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of the metaphorical spike in his head dislodged with great relief.

Apollo saw it as well, through the nanites, and knelt before Plausious, though the Gahana was still taller, and looked down at him respectfully.

“I see your pre-born knowledge as it emerges. We have no such insight. All of ours came at our spawning, but now I understand a bit more, thanks to you.”

“Care to share?” Davis asked.

“Our Tri’to energy can fuel the Tri’vey,” Plausious said, having little knowledge of either other than the basic explanation Davis had recently given him. “It can be transformed into it, and Tri’vey into Tri’se, and Tri’se into Tri’to. All have two forms. The Natural Code and the Anti-code. Whatever is producing the toxic radiation is using the Anti-code Tri’to in the Galactic Core to fuel it.”

“And we’re diminishing its fuel supply,” Davis said, really wishing Azoro was here to chat with as well.

“If this is true,” Apollo said slowly, “then it means those who are producing the toxicity are of our form. We are not alone in the universe…”

3

“Why would it have to be produced by a synthoid race?” Davis asked, using the term that had been coined by Megan-026 and had been quickly adopted by both Star Force and the Gahana…given that they didn’t have a better term to identify what they were. “If it’s using the Saiolum, why wouldn’t it be a biological source?”

“Saiolum?” Plausious asked.

“Another name for the Tri’to,” Apollo clarified. “Biologicals have difficulty differentiating nearly identical terms. We do not have that drawback.”

“Something we’re working on in the long term,” Davis told Plausious with a hint of apology as he realized he had defaulted back to the Sha’kier terminology. “One of those secrets we keep from each other.”

“Wielding the life energy requires synergy with it,” the Gahana continued. “That is the only point of access. I do not know how one would transform into another, but to modulate it into a weapon would require direct alteration.”

“Would that not kill the synthoids?” Plausious asked.

“We have developed limited shielding. It’s theoretically possible…”

“It can be imbued into technology,” Davis interrupted, cringing.

“How do you know this?” Apollo demanded.

“We have encountered the remnants of a race that shall go nameless who can manipulate the Saiolum. I am told they were wiped out a billion years ago, but their enemies remain and if word of their survival gets out this galaxy is going to get even bloodier than it is now. So don’t ask me to elaborate further. But I do know that they can manipulate objects to have a residual effect on the Saiolum. If the Tri’vey works in a similar way, there might not be any synthoids within the object.”

“Interesting,” Plausious said, looking down at Davis.

“Indeed,” Apollo echoed. “We can perceive all three energies, but we can only interact with our own in ways that I will not elaborate on, but I believe whatever was done to create this toxicity would require such manipulation of the Tri’vey. I have no theory on the transformation of the Tri’to, nor how to transform the Tri’vey into the Tri’se.”

“When you witnessed spawnings, was there a surge of the three energies?”

“Only the Tri’to, and it was barely noticeable.”

“Can you see it in us?”

“No. We can only perceive dense amounts, such as around a planetary ecology or a Heidoor.”

“What does the Galactic Core look like?”

“We cannot perceive it from this distance. At closer range we would sense a hum to it, but I have no knowledge of the area around the source of the toxicity.”

“Then you’re not well attuned,” Davis said, scratching his chin as he thought. “But the fact that you can sense all three suggests that you would be the most likely candidate to find a way to transition one energy to another.”

“I concur,” Apollo said. “That is why I believe there is at least one other of our kind out there.”

“Are any of the Gahana unaccounted for?” Plausious asked.

“We do not know the location the others fled to.”

“I was referring to exiles.”

“We do not exile our own, Neofan. We have no internecine.”

“Never?”

“Never,” Apollo confirmed.

“Then why would another synthoid race be trying to kill you?”

“I have no data to speculate on. But Gahana do not harm Gahana. It is in our instinct to cooperate.”

“And none have ever chosen to do otherwise?”

“Not to my knowledge. And the odds of a traitor being responsible for the creation of this toxicity is beyond negligible. We do not have the capability of creating something like this.”

“What do your instincts say to do if you met others like you?”

“I do not know. We are all that we have ever known. Another defies even speculative analysis.”

“You said this toxicity doesn’t affect the PanNari because they’re not fully part of the Tri’vey,” Davis noted. “How would it have affected the Gahana shortly after your spawning?”

“The same. Our construction has not differed.”

Plausious glanced at Davis, and even without telepathy he knew what he was thinking. “A preemptive trap?”

“If there are multiple Endgames, and they all spawn a synthoid race, this toxicity will kill any new ones that arise in this galaxy,” he said, feeling the pit in his stomach drop.

“We existed for a far longer time before the toxicity began than after. We never encountered any others like us. If your Endgame is real, it is an extremely long process.”

“Not a process, a challenge,” Plausious said, feeling the spike in his head shift again. “And this weapon is to deny the reward for victory.”

“Stability,” Davis said, looking up at the Gahana. “They help secure territory against the darkside surges that keep coming and coming. Almost as if they are to buy time for another Endgame scenario to run its course. How strong are the Tri’se races?”

“We