Nikodemus was dead silent. He liked Ellia quite a bit—she had been one of the only women he had ever slept with who he actually cared for, and hearing about her planning to do something so reckless on the vague promise of the Zironists made his head spin even more than it previously was spinning. “I can’t believe her… such a pragmatic woman risking everything for a promise that won’t be fulfilled.”

Lily looked offended. “What are you talking about? Of course it will be fulfilled. The Zironists would never lie; if they told Ellia that Paradise is hers and there will be baby boys for our tribe, then that’s what we will have.”

Nikodemus breathed in deeply, unsure what to say to her. He swallowed, trying to think of the correct pattern of words to convince his daughter that the Zironists did not have humanity’s best interests at heart. He settled on telling her a story from his past, as personal experiences were the most powerful experiences.

“Lily, you were too young to witness the world when there were still men and double the tribes and ranches, but it was a world that was twice as chaotic as this one and twice as depressing.” Nikodemus began, looking at his daughter with a gaze that was envisioning the past rather than the present. “Our ranch was attacked weekly by tribes, despite the fact that ranches were understood to be neutral territory that tribes were not allowed to attack, but could do business with freely. Weekly, the Zironists would make a new announcement; they would announce that there was something they wanted delivered to their church. Most of the time, it was simple things like some sort of tool or mineral. Other times, it was something that had far more value—like food and water. A small group of men from each tribe would head out with the resources in hand, and sometimes, they would return. Other times, they wouldn’t. Regardless, the tribes would always be down more resources, and more vulnerable to the other tribes to attack. Even back then, they took women as sacrifices as well—claiming that they would repurpose the woman to make the earth grow green again, but… I see very little green on this earth…” Nikodemus became lost in his thoughts for a moment, his eyes downcast and thoughtful. He was brought into the reality of his harsh past—of experiencing gunfire and fighting up close when he was a child, and being unable to help with it—along with being unable to help the men who marched off and died giving the Zironists what they wanted. He had known some of those men. Some of them liked playing with him, some of them liked showing him their trades, others had children that he liked to play with. Their death still left a gaping hole in his heart.

“But before they came along, we were much worse off! Our population was dwindling, and we were warring against each other like… like animals! You’re leaving something out that’s very important. It’s true that these men went and gave their resources to the Zironists, but, in turn, the Zironists would offer the tribes far, far more resources; including food and water to last them months.” Lily protested.

Nikodemus grimaced. She’s just as blind as the rest of them… I can’t even blame her, either… this is all she knows.

“Is that the lie the Zironists are spreading? From my experience, the food they gave back was always less or equal to the resources given away. Lily, if the Zironists truly cared about you, why would they make you war over things that they already supposedly have in abundance?” Nikodemus challenged her, clenching and unclenching his fists and refusing to look at his daughter. “Besides… we know so little about what the world looked like before they came. They burned our history, after all… burned who we might have been.” Nikodemus closed his eyes forlornly, wondering what the human race could possibly look like if not for the Zironists.

Lily shook her head, still aghast at what her father was suggesting. “There was no history before the Zironists came along. We couldn’t even speak or form intelligent thoughts. They gave us intelligence. They gave us reasons to live and survive. We have always been divided into tribes.”

Nikodemus wondered if it was even worth contesting the point with his daughter, or if he would rather let it lie, because he loved her so much despite knowing her so little. He decided that it was worth it; he didn’t want his daughter to believe things that he found to be reprehensible. “I think there was, Lily. I think there might have been a time before they came that humans prospered. Perhaps they didn’t live in complete harmony or peace, but I think they… made a success of their species.”

Lily planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand what you mean when you say, ‘before they came.’ They were always here on this earth, trying to tame the tribes—trying to get us to get along—but they have never succeeded. They offered us a place in their church, but we began devouring their resources, and they had to kick us out because they didn’t have enough for all of us, and we were killing each other over it. In fact, they have offered us land of our own… land where we could live together in harmony—where the only sacrifice we would have to make was one woman per month to keep the land green and fruitful—and we refused them because we’re so…” she snorted with a forced smile. “Tribalistic.”