“The Elekai seek to end the violence and wanton destruction of the Radaskim. And this is not without its own sense of irony. The Radaskim seek to stop the disintegration of the universe, but in order to do that, they must destroy it. The Elekai seek to save the diversity of life throughout the cosmos, but by saving life, they doom the universe itself to die, in the end — thereby ending the Universal Cycle.”
I frowned, my brow furrowing. This information about Xenominds, the end of the universe, and the Secrets of Creation was breaking my mind, if only just a little bit. I wished Samuel were here, because he would understand this better than I did. If I ever saw him again, I was going to have a hell of a time trying to explain this.
I was about to ask what this Universal Cycle was, but the Wanderer resumed by answering this question before I could even ask it.
“The Universal Cycle is Radaskim prophecy. They believe the universe died, and was reborn, an infinite number of times, both ahead and behind, or alongside, or however you want to envision it. They believe it is their victory, their immortality, to discover the Secrets of Creation, before it is too late. Using this knowledge, they are able to reprogram the universe to obey their will — to ‘reset’ it to the state it was in before it expanded — only to repeat the same thing over and over again. They claim to remember this happening an infinite number of times already, through their most ancient Xenomind, who endures even the infinite deaths and rebirths of the universe. They claim this Xenomind is God. They believe, given these premises, that their winning the Eternal War is inevitable.”
“Is any of that real, though?” I asked. “It just seems so remote.”
“The Elekai believe as you do. As far as we know, this is the only universe ever to have existed. The Universal Cycle could just be the Radaskim Xenominds’ religion that fuels their expansion — an expansion that serves no end but to kill.”
“Tell me more about the Elekai Xenominds, then,” I said.
“The Elekai Xenominds are older even than the Radaskim Xenominds. We do not conquer or kill other creatures, as the Radaskim do, and we do not utilize the genes of other races unless they are volunteered.” The Wanderer smiled. “I am an example of that. Or, rather, the one I used to be is.”
It made sense. This was why I was not a Howler. I had the Elekai version of the xenovirus inside of me, not the violent Radaskim version.
“Wait…”
The Wanderer raised his eyebrows. It was a curious expression, when coupled with his eyes.
“You said the Elekai don’t take genes, unless they are volunteered.” I looked at him pointedly. “I didn’t volunteer for this.”
“You didn’t,” the Wanderer agreed. “Not yet, anyway. It is a little against protocol, but you still have your chance to refuse the call, and you can return to normal. Before you do that, listen to what I have to say.”
I frowned, a sudden fear clenching my heart. “What do you mean, refuse the call?”
“You can ask the virus to leave you, right now, at this very moment. And it will. And you can walk out of here untouched.”
Doing that at this moment was far from my mind. I still needed to learn more.
The Wanderer smiled. “I’m glad you are willing to listen. Because there is more you need to hear about the Elekai before you make your final decision.”
“My final decision?”
“The Elekai are fighting a losing war. On a thousand worlds before this one, the Elekai were all but eradicated, by various causes. The longer the war goes on, the more powerful the Radaskim become. They are willing to kill to achieve their aims, to use their power to destroy — that is why they are the Destroyers. The Elekai will not compromise on this point. We seek to stop the Radaskim, but we are, at heart, Gardeners. We wish to grow and flourish without the need to destroy. We wish to preserve all forms of life, seeing them as the gifts of the universe. To kill is a travesty beyond words.”
“No wonder you guys have been losing.”
“Indeed. Still, we are seen as the threat — the mutation — when really, we are the original Xenominds. The Radaskim are the mutation.”
“What do you mean?”
“We Elekai lived on only one world, far away, uninterested in reaching for the stars. The Radaskim came into existence by way of a mutation within the xenovirus itself — one that let them not have to obey any sort of internal morality. We Elekai, non-mutated, allowed the Radaskim to live alongside us in peace. As the eons wore on, the Radaskim Xenominds became all the more aware of the End of All Things. They could not make peace with the fact that death was to come for all — even the universe. This was the beginning of their religion centering on stopping the death of the universe. Unlike the Elekai, the Radaskim do not have to obey any intrinsic moral code. This belief is what led the first Radaskim Xenominds on their quest for the stars, to conquer the first worlds.
“Always, we Elekai were right there with them. After all, the xenovirus is the same, wherever you go. It all depends on a single gene — whether that gene is on, or off, determines whether whatever form of life that virus controls is Elekai, or Radaskim. Moral, or amoral.”
We sat for a moment, until I allowed myself to fall backward against the soft bed of fungus I sat on. I stared upward at the glowing cave ceiling and silvery branches of the xenotree, my thoughts a jumble. My original inclination had been right. This went much deeper than anyone realized. We were fighting a powerful alien race that had already conquered a thousand worlds, of which Earth was one. It seemed impossible, but it also made sense, somehow.
“How do we stop them?” I asked. “There has to be a way, right?”
“There is,” the Wanderer said. “It is a fool’s hope, as it had been a fool’s hope on a thousand worlds before ours.”
“What is it?” I asked. “Do we kill this Dark Voice — the one that leads the Radaskim — up in Ragnarok Crater?”
I sat back up. The Wanderer was quiet for a moment, as if going on would be hard for him. I wondered why.
“You weren’t always the Wanderer, were you?” I asked.
The Wanderer shook his head. “I remember little about who I was before. What I told you, in that cave several months ago, is all true. My family and I survived in a self-made bunker close to Mt. Elden since 2030, but over the years, I was the only one who survived. I wandered into the Great Blight, seeking my own death. I almost achieved that aim, when I fell into this very pool.” The Wanderer gestured around the cave. “The xenovirus entered me, but it did not kill me. I became part of the Blight. And suddenly, I understood everything — learned either through the virus itself, or the dreams the Elekai Xenominds transmitted across space, from the home world. You see, we Xenominds have a way of listening to our songs, even across light years of space.”
I closed my eyes, trying to listen for those songs. But I heard nothing falling from the sky — just the silence of the cave, the silence of my thoughts. Just days ago, anything infected with the xenovirus was to be feared. All xenolife was my enemy. Maybe it still was, for all I knew. But now, things had changed. These two tribes — Elekai and Radaskim — were in their own war, in which we humans were but pawns. A thousand pawns had already fallen, and if nothing were done, we would fall, too, to be forgotten for the rest of time.
“We need to stop them,” I said.
The Wanderer looked at me, weighing my resolve.
“You told me that it all hinged on me,” I said. “I’m telling you now that I’m ready. How do we stop it? What do I have to do?”
The Wanderer said nothing. He was still looking at me in that strange way. His white eyes seemed sad, if
