Dissolution

by Kyle West

  “What are you talking about?” Shara asked. “Out with it.”

  “I’m also High Vizier of the Shen Collective in America,” Pallos said. “It’s the highest title a person can hold here.”

  There was a moment of stunned silence as we processed this news. It was hard to imagine this bumbling, clumsy man as High Vizier to anything more than a broom closet.

  “You need to explain yourself,” I said, after a long, icy silence. “Who are you, exactly? What else have you lied about? And what is your real purpose here?”

  “I supposed you’d already guessed my purpose,” Pallos said. “It’s to keep watch over the events of the Red Wild which threaten us all, even those of us at the Collective. The Guardians, as you know, are Shen’s human confidants and is his spy network. And yes, I’m the highest-ranked human in Shen America. I haven’t been for long. In fact, I was elevated as soon as I left with you, but mainly to have the clearance to enter and leave Shenshi as I saw fit, and to have all the necessary powers I would need, should I need it. But for the most part, I’ve been Shen’s eyes and ears. I’ve been doing it ever since I was your age, and even now, I’m the youngest Guardian in the history of the order.”

  “So you can fight,” Shara said. “Your lack of expertise was all a front.”

  Pallos sighed, and nodded. “Yes, I can fight. I don’t like fighting. I’ve never liked it. But yes, I can handle both gun and blade, though not to the extent any of you can. After all, I’m not Elekai, nor do I have access to the Gifts of the Xenofold as all of you do.”

  “What can you tell us about the Guardians?” I asked. “Seems like you know a lot about us, but we don’t know a lot about you.”

  “Like the Seekers, we’re spread everywhere, learning what we can and reporting it to Guardian Mian, the leader of our order. My purpose was to observe you, and if necessary, to help you . . . as I’ve done faithfully these last few months.” He looked at each of us in turn, his eyes confident and sure. He seemed different from before, as if his bumbling nature had all been a façade as well. “Make no mistake. I, and Shen, are both on your side. Like you, we seek the preservation of the planet.”

  “But we have different ways of obtaining that goal,” I said. “One we can never agree on.”

  “What are you talking about?” Fiona asked.

  “Should you tell them, or should I?” I asked.

  Pallos spread his hands, giving me the floor.

  “Everything we talked about is true,” I said. “Shen wants to destroy the Xenofold because he sees it as the only way to stop the Hyperfold.”

  From the blank stares I was getting, I could see that this idea didn’t even seem logical to them. The Xenofold was permanent and sacred. The idea that the Xenofold could be ended was simply unfathomable to an Elekai.

  I saw that I’d have to do some explaining.

  “When Anna was alive before the Ragnarok War,” I began, “There was no Xenofold. At least, no Xenofold as we know of it today. Until the end of the Ragnarok War . . . until Elekim’s sacrifice . . . the Xenofold was nothing more than the consciousness of Askala, which controlled everything connected to it. When Elekim supplanted her and took control, that’s when it became the Xenofold we know. However, before the first Radaskim invasion, there was no Xenofold, of course. And it stands to reason that the Hyperfold wouldn’t exist if its source of power were to be cut off. As time passes, as the Hyperfold draws more life, energy, and memories from the Sea of Creation, the Xenofold weakens while the Hyperfold strengthens. Eventually, there will come a point where the Xenofold is too weak to go on. At this point, the Hyperfold effectively becomes the new Xenofold. One under the control of the Radaskim.” Now, for the next part. “Shen’s proposal, and the direction Pallos would like to steer us, is to find a way of ending the Xenofold ourselves before the Hyperfold is strong enough to sustain itself. In that way, the Hyperfold would be effectively destroyed.”

  “I see what you’re saying,” Fiona said, “but ending it ourselves is unthinkable. Without the Xenofold, we lose ourselves. Without it . . . our entire culture is lost. The xen and its trees, plants, all the ecosystems depending on the Xenofold, would die off. Many people who depend on it would also die.”

  “And the Hyperfold would die, too,” Pallos said. “And with it, Rakhim Shal. As soon as he’s gone, the Mindless swarm under Isaru’s command would be freed. Isaru himself would be freed from Shal’s control.”

  “And our world would be left without protection from the Radaskim,” Fiona said.

  “No,” Pallos said. “Shen will be your protection.”

  Everyone looked to him for explanation, but Pallos was looking at me. It seemed Pallos knew just as much as me about Shen’s plans, or perhaps even more.

  “What do you know, Pallos?” I asked. “How long have you known it?”

  Pallos swallowed. “It was . . . privileged information. I was under orders from Shen not to tell you. He said it was his right to tell. Perhaps he wasn’t sure of the time of its veracity, but . . .”

  “Just say it already,” Isa said, annoyed.

  “The Hyperfold was created by Shal as an aberration, a safe place for the Radaskim High Xenomind, Odium, to enter and occupy. A way to influence Earth without physically being here while weakening the Xenofold enough to become its new master. If he could do this, then an invasion would be entirely unnecessary.”

  “What are you saying then?” Fiona asked. “That there is no invasion?”

  “Yes, there is an invasion. Our observatories have detected an alien presence near Jupiter, on one of its four major moons, called Europa. They are well-hidden, and it’s been years since we’ve last detected them. They could still be there, or they could already be on their way here. Likely, there is still going to be an invasion. However, the Radaskim are trying to win the war before it can truly start, sensing the weakness of our planet.”

  “How is ending the Xenofold going to help?” Fiona asked. “It’s the only thing protecting us from the Radaskim!”

  “Not for long, it won’t,” I said. “The Hyperfold is slowly killing it off, anyway.”

  Everyone looked at me, shocked that I could say such a thing. They had to be wondering if I was taking Shen’s side. I didn’t feel like I was, but I couldn’t refute the logic.

  If we couldn’t destroy the Hyperfold by itself, then the only way to destroy it was cutting it off at the root.

  “So, what do we do?” Shara finally asked.

  “There’s only one solution as I see it,” Pallos said. “We have to find a way to end the Xenofold, to cut it off before the Hyperfold has a chance to subsume it.”

  “How would we even do that, supposing we even tried?” Isa asked. “It’s madness!”

  “I don’t know,” Pallos said. “That’s what I was going to ask Shanti.” Pallos looked at me. “Did Shen give you any clue on how to do that?”

  Now, every eye was on me. “Nothing helpful. He said I needed to speak to Elekim.”

  “Well, are you going to do it?” Shara asked.

  “Speak to Elekim, yes,” I said. “If that’s even possible.”

  “That’s our next move, then,” Fiona said. “I don’t know if I want to be a part of this. Destroying the Xenofold isn’t saving anything. We’re just dooming the world to destruction.”

  “We can’t honestly go through with this,” Isa agreed. “Right?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, feeling pathetic because I couldn’t think of any other answer. “I would like to speak to Elekim. To speak to Alex. Maybe there’s still a missing piece. Maybe there’s another way.”

  “There’s Elder Isandru,” Fiona said. “We cannot discount him.”

  That also was true. Ending the Hyperfold would effectively end his life. And there was another question, too. People continued to live on in the Xenofold after death, so long as they were Elekai. Ending the Xenofold would effectively snuff those souls out of existence. Or at least, that’s how I believed it wo
rked.

  “All the Elekai in the Xenofold could die,” I said. “Forever. Is that worth it just at a shot to save the planet?”

  “Those same souls would become enslaved to the Radaskim if we don’t end the Xenofold first,” Shara said. “Supposing all this is true.” She was quiet as she thought. “I know I’d rather die than be a slave again.”

  “Humanity for millennia has lived without the benefit of the Xenofold,” Pallos said. “When I die, for example, I know there is nothing for me beyond. Many people comfort themselves with the thought that there is something after, but that is a prospect of faith, not anything I can see with my eyes. You Elekai are unique in knowing that when you die, you will live forever as long as the Xenofold exists. But that also means you will be eternally enslaved if the Radaskim end up winning.” Pallos looked at all of us seriously. “If you ask me, humans were never meant to have such a terrible choice. It is beyond our capabilities and our intellect.”

  Listening to Pallos, perhaps Shen had been correct in saying that the Gifts of the Xenofold were never meant for humanity. Perhaps the gift of an afterlife was never meant for us, either.

  Yet to destroy the Xenofold, or not, was a terrible burden to place on us. How could anyone decide what to do with generations of dead? How could anyone knowingly end them and call it ultimately good? It was different from killing, but it certainly didn’t feel that way. It was a moral question no one had ever had to consider. Was it moral to kill someone who was already dead, if done for the preservation of those still alive?

  Maybe, yes. And if we did nothing, the Radaskim would eventually take control of those souls, and their existence would be one of slavery. Death . . . if it could even be called death . . . would be a mercy.

  “We can’t make this decision,” Shara said. “We just don’t know enough.”

  I saw that she was right. “I promised Shen one thing; that I would speak to Elekim. Shen is confident that Elekim is going to agree with him, because Shen sees his logic as irrefutable. But something is still missing, and I need to know what that is. For now, though, Shen and our interests align.”

  But not for much longer, I thought.

  “If we’re serious about this,” Fiona said, “we’ll need to find a reversion.”

  “The Northern Reversion is probably our best bet,” Isa said. “It’s the largest and most developed. But it will be dangerous.”

  “It’s settled then,” I said. “We’re heading for the Northern Reversion. Try to get some rest on the way. We might not be getting any for a while.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  I TRIED TO CATCH SOME sleep myself, but wasn’t too successful. Seeking Silence was little solace. There had been too many revelations, and so much depended on me.

  I couldn’t help but wonder and toy with the thought; what if I did as Shen asked? Assuming it was even possible, the world would be forever changed. Human Elekai would lose the Xenofold. Their Gifts would pass away as if they had never been. All animal and plant life that depended on the Xenofold would die out. Directly or indirectly, the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of humans would also be involved. And the dragons, who were only Elekai because of what Alex did, because of his strength, would revert to their previous, bestial state.

  As horrible as that was, as horrible as it would be to be responsible for all that mayhem, the alternative could possibly be worse. The Hyperfold overpowering the Xenofold was a nightmare scenario.

  Perhaps the Xenofold might not exist, but neither would the Hyperfold. It would give Shen the chance to stand up to the Radaskim invasion when it came.

  There was a knock at the door of my cabin.

  “Come in.”

  I was surprised to see Pallos. “May we talk?”

  I almost told him to go away, but I realized that wouldn’t get anything accomplished. We were stuck together, for better or worse, so we might as well work together. I needed clarity on where he stood with us, and we were only going to arrive at that point with conversation.

  I sat up, rubbing at my eyes. “Conference room.”

  I left my cabin and Pallos followed me quietly, almost meekly. The wardroom and interior corridor were both empty; everyone was making good on my advice to get some much-needed sleep.

  When we entered the conference room, I sat. Pallos pressed the button which closed the door before sitting down opposite of me. We looked at each other, sizing each other up. It was hard to get used to the idea that Pallos Sarin was not just a lowly engineer, but a Guardian and the leader of the Shen Collective in America. What kind of power did he have? What could he do to us if he so chose?

  “I’ll start, I suppose,” Pallos said. “I feel as if some things were left unsaid. I would like to reach a mutual understanding.”

  “Honesty from the start might have helped with that,” I said, trying to hold back my anger. “Why should I trust you with anything now? I was starting to trust you, Pallos. You were there for us when we needed it most. If not for you, we’d be dead in Ragnarok Crater by now, or hunted down by Isaru’s dragons. It was you who opened up Shenshi for me when I was injured at Northold.” I thought for a moment. “In fact, given your position, it makes a lot of sense how you’ve been able to arrange for all that, along with my meetings with Shen. After all, I assume you were behind the first one, too.”

  Pallos nodded his assent. “You’re right. I arranged the first and second meeting between you and Shen, and I was also the one to summon you to the Odin crash site. It was me who found Mia outside Hyperborea, when our scouts discovered her presence. It was all necessary to bring you to Odin. This ship is necessary if we’re to win against the Radaskim, for reasons that have already been said. I waited, patiently, to see if another solution to the Hyperfold problem was possible.” His eyes became troubled, even a little somber. “It was the only time in my life I relented in obeying Shen’s orders.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He wanted no time wasted in trying to convince you to enact his plan.”

  “His plan?” I asked. “You mean, ending the Xenofold?”

  Pallos nodded. “I believed, perhaps, that it was possible for a middle way to be found. I can say something now that I can’t often say, if ever; I knew something Shen didn’t. I knew how difficult it would be for you to stomach the truth. And as for myself . . . I wanted to believe, like you, that there was another way to stop the Radaskim . . . a better way.” Pallos clamped his hands together, struggling to find his next words. “Because of my silence . . . Mia lost her life.”

  At first, I didn’t understand what he meant. How could he blame himself for her death?

  “Pallos, that wasn’t your fault. Why would you think that?”

  “Because I let you do what I knew, deep down, wouldn’t work. Elder Isandru, too, is most likely dead.”

  “He is alive, Pallos,” I said. “He’s working even now to stop Shal from the inside. We just have to give him time, and whatever help we can.”

  Pallos sighed, then shook his head. “You’re still young, Shanti. I’m not much older, and have been given many responsibilities for one so young. Yet I’m old enough to know that what is best is not always what is easy.”

  “I won’t end the Xenofold, Pallos, even if it were within my power. Anna came back to save the Xenofold, not to destroy it.”

  “We don’t know the real reason Anna came back,” Pallos said. “It is said that there was a prophecy. Your prophecy.”

  “The one you have,” I said.

  Pallos looked at me, his face seeming to want me to realize something.

  “The Prophecy was what you needed to hear at the time,” Pallos said.

  I felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. “So you mean . . . we never actually found it?”

  Pallos shook his head. “No, Shanti. There is no prophecy. There is only reality. There is only what’s happening before you. The Elekai still live in a world of myth . . . because myth makes sense of things that we can’t
make sense of.”

  I was struck silent. More lies. How had I been so foolish?

  I swallowed a lump in my throat, resisting the impulse to reach for Silence. Silence had been my crutch. I never allowed myself to feel any pain or disappointment, but I let myself feel it in full force now.

  “I . . . have no words for this,” I said.

  We sat quietly for a long time, neither daring to look at the other. For the first time in perhaps ever, I felt all hope leave me. Isaru, and through him, Rakhim, were going to conquer the entire Red Wild, crushing all resistance to the Hyperfold. We had no one to oppose them, and meanwhile, I felt powerless to do anything against the Hyperfold itself.

  The only option left to me was the one that would make me completely reviled for the rest of my life.

  “The Xenofold will end, with or without you,” Pallos said. “But if you end it now, then it will be before the point of no return. If the Hyperfold’s power can build to a critical mass, then it will be too late. For all of us. There will be war . . . a long and terrible war . . . between Shen’s machines and Odium’s Radaskim swarm. There’s no telling who would win that conflict, but I’ll tell you one thing. We will be more likely to win if the Hyperfold is ended now. It’s within your power to stop it, if you only look for a way.”

  “I don’t see how I can,” I said. “I don’t see why I should trust you.”

  “Trust your instincts, then,” Pallos said.

  I tried to think it through, but it was futile. The only thing I could think to do was the next step: find a reversion, and through that reversion, find Alex.

  If I was going to end the Xenofold, as Pallos seemed to believe I was capable of doing, Anna’s husband deserved to know the reasons. Perhaps, if I had his blessing, it would make the whole thing easier.

  It was a small hope, but I was willing to take anything at this point.

  * * *

  The flight north took longer than it would have usually. We wanted to avoid going too close to the crater and Northold, so we ended up heading northwest, and circling back around once we were well behind enemy lines.