“What are these? Who wrote them?” he asks. Farnab shrugs.

“We thought you had written them. So it wasn’t you?” Farnab asks.

“Of course not!” Tirad replies enraged.

“These papers are spreading through the ships and are known as Tirad’s Narratives. I heard one of the sea people say that people believe Tirad is more than three hundred years old and has been with the Saviour since he was born. They say the legendary Tirad who was a close friend of Hami and Ariad is still alive and he is the only true disciple!” Farnab explains. Tirad is astonished. He doesn’t know what to say. Dalia comes in with two bowls of raisins. She bends down with difficulty and picks up the water glasses. Farnab looks at the green grains and sceptically puts one in his mouth. He likes the sweet taste of them and eats more.

“You have to stop such nonsense and all these fake stories. You need to find out who is behind it!” Tirad says trying to stay calm.

“We all thought you were behind it yourself… It can’t be the Circle or the disciples… What benefit could it have for them?” Farnab replies swallowing another sweet raisin.

“A new and fresh narrative that is more practical than the older versions! This narrative can attract more new followers. Can’t you see? Of course, it benefits them. The sea people have so many mythical tales themselves; they don’t need to make up another Saviour myth. I’m sure it’s a new fraction forming in the Circle!” Tirad explains to him.

“Only you have the power to stop these rumours from spreading any further. You need to come with me and put an end to this new branch of the Saviour Rules before it is too late,” Farnab says in a begging tone.

“Still, my return won’t change anything. The people of the sea will believe in whatever narratives they find more appealing. If I come back now and tell them I’m Tirad and I’m only forty years old, do you think they would believe me? They would say either I’m not Tirad, or I’m lying about my age!” Tirad says. Farnab sighs and shakes his head. He agrees with him but he is desperate, not knowing what to do.

“You need to suppress these new false narratives,” Tirad says and immediately regrets having said so. He knows well any forms of suppression will only increase people’s discontent and stabilise the false belief. They need to find a more effective way.

“We don’t know how to suppress them anymore. We confiscate and burn them wherever we find these papers but they keep multiplying!” Farnab says. Tirad is so sorry and doesn’t know what to do. The people of the sea have found this narrative to their liking. It would be very difficult to take it away from them. Farnab asks him again to come back, at least for a short time and sort things out. Tirad says he will think about returning but he knows in his heart that he can’t get out of the Paradise Island, especially now that they are expecting the birth of their new child. He is worried for the baby but tries to stay calm about it. But no one knows which baby would be born with the new genetic mutation that the Saviour and Parsana had foreseen and he had witnessed with his own eyes. The chances are equal for Dalia for she has already given birth to a mutated baby and then a human one. The third could be either of them. But Tirad has prepared himself for the semi-dolphin baby as well. Dalia is to give birth in a small pool and if her baby is mutated, they have to keep the baby under water and deliver it to the dolphins.