Albel didn't quite understand everything, but an "alien influence" ... that, as of recently, was understandable. That kind of unimaginable "newness," being affected by "something else" out there, having your perspective expanded -- exploded -- it changed everything. It changed everything for people, politics, a whole world.

"Delusions of godhood..." the warrior murmured, thinking of Luther. He shook his head again. So preventable, had the child not been born. But knowing another side of how that story could go, he kept silent, internally wrestling with his own conflicting opinions.

The only thing he could say with confidence was, "I hope you end it."