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Within the Mindshare there exist many stories. They are not always written by words but they can contain them..

Susan was her grandmothers name. The matriarch of the Castillo familia. Though everyone called her Ninea her middle name whom was her great grandmother the original colonist of the Hispania.

The Castillo family broke with the original wave to Crete. Ninea was alone except for her two children. The sabotage claimed her husband and it was not known until the last of the colonists had landed.

A new and alien world felt like... less of a new country and more of a new reality. The Castillo family never pushed for great power, just great favor, the ability to conserve the family history was not so much a diversion as it was what was the evidence earth and humanity was ever real at all.

Librarians and archivists. This world drove Ninea mad.

Books were artifacts they could not be read, they couldent be touched. Her upbringing inside a cage of cathedral like stone walls.

Secret societies and coveted traditions existed deep in the legacy of the Hispania, during the colonization it was assumed the lodges that left for Crete were responsible or at least knew the ship wasn't going to make it.

The rivalries continued throughout the generations. Where familia and blood united to flee annihilation of their way of life their culture. Shadows now wrestled with demons and centuries old grudges. Mafia, societies, and Popes rose and fell in the dark ages of mankind.

This was what Ninea was tired of. It wasent about preserving the romantic history of man and the Mediterranean jewels and cultures, it was about keeping score. Her whole life was built up to keep the score of who had gotten influence, who killed who over what slight and perhaps the biggest hypocrisy of all.

They traded flesh on ancient earth and we still peddled flesh today.

What was worse? Forced to survive on some dead world or seeking to make the sector depend on Malta?

Ninea left her station... It wasent like no one was there to take her place after all her brothers Tito, Vito, and Jean Claude were vary well studied professionals, scientists all of them, still lived at home in the Abbey.

Life outside of Malta was more difficult however.. The air itself felt stale to Ninea... she would keep a tin of soil of home with her sometimes to calm her nerves.

Her first taste of house life was Kusari. The Golden Chrysanthemums, where vary supportive of her as long as she had credits and cardamine. She learned traditions and ceremonies at the feet of madams. The women were different then the socialites of Malta. The Don wives and huge families were often too loud and noisy for her. Kusari was quite reserved and the fact she was a more accepted form of foreigner kept her out of the direct sun.

All she knew was a counter culture... normal people were divorced from her universe. Her "friends" told her how she couldent go out into New Tokyo without a guide or the police would arrest her for not having the correct papers and passports. Her face was a giveaway but this did not dissuade her. The old dragon families were a beneficial friend to make at least on the lower levels and as long as she played by the rules the curiosity stopped at the doorstep of the dojos and shrines she visited.

Ninea had learned swordplay of a completely different kind on Malta, in fact duels were a civilized diversion there. The Kusari people had many martial disciplines that were both beautiful and effective.

A saber and a rapier were opportunistic tools but the martial arts of iaijutsu, battōjutsu, iaidō, kenjutsu, kendō, ninjutsu and Tenshin were each a different world. Permitted to study but not permitted to master any one she had taken as much of each before... as she dreaded the inevitable call home.

Ignoring messages only works so long... and it had been a year between the first communication. She could tell the difference since the message asked questions. When mother ran out of patience questions didnt get asked.

Father had also cut things short. Paying a great deal of favors to have her under threat of being nailed into a crate and shipped back to Malta the sisterhood brought her home. The Irony was... the patriarchy was perfectly fine as long as it could pay.

Ninea knew it wouldent last but her life was over... back to books and probably university panic attacks started to take thier toll.

Parents as they often do called these episodes "acting out" despite the doctors assuring them it was a serious affliction. Cardamine doesn't cure a crushed heart.

Thats when the old man appeared. A psycho therapist and doctor that had enough connections to the underworld to do business on Malta when the world was more of a far flung legend.

He knew cardamine wasn't a cure but it was a factor a possability. Ninea had never seen such a pasty skinned man before. His eyes were kind however this was a caring person... Caring was a luxury of the world around her. Behind a smiling face is a knife. Behind the knife was a promise to use it.

"Oracles?" She asked after Dr.McKenna mentioned them.

"Yes they are exactly like you.. misfits and they have a ... place were no one can find you a true sanctuary." He said.

He looked over charts and results of tests... tests he didnt need to run.

"The temple on Malta is a secret place. Ive met Bishop Aquintas i didnt know he rant the cult... people mistrust them saying they steal thier help." She was working from memory.

The Dr looked at her. "Well the Administrator wasent a fan. Listen Ninea.. I know whats wrong with you.. Your trying to run. " Matter of factly.

"Theres nowhere I can go. Word eventually gets here. I just want to be independent. I want to explore. " She confessed.

"There is... They call it The Shrine I can get you most of the way." Jim offered.

"Why... what do you get out of it. " She was skeptical well.. she knew better.

"I need everything about botanical study about cardamine.. the older the better. and if you can get to the starport with copies that should be fine." he handed her a list.

"Deal..." accepting.


The memory faded back.

Its favorite memory of her was when she decided to never return.

Its favorite "person" int he world where the Haog came from.

It ...wanted her. Or rather.. It knew her because it had felt the same way.

~ Its only a story As i Remember it ~ The Haog imparted.

::We feel longing... can we see her?::

~when you master this world you can see everything ive seen. ~

The hybrid was closer to an incubi. Jim/Haog was apprehensive... Ophelia or rather Ninea had been with the Oracles as long as his Brother had been... but their choice was not to be an ambassador to the light, to serve humanity.

The little one didn't even have a name often however it would ask him.. Ask him about this woman he knew.. the woman in the mask and the sword. Like a child getting high off of sugar... Jim knew hybrids could feel a type of puppy love.. but this was different.

Most beings within the Mindshare didn't bother with him... Many hybrids preferred the massive world they were born in.. but the way to the real world was closed from him..

Even if he thought it was a good idea he couldent guide the little one to the dream of stars and void.

Then again... that wouldnt stop him from trying.. or little one.

It wasnt so much about little ones love affair with the girl.. it was the love for that universe that colorful loud dream that was a cloud of memories within "The Haog".
The Shrine is a living relic of a time when the universe was ... hot and hectic. It was made to persist long after its disuse. Abandonment was what did happen. It did not matter though. The Shrine was at peace where it was it didnt play with those within it no more then it tortured the inhabitants... you could say its ambitions were more shiftless.

The Exarch known as Ophelia actively teased at its secrets.

Ninea had spent a great deal of time on the Shrine, when she had gotten there it was not as filled out as it is today. The substrate of the structure seemed vital but until recently thanks to her and O.R.I.N. the Churches A.I. the substrate was merely neutral... "foam" that in a vary interesting way mimic's the input.

It could be a room with paintings or personal items.. or a literal snapshot of a place.. it was almost perfect... no holographic phenomena or illusions other then the "stuff" would contort or shift to the perspective of the subject int he room to.. seem like.. objects at distance or.. objects far away.

It never made anything on its own.. for instance Ninea was able to recreate a fight between her brothers over an orange. Of all things. Everything was exsactly as it was nothing different. Even details shed forgotten.

This was also vary handy as it seems the Shrine itself would trick people sometimes... small things at first.. mislabeling the bathrooms. Moving a stall to the kitchen or the hanger bay while you were in it.

It was also able to construct objects though... the only constructions that left under their own power were Nomad Morphs.

The morph were their own piece of an ancient puzzle. The DaamKVosh and the Nomads both were worlds unto themselves but this was the only direct proof the two co existed.

Morphs were ingenious in their ability. Possessing superior maneuverability and great range Morphs worked in the far flung area of the galaxy the Shrine resided in and seemingly without a needed connection to the larger hive. Nomad ships rarely came to the Shrine as well.

The Shrine received comm traffic through subspace. Yet how that data was processed was a mystery. As the Human constructed portions of the shrine had thier own support systems it was apparent at some point all the internals were either eaten away or assimilated by the substrate. The humans sections on the surface looked the same but had long been absorbed.

Despite this the terminals and holo dramas still had terrible reception. Ninea made her own space in the "deep" of the structure... where the archives and Black Channel hub was housed.

+Ophelia, this one has copied a personal message to you from Malta.+

"Alright Orin.. who is .. Oh. " Ninea s voice flattened out. It had been three months since the last message from Tito but this was from mother.

She scanned over it there was a short message barely over two paragraphs.

"Father is dying, we wants you here. we have made sure despite your... Selfish association with those nut-balls no one will stop you." it was written.

"No one could stop me. Mother. " Ninea didn't know she mumbled it.

+Beg Pardon?+

Ninea inhaled sharply playing with the option to archive or delete...

Delete it is.

"Nothing dear. I have to go home.. family business. " the words ooze out with the rest of her breath.

+Are you coming back. ?+

"Im not staying there no. Last words though... I need to have them said." She said softly.

+This one understands that mortality is impermanent. This one also will miss you when you leave. +

For an AI this was.. fairly a highly emotional statement.

"I will miss you too. Can you find Three Winds for me?" she asked ORIN.

+He is at Freeport 11 with Balor. Leonard is attempting to meet with the administrator there.+

"Please let them know im coming. It will be a good stop on the way home." Gathering her cloak and mask. Ninea put her sword on. There might be a duel before the end of the trip...
The Cult of Sirius Pyramid is a 400 Meter tall obelisk. the trick is its buried up to its top.

It was brought to the surface from deep below the surface of Malta. Similar ruins had been long since deconstructed to make way for the building of cities centuries ago. Black and smooth like obsidian glass the structure was always unnaturally cool, even in the summer.

The older generations called it Ishmael because the structures reminded them of the great cities in the time of Abraham. It was only their grandchildren some 350 years later that had bothered to date the ruins and the few artifacts preserved to find that they predated the ancient Hebrew scrolls.

The figures were oddly similar, though alien many scholars tried to fit their crude understanding to vary simple concepts on the monuments.

The Antiquity of Sirius Society existed to originally understand what "god" was trying to say through them... Great minds and many patrons of these studies lent their influence to the small group of Archaeologists and Theologians. The takeaway though.. was that when the archaeologists jobs were done and the last of the philosophers had long since passed just one man understood what they were trying to say.

It wasn't god. It was however a poem or rather it translated as a poem. Better then say.. a recipe or instructions how to build a table.

"The sculptor in the sky
The scribe of the heart
Woven in eternity."


This was not convenient and as with all inconvenient things they are discarded. The Cult of Sirius had taken this writing and wished to share it as not a distraction or proof against god as the Catholics in Maltese society had branded it. But proof that divine knowledge wasn't all known. That the pursuit of innocence was ongoing and not something a cloth or station could impart. Ideas flourished and the spirits had taken a greater hold of the many flocks of mans interest.

Beliefs and legends often take their own courses. People take what they want and often those parts are what endure. The spirits had been a bridge from the cave into the light for the cult. At first they were interesting puppets to the nomads persistent and a fun distraction.

Yet a few authentically strong and peaceful minds had proven to not only stay the merciless manipulations of cold and unsympathetic alien minds but inspired great curiosity.

Peace of the light is like a crystal cool pool. Pure and tranquil but the human minds or rather.. a peaceful human mind was highly..attractive not because of any other facet or feature but there was a warmth. Not inherently strong, not forcefully powerful yet able to tame chaos. Humans with calm hearts and minds were like opiates to the nomads.

Could it be learned? What is this.. force.. as it had only been remembered before in the old songs within the great halls of light. The oldest songs of a period forgotten before the share before the union of light. If there was a womb of creation this warmth was an echo. Known but forgotten like a song that you knew you had heard tied to a time... a place.. that you desperately wanted to remember...

It wasn't an idea. It wasn't even a thought. Emotions are magnetic, Thoughts are electric. Within humanity the light had found intense amounts of both. Territory they had long forgotten.

The Cult didn't just deliver cardamine within the sacred void. They brought back missionaries.

At first to preserve the knowledge and what could be learned they bonded with those in the lowest castes of society, they were already in the slaves and servants of the oligarchs.

The shadow of power was.. one thing. It was quick and easy to manipulate the social fabric to bring about their own dramas and situations among the Maltese. Political and society was a plaything and vary few knew.

Those few that knew had to keep vary silent. No one reached the highest echelons of power on Malta without knowing.

The arrangement was let the games continue and the planet would be protected. Let the envoys do as they wished and they would be rewarded.

This covenant was long ago and much had happened to both races since then. None on either side had bothered to remembered but the light had. Schisms had erupted...

Was Malta to be abandoned? No.. the game would continue.. as those who had first stepped foot on orange soil and stepped on razor grasses as serfs and servants were still there.

Their children, children were antagonizing, weaving intrigue, and setting Malta against itself as it always had.

The rebellion made this difficult... Advisers and Wanderers were still there, hidden. The hybrids search for them was fruitless. It wasn't that the old ones were exiled from the light but the Hybrids were too young, not experienced or sensitive enough to hear their whispers...

With the exception of one...