Flavio felt like he was in the middle of hell.

«I have to make it...» he told himself, his vision blurred by tears.

The mental resonance had struck Kidhe in the middle of the morning session of the Assembly. Like a whip, it had set his nerves ablaze, forcing him, for a moment, to set aside any other thought.

At the anxious request of the Executives, the computer began projecting events it was receiving from sensors around Earth onto the dome. In horror, they had watched as Clyella gave up her own life.

Everyone was dumbfounded, astonished to still feel pain for the death of someone, astonished that centuries of spiritual growth hadn't made them immune to a sense of mourning. The gut-wrenching emotion caught them off guard, as much as their friend's suicide. While eternal life allows consciousness to rise above primitive reactions like grief, it becomes more difficult to overcome when one takes for granted that death does not concern us.

In the projection, Flavio was carrying Flavia's inert body in his arms, collapsed on his chest like a rag dripping with blood. Fighting off the nausea that filled his stomach and assaulted him up to his nostrils, he forced his legs to run toward the university clinic.

He was gasping for oxygen, with a dry throat and air that corroded his windpipe like a file with each breath. In his exertion, he felt pain from spikes of fear that pierced his chest at every jolt. Flavia's hand dangled from her limp arm and brushed against his left leg. It lightly tapped his thigh, breaking the rhythm of his steps, as if wanting to calm him, to tell him not to exert himself in vain.

He entered the Emergency and Reception Department and handed over his dying friend's body to the hospital staff. He saw them take what remained of Flavia and head to the neurosurgery building, while Flavio collapsed into a chair in the reception area, grappling with his own torment.

The members of the Assembly were watching him. In shock, they were trying to understand the reasons that had led Clyella to sacrifice herself in that way.

Kidhe was shaken by the recent resonance with Flavio, but soon felt unpleasantly clear-headed. He felt the full weight of having allowed Clyella to leave.

«Computer, capture her mental image,» he ordered, struggling to keep his nerves under control. «Break the silence with the commissioners.»

Cronquit approached him. «It's futile,» he murmured. «Clyella knew where she wanted to place her bullet.»

«Reverse the flow of events across the entire system,» the president insisted. «We only need a few minutes and—»

With a slow and cautious movement, Cronquit put an arm around his shoulders. «There's no margin; we risk ruining Clyella's work...»

«She succeeded» observed Riklev. His sigh failed to rejuvenate his sky-blue eyes, inanimate like glass.

«The Plan... what odds of success...» Kidhe wanted to ask.

The computer's efficient, harmonious, and emotionless voice answered, conveying its cold indifference. «Zero point zero zero...»

«If we take care of Flavia, fifty percent,» Cronquit quickly said. The computer confirmed his calculations.

«She did incredibly well,» commented Sleeld.

Wilol was distracted by the comment, broke out of the stupor he was in, and slowly turned his head toward him. «What she did is stupid!» Among the tears, his attempt to a shout was so choked that it produced a murmur barely perceptible. «It wasn't worth it.»

Riklev approached to comfort him. «Wilol... only Clyella has the right to judge whether it was worth it or not. Let's respect her.»

Wilol realized he was being selfish. In that situation, it took a great effort for him to acknowledge Clyella's right to decide about her own existence.

To all of them, Clyella was more than a friend or sister. They considered her a treasure of the universe. A human asset of superior value, both for her genius and capacity to love.

They observed and analyzed what happened on Earth, intent on deciphering the plan laid out by the late Executive. She had ensured that Flavia gave the right suggestions to her own alter ego, had helped her leave the scene to free him from a too-heavy constraint. She had sacrificed herself to provide an earthly explanation for the tragedy involving them, the only way she had left to not disrupt the delicate fabric of her design.

Lastly, from her own self she had saved only the fragments of experience necessary for Flavio's last mental resonance. She had done so by causing Flavia to resonate with her, so that she might inherit and preserve within herself the precious information.

Thus, the Assembly understood, as Riklev and Cronquit had already figured out, they had to ensure that Flavia's brain survived. The rest of the Samādhi Plan would depend on Flavio's will. Clyella had entrusted him, and his free will, with the fate of Earth and Flavia's sacrifice, with such confidence that she invested her own life in it.

The computer announced the arrival of visitors in the Assembly's system. No urgent request was made. The visitors identified themselves as representatives of the Eternals from the Elohim civilization and requested to communicate with the Council of Executives.

The Assembly members had anticipated this visit. Clyella had acted on the edge of agreed terms. Kidhe accepted the communication, and the computer projected the enlarged image of Yahweh in front of him and the Assembly. The president of the Elohim greeted him in a calm voice.

«Kidhe, I wish to extend, to you and the entire Assembly, our Council's respects for the memory of Clyella.» Yahweh had his eyes half-closed as he remembered the Executive. His smile seemed courteous to Kidhe, or even friendly.

«Thank you.»

«If you hadn't acted secretly, we could have done something. It was a mistake that you have... that we have,» Yahweh corrected himself, «paid dearly for.» He glanced, embarrassed yet considerate, into the eyes of his interlocutor. «She was... the best president you've ever had. No offense, Kidhe.»

«I know,» Kidhe managed a smile, «the best we could have had.»

Yahweh took a deep breath and stroked his black goatee with the back of his hand. «Unfortunately, we must also discuss the monstrosity you've subjected Flavia to.»

Kidhe suspected the time for cordiality would expire quickly. That Yahweh was upset by what had happened was a given, yet he knew their diplomatic skirmish would be easily resolved. What Clyella had accomplished was miraculous. She had brought Earth's chances of salvation back to appreciable, encouraging levels. If it were not for the loss they faced, they would all be enthusiastic.

Clyella's intrusion had not created major issues. Not only had it been resolved, but somehow, it also corrected the intrusion caused by Flavia. By voluntarily giving up the second life that the Assembly had imposed on her, she had cleared the way for Claudia to reclaim her place among the living. It was only a matter of time. Very little time, at that.

Regardless of Yahweh's grumblings, Clyella's solution had been more than clean, given the circumstances. Kidhe sighed and calmly replied. «We didn't force her, she accepted her role willingly,» he pointed out.

Yahweh snorted, a scornful smile spreading across half of his mouth. «It's still a barbaric sacrifice,» he said, then contorted his face into a grimace of repulsion, «not even the salvation of a world can justify it!»

«That's rich!» burst out Kidhe, «two thousand years ago, you did exactly the same thing!»

Yahweh's eyes widened, as his irritation plunged into a reddish hue. «It is not at all the same thing! That was my son, not just some Earthling. And he is still alive, right here, with me.»

He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. Behind him, Satan and Yeshua, Yahweh's son, had been witnessing the entire conversation. At that moment, their faces wore an unmistakable expression of awkwardness.

Kidhe gave the Eternal a few seconds to regain some composure.

«If Flavia's identity has been completely lost, it's also because of you. Without the block you imposed on us...»

«If we imposed a block on mental detection, it was precisely so you would hesitate before sacrificing another life!»

Kidhe didn't need to be told. He hadn't decided to sacrifice Flavia. It was Clyella, who had done it without telling anyone. But the thought didn't make him feel any less responsible. He had already proposed the elimination of Flavio before Clyella went to Earth with the plan to, instead, tear Flavia's brain.

«You...» Kidhe accused, «already knew that we would be forced to do this sooner or later, didn't you?»

Yahweh snorted through his nose and did not deign to give the Executive another answer. All that was left for Kidhe was to acknowledge his own powerlessness. Responsibility wasn't the issue, as Clyella had already understood. More simply, things had turned out worse than they had hoped.

«Flavia is lost now.» Kidhe sighed. «As much as we may not like it, these things can happen.»

For a barely perceptible moment, Kidhe thought he saw a flicker of pity in Yahweh's eyes. Yahweh quickly averted his gaze, letting it drop.

«Yes,» he confirmed, darkened by sadness and something that appeared to Kidhe to be very much like doubt, «they can happen.»