Interlude R

  Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Erd simulation

  Year 1995 of the Current Era (local time)

  After forces from the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska captured Srebrenica, a large group of Bosniak refugees, attempting to flee northwards, has gathered in the village of Poto?ari. Declared a safe area by the United Nations, Poto?ari houses the headquarters of the small peacekeeping force supposedly protecting the local civilians. But for a while, the Republika forces have been taking Bosniak men and boys away from the refugee camps to execute them, and the bloodlust has been growing to the point that the streets are now littered with bodies. Just outside the UN compound, Republika soldiers patrolling the refugee camp walk up to a woman and her young son sitting on the ground. Words are exchanged, then one of the soldiers, enraged and growling, draws a large knife and stabs the young boy. The soldier proceeds to cut off the boy’s head, leaving his body on the mother’s lap, then stabs the head and lifts it up for all to see.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Given the circumstances, it is unsurprising that no one pays very close attention to the drops of blood falling from the decapitated head. Nevertheless, it so happens that these drops take unexpected shapes that, if you studied them carefully, would seem to resemble the letters of the Dutch alphabet. If one were to place these letters in a sequence determined by the time they impact on the ground, the following message would appear: “We appreciate your willingness to assist Erd in this difficult time. The weapons we suggest you employ against its present assailants are simply a variant of those assailants themselves, programmed to target those assailants and use the energy they have collected to replicate themselves. The procedure is straightforward, assuming mastery of magical constructs, energy collection, and self-replication. Are we correct to assume that you have mastered these capabilities?”