Luna and other members of her crew could already hear Avi's argumentative screams, but Luna didn't have any desire to help the captured girl. She knew her too well, well enough to know that anything that had happened was her fault. On top of that, she preferred to cooperate with four policemen who had surrounded them, at least until she learns what exactly had happened.

The policeman who dragged Avi across the floor lifted the girl and pushed her to her companions with force, causing her to drop on her four limbs. Then, the robot activated its holographic terminal, where the next orders awaited it.

“You're coming with us.” - The machine soon said.

“I'm not going anywhere!” - Avi protested. - “I have rights!”

Luna rolled her eyes. - “Avi, what did you do again?”

“Nothing.” - Avi stood up and dusted off her dress.

“Sure.” - Luna replied.

“Move.” - One of the policemen demanded and poked Avi with the barrel of their rifle.

“Be careful, or I might...” - Avi wanted to threaten the robot with her index finger, but Luna grabbed her arm.

“Let's go.” - Luna said, then pulled Avi away.

“Where are they taking us?” - Charlotte uttered, slightly worried.

“We'll know once we are there.” - Luna said without showing any emotions.

“Don't talk.” - The policeman warned.

When they finally stopped, they were next to an armored vehicle, and each of the crew members' limbs was cuffed. After they were pushed inside one by one, the four policemen sat in the corners of the vehicle to guard them, and two of them moved to the front.

The vehicle started and headed towards the main highway, stopping only at its second end, where there was a large gate in the shape of three parallel rings. Three sets of six cables were connected to each, and pink plasma erupted from the device's joints.

The driver showed his ID and entered the rings, which began to slowly rotate around the vehicle. The whirling plasma formed a sphere of energy that separated them from the outside world, and after a flash of blinding light, the rings slowed down, the plasma disappeared, and the vehicle teleported to a dark tunnel with two defensive turrets.

They began driving for another hour, until they stopped at a gate, where the policemen got out and were replaced by soldiers in silver armor, then the drive continued.

The only thing that Avi could see through the vehicle's grating were continuous dark-green lights. She was clearly getting impatient. - “How much longer will it take!?” - She shouted.

The soldiers didn't reply at first, but they also didn't try to silence her. One of them, responsible for reading the reports, finally said after seeing how Avi struggles to remove her shackles. - “As long as it's necessary. Please calm down.”

Avi pouted and muttered. - “Your cuffs are too tight, my wrists are sore.”

The same soldier nodded to their companions, and the closest one approached Avi and freed her, then Charlotte, Nicolas, and Virka.

“What about Luna?” - Avi asked.

Luna sighed. - “Give it a break, Avi.”

“Luna will have to be patient.” - The soldier informed.

There was a period of silence, but not a long one. - “I need to drink.” - Avi complained.

Virka also sighed. She knew Avi was just pretending.

One of the soldiers opened a compartment on his leg, taking out a thermos-like container. He inputted a code with the keyboard attached to its side, and the bottle started to fill itself spontaneously. He offered it to Avi.

“...and I'm also hungry.” - Avi added.

“I'll synthesize you a snack in a moment.” - The same machine spoke and nodded to a friend, who opened a similar compartment and inputted a new combination of numbers, then opened the thermos and took out a protein bar.

Avi filled her stomach, and there was silence again, at least until Charlotte gained enough courage to speak. - “Where are you taking us?”

“We don't know.” - The soldier who was reading reports said. - “We simply follow orders.”

“...but you don't appear to be just some common escort.” - Luna noticed. - “Your armors... It's a silverstone alloy. It'll endure most of my conventional means to harm you.”

Virka analyzed the situation. She knew where they were heading, but she still didn't speak. When they finally stopped, the crew members were led outside, and the escort was replaced again. This time, by two androids with steel-like skin of black-chrome color, which constantly shifted like water or mercury, rarely revealing dark, bloody, synthetic muscles.

“Well... well... this is no joke anymore.” - Luna commented.

The android didn't say anything. They simply led their five captives to another large gate with the number twenty-six inside an image of a snake that consumed its own tail. When the gate opened, a stale, dusty air escaped, causing everyone other than Luna to cough.

Avi glanced at the androids, but they were simply waiting, so she decided to lead her companions inside, and after they disappeared in the darkness, the gate closed behind them.

---

Avi headed onward via a bridge-platform that emerged in front of them, moving in the direction of the center of the two-mile-wide spherical room. In the near-absolute darkness, a few lone lamps were illuminating the smaller and larger terminals, full of shifting blue numbers and symbols.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelBin; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

When the crew arrived at the end of the platform, a lone orange light emerged from the darkness, revealing a long neck made of cable bundles and tubes, with a half-oval head at its end.

It approached Avi, then Luna, and scanned both with a cone of light.

“I witnessed... your actions.” - The machine's voice echoed. - “You saved Goliath, but I still have to request that you leave it.”

“You're the administrator, right?” - Avi asked.

The machine raised its head, rows of small lights momentarily illuminated its neck. - “Indeed, I am the one you were looking for.”

“You have to help us!” - Avi exclaimed. - “Only you can!”

“You are mistaken.” - The administrator spoke. - “Even if you had the power to make stars burn anew, you won't reverse the current of this river. Your journey is like chasing shadows. It's pointless.”

Avi stomped her foot. - “I won't give up!”

The administrator's head withdrew slightly. - “The scale of these inevitable events is too large. Even the most talented genius can only be a passive observer. I know you both. Avi, your nature is too predictable, and your shell weak... and Luna, her existence is a danger to you, not a blessing.”

“No! You see only superficial things. We all are way more than that...” - Avi argued.

The administrator interrupted her. - “You tend to speak a lot, but you did nothing to change the status quo. Tell me, do you at least know who your enemy is?”

Avi pondered for a moment, then answered. - “I have no enemies and I only want to save everyone who still can be saved.”

“The one you will have to fight can't be saved.” - The administrator said.

“You mean the Infinity Witch, am I correct?” - Virka mentioned.

“Indeed, you are.“ - The administrator confirmed. - “I suppose that's one of the matters you came here to ask about.”

“Tell us everything you know.” - Avi requested.

The administrator raised his head, revealing a projector, which summoned three-dimensional images. - “The Witch was born before our world itself, in the world before it. In the world without beginning, in the world of endless and infinite possibilities. In the world of gods and miracles... but when the impossible happened, this world began to collapse. By the decisions of a hundred people, who wanted to fight death itself, a rupture in reality occurred...”

“Are you talking about the Immortals?” - Luna asked.

“Yes.” - The administrator confirmed.

Luna sighed. - “...so our hypotheses were true.”

Virka seemed gloomy. - “How could they do something so horrible...”

The administrator continued. - “...from what was old, the new world was born, but the world was empty. To fill it with life, the Immortals waited innumerable cycles. Cycles so long, that shut in their space station, they waited in agony, experiencing the same images, thoughts and emotions, like in a loop... but a cube after a cube, the fate was fullfiled and the labyrinth age came, which was necessary to protect the Immortal's space station from the life that they themselves created. The new life that came was so corrupted by their madness that it fed on the suffering and death. There were four highest rings in the labyrinth. Those four rings defended their bastion, but one after another, they all fell, due to forces that the Immortal couldn't comprehend with their finite minds.”

“It's only natural for quantity to finally overpower quality.” - Luna commented. - “We are social creatures, and it's obvious that a small group of beings is not enough to control the vast majority.”

“...when the labyrinth fell, the boundary between order and chaos withered. The destruction and creation became one. Two oceans fought against each other, giving birth to a new world on top of the ruins of the old. The age of birth came, then age of salvagers, the age of settlers, then the age of stars, then age of phylacteries, then the age of twelve, then the age of twilight, then the age of slumber, then the age of witch, then the age of the last survivors, then the age of labyrinth curse, then the age of the end.” - The administraor explained.

“The labyrinth curse? Do you mean the Universal Necrosis?” - Luna asked.

“Yes, it's a curse that was born when the labyrinth was created. It was dormant in the soul of every creature. A cycle after a cycle, a mutation after a mutation, it developed in soul weave, restoring the ancient laws, until it got out of control.” - The administrator replied.

“Okay, we listened to your lecture a bit, but what does it have to do with the Witch?” - Avi asked.

“The Witch... she has two faces, one welcomed death, the other serves it. They both are above the Immortals... above everything that exists. She was the one who, before her death, saved the only thing that was left of life. She was the one who saved the Immortals... and now, she will be the one to make everything fade into oblivion...”

“You're not really helping us a lot.” - Luna commented.

“How did the Witch die?” - Avi inquired.

“She chose death by herself, when she lost the only person who never abandoned her.” - The administrator explained. - “When she lost the first Astronaut.”

Luna was having doubts. - “I think I understand, her psyche split, and the stronger form killed the weaker one. If she were the strongest Immortal, there was likely no other solution.”

Virka averted her eyes. - “She killed her love, not to feel the pain of the loss.”

“Can you tell us anything more?” - Avi asked.

“I only know what the Immortal told me.” - The administrator informed.

“...so ...they were here?” - Avi wondered.

“I don't believe that they would come here only to confess their sins.” - Virka added.

The administrator's lamp flickered twice. It appeared they were downloading some data. When they were done, they spoke. - “They were analyzing the chronicles from the labyrinth age.”

“Why!?” - Virka seemed desperate for answers.

“They were looking for the information about white trees.” - The administrator explained.

“I remember them, from the pictures at the twentieth system.” - Luna recalled.

The administrator continued. - “We don't know a lot about them, they formed spontaneously and were classified by Immortals as harmless anomalies... the last mention of their locations points here.” - The administrator showed them the thirty-seventh system.

“Sounds like a good clue.” - Luna commented.

“Do you still require my assistance?” - The administrator asked.

“There are a few more matters to discuss...” - Avi uttered.

“Begin with the most important ones.” - The administrator suggested.

Avi took a deep breath. - “Please, head to the closest system with your ship and evacuate its flora. It's alive and sapient, you have to keep it in a safe place, one where nothing could hurt it.”

“I will fulfill this request, but consider it as a repayment for saving Goliath.” - The administrator said. - “I will not repay you twice, though.”

Avi sighed in relief. - “I won't ask you for extra favors, I simply have a few more questions.”

“Then ask.” - The administrator requested.

“Daichi, from Earth. We're looking for him.” - Avi informed.

“Yes, I remember him. The hero of the eleven-headed hydra sector.” - The machine uttered. - “He was here with Anaari's daughter, who identified as Atala.”

“Do you know where he headed?” - Avi asked.

“No.” - The administrator replied.

It didn't make Avi happy.

“...but I know a person who knows.” - The administrator informed - “Head to the Mother's Spire.” - then pointed at the twenty-seventh system. - “She knows him, and will help.”

Avi raised her head, full of hope. - “Daichi, can you tell us who he is?”

“A runaway convict.” - The administrator answered. - “Even after saving the sector, the Goliath couldn't grant him amnesty. Moreover, his sins against the astronauts are also a separate matter. He made three oaths and broke them all.”

“What exactly did he do?” - Avi asked.

“The records of the tribunal can only be accessed by the supreme ones.” - The administrator declared. - “You have to find the answers on your own.”

Luna sighed. - “We learned little, very little.”

“Is there anything more you would like to request?” - The administrator waited patiently.

“We have Hive Mother's egg, from the Cross of the Immortality.” - Avi informed. - “We are trying to find a new home for her.”

“The Hive won't develop without the stars' light, keep searching.” - The administrator answered. - “Is that everything?”

Avi had no extra questions. - “Yes, you helped us a lot.”

The administrator's head withdrew into the darkness. His last words were a reminder. - “...then, leave, as we require of you.”