Oh--thank you, [ he says, for the offer. He's genuinely touched by it. It reminds him of how immediately Gavial and Ryouma and Dimitri had offered him the same. They're a good bunch, here at the end of the world. ] That actually reminds me of something else important. History around here about past Zenith-Meridian conflict, the origins of the Oracles and all that, even ecological events--it's pretty thin on the ground. The libraries don't have anything.

What I've been told basically boils down to--

[ A pause to gather his thoughts. ]

Yima was the first person to arrive in Kenos.

There've been five other generations of Shard-Bearer before us, and all of those conflicts had a victor. That is, the split between Oracles wasn't a tie. It also wasn't a clean sweep for any one side, so as far as I understand, some of the local Meridian and Zenith boosters have argued that's why the restoration of worlds or creation of a new one hasn't happened yet.

[ There's more to say for sure--about Aetos, about hands tugging strings from behind the scenes. But Matt doesn't want to overload her. Especially not with things that may be closer to rumor than not. ]

The likeliest place in Springstar to have more information is the Church in Heliopolis. That's where they keep a lot of the records, apparently. But ah, only high-ranking Meridians get to go there.