruction and millions of deaths – it would have been implemented long ago," Trebal said. Looking at the quiet Chaiya, she added:
"My people were destroyed like this – the Lantians wanted to test another superweapon through others' hands. And the population of an entire planet died to stop the wraith fleet. Imagine the scale of tragedy if we're talking about destroying all wraiths."
"I understood," Kirik's voice now sounded irritated. But not because he disagreed with us, but because he was explained the same thing several times in a row. "First we search, then we find, study, use only if it's safe. I've remembered that. Is this rule valid for all Ancient inventions?"
"Absolutely," I confirmed.
"In that case, we have no problems," Kirik announced. "I won't tell anyone. And anyway, it's time to prepare for the mission. Or is it postponed? Do you want to talk to the wraith?"
"No," I refused after thinking. "His frankness depends on personal sympathies. I don't know why, but even showing some respect to me, he is much more frank with Seliza."
"I'll keep an eye on them," Kirik promised. The "fugitive" went to the armory to prepare for the upcoming mission.
"More frank?" Trebal chuckled when we were left alone and headed towards the living quarters. I should also prepare. "He told her more about wraiths than you did. And you have knowledge of the future!"
"A possible future," Chaiya corrected. "Although, most likely, not even an impossible one. After all, our actions now are changing cause and effect. Some events will not happen, some will end with a different outcome, and those that were not supposed to happen will become inevitable. The effect of cascading destruction of cause and effect as a result of changes made to the timeline. It is for this reason, among others, that the Lantians prohibited time travel."
"That prohibition didn't work very well," I said. "But, you know, what bothers me the most in Seliza's words?"
"If the wraith didn't lie to her, and she understood him correctly," Trebal warned. "We must not forget that he will do anything. And, possibly, he is ingratiating himself with her to gain freedom."
"Or perhaps the girl reminds him of his daughter," I suggested. "Especially if he was human before."
"Wraiths were formed as a result of mixing human genes and the iratus beetle," Chaiya nodded. "It's quite possible that when the Ancients found out about this and saw the wraiths, they destroyed most of them."
"And the 108 survivors were taken for experiments?" Trebal asked. "I'm not a scientist, but... It's a strange sample. Nine women and ninety-nine men. It's difficult to trace anything in the changes with such a group of subjects. Although, if that's all who survived the bombing..."
"Not after bombing," I said, voicing my grim thoughts. "After an experiment."
"What experiment?" Trebal didn't understand.
Chaiya was silent, looking ahead. It seemed she had a guess.
"Koschei told Seliza that nine first queens and ninety-nine first commanders fled from the Lantians," I reminded her.
"Yes, they got tired of being test subjects," the girl nodded. "Oh, now I understand. The Ancients were experimenting on the survivors after the wraiths were destroyed. Now it's clear why they hate humans so much..."
"You didn't understand my point," I said. "If there were more wraiths before, why were the one hundred and eight called 'The First'? Why not 'The Survivors'? How can they be first if there was a whole settlement of them before?"
"Well... I don't know."
"But I have a guess," my mood completely soured. If I was right, then the genetic Nazi-eugenic programs of the Ancients were just the tip of the iceberg. The whole galaxy is reaping the harvest.
Or rather, the opposite.
"No, no," Trebel stopped dead in her tracks. "No... You don't mean to say that the history of the wraiths isn't what we think it is?"
"I do," my voice suddenly became hoarse. "And I also wish my thoughts were just a figment of my overactive imagination."
"On the other hand, we knew that one way or another, they were involved," Chaya said quietly.
"There's a big difference between chance and intent," I cut her off.
"Wait," Trebal frowned. "I don't understand here. What intent?"
"The first wraiths are not surviving wraiths from a destroyed settlement," I said. "Most likely, they were former humans whom the Lantians turned into wraiths in an attempt to achieve longevity. And this explains all of Koschei's words. As well as Melia's false hologram, in which she says that the Ancients found the wraiths in hibernation. Add to this everything we know about their experiments with longevity, Ascension, and so on. And you get a very interesting story about how living beings cannot evolve in a few hundred years from a bug that fed on human life force into a wraith."
"Only if they weren't helped to do it genetically," Chaya added. "And then, when they realized what they had done, they hastily created a weapon that could destroy them all."
"And in such realities, both the wraiths and the weapon against them become even more dangerous," I sighed.
Trebal turned pale.
"I hope this is just a wild guess," she said without much emotion in her voice.
Uh-huh. It seems the motto of this galaxy is "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
And, on the other hand... Weren't we warned that the Ancients lie? The only question is, what else do they lie about, and how deep is this deceitful rabbit hole.