:Oh. I, er - I don't know if it's that important, just...: 

Why is this so incredibly, stupidly, hard?

:...Just, I talked a lot with Shavri. About - you - when you, the original human you I mean, were sick, and she was helping...: 

Vanyel is pretty sure he had a point he was working up to, here, but it's becoming nearly impossible not to cry. 

Leareth waits. Technically he can read all of Vanyel's thoughts right now but this is less helpful than one might hope. 

: I̴̪̅ ̴͕̈́ḁ̵̈́m̸̘͘ ̶̤̔ŝ̵̖ṯ̸̽ḯ̸̩l̷̫̅l̴̙̕ ̸̹̐h̵͕̀ê̸͔ŕ̴̗e̷̪̔?:

:I, just - I don't - Leareth...:

Vanyel takes a shuddering breath. 

:I don't know what you were planning to do with Valdemar or why - what made it worthwhile to murder our Herald-Mage trainees, kidnap littles - guess I never will. Doesn't matter. I don't need to. I - what Shavri saw - I don't know what you were planning but I know you had a reason. And you're not evil. And you - when someone else's world was in danger you, you went to help even though you were dying... That. That's enough. I don't want to be your enemy: 

Leareth diligently listens and parses this, without having any emotions, and relays it to the Proto for later-notes to be conveyed to all the other Leareths. 

: T̸̈͜h̵̜̾a̷̘̕n̶͙͘k̵̩̃ ̵̪̌ỳ̸͔o̸͔͋ű̵͕ :

He is not having any emotions about it but, at this point, maintaining this is mostly requiring not having any thoughts either. 

: D̸̜͂o̷̗͂ ̷͊͜y̶͂ͅo̷̖͊u̷̝̾ ̴͘͜h̴̰͆a̴̻͗v̴͖͗ḙ̸́ ̶̥̀q̶͆͜ṳ̷͆e̴̳̎s̵͉̅t̶͕͊i̵̾͜ö̷́ͅn̶͙͠š̷̨ :

Everything about this is uncannily wrongbadawful, which isn't Leareth's fault but it still hurts so much. 

All right, he does need to ask the OBVIOUS question. :Is Velgarth in danger from the Proto?: 

:̸͍͛ ̶̞͂Ĩ̶̤ ̵̻͝c̵̺͘a̵̡̓n̷̨͋n̵͖̋ò̵̮ṯ̴͝ ̷̲̒g̵̝͂u̷̹̎ả̷̠r̵̘̕ả̴̪n̴͖̓t̷̟͋e̶͓̕e̶̪̒ ̷̢̐b̸̯̍ŭ̴̠t̶̖͐ ̶̯̆Ĭ̶̳ ̷̹͆t̵̰̊h̴̛̼i̷̺̚n̴̝̑k̴͖̀ ̴͔̉n̵̡̄o̷̐ͅt̶͚͂ ̸̡̛:̶̯̀

̵͍̾
̷̰̃:̶̙̂ ̷̝͠Î̵̺t̶͍͝ ̵̼̆ẅ̴̨́i̵̗̒ḽ̵̌l̶͈͆ ̵̟̓e̸̾ͅạ̷̇t̶̠̆ ̵̩̾t̴̥͗h̶͎͊e̴̻͠ ̷̻̐M̵̥͒o̸̰̒o̶̯͆n̸̘͊ ̷̹͌ă̷̜n̴͔͐d̸̪͐ ̶͕̈́m̶̧̀à̵͈k̵̼̽e̸̬͐ ̶̺̚å̴̭ ̸̫̽w̷̜͝o̵̱͒r̸͓̄m̷̙̿ẖ̵͆ó̴͇l̵͓̍ḙ̷̊ ̴̪͌:̶̪̈́

̷͚̒
̸̗́:̸̎͜ ̶͎̏T̶̟̓h̴͙̍e̵̱͆ṅ̸̗ ̵̞̓ ̷̛̝ ̷̟͝.̶̧͠.̷̻͘.̵͔̈ ̴̱̋ ̸͙̑ ̵̎ͅI̵̲̊ ̷͔͘s̶͍͌u̶̺͂p̴̠͘p̸̳͌ò̵͓s̶͓͑e̷̜̊ ̷̛̘w̶̻͒e̶͖̿ ̷̙̓ṡ̵͎h̸̩̍a̷̟̿l̸̬̄l̵͈̉ ̴͔́m̵̧͆e̸̠̾e̵͉̽ẗ̶́ͅ ̸̭́i̵̺͊ť̵̝s̷̞̆ ̶̦̀c̶̮̕r̴͖̊e̵̦͒a̸̱̓t̸͚́o̶͇͂ŕ̵̜ṣ̶̊ ̵̫́:̸̩͠

̴͇̑
̴̙͝:̷̽ͅ ̸̭̂O̵͍̔r̵͍̀ ̶͇̃f̵̲̚i̶͇͑n̶̫͂ḑ̵̄ ̴̻̕t̸̗̊h̷͍́è̶̠ ̵̰̿r̶̿ͅú̸̢i̶̢̎n̶̫̿s̵͈͘ ̴̼͒õ̴͕f̴͖͐ ̸̨͋t̷̫̍ȟ̴͍e̵̮̍i̴̱͋ṟ̵̀ ̷̺̀c̷̈́͜i̴̝͑v̸͕̾ì̷̙l̴͈̚i̸̜̾z̴͕̒a̴̩̒ẗ̶̟́i̷̩̕ǒ̶̦n̵̠͒ ̵͖̈:̵̫́

̷̹̑
̴̭̇:̷̧͊ ̸̮̅I̸̭̓ ̶͙̏a̶̩͆m̸͍̐ ̵͇͆n̵̖̑ợ̵t̷̥̒ ̷͉̐ś̴̬ȗ̶͜r̶̠̉e̴̠̎ ̸͔̌:̵̙́

He can process that later. 

:Are you - is your original...body...still alive?: 

: I̶̗͊ ̵̯̎h̷̒͜a̶͉͗v̸̘͆e̷̡̅ ̵̹̃n̸͑͜ő̶̝ ̶̜́i̷͓͝ǹ̸̲f̶̉͜ȯ̷͍r̵̈ͅm̶͔̀a̸͍͠t̷͓͗i̴̙̒o̵̜̽n̸͕̏ ̷̖̾ȍ̷̮n̷͖̍ ̴̛̮t̶͍̿ȟ̴̲a̶̱̓t̸̻̓ :

:Right. I, er, I think that's all my questions. I - I hope...: Vanyel isn't at all sure what he's trying to say. :Take care: 

Leareth thinks that it's very unclear how he can possibly do that, but he doesn't say this. 

: G̸̺͑ơ̷͎õ̸͔ḍ̶̉b̶͍̿y̷̯͝ȅ̴͎,̶̯̈́ ̴̦̔Ȟ̷̩e̷̟̅r̵̟͊â̵̧ļ̸͝d̵̼̽ ̶̠͝V̶̬͑a̷̡̓n̴̘̽y̵̻͒ě̸̫l̵͈̀ :

:̶̟̈ ̸͇͆I̶͙̋ ̴̮͠w̷̌ͅi̸̪͝s̸͈͗h̵͇̾ ̵̩̓ỷ̷̝o̷͓͒ü̴͉ ̷̦̉w̵͙̕e̵͇̕l̴͈͘l̴̥͑ ̵̨̒:̵͔̓

Leareth tells the Proto that he's finished gathering information here and that it can stop reading all of Vanyel's thoughts. 

Then he stops trying not to have any emotions about the last few subjective minutes, which he predicts will result in his very rapidly triggering a safeguard and being shut down. 

Yes! That Leareth had a lot of outside-parameters behavior. 

The protomolecule feeds other Leareths the output of its gods classifier, and grows, and grows.

Some Leareths take notes for other Leareths to summarize, and then yet other Leareths to convey to the organization in the north of Velgarth. It's a pretty useful capability to have, for spying purposes. 

Things seem, mostly, pretty quiet in Velgarth? Rethwellan is mostly cleaned up after the post-Dhorisha-Plains-even earthquakes. They're starting to make progress on Jkatha, but there were a lot of casualties there; the country is kind of in shambles. Seejay lost all of its crops, which is now leading to a severe spice shortage.

Iftel is locked up inside its wall not interacting with the world, and the Proto cannot get through the barrier with Thoughtsensing. (Yet, anyway.) 

Karse is...politically unstable, but there hasn't yet been a coup by the priesthood. Lots of thoughts about gods. Many people consider the whole thing with the Moon to be some sort of omen. 

Some Tayledras are getting odd dreams and visions, which they of course believe are from the Goddess, but they haven't figured out what the visions mean or what to do about them yet. They're pretty scared about the Moon. Word of the Plains' destruction has reached them, by now, and there's mass grieving. (They seem to be blaming the destruction of the Plains on the Moon and the entity possessing it, rather than the Goddess.) 

Time passes. 

Eventually an enormous blue ...creature...takes off from the surface of Velgarth's moon and travels very far away, and stops somewhere out beyond the orbit of Velgarth's most distant planet. And it begins building a megastructure 1000km across, circular, gently glowing.

Kilchas watches the sky.

He has a much better telescope for this, now; their collaboration with Leareth's former organization has been a fruitful one. He can clearly see the strange creature depart from the Moon, and watch its movement for a while before it's too distant to see anymore. 

Kilchas has emotions about this. 

They were so scared, at first. And it's not like the safety of Velgarth is anything close to guaranteed, now. Leareth's organization agrees that there's approximately nothing even they can do, if the Proto decides to eat Velgarth too. The - copy of Leareth, the etching taken by the Proto, drawn from his mind like an artist's woodcut - was their only channel of influence, and even the Leareth-copy couldn't make any promises. 

But...maybe it's going to be all right? 

Maybe it's going to be better than all right. He's spent so many months watching the sky, and it's impossible to sustain that much fear for so long, and so eventually the awe took over. Imagine a world where the people of Velgarth could travel, together, between the stars. See other worlds. 

The stars blur in and out of focus as Kilchas blinks away tears, of - he isn't even sure what emotion. Hope? Desperation?

...Grief, for the Leareth who went to try to save another world, and probably died there? 

There's not much to see anymore, anyway; whatever the Proto is doing now, it's beyond what his current telescope can pick out. He knows that Leareth's people are working on a better one, in an observatory somewhere high in the mountains, where the air is thinner and the stars shine brighter and clearer. 

He climbs down from the tower and walks through the gardens, headed in no particular direction, his steps heavy. 

Footsteps approach, fall into rhythm beside him. 

(Little Jisa has been fussy in the evenings, lately, and walking with her helps.)

"Heya," Kilchas says eventually, after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Any change?" 

Shrug. "Can't tell, anymore. Out of range. ...If it makes something planet-sized out there I reckon it'll show up, but other than that I'm just hoping Leareth's folks up north will let me use their observatory." 

Shavri shakes her head a little. "'Leareth's folks'. Can you imagine the face Elspeth'd have made a year ago, if you said that?" 

"A year ago I didn't have the faintest idea the man existed. Though, I mean, a horrible destiny does explain a lot about Van." 

"Sorry. Er, how is he?" 

"...I wish he'd stop trying to talk to Leareth. Um, the Leareth-copy. He's a mess for a week every time he does, but... I guess I get it, sort of. Why it's - hard to look away."