Several hours later… Lord Nyin was stumped.

"No species," Nyin said, analyzing the results. Shook his head. "No scans!"

"Forgive me, honorable Lord," said Dr. Elfitz. "We've tried everything. Machines… simply… won't read her."

This was all Lord Nyin needed.

"She certainly isn't human, though," said Dr. Elfitz. "That's clear. She has two hearts. And the wrong body temperature. And her mind…!"

"I don't need evidence confirming her story," Lord Nyin cut in. "It's obviously a fraud. What I need to know is some bargaining chip I can use to cause the Lady Arasine's execution!"

Dr. Elfitz didn't have a good answer to this.

Faltered, in place.

"Well, if you can't give me that," said Lord Nyin, "then tell me: why does this… Seo… want to save Earth?"

"I… think… some things she said… led me to believe…" Elfitz hesitated. "I think she's a Cyberplanner. Under cover."

Lord Nyin did a double take.

Hadn't expected this.

"She speaks like one, at times," said Elfitz. "The few bits of her mind that machines can read are Cyberplanner, through and through. And it would explain why she wants the human race alive."

"So she can Cyber-convert them," said Lord Nyin. "And perhaps us, as well."

Elfitz nodded.

"Then we'll have to kill her," said Lord Nyin. "That much is clear." Standing up at his desk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to confer with a… colleague of mine. This could very well change everything."

When Seo was finally done with the long and humiliating medical tests, now thoroughly drained and worn out, she found herself hauled out of the med lab and dragged back to her cell.

Where Arasine, Hiffom, and Tileka were waiting for her.

Their faces hard.

Evidently, Hiffom had told them everything before Seo ever arrived. And they looked about as happy with it as everyone else had.

"You think I'm trying to kill the Emperor, too, now?" Seo slumped against the nearest wall, stone hard and cold against her back. "Just give me a minute to catch my breath. And I'll explain…"

Arasine flew at Seo.

Belting her with a loud SMACK across the face.

Seo actually had to catch herself. Stared at Arasine, stunned.

"Traitor," Arasine hissed at Seo. Raising her hand to strike again. "Murderer! After the trust I bestowed in you, this is how you choose to repay me!"

Seo barely managed to dodge out of the way of the next blow.

Tileka raced out, to hold Arasine back. Funny thing was… she and Hiffom seemed just as surprised as Seo was. Sure, Seo had seen Arasine wound up, before. But the way Arasine was fighting back, the anger she felt towards Seo…

This was a deep, passionate anger.

The kind she only got when talking about her experiments.

Which only made sense if… if...

"It's you," Seo realized. "Has to be. Of course! The weapon knew your name."

Tileka and Hiffom looked at one another, confused.

"No, you!" Seo said, pointing at Arasine. "The Glarnov weapon said he was playing a game. He's playing it with you, Arasine! You're his target!"

"That's Lady Arasine, to you!" Arasine spat. "And if you think I will defend your honor, you're wrong. I would gladly execute you myself for your crimes, if it were seemly for a female to do so."

"No, wait!" Seo said, holding up a hand, face bent in thought. "Give me a chance to think this through." Her lips formed a thin line, mind racing. "Arasine. The only noblewoman on Draconia to study. The one who came up with the theory behind that machine! And all around you — people keep getting taken. Research assistants. Scientists. Professors. Friends! But always people in your line of research. People you know."

She looked at Arasine, more carefully.

"Who are you, Arasine?" Seo asked. Then, "No, actually. Who were you?"

Arasine went still. "I beg your pardon?"

"Right now, you're a scientist," said Seo. "But women were only allowed to learn because the Glarnov weapon kept taking people out of time — thus causing a near societal collapse. Which only began after the Glarnov weapon arrived. So… what were you before the Glarnov weapon arrived and time changed? When this all started? What was Draconia like?"

"I do not follow," Arasine said.

"Dimensions of time!" Seo spread open her arms. "Layers upon layers of changes happening, one after another after another. Someone small gets taken — a shopkeeper, or a housewife — and maybe you don't notice. But if someone big and important gets snatched into the mirror universe… maybe that changes things a little more. Time has to shift more events, change more history, can't quite get its ducks in a row… because the Glarnov weapon is slowly draining away that person's timeline and by the time the weapon's done… that person will have never existed, at all, anymore."

They all looked at one another.

"You mean that every time someone goes to the mirror universe," said Hiffom, digesting this, "our world changes. And when they die in that mirror universe… the change becomes permanent."

"Yes," Seo agreed. "That's it, exactly."

"And the things that don't make sense, in our world," Tileka realized, "the facts founded upon nothing… they're…!"

"Theories from people who are in the mirror dimension, but haven't died, yet," Seo agreed. "Exactly." She paced the cell, eyes glued to the floor. "And the Emperor is a big person. Get him into that mirror dimension…"

"And everything he's ever done will be undone," said Hiffom. Her face went even paler, as she thought through all the implications of this. "It will be as though… we've never had an Emperor!"

"But that will make Draconia unrecognizable," said Tileka. "We can't let it happen."

Seo looked up. "I think," she replied, "it already has."

Everyone in the room went suddenly very still. And very quiet.

"Does Draconia have a crowned prince?" Seo asked.

"Yes," Tileka said, while, at the same time, Hiffom said, "No."

They both looked at one another.

Hesitated.

"The Glarnov weapon," Arasine said, looking them both over, "took the crowned prince. Didn't it? But it hasn't completely killed him, yet." She gestured at Tileka and Hiffom. "That's why they're both so confused."

"It took a lot more than that," said Seo. She looked right at Arasine. "Didn't it?"

Arasine shook her head. "I don't know what…"

The door clattered open, and the prisoners found themselves confronted by a procession of armed guards. And one with several bowls of a substance that looked slightly like lumpy porridge. But with the wrong consistency.

Arasine spun to face the guards. Anger on her face. "You'd feed me Hilsotoch Wynolg? Like a peasant?!" She pointed to it. "I wouldn't feed this to my pet!"

The guard with the food smirked. "Get used to it, my lady," he jibed — in a low enough voice that any listening noble couldn't hear. "All you're getting, now."

The guards closest scolded him for his disrespect — but they sounded pretty half-hearted. Seemed commoners like them were generally pretty amused that they could finally act superior and disrespectful to a Lady of Draconia.

One of the other guards cleared his throat. Then fixed his eyes on Seo. "Lord Nyin wished me to inform you," he said, "that you have been sentenced to be executed at dawn. Unless, of course, you have anything further to say…"

Seo gave a long, mirthless sigh. "…to incriminate the others, so I can go free," she said. "I've heard it all before. Can't say I wasn't expecting this."

He waited for her reply.

Although he clearly felt repulsed, just looking at her.

"You tell your Lord Nyin that he's lucky I feel so weak after unlocking that mirror dimension," Seo said. Crossed her arms. "Because I might be just a girl. But I could rip him in two soon as look at him, if I wanted."

The guards all turned away, shaking their heads.

Not believing a word.

Then closed and locked the cell door.

Seo sunk down to the floor, with a heavy sigh. "Brilliant," she muttered, hands around her knees. "Execution at dawn." She paused, her eyes unfocused, her mind deep in thought. "I wonder… if that would fix things. Maybe I want to die. New regeneration and all that."

Then she realized everyone was staring at her.

Words failing all of them.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," Seo said. She grabbed up one of the bowls, trying to think how she was going to manage to eat something that yucky-looking. "I'm just thinking aloud, here." She scooped a spoonful into her mouth, and almost choked on it. "They might actually kill me for good, after all. And that'd be rubbish."

"You… did not speak out against us?" Arasine said, in a low voice.

Seo looked up.

It was the first time she understood… that every single person in that cell had assumed Seo had done exactly that. Thought she'd tried to point the finger of blame at anyone she could, in order to get out of her mess.

"I saved Hiffom," Seo said. "I played that Glarnov weapon's game so he would spare all your lives! I've been nothing but supportive of you since this whole thing began." She shook her head. "You really think I'd…?"

"But you're an alien," said Tileka. She looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Aliens have a reputation for being selfish and dishonorable."

"You gave up the Emperor's life," Hiffom added. "As if it meant nothing."

Seo put the bowl down. Meeting their eyes with her own. "I'm one of the good guys," she said. "I have to be. I'm saving Draconia."

For a few moments, no one said anything.

"But the Emperor is Draconia," said Arasine, in a very soft voice. Her eyes met Seo's, evenly. "Don't you see?"

Seo hit her hand against her head. "For the last time, I'm not going to assassinate your Emperor! I just need to warn him…!"

"Because only you, an alien, can save him?" Arasine asked. "Because he faces a threat he cannot handle?" She shook her head. "But he is Draconia, Seo. To say he cannot handle something a mere human can… is to say Draconia must be subservient to alien empires."

Seo blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"To insist on speaking to the Emperor… is to imply he requires council from an alien," Tileka added. "As if Draconians were simple, compared to other aliens."

"His life is more than the lives of every other Draconian on this planet," Hiffom concluded. "His blood is Draconia's blood, his courage Draconia's courage, his honor our honor."

Seo snapped her head around to Arasine.

Said nothing.

Just stared, for a long time. And thought. Hard.