After a few days in Shoros, I was called into an adjoining room by the one responsible for me on that ship: Auxer, a female Xeranto who, to my surprise, spoke my language without any translator.
It wasn't just her; many had learned it — a delicate attempt to make me feel welcome among them.
A gesture that felt almost affectionate.
Just like the Sekvens, the Xerantos are capable of uniting their minds.
However, unlike them, this union does not grant unrestricted access to one another's deepest soul.
It is a more contained connection — used to convey teachings, share information, organize colossal projects, or sometimes just to converse.
Even so, the sensation of collective power that emanated from them was impressive.
As the oldest and most dominant species in the Known Universe, the Xerantos carried a past much like ours:
warriors, conquerors, benevolent, cruel, indifferent...
until one day, they simply evolved.
The Xerantos say that in this part of the cosmos, life eventually walks toward the union of minds.
Sooner or later. Just a matter of time.
When they reached that new stage, they felt the need to find other civilizations that had discovered the same kind of understanding — and, above all, the joy of living in true harmony.
That was when the Miliameds introduced them to a young human woman: Milena Liebe.
They prepared a monumental reception, with hundreds of thousands of Xerantos gathered to witness the first mental union with a newly arrived species.
But what happened that day exceeded any prediction.
Milena — without any intention of greatness — opened her heart completely.
She offered herself entirely — soul, emotion, pure love —
and before that, every Xeranto present knelt.
A scene so impossible that it became myth instantly.
Beyond the innocent love she radiated, she revealed a capability no other being possessed:
the total surrender of self.
As I walked beside Auxer through the immense space city, something in her expression changed when she saw Sekvens in the distance —
a shine of admiration so sincere it betrayed memory.
Perhaps Auxer was there, on that historic day.
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Perhaps she was remembering the scolding Milena gave them when she saw them prostrated —
a reprimand so spontaneous that even Farol, leader of the Xerantos for more than sixty thousand years, stood up like a child caught in mischief.
Milena did not care about titles, ancestry, power, or species.
She simply said what needed to be said.
And that shook the structure of the Known Universe.
There the Goddess was born. The Empress.
And a dozen other titles she herself rejects.
To everyone, Milena remains just Milena.
Some still kneel, but only to receive in return the gentle "scolding" of the Sekvens —
a correction as affectionate as it is symbolic.
It was thanks to her that the Xerantos learned part of my language and my culture.
They wanted me to feel like one of them —
even knowing I could never share the energy that all the others loved so much.
"Have you gotten used to the breathing?" Auxer asked.
She was young — at least by their standards —
just over five thousand of my years.
"I'm adjusting," I replied with a slight smile.
"Even with the medication, there's still something odd... but I know what it is now."
"With so many species aboard, adapting the air becomes complicated,"
she said with the serenity of someone discussing a domestic detail.
They took me to two indoor parks.
One simulated the desert of Xeranto — vast, dry, silent —
almost a replica of the homeworld.
The other, cold and filled with vegetation, imitated Anteia —
the world of the Sekvens.
There was beauty in both — opposite and complementary,
like two different ways of breathing.
Later, in one of the countless restaurants aboard, I tasted the same food served to the Sekvens.
Our diets were similar, which made coexistence easier.
"Farol wants to speak with you," Auxer said as we walked.
"We're going to a conference room. He's in Xeranto."
My heart accelerated immediately.
I had never imagined hearing something like that.
But I calmed myself when I noticed how naturally Auxer spoke his name —
without reverence, without formality.
It was impossible to imagine that before they all burst into laughter at Milena's gentle reprimand.
There, they understood a new step of evolution: true humility.
When we arrived at the room,
eighty Sekvens were already gathered at the door.
They entered in respectful silence and hugged each of the twelve Xerantos present —
quickly, because they could not withstand the radiant energy of the Sekvens for long —
but the emotion was palpable.
Seeing all that made me feel a strange kind of envy.
I would never be able to experience that shared energy,
that wave of crystalline feelings only they understood.
And I felt guilty for that envy.
"It's not only you who suffers," Brenna said, approaching with that sweet gaze that seemed to pull the body closer.
"For us, it's strange not being able to hug you.
It feels like something is missing."
"I'm sorry," I replied, still embarrassed.
"Don't apologize." She smiled.
"Soon you will know our love."
My heart nearly stopped.
There were many ways to interpret those words —
and none made me less uneasy.
Melissa had already warned me,
but hearing it from others made the ground shift beneath me.
I realized my life did not belong to me anymore...
maybe it never had.
When I noticed,
I was surrounded by them.
They didn't touch me;
they just smiled.
For the Sekvens, a smile is the most intimate and sincere greeting.
I repeated to myself silently:
Smile.
Smile.
Smile.
It is a privilege to be here.
A rare privilege.
And despite everything,
I knew it was true.
