"I don't believe him," Trebal burst out the moment we stepped out of the Transport Booth. "That life-sucking bastard is obviously trying to lure us into a trap!"
"I hope the universe doesn't gain any new black holes from what I'm about to say," Chaya echoed, "but I agree with Trebal."
The girls walked on either side of me, slightly behind. I suspected it wasn't accidental — this way it was easier to attack my ears. And through them, to conduct a pincer movement straight into my brain.
"Any other ideas why he told us this?" I asked.
"Yes," the Dorandan blurted out in a tone as if I should have thought of it myself. "For example, the Wraiths managed to make contact with Koschei during the battle at the Aurora and plotted to weaken us. Then they just waited for the right moment. And now we're walking right into their arms with open arms. And instead of a small force, an entire fleet of Hive Ships could be waiting for us there."
"Maybe," I agreed. "And maybe not."
"Is that the only argument you have?" Chaya clarified.
"Look, ladies," I stopped in the middle of the corridor and glared at both of them. "If you can find me another explanation for why Koschei decided to sacrifice himself to lure us into a trap, I'm open to suggestions. He's not an idiot, even if he is a Soldier. And he knows that if something goes wrong with our plan, they'll dissect him with particular cynicism. Have you ever seen that kind of self-sacrifice among the Wraiths?" Trebal opened her mouth, but I stopped her. "I'm not talking about Soldiers."
"Maybe he's counting on the trap benefiting him," Chaya countered. "Or maybe this Strix is a relative of his and plans to free him. Perhaps the trap's goal is to capture one of us and exchange them for Koschei."
"If that's the case, then that's exactly what we'll do," I said.
"Excuse me?" Chaya's eyes went wide.
"You found the Ancient Laboratory where they irradiated people and created explosive tumors inside them, didn't you?" I clarified.
Among the known events, besides the other "fun" Ancient inventions, this was one of them. The Laboratory in Atlantis irradiated a person (at least that's how it was in the series, but it was intended for Wraiths and was unsuccessfully tested on them, which is why the project was shut down), after which an explosive tumor matured inside them. The growth collected the necessary microelements from the body, and a few hours later, it detonated everything around it with the power of a good chunk of plastoid.
And when I say "a good chunk of plastoid," I mean the detonation was strong enough to punch through the walls in Atlantis. Only charges of enormous power or significant mass are capable of that. Concrete-811 is no joke. If Nif-Nif had built his house out of it, the wolf would have inflated his own small intestine faster than he'd have blown down the first little pig's dwelling. By the way, it's entirely possible that the Ascended built Naf-Naf's, the third little pig's, house out of Concrete-811. I believe that more than I believe a pig had enough brains to mortar stone masonry.
"Yes, and I shut it down," Chaya murmured. "I deactivated everything, sealed it, and barred access to anyone with a clearance level lower than mine."
"In that case, if they really want to lure us into a trap, before you return Koschei to them, take him to that wonderful establishment and irradiate him properly," 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. Their regeneration nullified the tumor formation efforts."
"Then if we fail, you should make that thing work," I said. "Or make sure Koschei can't regenerate. Cut off his arm or something."
"Is that our Plan B?" Trebal clarified in a dissatisfied 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 up her palm. "Please, no explanation after all. I'm afraid I can't handle it."
"So we only have two alternative versions?" Trebal clarified. "That they're luring us into a trap to kill us, or to capture us? That's it, no other options?"
"There is," I admitted. "And it's that it's not in Koschei's interest to lie to us. His own kind will kill him for cooperating with humans. And if they still want to capture us, that's what you'll need to blackmail him with, Chaya."
"You still believe he's actually afraid of Strix?" Chaya asked.
"Yes, because the Queen of Death went into battle on his crippled cruiser with damaged engines," I shared the information. "He knew about it, tried to talk her out of it, but didn't tell her the real reason he was asking her not to use his cruiser. Not to mention that he was the one who devised the plan to move her from the flagship Superhive to another ship so she wouldn't be a target for Atlantis. He's guilty on all counts — at least before Strix. And a Smart One won't forgive that kind of thing — it's effectively treason against his own queen. It's possible that Strix even knows about Koschei's role in Death's defeat."
"That's all speculation," Trebal threw at my back as I resumed walking. "We did a great job attacking the Wraiths when we played by our own rules. But all the problems arise from chance."
"They'll appear anyway," I admitted. "Spies, scanners, the consequences of our actions or something else — but we will be fighting the Wraiths. That will happen a priori. And the best thing is to use the current situation to show them properly: we won't just defend ourselves like we did ten thousand years ago."
"We have practically nothing to defend ourselves with," Chaya reminded. "Only the Ares has enough ammunition for a good fight. Atlantis's Arsenals are practically empty."
"The Hippaforalkus hasn't even finished repairs yet, let alone the amount of ammunition," Trebal hissed. "And you want to crawl right into the enemy's jaws without knowing what's waiting for us there!"
"Ladies!" I stopped again. "I understand your concern, but you could support me with advice right now."
"We are supporting you," Chaya said. "We're advising you not to do stupid things."
"Not that kind of advice," I admitted.
"That's 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 Labrea to prepare their ships and combat squads. Just like Larrin on the Taranis, and basically turned all our combat forces upside down! Specific orders and preparation time — that's not a plan!"
"That's exactly why we're going to the Infirmary," I assured, returning to my original direction of movement.
As before, both girls followed me.
The Infirmary doors swung open as I approached — the city responded 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-fashioned control panels.
Speaking of Seliza.
Seeing me, the girl looked up from her work computer monitor and smiled kindly.
She had a small office next to the entrance where she could do her theoretical work not directly related to treatment. And that's exactly what she was doing when we walked in: browsing the Atlantis medical database.
"Hi," she greeted, noticing my approach. "Can I help you with something?"
"Hi. You can," I sat down on a chair next to her. Chaya and Trebal greeted the girl but remained standing. "Seliza, the light of our medicine, tell me one simple thing."
"Yes, of course," Kirik's protégé batted her eyes. Speaking of Kirik — out of the corner of my eye, I noticed our head of security appear in the doorway of the Infirmary. A Wraith Stunner in its holster. He'd been waiting nearby. I just wished I knew in advance who he intended to use it on if the situation went too far. "Whatever I can do."
Seliza hadn't been nicknamed "Battling Eyes" for nothing. The initiation had transformed her from a child into a young woman. And despite her weak Ancient Gene, she could give many of the Ancient women in Atlantis a run for their money. Not just with her genuine youth and freshness, her innocent spontaneity and kind gaze.
But also with her long, thick eyelashes, which she batted intensely every time she was nervous. And she was nervous often.
"Koschei," I stated the essence of my visit immediately. "Besides Kirik, you're the only one who's visited him."
"Of course I visited him," the girl said.
"Why?"
Seliza was taken aback.
"What do you mean, why?" she said in surprise. "I'm responsible for the health of the people in Atlantis. Especially those he brings back to life."
"In more detail, Seliza," Kirik asked. "You told me you had permission from Chaya."
"And I did give it to her," the Proculucian reported, clearly not understanding what was happening. "She coordinates every visit to Koschei with me."
"Then the two of you 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 on Atlantis," Chaya explained. "Just like repairing doors, lighting, drainage systems, ventilation, and so on. I don't inform you about those either — I only report in generalized weekly briefings about what problems we've fixed in one part of the city or another."
"But I reported in the discharge summaries about the recovering patients' health status at the time of discharge," Seliza batted her eyes even harder. "I didn't think I needed to give detailed descriptions."
"Just tell us why you went to see him," Trebal said. "And no, Chaya, not you. Her."
The Dorandan immediately realized something was wrong. And it was better to hear it directly from the person who did it. I dismissed the possibility of Chaya being involved a priori. But if Seliz started to hedge and act like a guilty puppy...
"It's about the enzyme," the girl said completely calmly. She reached for her computer and displayed information from several files on the monitor. "We didn't notice it right away. But by observing the behavior of several revived Ancients, we noticed a peculiarity in their behavior. Usually phlegmatic, they became slightly excitable, including in..." a blush appeared on the girl's face. "In interpersonal relationships. The first person I suspected of something wrong was Captain Trebal."
"I don't understand," the Dorandan said in a deathly voice. "What are you talking about?"
"Look," Seliza pointed at lines of text in a good dozen files. "These are the results of medical scans right after the Reverse Feeding procedure. A range of hormones is elevated, but within the upper limits of normal, so they didn't attract much attention. But not everyone had such results. I started looking into what was happening. It could have been an individual reaction of the body to Reverse Feeding or something similar. But when the frequency of this upper-threshold pattern increased, I got worried and reported it to Chaya. I took samples from everyone who had been revived and determined that the more time had passed since the Reverse Feeding, the lower the hormone levels. They were primarily hormones responsible for mood and sexual..." even her ears turned red, "arousal. So I started investigating and discovered that the blood of the revived people after the procedure contained varying amounts of Wraith enzyme. Some had more, some less. Accordingly, the first group had higher hormone levels. From this, I concluded there was a correlation. But later, as the enzyme diminished, the hormonal profile evened out. Though afterward, hormones responsible for irritability, nervousness, and other negative processes began to predominate. These people started asking for antidepressants, which partially stabilized their condition."
"What does this have to do with Koschei?" I asked.
"Wraiths inject an enzyme into a victim's body when they feed on them," the girl said.
"But Koschei doesn't feed on our people."
"He also knows very little about his own physiology," Seliza declared. "He's actually quite stupid in scientific matters. I took several samples from him..."
"Several?" I clarified.
"A hundred and twenty-five, to be exact," the girl batted her eyes. "And I found out that either he wanted to hide it, or he simply doesn't know that the enzyme is injected into the victim's body not only during feeding, but also during the reverse process. Then I performed a chemical analysis of his enzyme and established that it's precisely this enzyme that, once it enters the body, affects the hormonal profile. As long as there's enough of it in the blood, people are literally happy and productive. But when it breaks down, they develop anxiety, apathy, anger. There's a correlation to how the enzyme affects the human body."
"First it delights and energizes, and in the end it makes you suffer," I grimaced.
"The perfect method of control," Chaya added. "I think that's how the Novices appear."
"It's dangerous for humans because of the addiction," the Battling Eyes confirmed. "The presence of the enzyme in Wraith blood won't cause addiction, but in us — yes. Some bodies successfully fight the enzyme on their own, and there are no consequences. But those whose bodies were severely damaged receive more of the enzyme. And, accordingly, it affects their bodies more. So when I told Chaya everything, we decided to act proactively. We didn't need a crowd of revived Ancients addicted to the Wraith enzyme."
"But we still needed to keep reviving people," Chaya continued. "And to do it in a way that the Ancients going through apathy wouldn't decide they could cheer themselves up by visiting the Wraith."
"Depression from being underwater in a confined space," I realized, looking at the Proculucian. "That's your 'cover story'?"
"Actually, it's an accurate diagnosis, because practically everyone has it except the 'newcomers' among the revived," Chaya said. "And even that's only because they're under the influence of the enzyme."
"Depression was an excellent excuse, so I developed medications that would accelerate the enzyme's breakdown and flush it out of the body faster," Seliza said. "We tested them on Fren and a couple of other girls with elevated libido after resurrection and got a result. Combined with antidepressants, it helps to discreetly wean people off the drug addiction. And, considering that treatment is prescribed immediately after a medical examination and identification of indications for the pills, there isn't really an addiction as such. People just visit each other at night for a while in high spirits."
"I think it wasn't just in high spirits," Trebal said. "Did I understand correctly — my emotional swings after Reverse Feeding are because of the enzyme?"
"To a significant degree," Seliza confirmed, throwing a quick glance at Chaya. "Well, and your genetics..."
"They're wonderful," Trebal cut her off.
"Not quite," the girl was embarrassed. "There are certain medical issues with a number of functions..."
"Stop," I interrupted. "Seliza, you don't discuss diagnoses in front of others. I think Trebal would like to hear about her own health condition in private, without extra ears."
"But you're her boss," the girl batted her eyes. "And Chaya..."
"Chaya's not my boss," Trebal snapped. I wondered — was she under the enzyme's influence or just worked up on her own? "We have equivalent positions."
"Mikhail, I'll talk to Seliza about tact," Kirik assured. There was clear relief in his voice.
And in my eyes, this man had grown.
Not only had he obtained and reviewed all the data on the Wraith's visits, confirming that besides himself and Seliz, no one had gone down to the Wraith without my knowledge, but he also hadn't hidden it. Though he could have, out of an excess of protective feelings. After all, there were moments when the girl came to the Wraith alone. And that was Kirik's mistake, for which he'd already been chewed out. The fact that the girl didn't know how to open the cell and didn't have the necessary codes and genetic clearance didn't mean she could be left alone with the Wraith.
It wasn't hard to guess from the wording of my question that I didn't know about anyone besides myself meeting with the Wraith.
"Undoubtedly," I agreed. "And also about not telling the prisoner what's going on with us."
"What?" Kirik warily looked at Seliza. "What did you tell the Wraith?"
"Nothing special," a song from my youth came to mind. "Bat your eyelashes and take flight." Seliza was batting them so fast she seemed ready to actually take off. "When I was asking him about Wraiths, physiology, scanning through the barrier, 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 we have someone to rule, and that in his understanding I'm a little queen and I'm fine with that. I reminded him that he himself had said that Wraiths have queens who serve other queens. Usually the first ones are young and weak, while the second ones are already experienced and strong."
"Well, at least she didn't call you an old woman," Trebal chuckled, looking at Chaya. Sar ignored the jab in her direction.
"What else did you talk about?"
"He asked which of the two — Trebal or Chaya — were the queens of our Hive. I understood from his previous conversations that women mean a lot to the Wraiths. They literally bow before queens. And the stronger the alliance of queens, the more dangerous they are. So I told him that Trebal and Chaya 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 the scientists are Smart Ones. And their Soldiers are completely stupid. They don't think for themselves, they're born with only a small set of thoughts. I'd even say they're algorithms of actions for certain events. They're very strong on their own, but stupid. So there always have to be commanders with them — otherwise they might not do what's needed. The stronger the commander, the more Warriors they have under their command at once. So I said that Mikhail is a very strong Blade — he has thousands of Warriors and Smart Ones under his command. Koschei said he'd seen Ancient Blades and Smart Ones who commanded entire planets with millions of people on them. But no one lived longer than a couple of weeks after meeting him. I remember that stung me, so I told him not to talk nonsense. Because even if we don't have millions of Soldiers, he's not free either."
"I can imagine his face at that moment," Trebal said with a hint of admiration. "A ten-thousand-year-old Wraith getting his own failure rubbed in his face by a recently initiated little girl."
"Wraiths have a lot in common with beetles or insects," Seliz continued. "Every queen has a husband and close Blades. The husband is needed to conceive new Wraiths, and it's a great honor for the husband if a new queen is born. He said that Wraith queens prefer to choose husbands from their own Hives. I told him that was bad, because there's a risk of degeneration. And, given the small populations of the Hives — no more than five thousand individuals — degeneration would come quite quickly."
Pale-blue skin...
"Go on," I asked. "Did you talk about anything else?"
"He was interested in which queen you serve, Mikhail," Seliza admitted. "The Queen-Blade," she looked at Trebal, "or the Queen-Smart One," and that glance was directed at Chaya. I said that you don't serve them, they serve you. And voluntarily, which shocked him. Wraith queens never share one husband. And generally try not to allow multiple 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 an opponent won't concede, they try to kill her and take control of her Hive. And then that queen's Hive will grow, and among the Blades there will be competition for the right to be the queen's husband. And the Blades who join are ready to do anything to satisfy the queen's wishes and whims. They don't argue with her, but if a commander rules a Hive, the junior Blade commanders can question his orders," the girl furrowed her brow. "He said something else about gifts... Oh, I remember!" she brightened. "If some Hive is in disgrace, wants to make amends, reconcile, or merge after recent disagreements or war, they must deliver a valuable gift to the other Hive, otherwise it would be impolite and no real alliance could even be dreamed of."
"Anything else?" was all I could ask.
"No," the girl said.
"Did he threaten you, intimidate you to make you talk to him?" Kirik asked. The Runner understood that the girl had revealed important, if not valuable, information.
"No, not really," Seliza said after thinking. "At first, of course, he was annoyed, 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," lights lit up in the girl's eyes. "Did you know he's one of the first Wraiths? He once even had a daughter. But she died many thousands of years ago."
"A queen?" Trebal asked.
"He said she was very small when the Ancients killed her," Seliza grew sad. "I asked if it could have been an accident, but he said there are no accidents when Lantian warships destroy your home."
"Just like Wraith ones, essentially," Kirik remarked.
"They need to feed," Seliza spread her hands. "That's their nature."
"You're defending the Wraiths?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"No, of course not," Seliza waved her hands. "I'm just stating facts. They kill people to live. And they don't perceive us as sentient beings — at least not the majority of the galaxy's population. They respect strength and only strength. And those who can't resist them are just food for them. That's the philosophy."
"A philosophy of killers," Trebal said harshly.
"Well, they also like it when we suffer during the feeding," Seliza said unexpectedly. "Our emotions add 'spice' to the feeding process, as he put it."
"Next time I'll sprinkle spice all over his broken hands," Kirik promised.
"Easy," I asked. "Seliz, did he tell you anything about their ships?"
"A little," the girl said. "He said they're alive and also need to feed. Especially when they're wounded."
"How do they feed?"
"They go into sleep and absorb minerals to create building material for regeneration. It takes a long time because the basis is 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 husbands told the others it was beautiful there. Orbital gates, beautiful landscapes."
"He's quite a romantic," Trebal snorted.
"Hold the sarcasm," Chaya asked, approaching the girl. "Seliz, did Koschei tell you why they went to that planet with the orbital gates?"
"To hide from the Ancients," she said. "They wanted to kill them because of what they are. But the Wraiths decided they'd had enough of being test subjects. So they escaped — nine first queens and ninety-nine first commanders. They killed the Ancient scientists who were studying them to extend their own lives, stole their equipment, and went on the run."
"Equipment?" I became interested. "What kind of equipment are we talking about?"
"Some terrible weapon," the girl shrugged. "He called it a crazy invention that threatened all the Wraiths in the galaxy."
"What else did he say?" I asked quickly. "The planet's coordinates? The type of weapon? The planet's name?"
"Nothing more," said the girl. "He just started getting angry and said it was a 'delicate matter.'"
"He said he was never there," the girl said, blinking. "Only some of the First Wraiths were there. And even then, it was because they didn't trust the others. There was already competition between them back then. And those queens with their blades who wanted to run and hide from the Lantians lost to those who wanted war with them. So the First hid everything they stole from the Ancients so the others wouldn't do it. For which they were eventually killed."
"I can't believe it," Kirik said. "Somewhere in the galaxy there's a weapon that kills all Wraiths, and we don't even know where to look for it?"
"Too simple," Trebal declared.
"Too dangerous," Chaya echoed.
"For who?" Kirik asked in surprise. "For the Wraiths? I don't care! Let them all die!"
"It's not a fact that they'll all die, not a fact that they'll die at all, and not a fact that it's the Wraiths," I said, getting up from my chair. "Seliza, you did well. Sorry for being harsh with you. It's just my nerves are on edge."
"It's nothing," the girl said absently. "If you want, I'll report every action I take from now on. Since there are problems..."
"Work as before," I asked, standing in the doorway. "But anything the Wraith told you, make sure to report to me or Chaya, Trebal. Agreed?"
"Of course!" the girl beamed. "I have some free time right now, I'll write down everything I remember into a file and send it to you!"
"That would be wonderful," I assured her. I looked at my companions and said:
"Come on. We found out what we needed."
"And even more," Chaya added grimly.
"Mikhail," Kirik ran ahead and stopped in front of me. "The device! The Ancient weapon! We need to find it!"
"We do," I agreed. "Find it, study it, and most likely, put it in the same box of genius-insane inventions that we have scattered all over Atlantis."
"Why?" the former "Runner" was surprised.
"If the invention worked as intended, the Ancients would have used it right away," I explained. "And from our experience, and from known events, the more promising a weapon the Ancients create, the more disastrous the consequences are for everyone around."
"Have you lost your minds?" Kirik recoiled. "We have a whole city of Ancients! We can definitely make it work as needed! This is our chance!"
"A chance," I agreed. "And we will do everything to find this weapon. Study it and understand exactly what it does."
"It kills Wraiths," the former "Runner" insisted. "Averages the millions they killed! To hell with this Styx! We must find this weapon!"
"And we will find it," I assured him, lowering my voice. "And we will do it the way I said. Find it, study it, then study it again, double-check, and only then decide what we'll do with it. And that decision is final. Is that clear?"
Kirik sucked in the air and let it out with a noise.
"Yes," he admitted reluctantly.
"And also," I added, "no one should know what Celise told us about this weapon. I hope you understand why?"
"Yes," the former "Runner" grimaced.
"Kirik," I approached him closely. "Any weapon of mass destruction made by the Ancients... Especially," I emphasized, "if it was made by the Ancients, must be seen primarily as a threat to people. If you don't believe me, let Chaya tell you about how dangerous and unpredictable the contraptions they created here were. And what came of it. Nanites, Project Arcturus, Project Attero, and a whole bunch of other things — they were an illusion of an easy victory at the cost of colossal casualties among innocent people. A whole galaxy could die out if we believe that some strange thing, labeled as the coveted 'defeat everyone' button, is actually safe. Do you understand me?"
The man sighed.
"I understand. Sorry, I got carried away," he said. "The desire to get rid of those creatures... I've seen too many deaths at their hands not to be glad that they could 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 Chaya, she added:
"My people were destroyed that way — the Lantians wanted to test another superweapon using someone else's hands. And the entire population of a planet died to stop the Wraith fleet. Imagine the scale of tragedy if we're talking about destroying all Wraiths?"
"I understand," Kirik's voice now sounded annoyed. Not because he disagreed with us, but because the same thing was explained to him several times in a row. "First we search, then we find, study, and use it only if it's safe. I remember that. Does this rule apply to all Ancient inventions?"
"Absolutely," I confirmed.
"In that case, we have no problems," Kirik said. "I won't tell anyone. And anyway, it's time to prepare for the mission. Or is it postponed? Maybe you want to talk to the Wraith?"
"No," I refused after thinking. "His openness depends on personal sympathy. I don't know why, but even while showing some respect towards me, he is much more open with Seliz."
"I'll keep an eye on them," Kirik promised. The "Runner" headed to the armory to prepare for the upcoming mission.
"More open?" Trebal snorted when the three of us were left and headed towards the living quarters. I needed to prepare too. "He told her more about the Wraiths than you did. And you have knowledge of the future!"
"A possible future," Chaya corrected. "Although, more likely, even an impossible one. After all, our actions right now are changing the causal connection. Some events won't happen, some will end with a different outcome, and those that shouldn't have happened will become inevitable. The cascading effect of destroying the causal connection due to changes made to the timeline. This is one of the reasons the Lantians banned time travel."
"That ban didn't work too well," I said. "But, you know, what bothers me most in Seliza's words?"
"If the Wraith didn't lie to her, and she understood him correctly," Trebal warned. "We need to remember that he will do anything. And, possibly, he's worming his way into her trust to gain freedom."
"Or maybe the girl reminds him of his daughter," I suggested. "Especially if he was once human."
"The Wraiths were formed as a result of mixing human genes and the Iratus bug," Chaya nodded. "It's quite possible that when the Ancients found out about it and saw the Wraiths, they destroyed most of them."
"And took the hundred and eight survivors for experiments?" Trebal asked. "I'm not a scientist, but... It's a strange sample. Nine women and ninety-nine men. It's hard to trace any changes with such a test group. Although, if that's all who survived the bombing..."
"Not after the bombing," I said, voicing my grim thoughts. "After the experiment."
"What experiment?" Trebal didn't understand.
Chaya was silent, staring ahead. It seemed she guessed.
"Koschei told Seliza that nine first Queens and ninety-nine first Commanders escaped from the Lantians," I reminded.
"Yes, they were tired of being test subjects," the girl nodded. "Oh, now I get it. The Ancients were conducting experiments on the survivors after the Wraiths were destroyed. Now it's clear why they have such hatred towards humans..."
"You didn't get my point," I said. "If there were more Wraiths before, why were these hundred and eight called 'First'? Why not 'Survivors'? How can they be the first if there was a whole settlement of them before?"
"Well... I don't know."
"But I have a guess," my mood was completely ruined. If I'm right, then the Ancients' genetic Nazi-eugenic programs were just the tip of the iceberg. The real consequences... The whole galaxy is reaping those consequences.
Actually, the other way around.
"No," Trebal stopped dead in her tracks. "No... You're not going to say that the history of the Wraiths isn't what it seems?"
"I am," my voice suddenly went hoarse. "And I also hope my thoughts are just a product of an 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 an accident and intent," I cut off.
"Wait," Trebal frowned. "Now I'm not following. What intent?"
"The First Wraiths aren't survivors of a destroyed settlement," I said. "More likely, they were former humans that the Lantians turned into Wraiths in an attempt to achieve longevity. And that explains all of Koschei's words. As well as Melia's lying hologram, in which she says the Ancients found the Wraiths in hibernation. Add to that everything we know about their experiments with longevity, Ascension, and so on. And you get a very interesting story: living beings cannot evolve from a bug that fed on human life force into a Wraith in just a few hundred years."
"Only if they weren't helped to do it genetically," Chaya added. "And then, when they realized what they'd done, they hastily created a weapon that could destroy them all."
"And in such a reality, both the Wraiths and the weapon against them become even more dangerous," I sighed.
Trebal paled.
"I hope it's just a wild guess," she said, with little feeling in her words.
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 question is only about what else and how deep this lying rabbit hole goes.