The door to Memory clicked shut as Lilith left, and Hain settled back as he had before. He stared at the empty air before him and cleared his throat.

"Let's begin, Memory."

Memory's soft voice purred. "Yes, Hain. Commencing."

The air gave birth to points of light that spread soundlessly into a view of rolling hills on a backdrop of snow-striped mountains. Men swarmed from opposing sides of the emerald hills, their ranks like black tides washing over the shiny green. Then the two groups fell on each other, and Hain could hear the din of battle. The wails of the wounded. Of the dying.

Text scrolled across the bottom of the image. His eyes soaked it in as it moved.

Resource Conflicts begin in Asia and Europe as global fresh water supplies diminish.

Then the scene changed, and a wide open room lay before Hain's eyes. Oblong shapes like black coffins sat upon the floor in ordered rows. Humans draped in white knee-length coats flitted from one coffin to the next like mourners at a mass grave, their bright dress almost spectral against the gleaming finish.

Mages.

The word flashed behind his eyes for a slivered moment, but he banished the thought before it had time to take root. Mages meant magic, and magic didn't exist.

Words rolled over empty air at the bottom of the image.

Initial research into Surrogate breeding at the headquarters for Genetic Endeavor into Neo-Tissue Engineering: Tacoma, Washington.

The picture changed, and Hain watched as a room packed with enormous glass tanks stretched across his field of vision. The view panned around the room, and Hain could make out markings etched into the metal lids capping each tank.

He squinted, leaning forward. Letters and numbers stretched over the metal in a seemingly random fashion, but at the end of each series was the same symbol–two intertwined lines, flanked on one side by what looked like an axe head.

Recognition tingled in the base of his neck. Where had he seen that symbol before? In Promise? Maybe, he thought. He'd seen so much since coming to the haven, surely it was possible that he'd caught a glimpse of the thing without even realizing it.

Before he had another chance to stew on the question, the view moved closer to one of the tanks. His breath caught in his throat. Amber fluid the color of honey filled the tank, and drifting amidst the soupy liquid hung a body, all white hair and milk-colored limbs drifting like a shipwreck victim closed in the fist of the sea.

It was either a Vrai, or a Foew–Hain couldn't say for certain which. But there was no mistaking the thing for human.

But then the scene changed, and Hain's body went rigid with shock.

A gallows loomed in the foreground. Rope after rope hung slack from its crossbeam–one end lashed to the wood, the other bound about the neck of a human man or woman. Even from the pulled-back view afforded by Memory, Hain could see fear plain on every face.

An unseen speaker shouted an order, and the floor dropped from under the condemned. Ropes yanked taut. Hain flinched at the sudden violence playing out before him. At pair after pair of legs jerking like frenzied snakes.

Vrai Begin Human Extermination: Nashville, Tennessee, United States.

The scene changed again, quick as before.

A smoke draped street lay before him, flames lapping orange tongues over the buildings to either side. Humans packed the space, frantic as they fled a surge of wide-shouldered Surrogates. Vrai, Hain realized, wielding tools, and blades, and sticks to scythe through that panicked humanity. Screams rose into the smoky air. Bodies fell, some still clutching small children as they dropped.

Vrai Attack on Unarmed Human Civilians: Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

Before Hain had a chance to fully process the images, the scene changed, and Hain felt a chasm open in his chest.

Corpses lined one side of an empty street, their faces painted black with flies. The rows were precise in their straightness. Knees locked. Arms tucked against bloated torsos. As though bestowing some measure of order on the decaying remains might distract from the magnitude of so much loss.

Human Victims of Vrai Gas Attack: Monterey, California, United States.

Hain read the scrolling text, all the while craving the blissful darkness of closed eyes.

The scene shifted. Hain's breath slowed as he took it in. Two rows of crumbling buildings stared at each other over a stripe of broken road. Humans walked the road in a column–men and women stooped beneath packs heavy with gear while children trudged alongside them.

A woman's voice narrated over the scene.

"By proclamation of the Sovereign Government of Cascadia, all citizens within receiving range of this signal are hereby ordered to relocate to the newly constructed military havens of Echo and Sierra on the Olympic Peninsula."

United States Federal Government Falls. Civilian Relocation Initiated.

The images faded, and the refugees dissolved into nothingness as Memory's display ended. Hain's eyes stared unfocused at the room's ridged walls when it was over.

This time, he didn't ask Memory for more.

~~~

Numbness gripped Hain's idle legs by the time Memory finished, and he half-stumbled from the room, the space inside his skull swamped with more questions than when he'd begun. But then Lilith was there, silent as death as she led him to a nearby room. Steam curled from mugs of tea set atop the room's only table, fogging the air with a melange of spices Hain didn't recognize. Hain sat and watched the vapor writhe from the tea as Lilith spoke, her voice weaving the fragments he'd witnessed within Memory into a macabre tapestry.

The world had once teemed with humans. Throngs of them, and each one joined to the next by an unseen web holding all the world's wealth of information.

But the world moved on. The air went warm, and where there'd been ice fields in Earth's cold places, now there was only more water. Seas gobbled coastlines. The sky seemed made of iron and the fields like brass. Blight and pestilence swarmed over crops, while famine chased close behind. Havens fell, their streets choked with thirst and hunger and the dead.

Enter the two races of Surrogate–Vrai and Foew. Humanity's manna in the desert. Grown through witchery of the gene, Lilith called it, their lifespans stretched to thrice that of a normal human. Built as companions to humanity. Partners in the effort to heal a dying world.

And they had for a time, Lilith told him, with both the Vrai and the Foew working side by side with humanity. The Vrai, with their size and muscle, toiling in physical labor under the sun, while the Foew worked the machines and technology humanity had created. Together, the three peoples mended Earth's fractured oceans and forests, and shared equally in the fruits of their labor.

Until the Vrai decided they wanted more.

They'd struck out against their makers and their siblings. Slaughtering them in their homes. Laying waste to whole cities. And all for gain. For greed. Humans and Foew had resisted, but the Vrai became vicious, using long-forgotten weapons upon their foes. Weapons of poison gas and atomic fire, until ash had rained from the sky and havens stood choked with static dust and bone.

Blessed is the End Day.

Humanity fled from its kingdoms and civilizations, abandoning the past, and turning its eyes toward the heavens for salvation. Thus, the Faith was born, and its acolytes cried out for those dregs of society to follow and be saved.

And so, it was decided, that the old world would be left behind. Those survivors of the Vrai attacks would depart for a dozen Zions to create a new chapter in the book of humanity. And for those who'd fell to the Vrai–those abominations born out of humanity's pride–well, they were simply the unchosen. The unelected. The chaff separated from the wheat.

For it was the beginning of the young world.

~~~

"So much death," Hain said through a cracking voice when she'd finished.

A second mug of tea warmed his hands, but the heat was distant, the way clothes feel on skin after wearing them for a day.

"The things they did–"

His voice cracked again, and this time he didn't try to finish. He shut his eyes, but opened them just as quickly. He didn't like what he saw in the darkness.

"How could they have done it?" he asked, eyes turning up to her.

Lilith sat quietly across from him, legs folded beneath her on the chair, her hands tucked into her lap. She hadn't said much since she'd told her story, apparently choosing to listen as thoughts slid from him. But now she spoke.

"I've thought about it," she said. "A lot. Tried to figure it out. But I don't think it's something we can make sense of." She shook her head. "The Vrai are killers, Hain. Monsters."

Hain shivered as the scene on the gallows played in his mind again. He wished he could unsee it all.

"This is why the Foew came to Promise," she said. "They were running from the Vrai, same as the humans."

"But why come to the Godless?" Hain asked. "Memory didn't show anything about that."

"This area was virtually all wilderness before the Cascadia resettlement," she said. "It was the perfect place to stay hidden from the Vrai."

"And those humans I saw in Memory," Hain said, thinking back to the ranks of refugees. "They started Echo?"

Lilith nodded. "In a way, they're your ancestors."

Hain's eyes widened. "And none of them knew about Promise?"

Lilith shook her head. "You're the first."

"But how?" Hain said. "Promise is huge. You'd think one of them might have stumbled on it, if only by accident."

"You found the answer to that in the forest after you left me." Lilith smirked. "It almost killed you."

A second passed before realization lit across Hain's face.

"The thing that bit me was–what? Something the Foew made?"

"They're called Guardians." Lilith told him. "Sort of a living machine, but under Foew control. They protect Promise's borders."

Hain leaned forward, gaping. "Even the Cats?"

Lilith gave a humorless smirk. "Especially the Cats."

"If the Foew control them, then why did they let these Guardian things come after you and I in the Godless?"

Lilith's smile evaporated.

"The Vrai plague left too few Foew for maintaining the Guardians. That's part of the reason I followed you after we met those malfunctioning Cats. To make sure you'd be alright."

Hain felt disparate pieces of the last week click into place. The demons, the creatures–all of them were Foew creations designed to keep Promise isolated. And as humans couldn't make any of the same things, they'd decided to declare the place without a god and happily avoid it.

"Why didn't the Foew reach out to Echo? It seems like humans and Foew would be natural allies."

"Don't you remember what Hume said when you first met him? The Foew wanted to reach out to you," she said. "They sent me."

"By attacking with the Cats," Hain said, sounding as doubtful as he had the first time he'd heard the explanation.

"You can't blame them for being cautious," she said, sounding defensive. "Think about how you reacted when you first came to Promise, and then ask yourself what kind of welcome the Foew have gotten from Echo had they revealed themselves openly?"

Hain felt his cheeks go warm as he realized how right she was. "The pointy, stabby kind."

"Exactly," she said. "What's more, if the Vrai had learned we were openly partnering with humans, then they'd have gone from simply occupying Echo to razing it."

Lilith let out a deep sigh before continuing on.

"This is why I wanted to show you Memory before we went to help Sam." She leaned forward, meeting his mismatched eyes with her icy blues. "One of the reasons Hume wants to help is because he knows that a war between Echo and Sierra would be catastrophic for humanity."

"One of the reasons?" Hain said. "What are the others?"

"That the Foew need humanity just as badly as humanity needs them." Lilith pointed out the room's only window. "This place is dying, Hain. Another attack like the plague would be the last nail in the coffin. Hume knows that, and he's convinced some of the others of the same."

Hain's encounter with Smith in the hospital came to mind. "But not all of them."

"No, not all." Lilith's voice shrank. "Some say the Vrai following you to Promise as evidence that the Foew would be better off going it alone. They think partnering with humans is too dangerous."

Hain watched his friend over the table for a moment. "What do you think?"

Lilith's lips pressed into a line before she answered.

"Its obvious that they're gunning for you specifically, and they're willing to kill any number of Foew along the way."

Hain kept his mouth shut as he listened, Boothe's words outside the cells playing through his mind. About finding Hain's gear. About finding the ring.

Lilith let out a weary sounding breath and went on. "But all that aside, I think another all-out Vrai attack on Promise is inevitable, whether you're here or not. Promise's best chance of surviving is with humanity, which won't happen if a war breaks out between Sierra and Echo."

"You keep talking about the consequences for the Foew, but what about for humans?" Hain said. "It's like you said, the Vrai would destroy Echo if they found out we'd allied with the Foew."

"You're right," she said. "But allying with the Foew is the only chance Echo has for becoming free."

Hain felt something go tight and knotted in his chest. "What do the Foew get out of this?"

Lilith's head tipped toward one shoulder. "Sorry?"

"You said a war between Echo and Sierra would be catastrophic for humans, and I completely agree. But I don't understand what humans have to offer the Foew."

Lilith's back seemed to stiffen in her chair.

"There's something in Sierra." Her voice came out calm and flat. "Something the Vrai want."

Hain kept silent, waiting for her to go on.

"Do you remember the tanks you saw in Memory?" she asked. "The ones used for creating Surrogates?"

Hain nodded. The idea that a person could be made rather than born was still a tough one to bend his mind around, but he remembered the gist of the concept.

"They're called Genesis chambers, and they're the only way to create a new Surrogate–Vrai or Foew."

Hain's eyes went wide.

"You mean they can't–" he broke off, cheeks going pink. "You know? Make new ones the regular way?"

A ghost of a smirk crept onto one corner of Lilith's mouth. "The 'regular' way?"

The pink in Hain's cheeks turned to crimson. "You know what I mean."

Mischief glimmered over Lilith's icy blue eyes, but she didn't press him.

"Surrogates are bred sterile," she said. "Without a Genesis chamber, no new Surrogates can be created."

Hain arched one eyebrow. "And what does this have to do with Sierra?"

"Because," Lilith said. "Hume suspects there may be plans for a chamber in the haven."

Hain thought back to the words Hume had said to him when he'd been alone with the old Foew.

The Vrai must not be allowed to breach Sierra, Hain. I cannot emphasize how important this is to both humans and Foew alike.

"Now it makes sense," Hain said. "Hume told me the Vrai couldn't be allowed to get into Sierra. This must have been what he meant."

Lilith nodded.

Hain groaned and dragged his hands down his face. "Before we go any further, can you explain why in all of Heaven and Hell there is a Vrai sex machine in a human haven?"

"First of all, they're not sex machines."

Hain dropped his hands to the table and scowled. "They sound a lot like sex machines to me."

"Second," she went on as though he hadn't spoken, "Echo and Sierra were military camps well before they became havens–exactly the kind of place you'd hide a secret this big."

"And Hume's sure the Vrai know about this?"

Lilith nodded. "That's why they want war between Echo and Sierra. If the two cities wear themselves out with fighting, then the Vrai can swoop into Sierra without any resistance."

As Hain thought this through, a new idea sprang to life in his head.

"The Masons Guild."

Lilith frowned. "What about them?"

"Think about when I came home from the coast, when the Vrai had flayed most of the guild. At the time I didn't understand why, but the Masons know about the deepest parts of the haven. It all makes sense now."

Lilith nodded appreciatively. "Exactly the kind of place where a Genesis Chamber might be hidden."

"Is that why the Vrai came to Echo in the first place?" Hain asked. "They think one of these things is somewhere in the haven?"

"They thought there was one in Echo," Lilith said. "But since they haven't found anything, they're moving on to the next best chance they have of finding a Genesis Chamber."

"But what does any of this have to do with stopping Sam?" Hain said. "The Vrai don't need some pretense to attack Sierra. If they want to take the haven, they'll do it."

"The Vrai won't commit to taking the haven unless they know for certain the Genesis Chamber is there. That's a lesson they learned invading Echo. Without a way to replace their losses can't afford wasting troops on an invasion that might yield nothing. I think they brought the humans along just to bolster their forces."

"And Aedan?" Speaking his name sent a pang through Hain's chest. "He's part of this as well?"

"The Bishop is working for the Vrai," she said. "So long as Sierra has Aedan as a hostage, the Bishop will have an excuse to urge the Quorum to wage war."

Hain let out a small, defeated breath as the weight of everything she'd said sank onto his shoulders. Lilith was asking for all of him. All. Because an undertaking like this–a quest into the breach–was almost certain to claim his life.

Except, what choice did he have? Aside from the static wastes of the Geigerlands to the south, Echo and Sierra were the last bastions of humanity Hain knew of–the only places where people could live out their lives in the relative safety of civilization. If the twin havens fell–if the Vrai brought down their boot heel upon the face of the world–then any hope for humanity's continued existence died not when the war began, but with his refusal to fight.

Lilith leaned over the table and took his hands in hers. The warmth in them bit away the chill that had crept toward his heart.

"Will you come with me?" Her fingers pressed gently against his. "Will you help me stop the Vrai?"

Hain met her gaze, his mismatched eyes meeting the icy blue of hers, and he told her that he would.