If you find mistakes, pls tell, thx. I don't like mistakes.

Also feel free to ask for more background information on the world. I am somehow running out of interesting points regarding the small comments at the beginning of the chapters.

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“

Things are never as they seem.

”

-Unknown

***Sol, Aether***

***Gideon***

“What's wrong with her?” I ask, eyeing the woman on the bed. We brought her to the hospital right away. Since Sadina is still unconscious we can't question her. “Can we wake her up?” I want to ask her questions. A lot of questions.

“Actually I don't think that's a good idea.” Ed shakes his head. “The whole hospital is filled with faceless, but I would feel much safer to wake her up after having her inside a high security cell.”

My eyes wander from Ed over my family and to the doctor who is in charge treating Sadina. Melan, Hedeon, Rhiannon. Save for Saden and Galia everyone who has a strong connection to Sadina is here.

Cyla really went a little overboard when she got her hands on my mother. But can I really blame her for that? It is often said that couples who share their minds often and intimately tend to acquire certain traits from their partner. So if I became a little more controlled and social, then it also means that Cyla got a little of my emotional and calculating side?

The doctor nods and corrects his glasses. He is said to be the best one available and takes horrendous sums of money for his attention. Coincidentally he is also the same person who treated me when I was a kid. Does that mean that Melan went to great lengths for me even when she didn't really know me yet?

“I've seen to her physical injuries and I hope that I'll have her awake by tomorrow.” He flips through several sheets of paper.

That's not enough. I gesture at Sadina. “That's not what I meant. Don't you see her body? Why didn't she take proper care of herself?”

Cyla grasps my hand from beside me. “I am sorry. I don't know what came over me. At some point I should have realized her strange state and stopped. It's no excuse.”

I shake my head and open my mind to her. ~That's not your fault. You aren't the one to blame. I just want to understand what's going on.~

~Thanks.~

The doc starts flipping pages again. “I was informed of my patient's extraordinary circumstances. Sadina is a perfect example for a techno-mage who lost her way. She is a driven, maniacal individual. I can totally imagine her neglecting her body for the sake of her goals.”

Melan steps closer to Sadina and balls her hands into fists. “Can we be sure that it really is her?”

Doc nods. “Oh, of that I am very sure. I've taken a very careful look at the old medical records and the cloned bodies which she used to confuse you.” He gestures at Sadina. “It's her. There are some genetic markers which decay with age. It would be very hard to create a body which has them exactly as they should be. This is without doubt Sadina Alvar.”

I squint my eyes at my mother. “I don't believe it. Something is fishy. I was a derailed person too and I am very sure that I know how a maniac sounds like. This body. She is far gone and insane, but she is focused on proving that techno-mages are at least as strong as other mages in all aspects. Wherever she got that idea from. Why did she let herself go like that? It doesn't match her form of insanity. It doesn't fit the picture.” Then I focus on the doctor. “Wake her up. We have to know where the virus is.”

Doc's expression turns sad. “I am sorry. But that's how it is with techno-mages who walk over the edge. There doesn't have to be rationality in all their actions.”

“Wake her up. Now.” I order him this time.

He blinks and steps closer to Sadina, pulling a syringe from his coat. “It will be temporary at best, you don't have much time. The drug which I used to put her to sleep has to degrade naturally.”

The needle wanders inside the flexible tube of Sadina's drip. Then it doesn't take long until her eyes flutter open and she looks around, wincing in pain upon realizing that her body is still battered and bruised.

Ed steps closer. “Where is the virus, Sadina?”

She starts smiling. “Where is the virus? Wasn't it obvious from the start?” A chuckle escapes her lips. “I am honestly surprised that you didn't realize it at all. Was using myself as a distraction that effective?”

I raise an eyebrow. “What have you done?”

“What every good scientist does. I've put my invention to good use. A tool needs to be used. There is no point in having it if you don't use it. While all your attention was directed on hunting me I hacked Aether's long range teleportation chamber and sent one of my facsimiles to the teleportation node through which we entered Sol during the hunt. My facsimile hacked the node and deployed the virus on a Drazi frontier world. Of course the facsimile was programmed to destroy itself after infecting the first Drazi it encountered.”

Melan gasps and covers her mouth. Everyone among the present people has a similar reaction. Except for me. I don't see a problem with exterminating the Drazi. But I see another problem.

A step brings me right next to Sadina. “That's not possible. I programmed the network functions of the nodes. You can't hack them. They are the most secure, man made devices ever to exist!” Then I run through a list of possibilities how Sadina could have gotten unnoticed access to a node. If her story is true. There is only one possibility. And that's having a master pass-code. I reach for Sadina's shoulder. “Whom are you working for!?”

“Nobody...” Her eyes drift closed. “... working … always... alone.”

I shake her, but she is out cold again. The doctor stops me from trying to wake her up, so I turn to him as some of the puzzle's pieces fall into place. “What are the possible reasons for Sadina's state.”

He blinks. “Her mental issues, obviously. I don't understand.”

“What are the possible causes for her mental issues despite the fact that she is a techno-mage?” I ask.

Doc starts scratching his chest. “Brain damage, tumour, though I already checked for that. Her insanity, obviously.”

I lean closer, remembering my mental contact with some of the Drazi. “What if someone pushed her over the edge?”

“You mean... someone manipulated her mind?” Doc's eyes widen and bites his lower lip. “She was involved in illegal activities. Normally I don't treat patients like that. Let me get some devices. If someone nudged her mind around, there have to be at the very least some faint traces.” He leaves the room. I pull a chair closer and sit down, trying to order the facts in my brain.

Ed follows the doctor with his gaze until he vanishes on the corridor. “What are you thinking, Gideon?”

I shake my head. “I am just collecting another piece of the puzzle.” Then I raise the fingers of my left hand one by one.

“First. Sadina may be extraordinary. A genius. But how did she escape the authorities for over two decades? How did she manage to never get onto any records?

Second. Her insanity was always very convenient for a certain group of people.”

Ed wants to say something, but I stop him. “She stopped a broadcast attempt by the Revelation Wing to Earth! I know, the hacking attempt failed, but is that really coherent with her otherwise legendary skills at evading the authorities? She practically crippled the actions of the Revelation Wing by stealing their funds. She 'created' me, telling me where to find the remains of the Revelation Wing.”

“She sets me up as the governor of Aether, though that happened just because of indirect suggestions. She followed us to Gathering-Station, playing secret agent and stealing information for her own. Why? She never before did something that risky. She uses the information to eradicate a danger to our species. Aren't all of her actions up until now very convenient for us? Her only real crime up until now is this so called failed experiment of hers and the way she treats other beings. But can someone really say that she did more evil than good? I don't want to say that she redeemed herself, she is still a bitch. But isn't she doing a lot of strange stuff for a villain?”

The doctor returns with a thin metal net in his hands and places it on Sadina's head. Then he starts manipulating a screen next to her bed and pictures of her brain appear.

I ignore the procedure and return my attention to Ed. “I need to know more about this first experiment and if there were other people involved. Did Sadina work on her own? What about friends, teachers, other researchers. You must have made detailed research and files of everyone in her vicinity.” I scratch my chin. “And the most important question: Is anyone of them an elder or the governor of a colony right now?”

Ed draws in a deep breath and pulls a phone from his pocket. Since he isn't a techno-mage he needs a device to interact with the net. “I have to check my research files. But I hope you aren't suggesting what I think.”

“I am suggesting nothing. I am just proposing a theory. To activate the teleportation nodes you need the access codes. The only ones who should have them are the elders and government officials!”

“She is brainwashed.” The doctor suddenly proclaims and I hurry to get to his side.

“Is that sure? We need proof! Can you tell what exactly was done to her?” I batter him with questions.

“Oh, quite sure.” He takes a pencil from his lab-coat’s pocket and points out some sections of the colourful picture which shows Sadina's brain. “See here and here? Those areas are much too active. This only occurs if someone is under strong mental stress and in inner conflict. A strong indicator that there is indeed something wrong. But I can't say what at this moment. I am not a telepath. I will make sure to contact a good team of specialists. Picking around inside someone's psyche is a very delicate matter. If you just waltz in there and start rummaging around it is very likely to do more harm than good.”

“By the ever dark bloodmagic!” Ed throws his phone to the ground and starts stomping onto it. “It's Sanguin!”

“The techno-mage elder!?” Hedeon joins the conversation for the first time, a tone of disbelief in his voice.

“Yes! He is a head-researcher at the university. His field of research is gravity magic, exactly like Sadina's project. In fact he still works in the same faculty during his free time! They must have known each other. But I don't understand. I see the connection, but he has no motive!” Ed gestures pleadingly at me.

I lick over my lips. “Someone once said to me that Sadina would be an elder right now if she wasn't a crazy bitch.”

Ed halts dead in his tracks. “That was me. How could I be so blind! There can be only one elder of each affinity and if Sadina took the test...”

I nod. “But how to prove the theory?”

“If it's true then he has to ghost her.” Ed grumbles. That earns him a few troubled looks, so he explains further. “Look at her. How much longer would she have lasted? Whatever form of influence he had on her, this was intended as her last mission. Why else would she use herself as a distraction to deploy the virus? The elders as a whole would have never agreed to using a bio-weapon. Sanguin must have hoped that we kill her.”

I turn back to my mother. “I guess we should hurry up and have those specialists take a very deep look into that brain of hers.”

.