This chapter takes place sometime after Chapter 41 in SFTD.

The times Wiki lived in made her glad to be created.

Sure, there was the unpleasantness of the war between humans and ADVENT—or whoever else wanted to oppose ADVENT in that former category—but she never thought she would be party to alien royalty! Not to mention being able to interview them.

Which was what she was setting up for now. She intended to ask about every question she could come up with under the sun to them individually, then maybe consult a few more general answers as a group. Shazara-Ta was the first on her list. They were all very willing to answer her questions, but she supposed she could pick one and then run through the rest.

Wiki was currently seated on a chair made entirely out of plants, thanks to Celosia. She was going to love asking her a thousand questions about the process, but she forced herself to stay on task. Shazara-Ta himself was draped over a floral couch, as comfy as could be to answer whatever Wiki had for him.

"Alright. King Shazara-Ta, do you consent to being recorded?"

"I do." A corner of his mouth tugged back in a smile. "Ready for whatever you have for me."

"Of course, of course." Wiki started the recording in her mind. "Codex Wiki presiding over interview number one. Subject is Shazara-Ta of..."

"Zheng-rai. That's about as close as I can get in the human tongue."

"Shazara-Ta of Zheng-rai. I will be asking whatever questions come to mind, though I will try to maintain some kind of order." Wiki crossed her legs. "Who are you, Shazara-Ta?"

"A king of a planet that recognizes me not." He sat up slightly. "I was the third son of Kin-Ta, born of his first royal consort Dezin-Ku. My oldest brother rejected the throne, while the younger... died of scale-flit."

"If I am not insensitive in asking, what is scale-flit?"

"It is a virus on my planet that chiefly infects Neonates. It attacks the immune system, then weakens the layer of flesh that holds our scales, causing them to weaken and fall off. Scales that grow to replace them are brittle and break at the slightest provocation. Without scales, our species is defenseless and weak, and the weakening of the immune systems opens up the young Neonates to other diseases they would normally fight off."

"How is it transmitted?"

"An... insect, I believe the term here is, known as an ilkon. They burrow beneath our scales and root themselves there, biting us to gain access to our blood. It's a painful bite they cause, so Neonate cries are treated very seriously. However, once bitten, if the attending nurse Viper doesn't act quickly, they could already be host to scale-flit."

Wiki nodded. Quite the tangent. "Alright. How does succession usually go?"

"Male Vipers," Shazara-Ta began, "are rare, compared to female Vipers. There are certain ingestible medicines to help the chances, which are typically offered to the royal family. Males born within the family, to the King, are the ones next in line for succession. I believe humans actually have a similar construct for royalty?"

"Very much so. What about the Queen?"

"The Queen is the consort that birthed the next of kin. I suppose that is where the human conventions and ours differ—the Queen was not the partner of the King, but rather, his advisor. It was typical for the Queen to be much older than the King—though with how fast our kind matures, the difference is not evident for too long. But, I digress." Shazara-Ta rolled his hand. "Once a male is born to the royal house, he is raised as the darling of the family until he has matured. After that, he is given the choice. The throne, or his own desires."

"Huh. Succession isn't a guaranteed thing?"

"Indeed. It is near guaranteed, because what kind of Viper wouldn't want to be King? There was even a time in the past where succession was forced upon them. But, after a few societal reforms—mostly by my... hm, grandfather, is it? My father's father?"

"Correct."

"Good. My grandfather was the one to institute a majority of the reforms, including allowing sons of the royal family to choose their own destiny. It hadn't actually been put to use before Izhin-Ta put it to the test and went his own way. Quite the fuss that stirred, and honestly I wonder to this day what would make him deny the throne."

"Well, personal choice is always an important deal." Wiki shrugged. "And everyone has their reasons. I'd imagine one that would make him refuse the throne would be a valid one."

"I suppose." Shazara-Ta sighed, looking off to the side. "I guess it's my nature of taking gladly to the responsibility that makes me question his decision. But, it was his, and... I hope he found his happiness before ADVENT arrived."

Wiki nodded, resolving to come back to the invasion of ADVENT later. "I have to ask—how is the royal family sustained? What is the societal impact of having one family in power?"

"You'd be surprised at how the power is upheld between us and the people. But, your first question first. I made mention of royal consorts, and I will mention them again. Consorts are chosen after they pass an aptitude test. Considering any one of them has just as likely chances of becoming Queen, it is only right that they all are competent enough to take the throne. Typically, Kings only hold one or two at a time—any more than that was simply seen as lecherous. The consorts may quit at any time they wish—even while pregnant! The royal house will pay for their maternity needs up until the Neonate is of age."

"That sounds..." Not exploitable, certainly not. Wiki could imagine that the aptitude test was strict. "... interesting, I must say. Perhaps good on the royal family/house for looking after them like that."

"It's only expected. After all, it would be the King's fault that the consort is pregnant. Best he continues to assist her if he can't be there in person." He laced his hands together, the tip of his tail gently swaying. "As for the power dynamic between us and the people? The King and Queen do start the decisions, but then what they wish is passed onto the House of the Voice—an institution funded by the non-royals, where Vipers can go to vote on where they stand regarding our decisions. Before the voting starts, we are given time to make our case to the people regarding why we are trying to pass what we are. We present our evidence and try to sway them to our side—but ultimately, it is in their hands as to whether or not it passes. They are the ones who will have to live with what we decree, after all."

"Is there one singular House of the Voice?"

"Ah, we refer to them all singularly. Every city had them—and when voting times started, free transportation could be arranged to them. With the ease of voting and the public awareness of how much impact you had on your own future, turnout was always consistently very high. Admittedly, we suffered from some... fudging of the numbers in our past, but the people eventually said 'get your act together or we're ousting you entirely.' Considering we still have the royal family, we rightfully capitulated to the former."

"Nothing like the threat of revolution to get royalty to shape up."

"Oh, I'd definitely say. Plus, if you ask me, it's the royalty's charge to look out for the people. Being in such a position of power comes with that responsibility." He then gestured to Wiki. "Other questions?"

"Right, right." Well, they were on the topic of society. "So there was the royal family—were there any other Vipers in positions of power?"

"Of course. We had Vipers as leaders of individual cities and towns, those decided on by public vote of course. They handled various responsibilities for the city, such as where to direct civic funds and managing the local enforcement. To avoid corruption, there were two types of inspections done—one from a public body, and one from the royal family. Records would be checked, business owners would be questioned, and anonymous surveys would be taken."

"Hard to bribe both at once, I'd imagine."

"That was the thinking. I kept on top of corruption for the short time I was ruling."

Short time? That perked Wiki's ears. "... to the best conversion of Earth time that you know, how long were you a ruler?"

Shazara-Ta looked down in thought. "—I was ruler for three moons... I really don't know how to convert that. If it's any kind of comparison, Viper Kings are known to rule for over three hundred moons. I wasn't King long before ADVENT came."

Wiki grew quiet for a second. Her insatiable curiosity burned to ask her next question, but she knew she could come off as badgering or insensitive. "Not long at all, then. Forgive me for asking if it's intrusive, but what was First Contact like for your planet?"

"Don't fear for intruding too much. If I don't say what I know, nobody will." Shazara-Ta turned his head to the side, staring at something off in the distance. "... I've taken the time to compare Earth's technology to ours. We were quite farther ahead in some aspects—mostly our ability to probe the reaches of space. We actually spotted a few planets with intelligent life, but were still working on ways to reach out somewhere in a Viper's lifetime. We turned our eyes to the stars one day to see a fleet of ships heading our way. With no way to reach out to them first, we hoped and prayed they were peaceful. They were approaching fast, and I took to the populace, asking what they wished to do. A sizeable majority wanted to welcome the visitors with open arms... so we tried.

"It... shouldn't be too hard to imagine what happened from there. We had no sort of alien defense force—and we hadn't fought wars or needed weapons in ages. My people were slaughtered and captured. We found a frequency to contact them on and I laid myself at their feet in surrender, asking them to leave my subjects be." His sigh was full of frustration. "A coward. That was what I was. I know it was for the best in the end, but I can only imagine what they rightfully thought of me before ADVENT took me away. From what I hear from Shel-Za, they took a Viper willing to bend to their commands, installed him as King, and have been mining the planet for resources ever since. The next thing I know... so much time has passed. They drugged me and kept me for genetic material, as far as I know. My first moment of clarity after that was when the lab I and my fellow rulers were being kept in was raided by Vahlen's forces. You know the rest of the story from then."

Wiki's hands settled in her lap. "... I don't think you're a coward for wanting your people to be safe above you. I think that's the opposite, in fact. You did what you could with what you knew."

Shazara-Ta chuckled bitterly. "You sound just like the others. I want to accept that as fact, I do. But I'm always left with the doubt that maybe there was something I could have done. Maybe I should've realized that there would be others out there like us, with the capacity to see our cosmic neighbors... and to realize that some of them would wish for our deaths."

"The Elders have technology far outstripping any of the planets they took over. Even if you were prepared, like Earth tried to be..."

He hissed out another sigh. "Oh, let me wallow in my regrets in peace. I'll get it out of my system eventually." Definitely wanting for a different topic of conversation, he looked back at Wiki. "Do this King a favor? Let us move on from the topic."

Wiki nodded. "Alright. I have to ask—what were the original Vipers like?"

"You would be able to see that in my court. Shel-Za... who I really need to crown Queen, considering she gave me the gift of Luina-Ta... is a prime subject. Vipers have internal venom sacs—honestly, any bulging is seen as a health problem and a common sign of irritation of the glands, but I've become somewhat used to the sight of the ADVENT Viper's modifications. It's not like they can help it, after all. Longer tails, as well—I suppose ADVENT clipped ours for space, or other genetic reasons." Indeed; Shazara-Ta's tail was longer than the other Vipers Wiki was used to dealing with. "Otherwise, outside of simply ensuring there were no males for the females to mate with? They didn't change us much, it seems. I was entirely surprised, yet not complaining, when I learned that ADVENT Vipers aren't sterile."

One didn't need to think long to figure how he found that out. Muttering a short "I see" to show she acknowledged the point but was a little too nervous to ask about it, Wiki went on to her next question. "To your knowledge, can Vipers have the Gift?"

"Not that I know of." Shazara-Ta shrugged. "I've heard there is an installation on this ship that would allow one to gain psionics, and I was half-interested in trying it out myself." For a second, he looked rather bitter, but shook his head—and with it, the expression. "It's not as if I can become any more of a perversion of nature. I need to get these thorns shaved..."

"I'm sure Tygan would be willing to help with that, if not extract them entirely."

Shazara-Ta bristled for a second, then sighed again. "I still can't believe Celosia was fine going there on her own... but, I digress. Perhaps he could help. I would just need to fight down every urge to lash out at him for his choice of apparel and location."

Right. Wiki had been told the circumstances of the situation by Eliza when she asked. She looked to the side. "Sorry for being insensitive."

"Please. It was a suggestion born of good intentions." Shazara-Ta sat up more properly. "Celosia was right, anyway. I need to give that man more of a chance. I trust the Commander of this ship, so whoever she has on her vessel must have proved themselves worthy somehow. Even if I had my reservations about the Chosen at first, I have come to trust them just as well. Perhaps my opinion is slightly colored knowing the Assassin was responsible for saving Luina-Ta in his time of need, but I believe it an action attesting to her character."

"Well, you're not the only one who might be biased." Wiki spread her hand out. "Mordenna literally brought me back to life, so I really owe it to him now. I think they've genuinely turned themselves around, honestly."

"Agreed." Shazara-Ta's smile was tired, but fond. "Luina-Ta keeps asking about when he can see the 'two-legged nice alien' again. I suppose I need to ask the Assassin if she would be fine visiting him at some point."

While Wiki chuckled at the thought of Fal-Mai babysitting a Neonate, the door opened. Shel-Za was on the other side, leaning in. "Ah—am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing that we can't just continue later." Wiki stood up. "If you need him for something, go right ahead."

"Thank you, Wiki." Shel-Za came in. "My King? Rodin asks for you."

"If this is about that whole 'legs' business," Shazara-Ta fondly grumbled, getting up, "I'll have him know that I think he'd look just as lovely with a tail." He nodded to Wiki. "I'd be fine continuing the interview at another time, if you are."

"Of course!" Wiki bowed. "Thank you for letting me have the chance to learn more about you and your kind."

Shazara-Ta waved the gesture off. "No need to be so formal, I'm hardly a King anymore. Still, you are certainly welcome."

Shazara-Ta left with Shel-Za. Wiki stopped the recording, putting her hands on her hips. "One down, three to go."