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You decide you’ll have to tell her something about what’s going on. “Because of what happened on that shuttle, I’m being targeted by an æthercult. The saboteur, K, was one of them.”

“The Chosen of ÆON,” Admin Vanitas says. “We know all about them.”

“Right, but the person I saw just now isn’t one of them. I’ve seen them once before, in the æther, at a gathering...” You hesitate.

“Aydan, this is no time for me to be concerned about unauthorized social events. Tell me what happened.” She sees right through your every feeling.

“Okay... They’re called Unas, apparently the leader of a different æthercult, an enemy of the Chosen of ÆON, called Sector NULL.”

She looks down, contemplating. “We are aware of them. The Admins have been tracking both cults’ activities on the colony. We know at that ‘gathering’, Unas created an S-type exopath and implanted it in a candidate here on TLA. My biggest concern, and my biggest question for you, Aydan...” She looks back up into your eyes. “Do you have any idea who could be the vessel of the exopath NULL?”

“No. I still have no idea.”

She turns around and the door opens. You shield your eyes from the light.

“I must consult with Admin Astra. In person. Stay here.”

When the door closes, you’re alone again. Or so you thought. Once your eyes adjust, the spectral echo of Unas recomposes itself on your field of vision. Their crystalline wings wrap tight around the table. You reach out to touch the illusion, if only to prove to yourself it’s all just technopathy.

“Aydan, Aydan, don’t you know?” Unas says. “The admins don’t care about your life, you’re just a serial number to them, just hardware. Whatever you say, they will turn it against you. You, and your friends...”

Images flash before your eyes--Akiko, Synth, Zeta, 7...

You close your eyes, but the spectre of Unas remains. You reach into your mind and shut off your vision, your hearing. But the voice still reaches you, in raw empathic impression: