Summary: Sheikah scientist Aldora from North Hyrule joins Purah's team as they prepare their proposal to search for ancient Sheikah artifacts. Mipha and Link spend time at Hyrule Castle.

It was a bright early morning outside the Royal Ancient Tech Lab as North Hyrule Sheikah scientist Aldora walked the grounds and spoke by Tab with Sheikah leader, Saldon.

"Are you comfortable staying there, Aldora?" said Saldon.

"Yes, very comfortable, Master Saldon," said Aldora. "I'm staying in the living quarters next to the main lab."

"Can you tell me where the project stands?"

"It's at the proposal stage now," said Aldora. "Queen Zelda's approval is needed to fund the excavation work, and we are going to work on the formal presentation today. I've reviewed the pictures on the recovered ancient Sheikah device they call a Sheikah Slate, but I don't recognize any of the artifacts Dr. Purah is interested in. In researching our archives, I found no record of them. I wonder why our ancestors did not bring any of those devices to North Hyrule when they fled, or at least bring plans for their construction."

"I can think of two explanations, one of which is troubling and a reason you're there," said Saldon. "The first possibility is that in being forced to flee in haste, perhaps they did not have enough time to collect those items before they left Hyrule. Then the Hyrule army destroyed them. But there is another more troubling possibility. Perhaps they deliberately chose not to bring those items with them because they considered them too powerful. So, they hid them instead."

"You feel hiding them made things safer?" Aldora asked.

"Remember that they were fleeing to an unknown land and could not know what they would find there. They might have feared encountering enemies eager to seize the technology and use it to their advantage. So our ancestors would have been cautious, choosing to hide the most powerful artifacts rather than risking them falling into the wrong hands. That would keep them from both the renegade Sheikah, later called the Yiga Clan, and any unknown enemies. And that would be true of construction plans as well."

"Yes, I can see that is possible," said Aldora. "They could not know the land they fled to was ruled by a peaceful race of Zoras who would wish them no harm. But they were still outcasts in Hyrule and could not safely return for them."

"Exactly, and with no written construction plans, over time, knowledge of these artifacts was lost," said Saldon. "Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. But keep me informed. You understand your role in all this and how critically important it may be?"

"Yes, Master Saldon," said Aldora. "If we uncover anything that could be dangerous, I will intercede to prevent its use."

"Precisely," said Saldon. "I told you, didn't I, that it was actually Dr. Purah's assistant Robbie who contacted me after he learned Dr. Purah asked me for our help. Robbie wanted an additional voice of caution on the team, knowing Dr. Purah's inclination to try first and ask questions later. So we're counting on you to head off any danger."

"I understand, Master Saldon," said Aldora as they ended the call, and Aldora returned to the lab, where Purah welcomed her. She then joined the others.

"We've all got to work hard together and quickly today, as our presentation to Her Majesty is due tomorrow," said Purah. "Let's sit around the large meeting table and begin."

Meanwhile, in Zora's Domain, Link's older daughter Mila was finishing a Tab call with Revali in Rito Village. She had earlier shared a draft of her write-up with him, and, as expected, Revali had suggested some revisions.

"Of course, Master Revali, I will make the changes we agreed to," said Mila. "Do you want to review the revised version after I finish updating it?"

"No, that won't be necessary, Princess Mila," said Revali. "I know you are a person of your word, and I trust you will make the changes we discussed. I very much look forward to your work's publication and the well-earned acclaim that will deservedly follow."

They ended the call, and Mila wondered if the acclaim Revali felt would be forthcoming was for her or himself. She began at once making the agreed-upon revisions to her manuscript. The changes were minor, and she didn't mind making them, as she was kind-hearted by nature.

Since Mila was young, she had a talent for reading people's feelings, and she sensed a loneliness in Revali when she interviewed him. He had no family, at least not yet, and aerial combat skill seemed the be-all and end-all of his life. Being seen as essential and the best at what he did meant the world to him. So, she was inclined to be gracious in giving Revali's exploits more prominence in the narrative. She wasn't bending the truth, but simply focusing a bit more of the story on the Rito contribution than she might otherwise have done. That clearly made Revali happy and did not detract from the narrative. So, what was the harm?

She would read the entire chapter over again one more time and then submit it to the Royal Hyrule History editor.

At Hyrule Castle, Mipha and Link were joining Queen Zelda and her family for lunch. Zelda was at the head of the table, and to her right sat her daughter Zelda, her daughter's son Horwell, and her daughter's husband, Randall. On Zelda's left sat her daughter Astra, Link, and Mipha.

"Mother and I were both relieved you recovered the museum pieces," said Princess Zelda. "I know our head of security, Major Edon, reproached himself over the thefts and was very relieved at their recovery. He is instituting enhanced security procedures."

"Mipha and I were happy to be of service," said Link. "And that would be wise. Misko is still out there, and he did not seem at all remorseful or ready to renounce his criminal behavior."

"Are you okay, Horwell?" Randall asked as Horwell moved his leg and then cried out. "Oh, he just bumped the cut on his knee on the table."

"He has a cut? Let me heal it for you," said Mipha, getting up from the table and coming over to Horwell.

"Here, let Aunt Mipha fix your bruise for you," said Princess Zelda to Horwell as Mipha prepared to heal the cut.

"Wow!" said Horwell as he watched Mipha's hand glow and her magic slowly make the wound disappear.

"Astra, can you pass the beef, please?" said Link quietly while Mipha was busy healing Horwell. "It's really delicious, and I seldom have it."

Astra looked at him, then at Mipha, then smiled and passed him the plate of beef.

"Enjoy it, dear," said Mipha as she looked up and glanced over at Link. "You forget I have excellent hearing. But remember, fish is better for you."

"Caught! Like a fish on a hook!" laughed Astra.

"Very funny," said Link. "This is all the beef I'm having, and I know it's back to fish after this. I actually love fish a great deal, by the way."

"We know you do, Link," laughed Queen Zelda.

"What do you say, Horwell?" said Randall once Mipha had finished.

"Thank you, Aunt Mipha," said Horwell.

"You're very welcome, Horwell," said Mipha.

"Thank you," said Princess Zelda. "If you do this too often, he will want to live with you instead. He's at the age he gets a lot of cuts and scrapes. He and his father rough house a good deal."

"It's no trouble at all," laughed Mipha. "I love using the gift I was given."

"Mipha, if you have time tomorrow, would you be willing to help Horwell learn to swim?" said Princess Zelda. "He likes to play in the water, and I am sure he would benefit from your instruction."

"I would be happy to," said Mipha. "Link and I were not planning to return home tomorrow away, and I have some experience teaching young Hylian boys to swim. I suspect Prince Horwell here will be a quicker study than my last pupil."

"Very funny," said Link. "Maybe you're just a better teacher now."

Then Mipha and Link both looked at each other and laughed.

After lunch, Astra left with Princess Zelda and her family, while Queen Zelda, Mipha, and Link strolled over to the large Gazebo structure at the southeastern edge of the Castle.

It was a sunny late afternoon by then, and the weather was beautiful, the sun shining in a nearly cloudless blue sky. The nearby waterfall sparkled white in the sunlight, and all around them stood lush green shrubs and trees. Afternoon shadows were just lengthening and covered a portion of the structure.

"It was a delicious lunch as always, Zelda," said Link. "And it was nice to see the family. Randall and his little boy are very close, aren't they?"

"Yes, Horwell is quite close to his father and loves playing with him," laughed Zelda. "But at night, he still looks for his mother. And Zelda loves telling him bedtime stories like she used to do with Astra. Speaking of Astra, she said she wants to celebrate every other birthday at Zora's Domain. So her next birthday, her thirteenth, will be there if that's okay."

"Of course, we will be delighted to have her," said Mipha.

"Anyway, I'm delighted you could both come. It makes me feel a bit like old times when you're both here," said Zelda.

"We love coming to see you," said Mipha. "And it's fun to squeeze in a visit to Castle Town too if there's time."

"By the way, it was clever of you, Link, to use your old timeline experience to capture that thief," said Zelda. "I wasn't sure how that would work, given we're in a different timeline now."

"I wasn't sure it would work either," said Link. "Purah tried to explain it to me once, but I found it difficult to understand. She used the old analogy of our lives being threads in a huge tapestry. The threads start with our birth and stop with our death and touch other threads along the way. What happened with me, Purah said, was that I created a whole new tapestry that was stitched or spliced thread by thread onto the old tapestry at the point I returned to the past. But my thread was different: it wasn't stitched at that point like the others but continued in the old tapestry for 104 years and only then was hooked back onto the new tapestry. I can almost picture it in my mind, two pieces of cloth sewn together with this odd long thread looped back. Anyway, Purah said that a pattern in the new tapestry after the splice could sometimes be like a pattern in the old tapestry since the weaving caused by personal actions can be the same. In Misko's case, we were fortunate that he used the same hideout. And we were equally fortunate that I finally remembered where it was."

"Yes, that was all indeed fortunate," said Zelda.

The conversation paused as they gazed out at the scenery for a moment and watched the gentle afternoon breeze rustle the trees and bushes. Link had thought better of bringing up the other parts of his thread. Then Zelda finally spoke up.

"I wanted to discuss something with you," said Zelda. "Purah is putting together a proposal to excavate some locations hoping to find ancient Sheikah artifacts of unknown purpose she saw pictured on the Sheikah Slate recovered from Eventide Island. I'm of two minds on this. The scientist in me is eager for knowledge of the unknown. But the ruler in me fears unintended consequences and the risk of harm."

Zelda paused, but it was clear she had more to say.

"Growing up, I used to hold my ancestors in contempt for banishing the Sheikah and letting fear drive away their vast knowledge and technology," said Zelda. "It led to the near destruction of our kingdom. But now, having ruled a kingdom for some time, I have a better sense of what it must have been like for the King of that era, tasked as he was with protecting his people. Maybe having a group of people in their midst holding so much power was too dangerous. Anyway, I'm looking for your thoughts. Perhaps you could even join me at Purah's presentation tomorrow."

"I'll be happy to attend," said Link. "I know you both think me reckless, but I would still opt for advancing our knowledge and trusting the Sheikah. We're going through the same issue as in the past all over again. We want the most powerful technology to defend us against evil. But when that evil is defeated, and we have no obvious enemies to confront, we grow fearful and question the risk of keeping all that power. But we know evil will return someday, Zelda. It always does. To me, it's wise to keep the means to combat it."

"But what if this powerful technology we keep actually creates the next evil?" Zelda asked. "What if the immense power available corrupts someone into a desire to use it for their own ends? You two both remember better than anyone Queen Sopha of North Hyrule and her insatiable desire to acquire the three gems. Your solution was to destroy one gem. Is that not the same thing we face here?"

Link was quiet, considering what Zelda said.

"I suppose there's a risk," said Link. "But there must be ways to mitigate it, to prevent any one person from using power."

"And we already have immense power in the Divine Beasts," said Mipha. "Does their existence alarm you, Zelda? Do you feel threatened by them?"

"No, because I know and trust the pilots, even Baleria, who took Urbosa's place," said Zelda. "And I trust North Hyrule as well now. But you can see the security North Hyrule places upon their Divine Beasts requiring three people to approve their use. And their hand-held weaponry is coded to work only for the person it is assigned to. So you can tell how conscious North Hyrule is of the risk of power falling into the wrong hands and the means they have taken to prevent it."

Zelda paused again.

"Anyway, let's enjoy this fine afternoon together and not ruin it with worries. Will you have dinner with me? I would love to sit up late and talk about more pleasant topics."

Mipha and Link glanced at each other, and then Mipha spoke.

"We would love that as well," said Mipha. "As you know, your daughter Zelda asked if I would teach Horwell to swim tomorrow, so perhaps I will leave attending your meeting with Purah to my dear husband. I think he's more knowledgeable about Sheikah technology, anyway."

"So there is something I know better than you?" teased Link.

"I said I think," said Mipha. "I was being kind."

Then they both laughed again, as did Zelda.

"You two are a wonderful couple!" laughed Zelda. "I love how you always laugh at the end of your teasing. You both sound so happy!"

The following day, the meeting was held in one of the Castle conference rooms. There was Purah, Robbie, and Aldora from the lab, and from Hyrule Castle, Queen, and Princess Zelda, and Link.

Queen Zelda welcomed everyone and reminded them that, as usual at meetings like this, there was no need for formality or the use of titles. Then Purah began the meeting as head of the research team.

"Our presentation has been pushed to your Tabs, and you can follow along there," said Purah.

After waiting until everyone was ready, Purah continued.

"We're seeking approval and funds to excavate two locations we feel may contain lost Sheikah technology. These are the pictures of the items in question taken from the Eventide Island Sheikah Slate, and from the background, we have inferred the likely locations."

Again, Purah gave everyone time to review the material.

"I assume no one has any idea what these devices might do or be used for?" Queen Zelda asked.

"That is true," said Purah.

"And, of course, we do not know if these devices even exist there to be found, correct?"

"Yes, also true," said Purah. "They may have been destroyed by the Hyrule soldiers. It is admittedly a highly speculative venture."

"For the sake of discussion, Dr. Purah, what happens if you uncover some device of unknown purpose?" Princess Zelda asked. "How do you determine its function without using it?"

"It's hard to give a definitive answer," said Purah.

"I would disassemble it and seek to understand its components, see if we recognize any parts and their purpose," said Robbie. "That's what I did with the first Tabs we received."

"And we have people who can analyze code if necessary," said Purah. "Between analyzing the code and the components of the device, I believe we can get a good idea of its purpose."

"I will be frank with you," said Queen Zelda after a pause. "I'm concerned that there may be some danger in all this. Tampering with unknown technology could trigger something terrible. Therefore, before possibly giving approval, I need your pledge that anything unknown will not be used before thoroughly understanding it."

"I agree," said Purah. "And I can give you that pledge."

"And our North Hyrule scientists are also available to research any unknown device," said Aldora. "We are also concerned about uninformed use of our ancestor's technology."

"Link, anything you wish to add?" Queen Zelda asked.

"Only to echo your concerns, Zelda," said Link. "I alone among you have lived through Sheikah technology working against us. It was a horrible outcome and one we should not risk repeating. We must be very cautious."

"I think I would like to sleep on this matter and give it more thought before making my decision," said Queen Zelda. "Thank you for your work and for preparing the presentation for us."

The meeting adjourned, and Purah and her team made their way back to the lab while Princess Zelda left, saying she wanted to check on Horwell's swimming progress.

"What do you think, Link?" said Zelda once she and Link were alone.

"I think we should trust Purah and her team," said Link. "They may uncover something that benefits Hyrule. We just need to keep stressing caution."

"I am inclined to agree," said Zelda. "And, of course, they may uncover nothing at all. But I would still like to sleep on it tonight. Now, let's go join Mipha and see how well Horwell is doing."

"I'm sure he's swimming like a Zora by now," laughed Link as they left.