"He digs crooked tunnels, a subterranean clever mole," I read aloud a line from a famous Soviet film. "Normal heroes always go around, Normal heroes always go around."
Angering the Ascended is not the smartest idea that can come to the mind of the inhabitants of this universe.
"It's understandable that going around is not very easy, not very pleasant and very far, not very pleasant and very far."
How many opportunities are there for beings who have lived for thousands, or even millions of years, and have experienced some shit, to complicate fate? Most likely, all the same numbers: thousands and millions.
And at the same time, they will surely be able to do it in such a way as not to violate their own rules. Although Melia listened to me, she did not agree that rules exist to be broken.
"But only the wise act this way, only the brave step this way," with a heavy sigh, I stepped away from the jumper's control panel. "But only the brave step this way."
There is a belief that an idiot can be intrigued by promising to tell him something interesting tomorrow.
"Fools build heroes, they rush forward," I looked at the burning instrument panel, sitting in the pilot's seat, and tried to compensate for my irritation by singing. Fortunately, no one around is suggesting where I can go with my vocal abilities. "Normal heroes always do the opposite, Normal heroes always do the opposite."
The jumper's control panel. View from the pilot's seat.
The thought that their energetic asses would burn a little after the Ascended, after which they would still spit on the commandments of their religion and help, did not leave me alone.
"And we will never deviate from the crooked path, and if necessary, we will go the crooked way again, and if necessary, we will go the crooked way again."
But the psychological attack by a singer whom a bear stepped on the ear did not help at all.
And how else to solve a problem with a huge number of unknowns, I couldn't imagine.
The ultimatum I presented to Melia was good. Damn good.
"If you don't interfere, then don't hinder." "If you trust, then trust, and don't look over your shoulder with a finger on the trigger of a big gun." And, for God's sake, give me at least a Russian-Ancient dictionary.
How can you even control the technology of an alien civilization if everything, literally everything, is written in their language?
From the markings on the buttons to the text on the monitors.
And it would be fine if they were static inscriptions! No! The Ancients used a scrolling ticker as the basic method of reproducing textual information. And so, you sit there, looking at a monitor – no matter which one – and watch dozens and hundreds of pictograms flash before your eyes.
I can't say that my ultimatum worked as expected.
They won't trust me, but they won't interfere at every step either. As for the other conditions... there too, with varying success. But the main thing I learned is that in moments of danger, sitting and waiting for someone big, good, and bright to come and save me is not worth it. They won't interfere. Neither when great evil is done to me, nor if I decide to do it. Later, yes, maybe they will come and punish me if I commit great villainies – break their rules. But that will be later. And, quite possibly, they won't do it themselves, but will send someone after me.
Wonderful allies. I have no trust in them, and they have no trust in me. Who is to blame? Hippaphoralkus!
The dictionary was not given to me, of course. And no, not because it would have been a violation of the rules to give me such information. Oh no, Melia assured me that such data did not need to be transmitted to me in principle, as I could potentially find the answer myself.
Because deep down, I know it.
Brilliant?
Of course.
At first, I thought she was appealing to the fact that I had seen something on the internet about this topic a long time ago... It turned out not to be the case. Not at all.
"To achieve anything, you need to learn," the Ancient said before dissolving.
And that's all.
I didn't have the strength to swear and curse.
I already understood that we were playing that very same cosmic chess game, where my move, which seemed like a winning one, actually helped the opponent to kick my ass. I thought that since they couldn't intervene quickly, they were afraid and busy, so they would meet me halfway? No way.
The only thing, besides the generally known, that played directly into my favor was that the Ascended in principle are not going to dispute my rights to Atlantis and other heritage that I will discover.
And, no, this is not a concession.
This, damn it, is their law. If an item has not been claimed for a long period of time, and its owner or creator has not asserted their rights to it, then whoever first said "mine" is the new owner.
Well, I said it. I can be proud of myself - Atlantis is mine. It's even written somewhere in its subroutines. Well, now I need to find a few ZPMs, set course for Earth, and get a certificate of ownership through the MFC for... Here's the snag. It's unlikely that the local version of my homeland can issue documents for ownership in the form of a spaceship, which is also a city, a laboratory and testing complex, a sample of high technology, a platform for placing weapons - and this is only what I know about Atlantis.
Well, at least from Melia's hints about Moros, who forbade drinking fountains in every room, I understood that the very water columns from which I wanted to drink were actually circulating not oceanic, but desalinated water.
It took me about thirty minutes to find a tap and quench my thirst. Great, now I definitely won't die. From dehydration, of course. And as soon as the shield falls, my end will surely come.
There is, of course, an option - to use a jumper to blow up part of the tower and fly out. The ship is airtight, which means it can overcome oceanic pressure and reach the surface of the planet. And there is a continent there, you can plow fields, hunt game... True, there's a nuance.
Even two.
The first is the storm that caught the expedition in the first year of their stay here and almost drowned Atlantis when it was on the surface of the ocean. It wasn't easy on the continent either.
The second is the solar flare that happened to them in one of the subsequent seasons. It burns out all living things. The Ancients protected the planet in the past by stretching a shield over it. I won't be able to do that - I don't have enough energy.
No, seriously! More than half of the problems would be solved if I had energy! But none of the ZPMs in the city will help me; looking for them means drawing even more energy from a doomed source.
It's a pity, but there is an alternative energy source on the planet - a drilling platform. True, it's buried at the bottom of the ocean... And I don't know exactly where. But I remember that a Wraith ship crashed near it. And there is one small problem inside it. Which can create two problems that threaten the planet's demise.
And I'm not even mentioning that the platform control is also in the Ancient language! And I literally have nowhere to learn it!
I spent several hours trying to come up with some kind of plan.
I have a hint on how and where to find a ZPM, but... To do this, I need to leave the city! And for that, I need to figure out where to go - the planet where what I'm looking for is located is somewhere in this galaxy. And I can't get there without knowing its address. At least not in my current situation.
All in all, it took me several hours to realize that the Ascended had not gotten the smartest assistant.
I heard Melia's words about ZPMs, about drinking fountains... I just thought that the hints were only in that. It seems that the lady used the conversation with me to convey hints that I would understand, I hope, only me.
To learn... I need to learn to succeed.
And where do you learn in Atlantis?
That's right - in the holographic hall. Which is where I returned.
Yes, the installation consumes a lot of already scarce energy. But I couldn't find any other options. Pressing buttons blindly, hoping for luck, is a bad idea. I won't go back in time, of course, but I can blow up something I shouldn't. Or open doors in flooded areas of the city. Or something else.
I had no desire to be a monkey with a grenade, nor to waste time trying random addresses.
According to the series, the Ancient language, or as it was also called, the Alteran language, was similar to Latin. I didn't know the latter either, but here's a surprise - the Latin alphabet is the same in many Western countries.
There was even a joke about it, when a Frenchman and an Englishman lamented that the letters in their alphabet were the same, but the words were different.
So I turned to Melis's hologram - really to the hologram, not to her Ascended copy - and asked her to show me the Ancient alphabet.
She showed me. As I had already guessed, the city's computer adjusts to the language it hears for oral communication. I don't know if the city has a database of all existing languages, or if it analyzes what is said and learns like a neural network, but the fact remains.
I received the symbols of the Ancient alphabet.
And ten digits - from zero to nine.
After that, I asked her to show me the symbol of the Atlantis gate and its full address. This element is mandatory for dialing the gate address. It comes last in a chain of seven symbols. In general, each symbol is a constellation visible from the night sky, and supposedly it is individual for each planet - at least for the local group, for which the constellations are similar. But something tells me that it's not that simple - otherwise, it would be very difficult to return to one's home planet from the other end of the galaxy every time.
Or maybe they did work hard, I have yet to find out for myself.
Is it surprising that the Ancient alphabet used in Atlantis had twenty-six symbols? Exactly the same as in the Latin alphabet.
True, there are also various dialects, where the symbols are slightly different, and their number differs. But I chose the "basic" one.
It wasn't too difficult to match the letters and Arabic numerals with their analogous symbols from the main Alteran alphabet of Atlantis. As a result, by trial and error, I recorded the resulting identifications in my PDA's memory. It turned out well, but I needed to test my findings in practice. And for that, the city's control panel, as well as the existing address database, would be suitable.
The Lantian alphabet.
Without the numerous laptops, familiar monitors, servers, and PDAs produced on Earth, the city's control center seemed empty. The Ancients didn't even provide chairs or armchairs for working in this place.
The Atlantis control center. Located in the "right" part of the second tier of the gate hall.
In the Ancient control panels, everything is unusually in its place. Shape, size, texture...
There are no familiar buttons here, and each "keyboard" is a flat glass (or similar material) plate inserted into a console slot. They can be easily removed and swapped for convenience. But, at the same time, there is also a more familiar "button" mode - but this is mostly tied to the gate control panel.
On each such glass plate, there are markings for touch buttons - just place your finger on top and you'll definitely turn something on. By trial and error, I managed to get to the database I needed.
But it's hell. First, translate from Ancient to English, then, scratching my memory, to Russian. It turned out that I remember the language of a potential enemy much better than I think. Or maybe it's some more ancient jokes here.
The Pegasus galaxy gate database, which the Ancients had, was not just a notebook with many addresses that could be dialed right there, without leaving the control center, and open a wormhole to the other end of the galaxy. There was also relatively detailed reference information - in case the Ancients knew what was happening on the planet.
Melia's hint, as clear as a child's tear, gave me the opportunity not only to save the city but also, in principle, to establish myself in the galaxy on a completely different level. All that remained was to find the planet I needed, and that is not a simple matter. Just go through thousands and thousands of addresses... And it's not a fact that the database will mention the planet I need in a form I understand.
And even more so, there are no notes about what was discovered by the expedition there - due to the absence of this very expedition.
Potentially, potential, potentia...
This has nothing to do with crude jokes.
In this galaxy, there is a planet that was once ruled by the so-called Brotherhood. In the series, during the expedition leader's time travel, an Ancient who helped her, Janus, not only saved the city but also gave a note to the woman who remained in stasis for ten thousand years in the abandoned Atlantis, indicating five planets. Each of which has a ZPM.
One of the planets on this list is a world ruled by the Quindozium Brotherhood. I remember they were harmless and timid monks. But they were all destroyed during the Wraith attack on the planet. And the knowledge of the ZPM's location was lost.
The expedition members went on reconnaissance, tested themselves with many puzzles, and found the ZPM... But they couldn't take it.
The fact is that the locals kept the device solely for the Ancients. And when they found out that the expedition members were not them, they took the battery and hid it again. As far as I know, the Earthlings did not try to find this ZPM again.
In the Brotherhood's notes, it was mentioned as "Potentia." Which translates to "power," or something similar.
All that was left for me was to find the correct address, fly to the planet, pick up the ZPM from there, and return to Atlantis before the city sinks under the water. Easy, do it three times a day and you can forget about cholesterol.
But there was another problem.
Based on cause and effect, the ZPM ended up with the Brotherhood because Janus gave it to them. And he did it for the sake of the expedition leader, who arrived from the past. Melis confirmed that none of the expedition variants ever arrived in the city. And therefore, there was not even a hint that there were the notorious five ZPMs from Janus in this galaxy. And damn all five of them - one would be enough for me. For starters, of course.
Yes, there were other places where there was a ZPM. But there, except for the replicator planet, they are in a practically discharged state. And it's not a fact that I can find even one of them.
What is the probability of guessing correctly even once when choosing one address out of thousands of others? Minuscule. Even with the gate search and keyword filters, it doesn't simplify the situation at all.
So, I have a choice - four obvious places, in three of which ZPMs of varying degrees of depletion have clearly appeared. In my situation, I didn't have much choice.
I need at least one to prolong the city's agony.
Melis didn't hint at the last option for nothing. Logically, Janus, having left Atlantis, would hardly have returned to Pegasus to leave even one ZPM. It's trivial - it requires a burst of energy. And the Ancients, who fled to the Milky Way, were extremely limited in resources. And besides, in the canonical events, Janus lied to the Council members' direct question about whether the time-traveling heroine had gone through the gate, saying yes.
That's right - the Lantians did not allow the Earth woman to return to her time. They planned to take her with them, to Earth.
I don't think I need to say that as soon as all the inhabitants of Atlantis went to Earth and found out that the Earth woman was not with them, they did not go back to pick her up. The galaxy was teeming with Wraiths, and they had quite a shortage of ships.
True, they could have used the gates, thanks to the ZPMs in the Milky Way... But they didn't. Why? I don't know, one can only guess, but without facts, it's just a waste of time.
I think Janus did not send ZPMs to the Pegasus galaxy after his departure. Most likely, he provided the addresses of planets where they already existed in one form or another. This would be the most reasonable option.
In any case, the situation in the city is such that I need a ZPM, even if it's somewhat charged. An extra hour, day, week, or month - it's not just important.
All that remains is to find the coordinates of the planets I need in the Atlantis database and take a trip there on the jumper.
Easier said than done.
Unfortunately, my memory was not rich in the coordinates of the Brotherhood's planet. It's called Dagan, by the way. Therefore, even the search engine won't help. And to work by brute force...
Wait a minute. If I can't find Dagan through its coordinates, why not take another approach?
* * *
The option of entering the planet's name into the search engine seemed extremely interesting to me. Therefore, I used it.
To my surprise, it turned out that in the entire vast database of Atlantis, there was not a single mention of such a thing. Not to mention the planet's name - there wasn't even a remotely similar word.
Dagan, Dakan, Dogan, Dagon... I rearranged the letters as best I could, as much as my memory allowed - nothing.
Unlike their Earth counterparts, the city's search system required exact search criteria. Therefore, I tried to enter the planet's name into the system in various ways, but I made no progress in my search.
A ghost of disappointment loomed on the horizon.
Well, no, Russians don't give up that easily.
Let's enter another search criterion.
Unfortunately for me, the word "potentia" had a clear connection to the language of the Ancients, who, as we remember, dabbled in Latin. If I'm right, "potentia" from Latin means power, might, and a dozen other meanings. Therefore, the search engine gave me information about planets with powerful volcanoes, strong storms, magnetic fields, hurricanes, and so on and so forth...
Were there cataclysms of this magnitude on the Brotherhood's planet? The Ancients were not interested in simple volcanoes or anything like that. Only supervolcanoes, supercyclones, super tides.
I think I would have remembered something like that. And since there isn't, I can safely remove such planets from the list. And this reduced the number of options by about thirty percent.
I only need to look at two out of three thousand addresses. Progress, but not as rapid as I would like.
To be sure, after trying several more times with the planet's name, I kicked the stargate control console in frustration, as if the high-tech device could be blamed for something.
I refused to accept defeat. Not when I was so close to saving the city! As long as Atlantis belonged to the Ancients, I didn't even care about it. But now that the city is mine... No, my grandfather is Belarusian, and my grandmother is Mordvinian - such a potent mix leaves no chance for passing wonders of the universe.
I need to change my approach.
At the same time, my stomach rumbled quietly, signaling, "Master, solving the Ancients' problems is good, of course. But don't forget about yourself."
All right. This damn planet isn't going anywhere. At least for the half hour I intend to spend eating. Because I wasn't even going to leave the control center.
My limited supply of provisions suffered again. Which, after five days of my stay in Atlantis, had already become quite tiresome. And if at first I identified it more with hematogen, now it seemed exclusively like plasticine. I'm starting to understand Melis.
Time dragged on monotonously.
Day after day, I studied one entry in the database after another. Some of the city's sensors were working, so I did receive news that half of the city was already flooded.
But I couldn't make any progress in my research. It's good that I really used a minimum of consumers in the city, and therefore the shield is still holding. I didn't believe for a second that this could have happened due to the positive intervention of the Ancients.
A jumper was ready, packed to the brim with everything I could find in my small living area. A couple of scanners, some trinkets, some crystals with information in the Lantian language...
Interestingly, I even found the personal protective shield of the Ancients.
It was shown several times in the series. A small, green crystal resembling a tiny coffin. When activated, it protected its wearer from any damage: firearms, energy weapons, falls from great heights, and so on...
The personal shield of the Lantians.
The device was activated quite simply - with the Ancient Gene present, it just had to be attached to the body or clothing. It enveloped the person in an almost invisible energy field.
It's undoubtedly a useful thing.
Especially since it was configured for only one owner, and no one could remove it - only at the owner's will would the shield be deactivated. In the series, it took one of the expedition members to have a hunger fit for the smart device to deactivate. It turns out that it has a protective mechanism - it does not let food or water pass through, only air (and I think some other gases too), the shield deactivates when the owner considers himself in mortal danger due to the device's use.
After long exercises in its use, for about four days, I learned to deactivate it by force of thought, simply thinking that I would die if it didn't turn off by itself. The main thing is to believe in it very, very strongly.
I'm sure there's a more adequate "off switch," but I couldn't find it. Not yet.
In the days spent studying the gate database, I had even gotten used to the constantly blinking symbols and explanations on the Ancient monitors in the control center.
The latter, by the way, also turn out to be of different types. There are those that look like rectangular pieces of murky green glass suspended from the ceiling. There are simple ones, built into the wall. Only those that are familiar to me are missing.
Although, I must admit, in pursuit of the "ultra-thinness" of frameless monitors, local manufacturers have surpassed my countrymen. In fact, as in many other things.
The city's computer, apparently realizing that the sole inhabitant of Atlantis was not exactly a genius, showed me a map of the city, marking flooded areas in red. The laboratory where "I was born!" is also underwater. A little more, and the entire city will be swallowed by the ocean.
After chewing on the disgusting briquette, I returned to sifting through addresses.
After a few more hours of work, I realized that my brain was boiling. Along with irritation. I wish I could smoke a couple of cigarettes now...
But there was no such thing in the city.
However, from the control center, one could access an open balcony, from which there was a wonderful view of the dying city. In moments when everything got on my nerves and I wanted to escape from here, I would go out to "get some fresh air."
If I had at least one sufficiently charged ZPM, I could admire not the black hulks of distant skyscrapers, but buildings shining with internal lights. But as it is... Half the city is flooded, the other half is just preparing for it.
Brilliant "transmigration," nothing to say...
I thought about whether it would be easier if I had ended up in that version of events where Janus helped save the city... But after two or three "smoke breaks," I came to the conclusion that no, it wouldn't have been.
The expedition had its own energy sources, which they used to maintain the city's functioning throughout the time until they obtained a ZPM. I didn't have such generators. And I couldn't create them - I had neither the knowledge nor the materials.
Consequently, if Atlantis had been on the surface, it would have remained without energy. Defenseless and alone. Yes, I could have used the gates with the jumper - if you dial the gate address from them, the city doesn't use energy from the ZPM to activate the "ring."
But all this is conditional... Which you only fall into when despair sets in... Yes, indeed. Sir, forgive me, but you are clearly not cut out to be the savior of a great civilization.
Staring at how another skyscraper of the city exhaled air, filling with water, I distantly thought that the parts of the city damaged by flooding could be repaired.
Alas, why doesn't the gate database work on the same principle as the jumper control? The series said it was like it read minds... And, honestly, it does. The ship responds to mental commands as effectively as to button presses.
In essence, one can say that the control panel and the steering wheel on the ship are a redundant control system for the jumper. The main one is mental control. But, for example, you can't dial the same address mentally... However, I haven't tried it that many times. Only a dozen. But none of the dialing keys lit up on the jumper. Nor was there a dialing sound. Nor additional backlighting on the keyboard...
"Sir, this job is beyond you," I said to myself.
Funny. Despite the fact that it's quite cool on the balcony - after all, the city is hundreds of meters below the ocean surface - and my head is starting to burn. I'm calling myself "sir."
Maybe I should invite someone from the Ancients for a chat, Melis, for example? Or, better yet, Ganos Lal. And drive her to white heat with endless appeals like "gracious lady," "young lady," "madam"...
That would be hilarious.
The gentleman laughs at the lady... But did the Lantians have any special address for girls and women? Well, like the well-known mademoiselle and madam, miss and mrs... I wonder, did the Ancients have a custom of carrying a handkerchief in their jacket pocket, to be able to give it to a lady at the right moment?
There must have been some form of address, but it's clearly not "sudarynya" (lady), because such an address appeared only... in the relatively recent history of my world... On Earth... In this universe, it seems, they don't rename... planets...
Stop!
The realization of my mistake made me feel a fever. Despite the cold around.
However, it doesn't matter anymore - I ran back into the control center.
Why on earth did I decide that the planet was called Dagan in the Ancients' database? After all, the ancient language gave rise to Latin, and "Dagan" doesn't sound like something named after this language! Exactly! I remembered!
The planet was called something completely different in the time of the Ancients!
Sudarynya... Ugh, damn it, Sudaria!
Well, of course!
That's where these thoughts are coming from!
Sudaria! The planet was called exactly that in ancient times, not Dagan, Dogan, or whatever it was!
It translated from Latin as "handkerchief" or even "pocket handkerchief." I couldn't remember this, but by distracting myself from the stupid перебор (going through) of addresses, my brain "rebooted," and unconsciously I turned to my memories. An associative chain formed, and there it is! The planet's name popped into my head all by itself!
Standing at the terminal responsible for the operation of the gate database and the gates themselves, I mentally thanked the city's creators for the fact that this console did not directly interact with the city's central computer. For so many days, if I had been accessing the most perfect computer in this galaxy, I would have certainly expended far more energy!
Having made a couple of mistakes, on the third try I entered the correct name and... got a result!
Damn it all to hell!
Sudaria really exists!
The planet was even on the list of addresses that I was browsing and reading their faded descriptions! Under number one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven! That is, somewhere after a thousand addresses from where I stopped before this moment.
I wanted to scream with joy, seeing the coveted six characters of the planet's address before me. But the exultation was nothing compared to the realization of how aimlessly and stupidly I had spent so much time.
That's it, no more delay.
Trembling with excitement from my first major victory, I dialed the combination on the city's console. With a characteristic hum, seven blue crystals on the outer rim of the gate lit up. As did the seven coordinate images of the dialed address on the inner part of the ring.
With a noise that made me flinch in fear and triumph, a vortex of blue energy burst from the inner void of the gate.
The process of activating the Stargate. The moment is related to the activation of the gate on the human base in the Milky Way galaxy—it is there that the crystals are red-orange. The Milky Way and Pegasus gates differ not only in design but also in functionality. Because the "Pegasus" ones are newer. By 5-10 million years or so.
The vortex of energy, which, as I knew, was capable of destroying anything in its path, was drawn inward with a loud slurp. Now the inner circle of the gate was filled with "water." It even rippled, as if a breeze was ruffling its surface.
But this is just an illusion.
There is no wind, no water.
It is an energy structure, only distantly resembling the analogies that the mind draws. It seems as if a distant but powerful light is glowing in the center of this "puddle"... But this is also just an effect.
Active Atlantis Gate.
The white-blue glow, generated by the gate, dispelled the semi-darkness in the room.
For a few seconds, I looked at this marvel of technology. Simply because... How else could it be?! It's a working Stargate, for crying out loud! I just activated it! Myself, for crying out loud! Without doctoral degrees and knowledge of the Ancients in my head!
Eat that, cheaters!
"Admired enough - that's enough," I said. "Time to save the city."
I decided to use the same jumper that had become my home and storage since the Ascension. It's inconvenient, but I still slept in it, on the side seats, closing the rear hatch, which also served as a ramp. The ship is airtight and can be used as a submarine. So, if I had been "flooded" at night, there was a chance to wake up and get out of trouble.
Sitting in the pilot's seat, I placed my hands on the control yoke, made of a transparent material resembling plastic. A short mental command to start the engines... And the ship rises above the floor on an anti-gravity cushion. Great, it works!
I had some concerns that the city might suffer a little if I suddenly failed to control it. I slowly reached the center of the hangar, and the seemingly monolithic floor parted, revealing the gate hall.
Oh, I hope I don't wreck everything here.
But, as it turned out, the Ancients had foreseen such a possibility. As soon as I directed the jumper slightly forward and down, it switched to automatic piloting.
The jumper slowly descended into the gate hall, turned around its axis with the cockpit facing the gate.
A few more seconds of awe and anxiety, which made my hands and armpits sweat... I hope there won't be any shield or defense on the other side that I'll get smeared on during materialization.
In the events I know, there wasn't...
But in reality... And I shouldn't be here. Most likely.
Slightly touching the control yoke, I felt myself pressed into the back of the seat, and a blue-white "puddle" filled everything my gaze could reach.
On the distant continent of the planet Lantea, the homeworld of the ancient city of Atlantis, peace reigned.
Night had taken hold, but it was light on the shore of a steep cliff.
Several figures, emitting a dazzling bright light, stood next to each other, looking straight ahead. Any other being of human origin, of the species to which these intelligent beings belonged, could not boast of sharp eyesight.
For they looked far beyond the horizon, through many meters of water.
"I think we should consider leaving this galaxy," said a snow-white figure with the face of Ganos Lal. "This human... is not a savior. Hippaphoralkus found a human as eccentric, clumsy, and straightforward as himself. Intellect without resourcefulness and..."
"Enough," interrupted her another Ascended. "Your opinion has been taken into account. As has your attitude towards what has been done."
"We cannot entrust our fates to him," protested Ganos. "I believe in people, I believe in their path and self-improvement, but... This Mikhail! He can't even solve the simplest problem! Melis almost told him everything directly! But he didn't even understand that right away!"
"I said - enough!" repeated the same Ascended in the same emotionless tone. The others, except for these two, continued to observe silence. "It would be irrational not to use this chance."
"This is a mistake," stated Lal. "We should have intervened and eliminated the violation of the rules."
"And violate them again?" a radiance appeared in the air, and another Ascended appeared next to the debaters. "I'm afraid, Ganos, you are projecting your personal thoughts and emotions about this human's ancestors too much."
"My emotions are fine, Melis," stated Morgana. "And it has nothing to do with his ancestors!"
"But it has to do with our survival," reminded the man. "The rules have already been broken. We can only neutralize the consequences. Which is what we are doing."
"This human will destroy Atlantis!" said Ganos Lal. "The cause-and-effect relationship will be broken."
"Perhaps so," said the man. "But the violation of the rules will be eliminated."
"At the cost of our heritage?" Morgana exclaimed in horror.
"This is not the first and not the last city in the Pegasus galaxy," reminded Melis. "Sooner or later, others will be discovered."
"Only we might not be around by then," Lal pointed towards Atlantis resting at the bottom. "This human is like a mockery of our master plan!"
"Perhaps so," the second Ascended pretended to believe what was said. "But I note that before, we showed more patience towards people and their actions."
"Because our descendants acted before," another figure of light appeared nearby. But, unlike the others, this woman had a more memorable appearance. "Ganos Lal is nervous because General Hippaphoralkus's actions may lead to an irreversible change in the future. And the strengthening of that branch of our descendants, which we prefer to forget."
"Oh," a blank smile appeared on Melis's face. "Chaya Sar. I thought you were already dead."
"You know that under normal circumstances, that is impossible," the dark-skinned woman, who joined the other Ascended last, replied coldly.
"Who knows," Melis tilted her head. "The Ascended in the Milky Way thought so too. Now they are dead."
"Who invited the exile to this meeting?" Ganos Lal asked irritably. She wasn't even going to show her disgust at the sight of the newcomer at their meeting.
"I have the right to be among you," said Chaya Sar. "I am an Ascended, just like you."
"You were exiled and punished," reminded her the leader of the Ascended. "You are forbidden to leave the planet."
"I know. But you don't have enough energy to..."
"We don't need your help," cut off the leader of the Ancients in the Pegasus galaxy. "You disobeyed your sentence. And your punishment will last for another hundred thousand years."
"Witnessed," the other Ascended repeated in unison.
"Another hundred thousand years for coming to help you?" Chaya looked at the other Ancients in confusion.
"You violated the terms of your punishment," said Ganos Lal. "The sanctions for this were known to you in advance."
"You just don't want me to participate in all this," said Sar.
"You are right," confirmed Melis. "Your 'help' usually ends in catastrophe. In the current circumstances, this cannot be allowed."
"I suppose I won't receive forgiveness, even if Orai converts all our descendants in the universe without exception to their faith?" Chaya clarified.
"Do not worsen your guilt," said the leader of the Ancients. "Return to where you belong. And do not appear among us again."
Melis, still maintaining a blank smile on her face, demonstratively waved goodbye to the guest.
"I hope you succeed," Chaya said with poorly concealed pain in her voice. "If you need me..."
"You won't be needed," said Ganos Lal sharply. "Get out of here where you belong!"
Silently listening to the insult, the dark-skinned Ascended dissolved into the air.
"I never liked her," said Lal contemptuously. "After what she did, to show up to us with innocence on her face... She's like mocking all of us!"
"Or perhaps you should just calm down," said Melis, glancing towards Atlantis. "I would like to say that I feel sorry for Atlantis and Mikhail, but..."
"At least half of that would be a lie," snorted Ganos Lal.
"Exactly," Melis made another of her empty smiles. "I think the break is over and it's time for us to plan the next step, since this human has failed..."