He waited now, patient Apollo, returning to the window to survey the sprawling world with his distant, digital eyes. He knew it would make me work. I would keep myself locked on task, just to spare myself the sight of Alexandria’s martial glory as his coat turned every passing Mason into either a soldier, or ghostly nothing. Days blurred as I wrote, and nights thanks to a tube of anti-sleeping meds a good servicer friend had helped me steal. Martin testified about his visits to the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash’house, while I wrote about how he had arrested Prospero, and how Thisbe had showed Croucher to Papadelias, and might have saved Bridger. A broken Carlyle testified about the characters of his parishioners, while I wrote of how he came again to Avignon and learned What our Jehovah truly Is. Papa testified about deaths stretching back for centuries, while I wrote of when Caesar found me, on my knees before the statue of Apollo, and I had to tell him… had to tell him…

Had to tell me, you mean?

Yes, reader, you too. I had to tell you that Apollo tried to start this war. But you I trust. It wasn’t you I feared, it was the mob. The present. My history was due to be released as soon as it was done, a week, two. The trial would still be going, Prospero on the stand, and suddenly so much truth? I doubted then Jehovah’s choice to reveal all. I doubted that humanity was as good as He believes. What would they do?

Prospero refused to answer questions on the stand, even when ordered to by President Ancelet. Duty forbade it, he said, since even his president could not predict whether his answers would endanger Hive security. He consented to be brought a list of questions, and to answer each in the presence of President Ancelet, then have the transcript reviewed by the president, the Humanist Hive Security Chief, and the Romanovan Security Chief, so each could censor anything they thought was dangerous, and Prospero had each of them initial every paragraph to certify that they supported its release. Even his enemies could not make the public see this as anything but loyalty perfected.