Seth could hardly breathe for how much he’d eaten, and fell back into the cushions of his brother’s substantive couch. Once he was certain said brother seemed enough at ease, he threw his arms forward to hoist himself back upright again, and stared at the man, both hands perched on his knees, “What in the world took all damn day!?” He protested loudly, “I thought it would be maybe two hours. You were in there for seven!”


    Furion stopped mid-dressing, one eye staring through the neck-hole of a pared-down regular T-shirt. He blinked, but then pulled the rest of it down over himself and gave a shrug, “The crew is worried. We took the extra time. By the end of it, they were all frustrated that they couldn’t do anything, and that Ren had to save literally everyone all on her own.”


    That made the teen eat his words a little, but since he was already full of food, there wasn’t much room left, and the sentiment just came spilling back out again, “I don’t even know what happened. You sent me away like a gnat.”


    “A gnat shaped like a cadet who is also shaped like my little brother. Yes, I sent you away, and I’d do it again.” Furion countered, and sat across from his younger counterpart as he snagged one of the cherry tomato-halves left on Seth’s plate, “The way it turned out, I shouldn’t have even let you come in the first place.”


    “It’s not like anyone could’ve known it would be that way.”


    “Lord Rylen probably had an inclination towards knowing.” Furion countered, and popped the tomato slice into his mouth, “I guess hindsight is 20/20 though. Looking back on your misadventure into Kitez, and the fact that the Sterling Rose lit-up at the same time your void rift had, I should’ve been the first person to say you couldn’t come.”


    “Aw…”


    “And considering they had Lugios standing around waiting for something to go wrong…”


    “Mr. Gabriel didn’t want to be there either.” Seth argued, and crossed his arms, “Something something not his job something.”


    “Well, he’s not wrong…”


    “I thought you didn’t like him. Why are you suddenly sympathizing?”


    Furion leaned way back into the cushy-chair he’d sat in, elbows up on the huge arm-rests, fingers laced together above his lap, “…I’m ambivalent towards him. I think I just disliked what he represented before, while Ren was gone.”


    “Oh… Because she got assigned to him.”


    The Captain nodded lightly.


    “You know, it still peeves me that neither of you two ever told me you were a thing. I was there the entire time! And not one word! Not a peep!” Seth threw his arms up into the air in frustration, only then to follow after them and rise to stand, pacing around the large apartment, “Do you know how weird it is to suddenly be exposed to you guys being all super-affectionate?”


    “You’ve been around us for the entire time we’ve been together. How did you not notice?” The elder parried, the back of his head pivoting on the cushion as he watched Seth prowl around behind him, “You were there the first time I brought her back home.”


    “…I was twelve when you did that. I didn’t think anything of it.”


    “Well, there you have it. The blind eyes of a child simply weren’t open to the possibilities. In any case…if you want the formal announcement, then yes, Ren and I are dating. And before you ask – because I know you’re going to - yes, mom and pops bother me about whether I’ve proposed every time I visit.”


    “…Have you?”


    “Of course not. One of us would be forced off the team if I did. She knows it as well as I do.” He explained, and lifted his arms out in exasperation, “And I’m not ready to give up being Captain yet. Pops was Captain for close to 20 years. I’m only halfway through.”


    “So, you’ll make her wait another decade?”


    Furion gave his brother quite the look, “You make it sound like it’s the worst thing to just continue as we have been. Ren loves being a Fafnir, and so do I. She’s not hurting for the fact that we haven’t tied the knot. Besides…my whole grand design is to propose to her the same day I announce my retirement. It just…may take a minute.” He explained. He could feel the eyes of offended scorn on the back of his head, and as he lifted up to turn around in that oversized chair, and set an elbow on the back, he spotted his brother glaring at him, “What?”


    “The clock is tic-“


    “By the Eidolon, Seth, she’ll kill your herself if she hears those words come out of your mouth.” Furion fussed, “She does not want to hear about it.”


    “Why not?”


    “Because she’s a Wing Commander of the Fafnir Knights! Do you think she busted her ass to get here because she wanted to find a man and drop out?” He explained, somewhat loudly, but then just laughed and sank into his seat again as he watched the expression on Seth’s face shift, “Just let her enjoy herself. She’s far too good at what she does to be bogged down by the trappings of a marriage that even she isn’t thinking about right now.”


    .


    “Focus, damnit!” Ren commanded, standing back by the door as a nanotech amalgamation of a generic humanoid foe stood in the middle of the room.


    “I’m trying.” Gabriel grumbled, “You’re asking me to try to feel something that already isn’t all that solid.”


    “Well then try it on me.” She countered, and stepped by him to take the construct’s place. She held her right hand out, “Try and grab it.”


    With eyes glowing and hair floating, Gabriel just stared at her incredulously, “You…are crazy. Why would you want me to try and use my ‘cut through anything’ affliction to hold your hand?”


    “Cuz I don’t think that’s all it can do. Try it. You said that when you came to my defense against the Magistrate, you could feel the mech’s arm before you severed it.” She explained, and waggled her hand up and down for emphasis, “So, do everything short of cutting my hand off. See if you can’t just feel it from where you are.”


    “I think the theory you’re working with would make more sense if you explained what you believe I’m capable of.” Gabriel crossed his arms, “Please, indulge me.”


    “I’m still trying to parse it all, but…I think that you can connect two different physical locations together. Or distinguish them from one another. The fact that you don’t have to be touching those locations yourself is a big part of that theory.” She answered, and started to pace back and forth, “It’s like that Tobias guy that messed with my head. He started out with the ability to just create basic illusions – things he chose to make people see – but in the end, after spending time in the Exclusion Zone, it evolved into a mirage that would show people things they imagined. For example…making me think my Captain was betraying my trust. That wasn’t his idea.”


    “…I thought it was seeing a room full of kids that got you.”


    “Oh, it certainly didn’t help. But it wasn’t the kids themselves that convinced me the little turd wasn’t coming up with those ideas on his own. The fail-safe protocol that allows a Captain to commandeer someone’s armor wasn’t even well-known on the team at the time. Tobias couldn’t have known it would happen, and yet, in combination, it was a horror of my own making; far worse than any individual piece of that situation taken individually, and well beyond Tobias’ limited imagination.” She said, and extended her arm, “Now…again; try to take hold of my hand. Just…focus. Don’t worry that you’ll get spooked and hurt me by mistake. Nothing and no one can come into this room while it’s in use, without a warning to me first.”


    Gabriel sucked in a nervous breath, “…I hope you’re right.” He said grimly.


    “If you don’t trust yourself, then trust me. I’ll tell you what I’m feeling as you figure it out; something a training dummy can’t do.”


    Luminous eyes looked carefully at that right hand where it was propped-out between them, and Gabriel flexed his fingers a little before reaching out for it from his distant spot. There were easily ten paces between them, and her hand was rather dainty, but he could see the faint image of the telltale purple glow starting to manifest around it, “…Anything yet?”A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    “Not yet. I can see the light though.” She answered, and turned her head around the sight of it, “Oh…that’s neat.”


    “What’s neat?”


    “How to describe it…” Ren squinted her eyes slightly, “It’s like…a shimmering void-space? Where your hand would be but isn’t. Wiggle your fingers.”


    “…This is undignified.” Gabriel muttered.


    “Just wiggled your damn fingers!” She puffed.


    Gabriel rolled his eyes slightly…and wiggled his damn fingers. When Ren started giggling stupidly, he looked back at her, “What was that noise you just made?”


    “It tickled.” She answered, and turned her hand to try and fit it into place better, “Try to clasp down.”


    “I think that’s probably a bad idea.”


    “You’re doing fine. Just try.”


    “No it’s cuz-“


    “…What’s all this?”


    Gabriel immediately released his affliction, long hair tumbling all around him, “…Private, is what it is.”


    “Lord Xanarken, sir!” Ren immediately saluted.


    “Why are you in a Fafnir training simulation?” The Eidolon looked around, even as his mantle finished forming, “And why does it seem like you had your Limitless going?”


    The younger mediator pulled the hair-tie from his glove, and hastily tied his ponytail back again, “It’s nothing. Just…theory-crafting.”


    “You know Rylen would prefer that you don’t.”


    Gabriel just shrugged, “Sometimes I don’t care what Rylen thinks?” He answered dryly, “What do you want, coming here outta the blue like this? Not even knocking first.”


    “I knocked.”


    “You gave me half a second’s advanced notice.” He retorted, “This is supposed to be a guarded area where people can’t just waltz in.”


    “I’m not just any people, and I didn’t just waltz in.” Xanarken pointed at himself, “I’m an Eidolon, and that’s why I’m here.”


    “…You don’t have to define yourself.”


    “No, I mean…uh, let me start that again.” The Fourth looked back behind himself to where Ren was still saluting, “At ease, Dame. I need to borrow this one.”


    “Just say whatever it is that you want to say.” Gabriel suggested, even if stiffly.


    “If that’s really what you want.” Xanarken turned to face forward again, “You’re getting a promotion.”


    “…A what?” The two Knights said in tandem, and glanced at one another around the Eidolon in confusion. Gabriel stared quizzically at the man, “There’s no where further up for me to go.”


    “There is if I say so.”


    “That’s what you said when you made me a High Negotiator, and it went over like a lead balloon. No one takes it seriously.”


    “Well, they will when you’re Vice Eidolon.”


    “…What?”


    “You sure you wanna do this in public?”


    His mind had already gone blank, and Gabriel looked at Ren again, then gestured his hands in a Time-Out motion, “…Let…me roll this backward for a second. I told you before that I had something I wanted to say, but that could wait…now it seems it can’t. I was already concerned about Ren being swiped right out of my hands by Rylen, now it seems like you’re showing her the door yourself. What gives?”


    “Oh…is that what you were worried about?” Xanarken tilted his head slightly, “Two weeks ago I would’ve had a different answer for you. Today’s a new day though.”


    “What changed?”


    That confused the Fourth, and he twisted around towards the Fafnir behind him, “Please come by Gabe so I can see the both of you.”


    She hopped out in front quickly, “Sir!”


    “Gabriel, tell me honestly…have you not gone over the mission review from the Sterling Rose?” Xanarken asked, a slight hint of frustration in his voice, “I know you resented being a canary, but still.”


    “How much more was there than what I’ve been told?” Gabriel retorted, only to get a stumped look in return, “…Okay, never mind…just assume I know nothing. What is it.”


    “That creature in the warp core was able to hurt Rylen.”


    Both Knights looked surprised, but Ren glanced aside, remembering – from Furion’s POV footage - how the First’s mantle had been obliterated by the Magi’s strike, “…I didn’t realize…”


    “What do you mean, was able to hurt Rylen?” Gabriel followed-up, and took a step closer, “How the Hell does anything touch an Eidolon? You’re not even real.”


    “Feedback through his mantle, it seems. His true self had a seizure. It set off an alert throughout the whole system. Etienne’s probably going to chew him a new one when we get back. He’s refusing to reconnect to the World Cloud until we’re across the equator again because of it.” The Fourth explained, “And I’ve decided that, since we’ve taken for granted the fact that the Eidolon have thus-far been untouchable…the fact that Rylen was extremely touched all of a sudden means we should probably have contingencies in place, in case something like that happens again, and/or happens worse. That’s where you becoming Vice Eidolon of the Fourth comes in. As a back-up to me.”


    “I can’t think right now.” Gabriel rubbed his palms against his face, “How is this going to do anything but piss off every Captain in the Council? They already treat my current rank like it’s a bad joke.”


    “I went about implementing it poorly. That’s my fault. This time will be different.” The Fourth explained, and started walking a slow circle around the duo, “I’m going to call a Conclave of Captains and explain it to them in terms that can’t be questioned. I’m hoping to set an example for Rylen so he decides to find a successor of his own, since he’s refusing so far.”


    “…Can’t blame him. Setting up a successor-type of rank suggests the Eidolon can be changed out. That’s…unthinkable.” Gabriel agreed, “…It’s weird agreeing with him. Did you know that? I got a chill just now.”


    “Sorry, kid. I’m in no way suggesting you actually prepare to take my place – that would be rather hard, all things considered. I just think the right path forward is to have a Plan B, just in case. In fact, it would mean that on a lot of issues, you wouldn’t even need to ask for my blessing on any given decision you want to make.”


    “Then I can just say Ren stays with me until she finishes the program, however long that takes.”


    Ren stared back and forth between the two.


    “Except that. Ren is a Sixth Wing asset. Even as a Vice Eidolon, you can’t override what one of the others does within their own departments. That’s a gentlemen’s agreement that we’ve always had, and you’ll be expected to honor it.” Xanarken countered, “Besides, you wouldn’t be acting in your capacity as a mediator anymore. Mediators have an upper-ranking officer to report to. You no longer would.”


    “I hardly did to begin with.”


    “As said, you still reported to me before.”


    “…I don’t think this is a good idea.”


    “Your reluctance is noted, but it’s already a done deal. Expect your uniform to change when we get to Trazad. A new look to remind people that you have an actually-superior rank.”


    “Xanarken no please, I’m begging you, don’t do this.” Gabriel protested, stepping closer, but his hand went straight through the mantle, its nanotech cloud dissolving around it like beads in water. He looked up at the Eidolon with an expression like he’d been betrayed, “…Please don’t.”


    “Like I said, it’s already done. Telling you was just a courtesy.” The Fourth explained indifferently, “Be ready to hit the ground running when we get back. Sargon is exclusively your responsibility now. I’ll leave you to it, then; keep whatever you’re doing here private. Rylen will give himself a coronary if he finds out.”


    Gabriel could only watch helplessly as the Eidolon’s mantle vanished, collapsing like a column of dust in front of his eyes. He stared, numb, until his legs gave out from under him, and he lowered down slowly to his knees, “…This can’t be happening…”


    “…Let’s take a break.” Ren suggested, her own heart racing from just witnessing the whole interaction. She approached and set a hand on the man’s shoulder, “I think we’ve achieved a lot already.”


    “…A break…?” Those eyes looked back up at her, tired all over again, “…He just… I feel like I was just sentenced.”


    “How much worse could it be than what you already do? A change of uniform and an official announcement from Lord Xanarken would just smooth-out the rough edges of a fact that’s already been true for a long time.” Ren attempted, and crouched down beside him, “You’re already regarded as his right hand…”


    “Yeah, but people still had the ability to dismiss it as an unserious label. Not to mention, the Eidolon System…” He answered, and shook his head, “Does this mean I’m gonna get stuck in it?”


    “What do you mean? Stuck in what?”


    Gabriel drew in a breath, “…Tell me what you honestly and truly believe the Eidolon are.”


    Ren tilted her head curiously, “I…uh… I don’t think I ever really thought too deeply into it. I guess, in my mind’s eye, they were like…brains floating in a liquid vat, half-fused with some kind of quantum-computer that blended them directly into the World Cloud, as if it was an extension of their very beings. That the Cloud rose-up directly from their psyches, and in essence, when we connect to it, we’re connecting directly to them. Right up until the minute Lord Xanarken mentioned seizures…I never questioned it.”


    Gabriel shook his head ‘no,’ “The Eidolon are the original leadership of the colony fleet that came here.”


    “That’s common knowledge though.”


    “Yeah, but…it’s still them. They’re still alive, just like they were back then… They still have their real bodies, installed into stasis-pods in perpetuity.”


    “Okay?”


    “I feel like I’m not being articulate enough. Why is this not blowing your mind?”


    “Maybe I’m just too used to how things are. What’s the mind-blowing thing you’re trying to explain? You said they kept their bodies in stasis-pods. Doesn’t that explain all of it?”


    “Stasis-pods are all-or-nothing. To keep a body from aging and decaying, they have to be put into cryo-sleep. Literally frozen solid and rendered essentially-dead until awoken later. But the Eidolon are active…the stasis-pods aren’t being used to preserve them; it’s just a vector for convenience, keeping them hooked-up to the World Cloud so they can manifest as nanotech-people anywhere they want to be. They’re…literally immortal.” He tried to rephrase, “The idea of putting in a successorship to that is completely ridiculous. He might as well be suggesting a fetus take-charge of something. I’m…I’m nothing compared to that legacy… What has he done…”


    “So, the Eidolon System isn’t what’s keeping them alive…? And what do you mean by ‘hooked up to the World Cloud’? I thought they were the foundation of the World Cloud?”


    “No… The Eidolon System is just a private network attached to it…no different from the local matrices used by those containment-pods; the only people who can access them are those who are given invitations to join. The whole thing is…built on the bedrock of the Seraphim Engine.”


    “What’s that?”


    “It’s the reason why we call it the Luminary Council…and why there are Six Wings in it…” He said tepidly, fists clenched between his knees, fingers cold against the hard floor, “The progenitor of the whole thing… If it wasn’t bad enough that Rylen’s son was the one who brought us to - and stranded us on - Hadira, then just wait till you find out this next bit… His wife was the one who got sacrificed to make all this all work once we were here.”


    “…His…wife?” She echoed, and slouched onto her own knees beside the man, “The core of the World Cloud is a person…?  A sacrificed person?  As in…unwillingly?”


    “I’ve never seen it myself. I don’t even know where it’s located; the chamber, I mean, where the Eidolon keep their pods, and the Seraphim Engine. But Xanarken has described it to me…and it’s…something…”