[b]Redana![/b]

"Do not second guess yourself, you were correct the first time -" started the Hermetician. "Steaming the ship is the only way to ensure that the oceanic life does not simply enter hibernation, the question is... how do we... do it safely..."

The robotic voice trailed off as your idea began to sink in.

"Bold," he murmured.

"Decisive," he said, a bit more loudly, more confidently.

"[i]Smart[/i]," said Ares, standing besides the Hermetician, causing that saffron-robed head to nod.

The War God smiles.

You've never seen him in peacetime before. You didn't know he [i]could[/i] appear in peacetime. But now you can see him clearly, without the blurring motion of violence that normally surrounds him. In form and figure he is identical to Athena - he has her face, her eyes, her breasts, her four arms muscled like wire - but the lighting falls differently upon him. His shadows are deep and hard, transitioning between hard black and vibrant colour like a figure from an illustration. His clothes are different too - he comes not garbed for war, but in open-shirted plaid like a longshoreman, sleeves rolled up, ready to work.

"[i]Correct[/i]," finished the Hermetician. "You solved not only the first problem, but the second within the same breath. Impressive. One adjustment. We will sever the occupied part of the ship and steam-cook the submerged part before venting the excess moisture. The work will be hazardous -" Ares smiles "- but less so than the alternative. Come, let us gather our tools."

[b]Vasilia![/b]

Apollo smiles and bows, fist in open palm, and steps away and elsewhere. He takes the golden peach with him, and in his wake you can feel your nose start to run and your throat start to close. It is a humble cold, a thing as enduring as life itself. A price to pay for falling short.

But Galnius nods in understanding. His patron god did not give you his blessing, but another did. Strong fingers tingling with electric power rest for a moment on your shoulder, making your fur run and fuzz and stand on end - just for a moment before they're gone again.

"I see," said the hoplite, in her own voice once more. "You rule your domain as a king. I was wrong. I am not your subordinate, I am your guest, and will behave as such."

She gives a respectful nod and turns to go.

[b]Alexa![/b]

"I don't know... mother tried to defy her purpose and look how that ended," said Isty, scratching at a tear in the fabric over her knee. "I guess she tried to shortcut the process. Fight gloriously and die in battle, and enjoy peace in the real Elysium Fields. What's wrong with that?"

[b]Bella![/b]

"She is more bomb than person," Mynx agreed. "We all are."

The Ikarani's eyes are moving. You only notice because of the intensity of your fascination, but they're following the course of an almost invisible mote of dust as it's carried within her own breath. The matter seems so mundane and minor but the more you look the more absorbing it is, like watching a star dragged into the black holes of those gleaming eyes. The philosophers say that all of physics is present in the motion of the smallest grain of sand and you wonder just how much information she is extracting from breath and dust.

The wine arrives. Tinny, weak, the taste of the farms that line the vast heating shafts that run all the way to the core of Tellus. Familiar. Home.

"The first words the Ikarani hears in this state will form her obsession," said Mynx. "They'll become the foundation of her identity and she will not be able to rest until she has achieved that goal or solved that problem. After the goal is achieved she'll return to quiescence. The art to this is giving her concrete goals she can solve within a day or so - in that time she'll be a superlative detective, thief, scientist, strategist or planner. After that she can be reset to use again." Again, that hesitation, and again a stubborn decision to continue talking regardless. "But the final use for an Ikarani is as a society killer. Unleashed she can consume kingdoms, fleets or worlds in madness and strife. It's not quick and she won't survive it, but it's what she's capable of."