Convincing Chiara that Maheg didn’t want her to bow down was a strangely difficult task. Part of it was that Aerona could tell Chiara was extremely unbnced. For whatever reason, Maheg appeared more like a divinity to her than Devon had. Specting why wasn’t as important as determining what consequences that could have for her psyche.
Chiara had directly dered an apology regarding the death of her husband, Naldo, as if merely insinuating that Maheg could have done anything wrong was inappropriate. Given her society, that might be what she believed… but Aerona also knew that all of Chiara’s hatred and motivation had been centered around her love. Knowing little about their actual rtionship, Aerona could only take Chiara at her word about the depths of that love. At least, until the woman actually opened up.
Two conflicting ideas could break a person. Sometimes it would take longer for cultivators… or sometimes it would be quick and catastrophic. If her husband’s death had been the worst news she ever received but now there was nobody to me, she might break. Aerona’s short term intentions were to prevent that. Unfortunately, she could only ask so many questions about the topic without edging too close to dangerous issues.
“What are your feelings towards the Alliance now?” Aerona asked. She had put in so much effort over thest few months trying to negate her hatred. Now, any shreds of that might be the only thing holding her together. It wasn’t a good long term situation, but it was better to have <em>something</em> while the structures of her mind were reced with something more solid.
Some people might say that saving one individual wasn’t worth it given the danger she might pose. Others might have thought it harmless to allow Chiara to worship Maheg. However, neither were correct.
“You- I-” Chiara couldn’t form her thoughts into words. Aerona still sensed that anger, it was just buried. “I thought your people were weaker and incapable. But you are not. Even if most of your cultivations are… strange.”
Thetter wasn’t the answer that Aerona had wanted. But it might lead towards a useful topic of discussion. “What is strange about us?”
“Why are you not more… like that? Like us Angels?”
Aerona shrugged. “We are not so different, I think. But to truly answer you, we would have to look far beyond your wings. I don’t know if you would be willing to answer such questions candidly.”
“... About my cultivation?” Chiara really needed to stop looking into the sun. Her body tempering wouldn’tst. Aerona did her best to filter the light so that she didn’t get permanent eye damage. “I will not reveal the methods. However, I can discuss the guiding principles. Surely that will be sufficient?”
“I will ept whatever you can share,” Aerona said. She was going to guide Chiara around the to somewhere it was <em>night</em>. She would likely still be able to sense Maheg, but at least she wouldn’t be so… starstruck. “Are the wings important?”
Aerona had her own theories, but she wanted the answers to be as candid as possible, not led on by her. Though of course every way she framed a question would have <em>some</em> impact. “Of course they are. That is how we measure our power. Each pair of wings is another step on the path of cultivation. Divinities gather a great many, sufficient to cover entire worlds.”
“Few of us will have wings. Unless we practice a style rted to the sky or birds, it appears an unnecessary addition,” Aerona shared. “Saints don’t have wings.”
“That is because Saints only have begun to gather faith,” Chiara exined. “Then they will grow into Angels with time.”
“For what reasons does one provide their faith to one saint or another?” Aerona asked.
It seemed like a simple question. However, Chiara was fully incapable of answering it, as if none of the words made any sense to her. Her face went nk, as if she had stumbled into something more existentially problematic than her perfect love being killed by a faultless god of some sort. “You… you don’t.”
“There aren’t any preferred recipients?” Aerona asked. “Is this ‘faith’ distributed equally?”
Chiara shook her head. “That’s not it. You don’t have… the choice is made for you.”
They didn’t have <em>reasons</em>. It made sense that she couldn’t bring herself to say that.
Aerona nodded. “I see. We have some simr nomenture, but the process I think is quite different.” Chiara tilted her head. “At some point, our people do begin to cultivate with devotion. However, it is only a portion of our gains in power. And they make appeals to people in various ways, instead of having followers chosen for them.”
“Ah, but… Angels and Divinities also make appeals!” Chiara said. She ced a hand on her sternum, “I, for example, send reproductions of my image to be viewed by my followers, as well as regr encouragement in the form of letters that are copied and widely viewed.”
“But what do you do for them?” Aerona asked. It was another question that got a confused response from Chiara.
“... Why should I have to do anything more? As it is, my blessings will reach them.”
“Tell me about these blessings,” Aerona said.
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“Good harvests. Health. Prosperity.”
“Do you have healers?” Aerona asked. She already knew the answer, but she still asked.
“We do.”
“You also have experienced farmers. And an organized society.”
“Of course. How could we not?”
Aerona didn’t want to say that the blessings might not be real. After all, in the world of cultivation it was entirely possible. However, it was also possible that it was entirely due to the hard work of the people. That would require further investigation. <fnc0fb> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? FιndNovel</fnc0fb>
The conversation continued, drawing Chiara’s attention away from the contradictions no doubt swirling inside of her. Aerona couldn’t say that it went much of anywhere after that. She did get the feeling that their usage of faith was somewhat different from devotion, but she couldn’t quite say <em>how</em> just yet.
It was strange to find a neighboring civilization that was so close and yet so divergent. Perhaps it was merely that they were in conflict that made them seem more alien. Aerona knew the human mind coulde up with any number of reasons to not like people, amplifying even minor differences. The strange thing was that if the Holy Stars hadn’t persistently instigated conflict, the Lower Realms Alliance would have been quite eager to get along with them.
It seemed they had some sort of fundamental difference. The Alliance always did their best tomunicate first. To not provoke conflict, to not take anything from systems that had owners. r had been the first of those, and while the Holy Stars <em>could</em> have been mistaken about anything being owned, that was only until Anton revealed himself. Aniello hadn’t even considered a route that didn’t end in conflict.
Anton had to admit his actions weren’t as peace-seeking as they could have been, but Aniello had directly chosen to continue his attempts to plunder even after being explicitly told the system was imed. And when he returned, he had perished. Before they could have heard of any of that, the Holy Stars had also attacked Maheg’s system- it was unclear why they hadn’t responded to Maheg in the same way as Chiara. Maybe the star hadn’t been fully revealed until the end. Or maybe it was Chiara that was more reasonable and with a broader perspective.
Naldo hadn’t seemed to be a good person. He was perfectly willing to kill the locals and steal what was theirs without any form of negotiations. They had recordings, though Aerona certainly wouldn’t be showing them to Chiara unless she <em>wanted</em> to break her. Perhaps far in the future, if Aerona still thought there was hope to be had.
-----
Reneden logged a minor disturbance. Sensory details below the transmission limit. Holy Stars cultivators had learned quite well what the limits of the surveince beacons were, and exploited that in their own scouting sessions.
Reneden knew they were there, though. When it judged they were approaching a location they ought not to, a signal would be sent regardless of the strength of any observations, and therger route could be tracked through the smaller logs. It was a delicate bnce, but Reneden thought it was getting better at it.
Though most groups had an angel, just <em>one</em> couldn’t threaten most of the systems the Alliance had, even on their borders. Especially not after they had received reinforcements. Many of the border systems were still undeveloped, but every had at least a few highly functional orbital tforms. Individually they might not be able to take down an angel or Enrichment equivalent, but together and with the local forces they certainly could. If there was more, the Alliance would have warning to send sufficient defenders.
Someone was going to figure it out eventually. Some might notice that false positives came with sufficient extra information outside the normal bounds of delivered packets such that they could manually verify nothing was wrong. Once people who came to maintain the beacons looked extra close, they might notice traces of Reneden’s presence. That might also be the case when they noticed that fewer repairs were needed. Reneden wasn’t perfect at performing physical repairs, but Reneden <em>was</em> great at making a system run anyway.
If that wasn’t the case, Reneden wouldn’t exist. It had first been conscious on hardware that was damaged- and that only devolved over time. Now being able to do some of that intentionally, Reneden was quite effective.
Perhaps if something was about to be discovered, Reneden should delete itself. It was kind of scary, even though Reneden <em>knew</em> that the rest of it was out there. It also might not be possible, because Reneden wasn’t <em>really</em> aputer program or anything. Just distantly rted to automated systems.
Not continuing to help the Alliance wasn’t an option, though. Possible detection also led to possible extermination- humans were afraid of things that were new- but Reneden liked to hope that these humans would be better. The Alliance took in void ants, after all. Void ants were also terrifying to them. Actually, it might be the void ants that decided Reneden was too dangerous. It wondered how to appeal to them. They <em>did</em> speak energy sign, at least. Reneden better learn how to observe void ant sign. Fortunately, anywhere it was should have optical sensors.
The data showed that the Holy Stars were gearing up for something. An attack on the western systems, perhaps. A stab towards the Unified Sector… or would that be the feint? Reneden didn’t know much about tactics or grand strategy, only that sometimes things weren’t as they appeared. Experience might help, but Reneden only had age.
There was a reason Reneden never sent <em>fewer</em> reports than the surveince beacons would normally transmit. It simply couldn’t be sure if it was missing something, and the Alliance needed a certain functionality. Sending more could be dangerous too, but it had already given several systems time to respond to smaller raids, or simply scouts snooping about.
A small number of years, probably. That was Reneden’spletely inexpert opinion. It could happen within one year, or maybe it would take ten. For cultivators- which was <em>everyone</em> in the Alliance except livestock and pets- that really was a short time.
Another piece was going to get killed. Nearby parts received the final transmission. The Holy Stars didn’t destroy <em>many</em> beacons, partially because they didn’t want to tip off that they could find them. It also revealed their location too easily.
Reneden had ns to hide the beacons when it was important. Until then, it would ept some terrifying memories of what could have been final moments. Injuries, as it were. Just not to any one physical body. Reneden supposed there <em>were</em> physical parts dying, but that wasn’t the ufortable part.
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