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“This cycle alone you have already done much and it is not done. You will meet with your parents and the general. Review potential human crew. Determine if you need be worried about the Osiris’ money manipulation--”

“Tcha. Yeah, it didn’t steal from anyone, but it just created the money out of nothing,” Jace said with a sigh. “So long as Walter doesn’t get in trouble, I’m okay with it. Sort of. Kind of. It’s just money. Oh, God.”

Jace buried his face in Khoth’s chest and breathed deeply. Khoth’s hand ran up and down Jace’s back now.

“My point is made though. You have concrete decisions to make in the short term. In the medium term, you also have greater decisions such as who among the Alliance species you will choose for the crew. That will change things for those species too,” Khoth pointed out.

“That last part was not calming. You had me easing back down here, but now I’m all tense,” Jace laughed and then sighed.

“You are a force for change, Jace. You were made to be. Trained to be,” Khoth suggested.

“I was made to destroy the Khul,” Jace said softly.

“You are more than that. For I could say the same thing about myself. Trained since birth to fight our enemy and defend our people. But I am more than that,” Khoth pointed out.

“Yeah, but you weren’t genetically modified to be who you are. I literally had stuff pumped into me to make me better at doing this.” Jace waved a hand blindly around the room.

“On the contrary, the Thaf’ell test and train us to be what we have a proficiency for, remember? I was made into the warrior you see today,” Khoth said. “It might not have been as time-saving as being injected, but it was the same process.”

“I guess… I can see that,” Jace said.

It was hard to think of himself as a weapon though. But it made him remember that dream-training he’d last had with Gehenna where he’d feared a greater connection to her and the Osiris. He worried about losing himself to being the Pilot. As they faced greater and greater dangers, would he be so averse to letting go? Wouldn’t it be selfish to not give himself over fully? Hanging onto Khoth at that moment made him feel more human than ever. And he didn’t want to lose this.

“It’s got me thinking…”

“About?” Khoth asked.

“Where our first stop should be after we get the crew,” Jace said. He bit his lower lip and had the Osiris show the planet where it and Gehenna were created. “I think we need to know more about the Osiris and Gehenna and the two factions of Precursors that made them.”

“Could not the Osiris or Gehenna answer these questions for you?” Khoth asked.

“They could. Well, maybe. But they aren’t. They’re being really quiet about it. A little shady about it actually. And it's putting the wind up me, to be honest,” Jace admitted.

The Osiris was completely silent. Gehenna was working on her new body. She wanted to surprise him so she was blocking their connection all but for necessary communications, but he was sure she wouldn’t answer him about this either.

“Putting the--”

“It’s making me suspicious,” Jace quickly amended. “I want to understand something about the people who made the AIs and through them… me,” Jace admitted. “I know we have to manufacturing hubs and--”

“No, that is a wise decision. We do need to know more about the Osiris and Gehenna. The fact that the ship was on Earth and Gehenna--”

“Was a prisoner? Yeah, and the fact that the damage to the Osiris’ hull was from the inside… so, so many questions that need answering,” Jace said.

“My sister met with Dr. Kantor Lafrei, an expert on the Osiris. To the extent there is such a thing. She is a Neenda so--”

“She could feel what the Osiris and Gehenna’s pasts are! Cool!” Jace grinned as information on the doctor’s species entered his mind.

“Yes, exactly. We are retracing Daesah’s steps. I cannot help but think that is a wise thing,” Khoth said.

“Yeah, for sure.” Jace bit his lower lip. “What would Daesah do if she were the Pilot?”

Khoth surprisingly chuckled. “Whatever you are planning to do, Jace, that would be what she would do. I know you well enough already to guess that.”

“Then that makes me feel better, because she seems like she was pretty damned smart,” Jace said.

“She was. And so are you.”

Khoth’s hand was running over his head again. Jace arced and his back let out soft pops in his spine as he stretched out.