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“You’re right though I… I don’t want to negotiate like this with the Alliance. Not quid pro quo. It won’t make things right between us,” Jace told him.

“But it might be the only way. While I have told you that my people are ruled by their Xas, I have become quite aware that this was a misapprehension,” Khoth told Jace in due solemnity.

Jace’s lips quirked into one of those grins. “Ah, ha, yeah. I get you. You feel you’ve misled me into thinking that the Thaf’ell will see that working with us is best logically, but that’s not the case?”

“Indeed.”

“I think their reactions are pretty logical actually. It’s like when the general wondered how a store clerk could handle negotiations with the head of an inter-galactic alliance. It was only after I showed him that I could that he believed in me.” Jace shrugged. “You’ve seen what I am capable of with Osiris and Gehenna. But all the Alliance has seen is a species that they considered lesser suddenly making the rules and demanding to handle things.”

“You are not…” Khoth paused.

“Human? Maybe not on the inside. Not anymore. That’s for sure.” Jace blew out a long breath. “But I was raised human by people who thought they were human too. Genetically, I’m an Altaeth, but in every other respect, I’m human.”

“Amana will disagree. As would Typhon,” Khoth pointed out. “While Amana has always been spiritual--”

“Singer, poet, so yep, she’s allowed.” Jace laughed.

Khoth nodded. That was correct. “Typhon has never shown any worshipful tendencies towards the Altaeth. But I saw them today.”

“He worships me? Oh, so I can tell him what a bastard he was for--for taking advantage of you?” Jace flashed him a look and there was a momentary show of concern in those eyes.

“His actions were not honorable. I see that clearly now. But they are in the past and they have given me a unique understanding of relationships,” Khoth explained softly. He cupped Jace’s cheek. “On how not to behave.”

“Yeah, well, I still want to beat his ass.” Jace pursed his lips.

“He is an ally. An imperfect one. But one nonetheless. I am, however, greatly… greatly touched by your desire to defend me,” Khoth admitted, finding the intimate words hard to say in the Moturin Compound, even as he was convinced there were cameras and listening devices everywhere. But Gehenna would know if there were, even if Jace could not reach the Osiris easily.

“Anytime. I would do anything…” Jace cleared his throat. “Well, you mean an awful lot to me. So much.”

“My Xi is in agreement with your Xi,” Khoth said, feeling warmth build within his chest.

They had stopped in the middle of a hallway while Gehenna had rolled on ahead. Now, he heard her call to them in a high-squeaky voice, filled with excitement.

“I’ve found it! Come! Come!” Gehenna squealed.

His comm burst to life with many smiley emojis as well as confetti and other signs of celebration.

“We’ve fallen behind. Can’t let Gehenna have all the fun!” Jace flashed his trademarked grin.

“No, indeed, especially since the database could be destroyed by fate at any moment just to add to our worries!” Khoth smiled back as they jogged in the direction of Gehenna’s voice.

Jace let out a brilliant laugh.

They found Gehenna in a room down a secondary hallway. Jace froze in the threshold and let out a “whoaaaa”.

“You weren’t kidding that they worship the Altaeth,” Jace said as he gestured to the room in front of them. “Though that database… man, even I’m feeling a little worshipful.”

The room was square with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The stone was a darker red than the hall and made up everything from the walls to the floor to the ceiling. The database was situated in the center. It was not some metallic box with an opening for inputs and outputs, but instead was a glowing blue-white construct that hovered three feet above the ground.

All in all, it was a cube, but it was made of light and there were sections that moved independently of one another, slowly turning or twisting to create shapes that would then be destroyed as the light uncombined and recombined. It was the only source of light in the room. There were prayer mats on each side of it as well as selchitte beads in bowls that were being bathed in the database’s light.

Gehenna rolled around the outside of the room, observing the database from all angles.

“I can definitely connect!” she informed them with delight. “It’s like it was made for me! I’ll just--”

“No! Gehenna, stop!” Jace cried.

“What? Why, Jace? It surely has information we could use--”