The Empire was forced to halt its departure from the Mother River System for unknown reasons.
After nearly a year of investigation, a meeting was convened to discuss countermeasures.
"Why did this happen? Have you found the cause?" the Head of State asked.
Seeing that none of his subordinates answered, the Head of State could not help growing angry.
Over the past year, he had been anxious to the extreme, feeling that the Empire and its homeworld, Serin, could be headed for destruction at any moment. He had been plagued by nightmares.
The source of his unease was what they had witnessed. Though the cause remained unknown, its scale could be determined: an intervention capable of spanning an entire river system, a cage that imprisoned every civilization within it and prevented them from escaping outward.
The Head of State often found himself wondering: if Amoeba had been destroyed, would the Empire be next? Could an Empire with nowhere to run defeat an enemy that even Amoeba had failed to overcome?
"With so many knowledgeable minds, so many Imperial resources spent, and so much time gone by, surely you haven't achieved nothing? How will you still have the face to call yourselves the Empire's elite?" the Head of State demanded.
The chief of physical sciences answered nervously, "We have a rough hypothesis regarding the cause, but some phenomena do not fit the scenario proposed by that hypothesis, so we still need to gather more observational data..."
Before he could finish, the Head of State rudely cut him off.
"Tell me your hypothesis. Stop hiding things! What I need right now is a baseline, understand? The Mother River System has become a battlefield, and the Empire can no longer move away from it. That is an extremely dangerous sign! If Amoeba wins,