Dross arrived a few minutes later with E.V.0 in the main hall again but heard laughter from afar deciding in his curiosity to step slower listening to a few bits of the ongoing conversation. Rajas angel-like voice got carried towards his ears:
"What a wholesome story you were telling me there, master. You can consider yourself extremely lucky. Demiurg and E.V.0 surely sound like dream parents to have. Taking in those who have suffered enough for multiple lives fiving them - giving you a chance to finally start living for real. I am apologizing for my lacking respect talking so casually with you, Terminus; I am just honestly happy that it went that way and we are now having you leading us into a possible better future. But please, tell me one last thing, before I stop riddling you with holes. I am curious; where exactly is Justitia's deep hatred against slavery coming from. You know, besides the fact that they are the worst?"
"Justitia? It is quite simple actually, but promise me to keep it a secret. She got born as a slave on the Dreadnaught, a pirate skyship, sailing under the protection of the lord of mischief himself. She died as a slave as well, taking her last breath in E.V.0's arms after the ship got shot out of the sky. Her bloody conquest, however, started later, after witnessing, that none of the surviving pirates got even a fine and were enjoying general amnesty. This corruption led her to take on the mantle of the bloody law bringer. With that her conquest against the corruption and in the longer run, her own past, got set in motion.", Terminus noticed the tapping feet of the duo's approach, "Oh! Welcome back from your small trip."
Terminus and Raja stood up and walked towards them. Dross was in thoughts processing, what he had just heard. So, that was the reason behind what they saw in the fields of freedom. AN everlasting payback for a life lived in hell? Such a determination was admirable, but that did render the fields not one inch less gruesome. Dross saw Raja running towards him, jumping in for a hearty hug:
"And? How did it go? Is E.V.0 as awesome as Terminus described her to be? Will she be able to get you fixed?"
"E.V.0?" Dross returned the hug while chuckling, "You bet! She is the best. Yes, I will get fixed, but I don't wanna ruin you the surprise regarding the how. You will see it soon enough, Raja"
"I'm just glad that I don't have to lose you, that you don't have to die. There are so many things I still wanna ask you about your work and even more about the man hugging me. Terminus-"
The silver god interrupted her after witnessing his name dropping. With an amused buzzing sound she took over the rudder from Raja:
"Terminus has a question as well, but in favour of the trend of surprises, I will refrain from telling it until our friend got successfully operated. Raja?"
"Yes, master Terminus!", she nodded, seemingly unable to hold back her excitement.
Dross inspected the trio slowly. Raja had now let him go and was walking over to E.V.0, who was sitting on the ground. She nodded at him encouragingly, when their eyes met. Terminus, on the other hand, was currently talking towards G.U.A.R.D., about granting him and Dross access to Demiurg'S chamber, which it reluctantly allowed. Giving Dross a sign to follow him, he turned one more time towards Raja and E.V.0 and waved:
"See ya on the other side! Hopefully patched up and ready to roll. Until later, love!"
The women waved their arms and Dross waved back while following Terminus to another wall. A self-forming corridor appeared, which closed this time immediately behind them. Terminus was placing a phalanx of his near his ear to ease out the communication. A silent interference later, Dross was able to hear Terminus perfectly and up close:
"So, my watcher. We are now slowly closing in, to Demiurg's cell. I saw that mother gave you her amulet of divinity as a token of support. That will make the talk with father much easier, thank god. I am very sure that he will help you with that.", Dross was able to make out now a slight note of interest vibing within Terminus' voice, "What exactly did E.V.0 showed you? Or was it just a bit of small talk?"
"E.V.0 introduced me to her little helper Unimata, she sent you greetings, and she introduced me as well to their current project: Project 'Changeling'"
"Changeling? Sounds intriguing. What exactly has mother built this time?"
"I can only describe it as a fleshy, silicon-like, blackish Eternal, which got based on Unimatas genes and abilities. Changeling can perfectly copy identities by inserting samples of DNS. With that special power, I will be reborn Eternal, and am still able to keep my former body."
Terminus let out a steep whistle of surprise before answering:
"Didn't know that such a thing was even possible. Mom never fails to impress me, no matter how often I get down here. But I have to ask you about one thing in advance. Do not try to use this given gift for bad actions; You will be an enlightened watcher after today, and not a copycat infiltrating our enemy that way. Please, for the love of me, don't let yourself get instrumentalized for evil purposes. Please use the gift, granted by mother, for good."
"I will do as you wish, oh keeper of knowledge. My biggest dream, after all, is to visit one day the knowledge pool, so getting on bad terms with you, Terminus, would only harm me and my goals.", he stopped briefly letting Terminus laugh out in admiration, "I, however, have a question. Who is Demiurg? E.V.0 didn't want to take that away from you."
Terminus suddenly stopped in motion and looked back to Dross. He sat down and focused Dross' citrin eyes before answering his question:
"This might be a bit too much for you to comprehend fully. It will get clearer when you decide to visit my library, trust me. Let me keep it simple: Demiurg is a true god, the god of creation. A born god, who got forgotten by everybody . . .we rendered them to get forgotten - there was no other way to assure the continuation of existence, then banishing all of them. Chóros, the voice that was saving you, is Demiurg's father, the god of space-"
Dross suddenly cut away his words with an important question:
"Besides the fact that I only understand every second word, and all of them are conflicting with the very essence of my beliefs I was living after until now . . .please let us postpone that part for an important question.", cold sweat ran down Dross' spine, "I am shimmering and dying because I was hearing Chóros . . .nothing more, no vision or anything. Let me just consider the facts. Would I be then even able to hold out the immediate presence of a god, or whatever they are? Or would I only burn away and cease to exist on mere vision?
Terminus placed his massive hand gently on his head, caressing him while thinking loudly:
"A valid point, I have nearly forgotten. As far as my memories go, I have never seen a god interacting directly with a mortal. That is a risk, an unknown uncertainty. Well, how do they say? Better save than sorry. I'm sorry for what is about to happen; I will see you on the other side . . .brother."
With that said, Terminus' fist crashed like a massive boulder down onto Dross' protected head, knocking him out instantly.