She knew she had been born amid the ruins of this civilization with a mission, yet no one had ever told her what her future would be. The memories and knowledge of ten thousand years let her watch new nations rise from yet another ruin. She remembered that the deposed Regal Authority had once been a result she abandoned. She saw brand-new flags snapping across battlefields thick with the scent of blood, and remembered that the warring sides had once stood united against a common enemy in some ancient age. She looked upon forests and thought of deserts; gazed toward mountains and recalled lakes; saw the trusted Your Highness collapse in a pool of blood...
She was consumed by self-reproach. She had wasted too much time, and so often, merely preventing Terra from destroying itself—merely guiding it toward a safe path of development—had already exhausted her completely.
She was not an omniscient, omnipotent being, yet she demanded that she care for the whole world. Her mission had never been fair. She had to hurry. She had to use any means necessary. Otherwise—
"Where are Prestes and the Doctor?"
Countless thoughts shattered into dust in an instant. Her taut nerves snapped like broken strings, their hum fading before they fell into a bottomless void.
Kal'tsit jolted awake from her dream. Her slender fingers unconsciously clenched the blanket, while the light happened to illuminate the faint contours beneath her collarbone, casting tiny shadows over her heaving chest.
"You're awake, Kal'tsit." Qianyi, seated on the sofa peeling an apple, greeted the awakened Kal'tsit.
"Mon3tr!" Kal'tsit immediately summoned her guardian and companion. The guardian stood at her side, warily watching the apple-peeling man, its body trembling uncontrollably.
"Calm down, Kal'tsit. I'm on your side." Qianyi handed the peeled apple to Talulah beside him.
"What?"