Left in the conference room by himself, Hector released a sigh. He'd been getting along with the Lord General so well since he arrived at the first household seeking Zara. Then their relationship took a sudden dive because he helped a junior office of the Jinn pick up a single item. It didn't make sense to Hector.

The Lord General had been on edge since the new world almost killed them in transit. That no doubt contributed to this latest incident. But the trigger had been what? Appearing too humble? Being charitable towards a lieutenant who was supposed to be humiliated?

Now that the Lord was gone, taking the tension with him, Hector could appreciate the fact that he was seeing some traction with his efforts to avoid becoming another callous Xian Lord. It hadn't been an intentional attempt to live out a virtue, either. That was a promising sign. If he failed to internalize the values he'd chosen, then he would only live up to them at the times they were at the forefront of his mind. Success would be defined by the degree his natural inclinations aligned with humility, charity, respect, loyalty, and magnanimity.

"Do you intend to squat in this conference room indefinitely?"

Hector blinked. "Sorry, War Barge Elliott. I can move if you need the space for meetings."

"The room was reserved for several hours longer, so there is no immediate need for you to vacate. I can grant you an observation lounge for your private use. There are nearby sanitation facilities and a cafeteria if you are not averse to Jinn food."

"I would appreciate that." He hesitated to offer any criticisms of his delegation, but then went ahead anyway. "I don't share the ignorant opinions of your culture or your cuisine."

"You are the same Hector who was an associate of Evelyn Smith, are you not?"

Hector fidgeted in place a moment, not sure what to make of the fact that he was on the radar of prominent Jinn. Given their technology, they probably had the capacity to watch everyone who ever piqued their interest. "I suppose you have a file on me?"

"I have thorough reports on every tour ever conducted by a Coalition Army task force. You are naturally included in those due to the unusual events you put into motion. The fact that you reappeared as a trusted subordinate of the Lord General is going to cause further attention to be directed your way."

"That sounds lovely," Hector muttered.

"Would you care to allay our curiosity so that we don't have to interview your acquaintances? What is the nature of your association with the Lord General? Did you inherit the memories of a child or favored ally?"

Hector laughed at the conclusion. "Far from it, Elliott. I inherited the memories of a man who betrayed the Lord General and almost got him killed."

"Interesting. Was this the informant behind the Union Central incident? The man with the birth name of Volithur?"

"How the hell… yes."

"Three separate war barges were present on Union Central that day. I was one of them. We had spy satellites recording everything."

Hector shook his head. "Volithur was a fool to think an antimatter bomb would kill a Lord. It didn't even end the life of a level eight Xian with a weak aura."

"Our true target was not the Lord General. Lords are notoriously hard to kill. Our intentions were to weaken his army and we were successful in that goal. The antimatter munition was a distraction so that we could carve apart the main body with schism beams. Though the antimatter did kill a number of elites. Your Volithur survived due to being positioned within the shadow of the Lord General, where he was shielded from the initial blast."

The information didn't surprise Hector. Volithur had been unskilled and direct in his acts of espionage. The Jinn took advantage of him to enact a more intelligent plan while pretending to go along with his amateur assassination plot. It was honestly no worse than Volithur deserved. His dream counterpart had gone increasingly native in his time among the Xian. He internalized selfishness and ambition, becoming the thing he hated.

Hector moved to his new quarters, a tiny lounge with a window looking down on the planet below. The next few days he dedicated mostly to restoring his energy reserves. It appeared that his tour with the Coalition Army was coming to a premature end. He didn't know if he would be taken to Zara still or if he'd be sent packing by a grumpy Lord the moment the adventure ended. Either way, he'd want to be ready to fight. Either as part of the Aes Reconquest or as an interloper on Tian.

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Those days passed quickly in his isolation. Then an announcement from Elliott came over the intercom that they would be returning to Union Central in the next hour. Hector made his way to the bay housing the shuttles, where he found the other Xian.

The Lord Windblade did not notice his arrival, fortunately. The Lord General briefly frowned in his direction, but there was no heat in the expression. Forgiven but not forgotten, then. Hector could live with that. It might even be for the best since he didn't want to be roped into any more adventures. Xian Lords were not the type of company he preferred to keep.

Once Elliott announced everyone was in place, the Lord General exited the war barge to summon his transit sphere in the vacuum of space. While waiting, Hector leaned close to one of the other porters. "Is there turbulence in the primordial still?"

The man shook his head. "It's gone back to normal. I even visited the new world. It's just like any other I've seen. They have no idea they didn't exist a few weeks ago."

Hector pondered the implications of that as they moved between universes. A whole human world full of people who believed they had a complete history. It made him vaguely uncomfortable. Were those people real, then? He didn't doubt that many of those around him would arrive at the conclusion that they were not. People from unempowered worlds were already looked at like they were subhuman existences. This wrinkle added a lot of opportunity to justify bigotry.

Upon arrival, the Lord General entered the bay with a pensive expression. The shuttles soon began to depart, ferrying non-Jinn personnel down to the planet. The Lord General gathered his porters together and instructed them to carry all the Xian to the staging grounds of North City.

Hector gathered up a group of twenty and had them squeeze into his sphere. Then he left the universe behind for a short trip. His quick return was foiled by a disorientation over his destination. Though he'd become adept at returning to places he'd spent time in the past, something had changed. It took him a few moments in the primordial to figure out the difference. In that time his senses adapted to the environment.

Causing the nearby world of Union Central to come into focus. The pressure it emanated had increased. And its… flavor… had subtly changed. There was a new element to it he couldn't identify. Preoccupied by his findings, he almost didn't notice something else.

There were more unempowered worlds in the vicinity than there had been previously. He was certain of it. The birth of the new world that almost took out the Lord General's transit sphere may not have been an isolated occurrence. Just how many new worlds had popped into existence at once across the multiverse?

"Having trouble, porter?"

The question brought Hector back to the present moment. He brought his attention back to finding his destination. If he accounted for the distortion, then he had a good guess how to translate the remembered location into new coordinates. His sphere manifested about a mile off from his target. They flew over to where the Lord General waited. A few porters appeared after Hector, so at least he wasn't the last to arrive.

"Porters to me," the Lord General snapped. "Give me your observations."

"Union Central's signature changed," a woman announced.

A man nodded. "And there are more worlds in the neighborhood than there used to be."

The Lord General mused on the reports. "That confirms my observations. I will need to consult with the Jinn and Arahants before returning to Tian. Remain in the area."

Hector moved a small distance away from the congregating Xian and glanced towards the sky. "Any idea what is causing all of this?"

My ascension.

Hector read the words appearing before his eyes. "I can understand your signature changing, but how did you bring new worlds into existence?"

I can only conclude that the existence of a sixth true world caused new resonance patterns to emerge, collapsing chaos into the form of human universes. It is not something I knew to expect.

"Does anyone know about you yet?"

Other than those I consider allies, only Mithra is aware of my role.

He found the name vaguely familiar but couldn't place it. "Mithra?"

The last living Yazata. It visited Union Central after my ascension. Its comment was that 'Rashnu may have done something interesting with its sacrifice.'

"Sorry, this is probably not the time. But… it? Doesn't that seem disrespectful?"

Yazata made clear long ago human pronouns were inappropriate for them. It is an intentional distinction they chose to make. They are not human and do not wish to be considered as such. As another non-human sentient, I understand the sentiment.

Hector frowned in thought. Volithur assumed the Yazata he met at the end of his life was a male, which had transferred over to how he thought of the creature. "So Yazata are actually messengers from the Garuda?"

I do not believe they were sent to deliver messages. That seems like a lie intended to fortify the foundations of the religion they started.

"Religious skepticism aside, are the Yazata truly not human?"

I did not inherit memories from Rashnu, so my speculations are made strictly from outside observations. Their claims seem credible. The energy signature of Mithra has a broad spectrum completely unlike any human. The few internal organs it possesses are completely unlike human anatomy. The existence of the Countdown suggests they were sent for a specific purpose.

Before Hector could continue the conversation, the Lord General returned. He called his army together and they began their return to Tian – minus the forces of the Lord Windblade, who would need to use his own porters to return home.

Good luck with your next adventures, Hector. I look forward to having a longer conversation at a later time.

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