Lucien stood on the balcony with a pleased expression.
The meeting had ended only a short while earlier, but the aftertaste of it still lingered in his mind.
Because what they had realized in that room—
was absurd.
It was the sort of realization that changed civilizations quietly at first and then violently all at once once enough people understood what had actually been placed in their hands.
The Origin Core fragment did not merely route messages.
It remembered them.
At first, no one had reacted too strongly to that.
Of course it remembered them. How else would it sort, hold, and redirect them properly?
That had been the first thought.
Then Elk had tilted her head.
Then her eyes had sharpened.
Then the entire direction of the room had changed.
Lucien could still hear her clearly.
"Young Lord, if it remembers the messages," Elk had said slowly, "then if this spreads far enough, we don't only gain communication. We gain warning."
The room had gone still.
Elk continued.
