Rushing out into Vyx's "entry room", EUe was surprised to find that the hole he'd been using to go in and out of the impactor was missing, but only for a moment. The hole in Vyx's silvery, metallocrystalline hull reappeared a second later.

"Vyx, could you make a ramp?"

"What is a ramp?"

EUe showed him, and then entry hole morphed again, extending into a boarding ramp whose incline emerged from Vyx's body and tamped down onto the grassy turf outside. EUe's scampered down the ramp, toe claws clicked on the silver.

The scene outside was surreal. In the middle of this hell, the Great Temple Skyholder was a little slice of paradise.

Monsters surrounded the Temple from all sides. The serpents' slender foreparts rose up over the heads of the sea of zombies and the other forms of misbegotten death. Many of the serpents bore patches of feathers or puny, diminutive wings, though those were slowly sloughing away, or being absorbed into their bodies. Others were still only partially transformed, yet were that much more hideous because of it, most of all in how their mutated, silver eyes bulged in their skulls. Sometimes, for a brief moment, those eyes would flash gold, and, like the serpent on the beach, they'd attack themselves or other monsters. To EUe's horror, when this happened, some of the serpents would run toward the twEfE standing in the Temple's safe zone, screaming for help, regardless of whether or not they still had the capacity to speak, yet, without fail, their eyes would flash silver again, and the panic in their movements would die away as they went quiet, turned around, and slithered back the way they came.

EUe wasn't the only person watching this madness play out. Dozens of onlookers sat in the gardens, speechless, with their wings drawn close, not to mention the even greater number of twEfE looking down from the catwalks or from the apparent safety of the governmental offices. Many of the onlookers were clergy or Ecumene bureaucrats, but just as many were simply ordinary people. Songs drifted through the air, over the zombies' moans and the serpents' otherworldly polyphony. EUe didn't need to ask people to know they were sharing their heartsongs, singing threnodies in mourning of all that they'd lost.

And then, EUe noticed the beds.

"Gods…" he muttered. The beds were scattered in clusters, usually around the fountains, where they'd been set up on the grass for use by the infected.

EUe heard voices calling his name, but he disregarded them and flew over to the rest areas, yelling in terror at the fact that, down to the last, every single bed had a plague victim in it, precariously clinging to life. It was bad enough that the infected were inside the safe zone, but the insanity didn't stop there: there were healthy people sitting right beside them!

"What are you doing!?" EUe screamed. "Get away from them!" He charged a firebolt in his hand, ready to incinerate the infected where they lay. "They're infected! They—"

All of a sudden, EUe couldn't move anything except his head. Lowering his second eyelids, he saw the strands of not-light that had been lassoed around him and traced them back to their source: hUen-dE's outstretched hand.

"—hUen-dE?"

"Calm down, EUe. They're not contagious."

EUe blinked, his firebolt sputtering out. "Wh-What?"

Another Gatherer landed beside hUen-dE. EUe recognized him as UwO-e twUzen. twUzen was one of the only doctors that numbered among the Gatherers' corps.

The people tending to the infected watched EUe with wary, wing-folded stares.

"Have no fear," hUen-dE told them. She looked EUe askance. "This kwekek won't harm you."

"Please set him down, hUen-dE," twUzen said.

Begrudgingly, she complied.

EUe shook himself out and landed. To his shock, he realized twUzen had been using communions to fly. The doctor's wings were shrunken and gray, and his breaths were heavy and labored.

"I don't understand," EUe asked, "what's going on?"

"When did you figure out that the dreamshards were keeping us from getting sick?" hUen-dE asked.

EUe lowered his head in shame. "Not soon enough."

"Just calm down for a minute," twUzen said. He sat down at the base of an ea tree, with legs splayed out on the paved walkway, flexing his toes. "Let me catch my breath."

EUe waited.

Gradually, the bird's breathing calmed.

"I'm sorry about that," twUzen said, crossing his legs. "I've been working myself to the bone healing as many as I can." He took another deep breath. "Listen, you don't need to worry about the infected over there. They're dying. The folks around them are only there to comfort them as they meet their end."

EUe narrowed his eyes. "Explain."

"First of all," twUzen said, "hUen-dE misspoke. It's not just the dreamshards themselves."

"What do you mean?"

"It's the Great Dream itself!" twUzen explained. "If dreamshards were all it took to keep the plague at bay, every skyholder on the planet would be a safe haven, just like the GTS is. Skyholders certainly have large enough shards. Yet, clearly, this wasn't the case."

"You're damn right it wasn't," EUe said, with a nod. "The same thing happened to the research camp I was at." He crossed his arms with a flick of his wings. "But then… why would Gatherers' dreamshards have the fungus-neutralizing effect?"

"The only common factor is that we've been inside the Great Dream as well," twUzen said. He turned toward the bedded plague victims. "As for them… the Great Dream seems to—"

EUe fluttered his wings in panic. "—Oh crap, that's right, the nectar supply is—"

"—Contaminated?" hUen-dE's features contorted as she nodded. "We already know about it. It tastes like shit."

"Wait…" EUe staggered away, wheeling his arms. He folded his wings against his back. "You've eaten it?"

"The Great Dream kills the fungus," twUzen said. "Any fomites that might ordinarily infect you become perfectly safe to touch once you bring them here. This includes the contaminated nectar that gets pumped into the GTS' cisterns."

"What's a fomite?"

"Objects contaminated by a pathogen," twUzen explained.

"Okay, so the Great Dream is what kills the fungus. But then…" EUe turned to the infected. "Why are they dying?"

twUzen slowly rose to his feet, using the ea's trunk to brace himself as he stood. "The Great Dream's fungicidal effect stops the infection in its tracks, without fail. But once that happens, the onus of recovery falls on the patient's body. As long as the fungus didn't wreck them too badly, they can still recover. But, at a certain point, the damage to the body is just so extensive that they can't recover, not even with the fungus dead. Hell, it's the cure that kills them. You can't suddenly kill all the fungus inside their bodies and expect that not to have an impact on their health. All that dead infectious material doesn't magically leave the body all on its own." twUzen chirped sadly. "I wish there was more we could do for them, but… we don't have enough healers, and the ones we do have are exhausted. They can barely move." He lowered his gaze. "All we can do is make the victims comfortable for what little time they have left."

"But that's far from our only problem," hUen-dE said. "Even with the supply of contaminated nectar to stave off starvation, nectar harvesting has stopped. Everyone is dead, from the Ua-hU to the elU they harvested. Our infrastructure is in ruins, and it's too dangerous to go out and scavenge for what's left."

"So… what happens now?" EUe asked.

"I wish I knew," hUen-dE said. "Everything is in disarray. It's a miracle someone was able to get the Philharmonium up and running long enough to send out the warning message."

"Fat lot of good that did," a male Gatherer said, off to the side. "By then, it was already too late."

And he wasn't alone. A handful of Gatherers had walked out from the Temple to meet EUe and Vyx. They stared at the Impactor with genuine foreboding.

EUe had always had difficulty socializing with the other Gatherers. In that regard, Uka-yen had been the exception, rather than the norm. Unlike EUe, the vast majority of Gatherers took up the role out of a sense of duty and patriotism, and people like that tended to be rather unsympathetic to EUe's somber demeanor. For everyone's benefit, he'd tried to keep his distance from them, as they did from him—until now.

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One of the Gatherers gestured at EUe's life-drained arm. "What happened to you?"

hUen-dE pointed at Vyx. "I'm more concerned about that."

"You're not the only one," one of the other Gatherers added. He pointed at EUe. "And what about him?"

"This male isn't very nectar-blooded," hUen-dE replied, "but, he's certainly a clever bastard, and considering he's one of the few Gatherers who have safely returned from the chaos outside. For that, alone, I think it's worth our time to listen to what he's found." She turned her gaze to Vyx. "Besides, I'm curious about his big silver friend."

"For the record," EUe said, "my name is EUe."

"Noted," one of the Gatherers replied. "I'm geU."

"I'm hlE-a-e," said another.

EUe nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

"No, it's not," hlE-a-e replied, crossing his arms. "This is a horrible time to be alive!"

EUe sighed. "Do you mind if I ask some questions first? I'm out of the loop, and… I really don't like being out of the loop."

hUen-dE waved her hand dismissively. "Ask away."

EUe spread his arms at his sides, gesturing at the GTS' marked lack of devastation. "What happened here?"

"Not long after you left on your mission," hUen-dE answered, "everyone in the city fell sick, except for us here in the GTS."

"What about the mounds of charred bodies outside?"

"That was what happened when word got out that no one in the GTS was getting sick," geU said, with a grim clack of his beak. "So many people were trying to get inside. Fighting broke out, and then nearly everyone who was fighting turned into a zombie—I take it you've met the zombies, hmm? It's a real nightmare, isn't it? Then the whole city's like this." He shook his head and shuddered. "We… killed as many of them as we could. Gods only know what would have happened if one of them made it inside the GTS. We were terrified by the thought of it. Then, it actually happened, only that's when we discovered we had never had anything to worry about." He glanced at the horde. "They can't get in." geU shook his head again. "The Gods better watch out for when I die, because, I swear, I'm not gonna let them off easy for this."

hUen-dE nodded. "You'll probably get your chance for revenge soon enough, geU." She looked over the terrified civilians. "I can't shake the feeling that, at any moment now, something's gonna give, and the monsters will descend on us." She looked at the other Gatherers.

"We can push them back," a young Gatherer said.

"Yes, and for how long?" hUen-dE replied. "They just keep coming." She pointed at twUzen's wings, and EUe's arm. "Look at the toll its had on us already. At this rate, it won't be long before we all drop dead."

"At least we won't die from the fucking plague," geU said, extruding his tongue.

"Unfortunately," hlE-a-e said, "we might not even have that long. As hUen-dE said, the corrupted nectar flowing through the ducts is running out. It'll probably stop completely before the day is done, and once that happens, it's anyone's guess as to which kills us first: starvation, or one another, as we fight over the dwindling food supplies." The Gatherer lowered his head. "I thought I was going to get to see the future with my brother at my side. We fought as a team; we earned our Gathererhood by working together. Then, yesterday, one of those serpents caught him off guard. It killed him with a blast of acid breath. He… he didn't even have time to commune a defense."

"That's another reason for concern," hUen-dE said. "They've been picking us off one by one."

"But why keep putting yourselves in danger?" EUe asked. "That's not very pragmatic of you, hUen-dE."

It certainly was out of character for her.

"EUe, we're in a battle of attrition against time itself." She turned to the Temple. "There's a good chance we'll all die long before the Great Dream's protections expire, if they ever do. Gods, what an awful fate that would be!" She turned back to the group. "I refuse to idle away what little time I have left simply waiting for the end to come. There has to be something we can do! And if we can't think of it, maybe there's someone else who can. Unfortunately, with the Philharmonium down, the only way we can find other survivors is to go out and search for them ourselves. We owe it to the people, and to our race. Our fates are intertwined."

"So… was that what you were doing outside just now?" EUe asked.

"Yes." hUen-dE folded her wings in despair. "We were in the middle of a rescue mission when you arrived."

"It was my idea to go check ElE-aza Skyholder for survivors," geU said. "They've got a pretty big dreamshard there; I thought it might have created a safe zone like the one here." He shook his head. "It didn't."

hUen-dE turned to the male. "Stop blaming yourself."

"hlE-a-e's brother is dead because of my fuck-up, hUen-dE!" geU yelled.

hUen-dE stomped her foot. "It was a noble sacrifice, geU! We can't just give up on the rest of the world. There might be other survivors out there. We must help them!"

"But what if we can't?" twUzen asked, softly.

"Then we go out and kill as many of those monsters as we can," hUen-dE said, wings flaring as she pointed at the looming horrors. "Ela-tU will honor us in the next life." She nodded. "We should say our goodbyes while we still can. This world… it's not ours anymore. We can't save it."

EUe cleared his throat. He brought his legs together, trying to hide his nervous tail feathers behind his off-white breeches.

"We can't stay here, hUen-dE."

"You think I don't know that?"

EUe looked up at the grandeur of his surroundings. Yes, it stood atop a history of blood and pain and death, and there was no justifying that. But, even so, it was beautiful all the same.

Who ever said a monster couldn't be beautiful?

tlE-la's heartsong echoed in his thoughts.

EUe didn't want it to be forgotten. He owed it to all the people he had lost—to everyone that anyone had lost—to hold on to the memories, and pass on the stories. He refused to bid them farewell. That, too, he realized, was part of his purpose. And it made sense. Discovery went hand-in-hand with dissemination. Unshared knowledge was little better than ignorance.

"You're right, hUen-dE," he said. "We can't save our world. But…" He looked at his hands. "…maybe, we can still save each other."

"What?" hUen-dE said, taken aback. Her tail feathers stood up, stiff. "Don't tell me you've got some kind of plan?"

EUe whistled. "In fact, I do." He pointed at Vyx. "This is Vyx, of the Vyx. He's one of the Impactors that recently landed on our world. I was dispatched to join the research team that had been sent to study them."

"What is it?" hUen-dE asked.

"An extraterrestrial life-form; a kind of living machine, you might say."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Up above, in the catwalks, even more onlookers poured out of the buildings, eager to gander at the living spaceship.

"Vyx can travel through space," EUe said. "So… that's where we'll go. It will be a generation ship."

hUen-dE glowered at him. "That's your plan?" she asked, in a fit of pique. "To run away?"

hUen-dE wasn't the only one to respond in indignation. Without exception, all of the Gatherers in earshot were aghast at EUe's suggestion.

"What kind of nectar-blooded twEfE surrenders?" she said. "You'd make us all kwekek. You—"

Just then, EUe realized he needed a way to persuade everyone to go against their instincts. twEfE were a people of battle and honor to whom cowardice was as unthinkable as defeat. Running away was purest shame, and, knowing that, EUe knew he'd be a fool to chastise the others for wanting to stay and fight.

Hell, I do, too, he thought.

Once again, his thoughts drifted back to Uka-yen, and the old bird's fears. And, just like that, he knew what to do.

He'd turn his people's instincts upside down. Uka-yen had been afraid of what might happen if twEfE took to the stars.

Now, the source of the master engineer's worries would become his people's salvation.

"—It's not running away, hUen-dE," EUe said.

"W-What?" hUen-dE said, bobbing her head in disbelief.

"From what Vyx has told me," EUe explained, "this plague—this Blight—has followed him and his people across the stars."

Others stared.

"Oh Gods…" geU muttered.

"Yes," EUe said, "it's out there, and we're not the only ones who've suffered at its hands. The Vyx have suffered from it, too." He looked up at Vyx. "Vyx here might be the only one left of his kind."

That sentiment resonated with everyone in earshot.

"Think about it," EUe continued, "if this Blight could cross the vastness of space and come to UlU, who knows where else it's spread?"

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

As EUe planned his next words, he realized he had the benefit of genuinely believing in them. After everything he'd been through, and everything he'd lost…—his family, his place in life and time, his entire world…—after all that, he didn't want anyone else to suffer it, too. And if, by some cruel twist of fate, they did, he wanted to help them, just as tlE-la and her colleagues—and even Vyx, too—had helped him.

No surrender was worse than a surrender to despair.

"What are you suggesting, EUe?" twUzen asked.

EUe turned to the Gatherers "For years, now, I've had no reason to live. I was dead to the world. Pain is just… it's too damn heavy. It infects you, it weighs you down." He clenched his fists and looked hUen-dE in the eyes. "I want to be useful. I want to know that it matters that I'm here, especially when so many others aren't. People like tlE-la, lU-twO, Uka-yen, and eUna." EUe stepped forward. "If any of you ever want to have a chance to avenge our people, this is it. If we can make Vyx into a generation ship, that will give us an opportunity to uncover the truth behind this Blight. We can hunt it down, and if there are any other survivors out there, we can take them under our wing. It might be a retreat now, but we'll live to fight another day. What better revenge could a twEfE ask for?"

hUen-dE nodded in approval. "Perhaps there's hope for you yet, kwekek." She turned to the crowd of onlookers, both on the ground and high above. Their numbers were now in the hundreds.

Chirruping softly, EUe glanced at Vyx. "I made a friend, hUen-dE, one that doesn't want to give up." He took a deep breath. "I want to help the Vyx. I don't want them to end up like the lost Colors. That's a purpose I can be happy with."

Overhead, excited conversations rustled through the crowd.

"I was a fool, once," EUe continued. "An earnest fool—an understandable fool, even—but a fool all the same. I threw my life away. I threw away my connections, my hopes, and my dreams because the act of knowing them just hurt too much. But you can't replace what you throw away. You can't take back a farewell."

EUe wanted to say more. He wanted to tell them of his great revelation by the shore, and of Uka-yen's bravery to dare to speak his mind. But he couldn't.

Learning to be brave didn't happen overnight. It came in tiny steps, built up inch by inch. And there was nothing wrong with that. As tlE-la might have told him, that was okay, and it was okay because he wouldn't give up. He'd hope and yearn and learn and dream, and maybe, someday, he'd finally have the courage to tell hUen-dE and the others what he really felt, just as he hoped that, one day, they might have enough courage to agree with him.

EUe was certain that that would be justice Uka-yen would have wanted.

Raising her head, hUen-dE spread her wings and addressed the crowd. "Brothers, sisters… everyone who can hear my voice. Swear with me, now: we will not go quietly into the night! Swear that we will not let this wrong go unpunished! We have our pride, and our dignity! Ela-tU speaks to me; he visits me in my dreams. He told me not to give up! Even now, he is with us! I can feel him, can't you? This will be a hunt for the ages!" She raised her arms. "Who's with me?!"

And the crowd went wild.

"For the nectar!"

"We are with you! We are with you!"

hUen-dE turned to EUe with a whistle."Alright, EUe. What do we have to do?"

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