Exchange

"Now then, where were we? Right you said the people who killed my husband are your people. Please explain further," Azura spoke lightly the sweet smile still adorning her face.

"First tell me what happened to them. What do you know about the Stral and who are these masters you speak of? If this is not Dotera why are my people here?" Selene fired back with questions of her own.

"Dotera? What is that?"

"It is my homeworld, the homeworld of all Stral. It is a desert planet with little water, far less than what you humans had on your planet."

"Humans..." Azura muttered staring deep into Selene's defiant eyes.

"We are not humans, perhaps once but we branched off long ago and they eradicated themselves... they had help in that of course, but it was brought about by their own choices."

"If you are not human why do you look like them and what are you exactly?"

"We are the Vahri. Once we were humans but they drove our ancestors from our world and took it as their own. We made a new world for ourselves and again they came from within and without. They loved that world so much we made sure they stayed in it... But that's another story and not one we need to get into, just know we are not humans."

"So you eradicated the humans for revenge?"

"The Vahri had no hand in their eventual demise, we are not the only race in the wide ranges of space. Now I answered your questions, so how about answering mine."

"Yes, that is fair. A friend once taught me that the gift of knowledge, especially new knowledge should be met in kind," Selene paused as she reminisced about a possibly long-gone friend, "What do you want to know first?"

"What do you know about the Stral, as you call them?" Azura stared at Selene waiting for her answer, already in full interrogation mode. But as she was waiting for her answer something snapped her out of it.

"Wait," she waved her hands frantically stopping Selene from answering, "Before you answer let me help you get that on," she pointed to the clothing she handed to her earlier. It was once again neatly folded and placed beside her.

With little complications Selene wore the suit and although uncomfortable with its tight-fitting nature and discovering the tail she now had, she got it on and went back to their conversation.

"First, can you give me a mirror?" Selene asked.

Azura pressed something near the neck of her suit and a bright flash went off in Selene's face. The light blinded her for a moment and after several blinks, she regained her sight. She regained her sight and saw the image of a woman with silver hair, rose red eyes, and several other things she took quick note of, but she realized quickly that it was both her and not her.

"I see, she tried to maintain my looks as a Stral. But I am not a Stral anymore nor am I human, or like you."

There was a hint of resignation in her voice but before Azura could question anything in that sentence, she continued.

"As I said the Stral come from a desert world called Dotera, we- they believe in a mystical flame that reveals our truest selves. I was the first Stral to enter space and visit another world, we- they didn't have any concept of other worlds."

"How did you get to space if the rest of your race couldn't?"

"I was abducted before my naming ceremony by a strange woman. She kept me locked in a strange place. Occasionally, I got out and back to my home. But she always found me and brought me back. She would 'punish' me as she said. No food for three weeks. No light for two years. 'A few lashes should teach you not to run away, that one was her favorite,"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Selene asked confused by what she found to be a strangely placed apology.

"For what you went through. No one deserves to be treated like that."

"Why do you apologize, you might not even have been born when this happened. What blame or fault do you share in that to offer an apology?" Selene asked still confused by Azura's thought process on the matter.

Azura herself was stunned into silence. She couldn't understand Selene. Was she naive? Did years of abuse warp her thinking? Did she maybe think it was only natural? She just couldn't tell, and she didn't have much experience with cases like this to offer any meaningful words.

"I apologize for my outburst please continue," Azura apologized once more and urged Selene to continue, "If you were the first Stral in space and they didn't have the means to get there themselves, how did they get to space?"

Selene took it as nothing more than an impulsive action and continued as Azura asked.

"I do not know. You mentioned something called a Gal-ay-shan, I hope I said that correctly, they may have something to do with that. Can you tell me about them?"

Azura nodded and began to narrate the history she was aware of about the Galexian.

"We don't know too much about them. But, they say they are part of the first empire ever created by knocking down beings we would've called gods. When we were transported here to the Omega Point the two were already working together. Or rather the Stral, were happily working for them and capturing us. They talked about how much of an honor it would be to be inducted into the Galexian Empire."

"Hmm, they were not around in my time and for some time after that when I would get out, I have never heard of them. Perhaps if Synthia were here, she would have something on her ship that could tell us more," Selene mused aloud, unaware that certain contents within her musings struck an unfathomably deep chord in Azura.

Azura stared at Selene shocked. Selene lost herself in reverie and thought, while Azura inwardly pulled on a certain thread drilled deep into the collective consciousness of all Vahri children. There were two beings to who they owed their lives. One was a mysterious man named Cassius who one day appeared at the Vahri's darkest hour when they were still mostly human. The other is a woman, or rather an unchained artificial intelligence, one so evolved she required a new concept. That person was known as the Cybernaut Synthia. She remained beside the Vahri and built with them for centuries, sadly she was not transported to the Omega Point with them, and nor was her ship the legendary Pantheon.

"Wait, you mentioned a woman named Synthia and a ship she owned, are you talking about the Patheon?" Azura asked. She knew there was a low chance of it being the same person, but if they could perhaps find out that Synthia was fine then they could have a chance of turning things around on the Omega Point.

"Hmm, we may be talking about different people. The Synthia I knew called her ship the Vanis."

Azura jumped up and stared hard at Selene. Although it wasn't unpleasant in the same sense as Novis' stare, being stared at so intensely still caused some discomfort. Her eyes swam around the room as she tried to avoid direct eye contact with Azura.

"Please wait here- No, come with me. Novis will guard you, I have to report to our Captain. You have just become the most important person on this base. If what you said turns out to be true, you may join the ranks of the most important people in Vahri history, like Tau Enders and Avalon Kimble," Azura's tone and demeanor changed once again. There was both an unconcealed respect and formality in her voice along with barely concealed admiration.

Azura led Selene through the halls. Once again the long hallway, extended, turned to waves and spun around her. Though Azura was prepared for this and held her close and quickly moved her through the hall and back outside, where she could breathe comfortably again.

"Novis," Azura shouted.

Quickly Novis appeared like a ghost and stood silently before her.

"I'm tasking you with guarding her. Status 001, Unbound Protocols."

Novis' eyes widened and his jaw trembled as he barely held his impassive expression together. Selene knew that whatever those words meant, it was a big deal as even this expressionless man was not far from shaking in his boots.

"Understood," Novis said, his expressionless appearance reaffirmed.

Please stay with him for now. He'll be guarding you in the event of any attacks or undue anger directed toward you. I will be back shortly," Azura said and left quickly and within barely a second she was out of sight.

Novis and Selene were left standing alone, though still under the eyes of various people moving around the base.