[We also now know what affinity the cult leader awakened. He awakened with an esoteric affinity to faith-aspected mana. Knowing that gives us some clues as to its operation, so we have avenues to research that will prevent it from affecting us going forward. Well know if weve succeeded for sure once our affected citizens have their disintegration permanently stopped,] Nova reported, as she was the one keeping track of the relevant research in the Lab City gold labs.

Thats a relief, Aron sighed. About the evidenceis there any reason anyone can think of why we shouldnt make it public?

There was a possibility that some of the cults documents might need to be classified for national security, but as he had yet to receive a detailed briefing or any of the evidence himself, he couldnt say for sure.

The human members of his inner council looked to the AIs present at the meeting, as they hadnt had time to read through it themselves, either.

[Theres some information in them with speculation that hits pretty close to the truth,] Nyx finally said.

What speculations? Aron asked.

[Theres a trail of data that suggests the cult knew about our ability to read, store, and manipulate memory. Turns out the cultists I caught going into the simulation were simply just bait that the cult leadership threw out in order to prove or disprove their hypothesis. I apologize for missing that... I was too certain of my own abilities and our technological advantage and let those fish slip the net and did exactly what the cult researchers needed me to do.]

Its okay, Nyx. Everyone makes mistakes, Aron comforted the most humanlike of his higher-order AIs. Just dont let it happen again, understand?

[Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,] Nyx said, her usual laconic tone and expression replaced with grave solemnity as she dropped to one knee before him. [I swear that Ill never repeat a mistake in the future.]

Good, the emperor said, then turned to the rest of his inner council. We can classify that as gold-level information under Omega classification. Itll require keyword and letter clearance as well.... Lets see, the keyword should be dump, and itll be classified under the letter S.

(Ed note: Top Secret isnt the highest classification level. Beyond Top Secret, there are a number of categories that are much, much higher, such as keyword clearance, letter clearance (for instance, nuclear secrets are classified under letters and nuclear programs are classified under keyword clearance), need to know, and so on. Theres a lot of them, and most arent even publicly available even to hint at.)

Is there anything else that shouldnt be released? he continued.

Nobody responded, showing that there was nothing else that should be excluded other than the aforementioned research data.

Okay then. Gaia, release the information to Mnemosyne for classification, second-eye passes, and release to the Akashic Record. Nova, continue tracking the research in the gold lab and inform me as soon as theres an update on the situation of our affected citizens. Let them know its likely mana drain, as the same thing happened during the assault on the cult compound in Washington.

Nyx, Athena, and General Smith, send out our hunting dogs to search the cult cells gathering points for any further information that might not have been present in the Fisk building. Jeremy and Youssef, youll be joining me later... we have an explanation to give and a victory speech to deliver to all of humanity, not just the citizens of the empire, Aron ordered.

If theres no further business or additions he looked around at those present in the council chamber, then continued, and I see that there isnt, so meeting adjourned.

With that, everyone in the council chamber disappeared to prepare for the followup of the cults destruction, leaving Aron alone in his council chamber.

Soon, he, too, logged out of the simulation and returned to reality. Though he had a speech to prepare, he needed to first heal his heart with his loved ones. Taking action himself was still affecting him; even though his mental state had stabilized, his emotions were still running amok and he needed to ground himself. And though Nova was an excellent counselor and therapist, the only thing that could heal a soldiers heart was love.

Love was one thing that he would never have with Nova. Or at least, not the kind of love he needed at that particular moment in time.

......

Ten minutes later, on the roof of the Cube at Avalon Island.

Aron and Rina were back in their spot on the roof of the enormous imperial government edifice, lying cuddled together and gazing up at the sky.

Do you think life is sacred? he asked.

Rina pondered the question for a long moment, then sighed and shook her head. No. Life is a cosmic accident, not something sacred or precious. If you create or remove a single life from the equation, the world doesnt stop turning, the sky doesnt weep blood, rivers keep flowing, and the tides keep... well, tiding, I guess. She shrugged.

She paused for a moment before adding, "But it also depends on what and who youre talking about. If its your life, its sacred to me. Just like I hope mine is to you. Its all about perspective. But the point is, in the grand scheme of things, life is just life. Its chaos from beginning to end, and chaos cannot, by definition, be sacred.

At least not in an absolute, objective sense of the word, anyway.

The pair of lovers lapsed into a companionable silence for a time, then Aron finally broke the silence by saying, Something weird happened when I was confronting Rick earlier.

Oh? Rina prompted.

Yeah. I heard a voice. Im pretty sure it was the esoteric mana that he awakened to.

Whatd it say?

Aron waved his hand and a video of his confrontation with Rick, recorded from Arons perspective, played on a virtual screen for him and Rina. Weirdly, however, the voice of the mana wasnt caught on it, nor was the mana vortex.

He backed the video up to the point where the vortex first formed and manually added the details he recalled to the video file as it played, then paused it where the voice spoke and said, Heres where it spoke to me. It said, you win for now before the vortex finally dissipated. And I cant help but wonder what it meant by that.

Its fine, Rina said. Im sure youll figure it out in the end. You are, after all, the most brilliant man who ever lived.