Present time
The Embassy

Since his decision, Da'an had stayed here, between the so familiar walls. The being which the embassy actually was had welcomed him. The familiar surroundings and the presence of familiar faces brought him a certain measure of peace. But the whole time he had the feeling that he still had to do something. He wasn't yet done with the world, even if the world would probably see that differently. He had some unfinished business, something remained to be done. But what? Da'an had been puzzling over this the whole time, while he watched the comings and goings of the humans. Finally his replacement arrived; a very capable ambassador, but certainly no friend of the humans. With a mental shake of his head Da'an had watched the other Taelon get settled at the Embassy. The humans knew only a fraction of what awaited them and had no way to effectively fight against it. Their only intercessor among the Taelons was lost as well, as the whole planet seemed to be. A sad thought. Da'an decided to retreat to the garden for a while; one of his favourite places even in death.

Hesitating slightly, Zo'or entered the Embassy. He knew that Da'an was still around here. So far his parent had not taken any steps against the Taelons, and it didn't look as if he was going to do so in the future, but it was certainly better to be careful. Da'an had always been capable of surprising actions, more than one of his enemies had gone down - figuratively speaking - because he hadn't seen it coming. Zo'or didn't want to suffer the same fate. This time, however, he seemed to be in luck. The ghost of Da'an appeared not to be present. Walking on, he thought about Da'an's demise. Even he had not expected Da'an to escape the grasp of the Synod through such a drastic measure, but he understood it. This kind of mental interrogation would have done irreparable damage to Da'an's mind. For the rest of his existence he would have had to depend on the pity of others, and the pity of the Taelons did not extend very far.

At this moment, Da'an was literally enlightened. So far, he had preferred to remain unnoticed, but right now he couldn't stop himself. An observer would have been able to notice a being with an aura of light appearing out of nowhere in this secluded corner of the garden and stride across the lawn with a deliberate smile on its lips, before it merged with the sunlight again and disappeared. Da'an knew now what he would do. The humans had a saying that if you broke a rule, you should do it thoroughly. And he was going to do just that. He was on his way to the Mothership; from there his plan would be much easier to carry out. Not for the first time he was grateful that the power of the Taelons increased significantly after the end of their material existence. At least, if they renounced a return to the Commonality, and that was impossible for Da'an in any case.

Seconds later