Page 114 of Trove’s Purpose

Around the waterfall, there was a pair of staircases that wrapped up and around to an open second floor. They didn’t move when Chee stepped on them. She had to walk up normally, her hand trailing on the glass and gold railing.

She reached the top before Trove. He was trying to look through the windows of whatever room was below that balcony, but though it was bright in there, the stained glass was completely opaque, and he couldn’t make out anything beyond. He didn’t know if there was a threat there. If something would come at them from below.

But he only lingered for a short moment before taking the steps two at a time to catch up to Chee. Not fast enough though, because by the time he reached the top, she was already stepping up onto a small dais where a large, ornate desk was placed, a series of holodisplays up all showing different information. It blinked away before he could tell what any of it was.

And then he came up short. The breath catching in his chest.

The others were coming up behind him, splitting up so they could go up both steps to make sure they weren’t bottlenecked.

He knew that the others recognized it too. They were all stopping. All staring. If they were like him, they were probably panicking about how they were going to get out of here.

Chee calmly walked around the desk, approaching the imposing figure behind it. They were much bigger in person. The heavy cloak covering their form was completely shapeless. The rounded peak could be a head, but it fell so smoothly around the rest of them, it was impossible to make out even the shape of shoulders. The cloak was vibrant blue and purple – impossibly delicate and complex embroidery depicting images of an entire flock of birds taking to a bright sky over a field of beautifully detailed flowers, their petals bursting in the air.

But where the front of the person should be, there was just a black shroud. There was nothing to indicate a face, a hand, a body.

A shapeless, formless, imposing figure of power.

The most powerful person in the cosmos.

The leader of the entire Coalition. A being that commanded armies, that held an impossible amout of credz, resources, and influence.

The High Imperium of the Coalition themselves.

“Hi, Hyde,” Chee said at his side, looking up at their face. Though they were at a desk, they weren’t actually sitting. The High Imperium was never depicted sitting. Even when they moved, the smooth glide gave no indication of how that motion was propelled.

And when they spoke, their voice was robotic, completely gender neutral, and happy like they were greeting an old friend.

“Hello, Chee. Good to see you again.”

It was such a familiar voice, it sent a chill down Trove’s spine. He had heard it many times in his life, but only ever booming from a speaker during some kind of speech, during the yearly Coalition meetings, spoken through historical records.

The High Imperium was ageless. They had been this way for the entirety of the Coalition’s thousands of years of existence. There was speculation about when the Imperium was replaced with a new person, but it was only ever based on how they introduced themselves at the Coalition meeting every year. In all other ways, every High Imperium was just like the other. It was a voice that hadn’t changed once in generations and so was a constant presence in the life of every Coalition citizen. Even living in Rik-Vane, they weren’t beyond the reach of that voice.

Chee called him Hyde. That was the first time Trove had ever heard a name attached to a High Imperium. He didn’t know if it was real. It probably wasn’t.

The Imperium didn’t move, but Trove was suddenly struck by the certainty that he was the focus of their attention.

“Hello, everyone,” they greeted. “It’s good to finally meet you all in person.”

None of them moved. None of them spoke.

Though the Imperium was sitting there alone, seemingly defenseless, there was no doubt in Trove’s mind that they absolutely were not.

In all the years of the Coalition’s existence, there had been many assassination attempts on the High Imperium. That danger just came as part of the deal of being such a powerful and influential figure over so many planets. Sometimes, it would be someone who wanted them removed so that they might get something done that the Imperium had voted against. Others, it was someone who simply held a grudge. It could be fanatics or insanity. A few times, it was non-Coalition species who thought removing them would destabilize the Coalition’s power structure.

Trove had never heard of an attempt succeeding. The High Imperium was completely unknown, but absolutely untouchable. And the security that surrounded them was unbreakable. Trove couldn’t see or smell or hear that security – but he knew it was there. People probably, definitely technology, there were certainly weapons hidden somewhere, probably within all the lovely plant life. And it was doubtlessly aimed at all of their heads.

The High Imperium chuckled, and the robotic sound put Trove on edge.

“So uneasy,” the Imperium chuckled.

“You’ll forgive us, your excellency,” Tanin started, his voice remarkably even but full of condemnation, “if we aren’t exactly comfortable in your presence.”

“Please, call me Hyde as you were doing.”

“Why? It’s not your name.”

“I think I’ll make it my name. I’ve grown attached to it. What do you think, Chee? It’s a good name, is it not?”