Chapter 152 - EVO
***Tirnanog, Aerie Flagship***
***Magnus***
I abruptly sat up and cursed silently, looking at Astra. “Did you know the sneaky snake could do that?”
We always suspected Gaia wasn’t playing all her cards in the open. But the simple fact was there was nothing we could do if she didn't want to cough up her secrets.
Astra only stared off into space as she sat up a little straighter, looking livid as she concentrated on her UI. “No. Evidently, our lazy, little goddess couldn't be bothered to tell her faithful servants that there was more than one way to contact her. I will be sure to voice my disapproval of her policies as soon as we see each other in person. I'll haunt her dreams.”
“Why didn’t you bother to inform the small circle of people who could talk to you in their dreams of this ability of yours?” Vanya asked while she simultaneously continued to transcribe the whole conversation. “I bet they would have advocated to reveal your existence much sooner if they had known.”
[Gaia]: ‘Honestly, the entire dream-talking affair was an unexpected side-effect. I still haven’t made up my mind about it entirely, though it seems mostly harmless in nature. From a human’s point of view, the closest comparison would be to suddenly being able to talk to your subconsciousness. An – if sometimes annoying – mostly beneficial ability. As for being able to hack the UI chat function, I couldn’t do so until Magnus logged into the colony computers and unlocked the function with administration rights. So, one could say using the chat is an ability I only recently gained. I saw no reason to reveal it if there was no great need.’
Skye Rumen tilted his head. “And why should there be a need now?”
[Gaia]: ‘Well, it was decided on the fly that the time was ripe to reveal my existence, so I deemed it necessary to hammer the point home, so to speak. I wouldn’t want a political split to hamper the current efforts at ending the threat which Thich represents. And mind you, they are a threat. Not only for the clans but for Tirnanog’s humanity as a whole. They are collaborating with entities whose plans they can barely fathom. Even if it works out for them in the short term, they will have to pay a steep price as soon as they are no longer useful.’