“How was your journey?” asked Azhi, passing under the glass shelf with colourful bottles. “Would you like something to drink, or are we going to explore right now?”


    “No… thanks,” replied Seth Felvennis and placed his backpack on a chair. “I’d rather see what I have to work on, in the first place.”


    Although Seth was more enthusiastic than ever when he saw the proposed payment, a strong dose of scepticism remained inside of him. In the beginning, he could not convince himself to fly to Irkheor. The planet had nothing more interesting to offer but sulphuric wastelands and volcanic peaks, there was even a lack of valuable resources. Seth wondered why Azhi chose a place like that, but he did not question him about it. He received three times a higher salary for one month of working there than on Ernef. In addition, he got his own lodging in a historic fortress, filled with vibes and spirits of the ancient ages. He finally broke out of the place he could never call his home.


    “Won’t you even taste it?” asked Azhi, taking a crystal blue bottle off the shelf. “I ordered it from Voryva, for a special occasion.” He reached for two glasses. “Long months of working together await us, I hope. It would be nice if we got better acquainted, right?”


    “Okay,” said Seth. He took a glass filled with light blue liquid and stared at the mural covering the entire wall.


    It pictured a tall Celestian in a dark iron-grey power armour, embellished with chromed edges and rosettes. He was rushing ahead, gripping a raised to strike sword in his sturdy hands, as if he was darting to attack. The edge of the weapon shimmered with violet and white light, and carved bones, feathers and charms dangled from its handle. Eyes, the colour of old, blue ice, full of wrath and fury, looked ahead from under his pale golden hair like two yawning abysses.


    The background did not survive the test of time. Only silhouettes of snow-capped mountains and soaring buildings, wasted by fire, remained on the walls.


    “Like a real…” mumbled Seth to himself.


    “Did you say something?” Azhi raised his eyebrow.


    Seth tilted the glass, pointing it at the wall. “Erilaz, The Eternal Champion. He looks so realistic... They kept even the actual size.”


    “Really?” Azhi tightened his lips and crossed his hands. “He’s a bit… tall.”


    “Even for a Celestian from Helvett.” Seth extended his hand. “And this armour. It had to petrify everyone just by its appearance.”


    “And it would work out,” said Azhi with a fleeting smile. Seconds later, he got serious again, and a shudder of horror ran through his back. “I just hope that times like those would never return.”


    “If we don’t stop the rebellion, we’ll be on the right way to it,” added Seth.


    “The ones like him come from the rebellion,” muttered Azhi, narrowing his eyes.


    They both quieted down, staring at the mural. Only the swoosh of the wind pressing the windowpane broke the silence. They were among the few who knew the history before the Union establishment, although after a thousand years of misstating and propaganda, they had no idea how far they could believe the available resources.


    Before the Union was founded, a mysterious creature called Hyperion held dominion over hundreds of systems for over six centuries. In his time, millions of lives faded into oblivion every day, entire worlds were devastated by forceful weapons, and his fanatic warriors stopped at nothing to win another battle. However, without the order that he brought about, the planets assailed and ravaged by the rogue hordes of pillagers would have fallen into lawlessness and anarchy. War was the price that the galaxy had to pay for the glimmer of hope for a peaceful future.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    “Take a seat, you must be tired.” Azhi pointed to the opposite armchair.


    “Thanks,” said Seth straightening up, “I’m sick of sitting after all those long hours of flight.”


    “All right, then,” the older Celestian raised his glass. “To a successful collaboration.”


    Squinting, he drank the tipple and waited for the young man’s reaction. Seth winced slightly at the sugary and horribly bitter taste flooding his palate at once. He’d tried alcohol exactly for the third time in his life, and he was never going to do it again.


    “How do you like it?” asked Azhi.


    “A bit weird… but fine.”


    “You’re not a good liar,” he noticed, “but that’s okay. At least I’ll trust you more. And I can tell you, I didn’t like it too.” He looked inside the almost empty glass. “Freaking weasels. They take the money and palm the cheap fakes off.” He spilt the leftover alcohol into the pot with a thorny plant and rolled up the sleeves of his black tailcoat. “Why exactly did you accept this offer? Maybe the wages are high, but aren’t you afraid of what you will work with?”


    Seth eyed his interviewer. He hesitated to answer, but Azhi’s affable voice induced him to confession. “No. I have less confidence in the Union after they rejected the SynthBreed Project usage. Total foolishness.” He spread his hands. “We have the technology to fight back, and they don’t want to accept it. I know it’s a controversial method, but every way is right while defending ourselves and the others from the rebels.”


    “I couldn’t find a better person or a better answer,” the scientist interrupted with a slight smile and pointed to Seth. “You have not only the knowledge but also the courage to be truthful along with a willingness to do our entire civilisation a service.”


    “Really?” Seth’s eyes flashed with fascination. He sat on the broad, black armchair. “I just thought it isn’t anything special, everyone thinks like that.”


    “Not everyone.” Tightening his lips, Azhi shook his head. “For example, Delian, your adoptive father.”


    Expressions of disgust and bitterness appeared on Seth’s face. He looked away from the older Celestian. “Let’s not talk about him.”


    Azhi remembered only now that he had not told his new teammate about the incident on Ernef. The smile disappeared from his face. He folded his hands and moved to the edge of the seat. “So, do you know anything?”


    “I know. He voted against…”


    Azhi squinted and shook his head. “No, not that.”


    “Then what?” Seth leaned over and gripped the armrests.


    “I should’ve told it to you first.” Azhi glanced down. “Delian is dead.”


    “What?” Seth opened his eyes wide and clenched his fingers on the armrests. “What happened to him? When?”


    “Rebels. They planted a bomb right under your door.”


    A shiver of anxiety ran through Seth''s body as he thought back on the fact that if he had left home a few minutes later, he would have fallen victim to the terrorists. “What about investigators? Did they do anything?”


    “They?” Azhi snorted. “If we get lucky, they’ll start doing something. In five years. And they won’t find anything anyway.”


    “They always work like this,” growled Seth and crossed his hands, wrapping them in his coat. “All they do is collect taxes twice higher than our wages and sit in their warm offices or scribble some crap on LiqBoards while we work like machines, with fear that a bunch of rebels can assault us at any moment!”


    He was going to say something more, pour out his wrath and vent his frustration, but he held his emotions back. He propped his head on his hand and sighed. Fury pierced him to the bone until it started causing imaginary pain as if somebody had stabbed his chest for real. Hate was growing in him like cancer, but those feelings were also filling him with a motivation to work even harder. Without them, he would become like Delian, resigned to an unwilling life or working like an automaton just to earn a living.


    “Are you okay?” asked Azhi, seeing the motionless young Celestian.


    Seth nodded and rubbed his eyes. “Yes but… I don’t even know what to think. I saw things like this in the news, but I never expected it to happen to me.”


    “Calm down,” said Azhi in a low but mellow voice, looking into Seth''s eyes. “I’ll give you a moment. Work can wait.”


    Seth fell silent trying to put the sudden torrent of information together in his head. He never valued Delian and considered him a self-absorbed workaholic, but he did not wish him that terrible fate. He’d attempted to remind his adoptive father about his presence, needs and feelings so many times, but Delian always got rid of him with excuses about work, weariness or taking care of Cerridwen. Ignored by the only family members he had, Seth started to run away. Unlike his sister, he did not need to justify himself every single time, so he spent the majority of his free time on lectures and lessons. He’d deepened his knowledge of history, which was his real passion, and neurobiology, which connected him with his future job area. It was the reason why Azhi Dahaka engaged him in the SynthBreed Project. Except for a roof over his head, Seth did not owe anything else to Delian.