Chapter 54. Plan to destroy the earth
Read, think, read again, answer, next question. She completed the test paper according to the diagram. There were some questions she had to skip because she didn't have any solutions. She answered questions one after another, and there seemed to be an endless queue of test questions waiting for her.
Then a signal tone sounded. Time is up. Tiny had three questions left, but she had run out of chances. The computer saved the current progress on the test paper, and then the screen went off. The candidates began to move. The chair was pushed. Some people stood up in a hurry, hoping to leave the place where they thought they had failed as soon as possible. Others sat and continued to stare at the dark screens. Perhaps they mentally re-examined all the questions, trying to get a feel for their performance. Others started chatting excitedly, comparing their answers with those of others.
Tiny slowly stood up. She didn't want to think about it anymore. Her head felt strangely empty. The exam lasted six hours and she gave it her all. She had to concentrate intensely for long periods of time and now her head started to hurt. She felt dizzy. All she wanted to do was get out and get some fresh air, and then preferably get into bed immediately. Never have to think again.
But she didn't have much time. Due to the Republic's itinerary, there was only one day left before departure.
In the corridor in front of the classroom, she met Nilf. Together they walked towards the main gate of the academy. There was the noise of students all around. Sometimes they cheered when several people had the same answer, which was obviously correct. But there are also those who sigh when they realize they have misinterpreted the problem.
"How did your exam go?" Tiny asked the half-Klingon.
"The questions are pretty passable and can be answered." He answered vaguely.
Tiny looked at him, then poked him in the side. "Hey, come on, what do you think? Are you going to get full marks?"
"I can't say yet. Everything will be revealed by then." He looked at her as well, as if a smile was forced out of his mouth. "But I think it's possible to get a perfect score. What about you?"
Tiny frowned suspiciously. "I can only be thankful that I got through."
"Stay positive. It's not as bad as you think."
"That's so kind of you." Tiny smiled tiredly. "I feel like I did just average in the exam." She sighed. "But I can't change it anymore. Come on, let's go have a beer. Maybe I can sleep better that way."
"You haven't prepared your luggage for departure yet," Nilf reminded.
"Who knows, maybe I don't need to prepare at all." She took his arm and pulled him away. "Don't talk about this now. And don't mention the exam again."
The sun was about to set, and there was a sea of fiery red clouds in the sky. The image looks like it was painted, but no artist has been able to create a painting with such tension. Nilf just nodded. They left the academy together.
Angry, Otis smashed the data pad he had been reading on the table and glared at the approaching assistant. His eyes flashed with anger at the absurdity of the information he had just received. He felt betrayed by his own people. Although he wasn't sure if these people were really still his. They were from the same planet, but apart from that, they seemed to have nothing else in common.
He stared at his assistant with angry eyes and asked, "Has this information been confirmed?"
The assistant looked at Otis and nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Call the council at once," Otis ordered, unable to control his emotions.
"Now?" The other party looked at him in disbelief. "This may be difficult..."
"I don't care," Otis snapped angrily, making the assistant take a step back.
"Yes, sir," the assistant replied, quickly turning and leaving the room.
Otis stared at the table for several minutes. If he was to face Parliament, he had to calm down. But he could hardly do it. He seemed to be able to hear his own blood rushing in his ears. He wanted to destroy the whole decoration of the room at this moment. But that doesn't get him anywhere.
He took a deep breath, walked to the window and looked outside. From here, he could overlook the entire city. In the evening sun, the air above the house ripples. It's a hot day. In fact, most days here are hot and dry. It's certainly not the most beautiful planet. But a better planet has become the new home planet for all the Cindy races. Therefore, they unanimously agreed to make this planet the seat of the Council. This is a parliament that no one really wants, but for traditional reasons they continue to keep it. Out of memories of the terrible war that destroyed the old home planet and a race of Sindi. Although this war has passed for a long time, there is no witness to it. But they were still shaken by the fact that part of Cindy no longer existed. Furthermore, the Council is now the only institution where communication between the different Sindi races still exists. There is no longer any diplomatic representation between them, and trade has almost completely ceased.
Otis no longer remembered how long he had been standing at the window. The sun had long disappeared below the horizon and the city lights were twinkling in the darkness when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he shouted back.
His aide came in and reported, "The House is assembled and ready to hear you."
"I'm here." Otis picked up the data pad on the table and walked to the door.
"Wait," his assistant stopped him.
"What's the matter?" Otis asked slowly.
"The Council is incomplete. Cindy the Crawling and Cindy the Insect are requesting leave."
"It's an acknowledgment of their guilt," Otis muttered, and he walked out of the room, heading for the conference room.
He knows the boardroom very well. As Cindy's representative, he attends every council meeting. There is a large pentagonal table in the center of the room. The four sides of the table are equipped with various types of chairs, customized according to the needs of their respective users. The fifth side is a large window in the wall, and the room behind the window is completely filled with water. This is the only way Aquatic Cindy can attend the meeting, as this species can only live in water.
When Otis walked into the conference room, representatives of Aquatic Cindy and Plant Cindy were already present. Aquatic Cindy has a slender, streamlined body, somewhat like a giant eel. At the front of his body, his body transforms into a face, but without a pronounced nose or ears. Otherwise, his face is almost human-like. Although he had a tail fin at the end of his body, the front fins developed into arms with hands, providing the basics for handling techniques.
Plant Cindy looks like a cross between an orangutan and a sloth. His face was obscured by a rich beard and long hair, which had turned white. He kept stroking his beard with his long fingers, seeming to comb it. However, his movements were slow, displaying the usual calmness of the species.
"I hope you have a reason to bring us together at such a late hour," Plant Cindy greeted Shan Mo sleepily. It makes sense for humans to compare him to being like a sloth.
"I have a reason," Otis replied angrily, throwing the datapad at them.
"Please tell us your reasons immediately," Aqua Cindy's voice was translated by the computer.
"I'll tell you. This dataslate," Otis began, gesturing wildly at it. "This dataslate contains evidence that we were deceived. And by Insect Cindy and Crawling Cindy."
"Go on." Aqua Cindy's interest was aroused.
"A few years ago, a strange group of people called Demon Yan appeared on our borders. For all of us, this was very surprising because no one had heard of this group before. We thought that they were obviously evolving rapidly. It is an exception in evolutionary history or caused by outside influences."
"Three months ago, a Demon Flame expedition ship crashed on the humanoid Cindy's home planet. We successfully salvaged the ship and crew, but kept the incident a secret."
"This is shocking," Aqua Cindy interjected angrily.
"Our scientists have successfully decoded the DNA of Demon Flame," Otis continued calmly. Then he raised his voice. "The DNA core of Demon Flame is Cindy."
There was shocked silence in the conference room. Representative Plant Cindy even let the data pad in her hand fall to the ground in surprise, making a muffled sound. Otis gave him a stern look, then bent down to pick up the dataslate.
"How is this possible?" Aquatic representative Cindy asked curiously, his fins flapping excitedly in the water. "A missing Cindy tribe?"
"We're not sure yet. But it's definitely not the Cindy. It's just part of our DNA. And only the DNA sequences that control crawling. I was hoping for an answer here, but our colleagues chose not to."
"Your accusations must be carefully investigated," Aqua Cindy demanded.
"That's not all," Otis interjected, wondering why humanoid Cindy kept revealing these things. This may be because the Aqua Cindy doesn't care about the other Clans' affairs, while the Plant Cindy is too lazy to carry out intelligence activities. "In Triangle 859J, the Crawling Cindy are building something. Something big. We have their ships under surveillance. But we can't enter that area quietly."
"That's it. You are spying on us," a deep voice came from the door of the conference room.
Otis turned around. Representatives of Crawling Cindy and Insect Cindy just walked into the room. They walked confidently to their seats, but instead of sitting down, they stood in front of the table.
"What happened? What is this special council meeting for?" Representative Creeping Cindy roared.
"How dare you be angry?" Otis retorted angrily. "You betrayed the Council! You took matters into your own hands!"
"What are you talking about?" Creepy Cindy growled dangerously.
"About the magic flames and the experiments in Area 859J," Otis threw the words to them.
"We have received evidence that the demonic flames possess the genetic sequence of the Crawling Cindy in their DNA," a representative of the Plant Cindy said in an emphatically calm tone, clearly trying to calm down his agitated colleagues. "In addition, there are indications that the Creeping Cindy is occupying Area 859J."
"Area 859J is Crawling Cindy's internal affair," Crawling Cindy responded confidently.
"No, it's not," Otis retorted. "This area used to be neutral and no Sindi group claimed sovereignty over it. If you want to occupy this area, you must discuss it with the Council in advance."
Creeping Cindy snorted disdainfully. "Parliament is a complete farce."
"Restrain yourself and turn into a snake."
"Let's focus on the facts," Aqua Cindy translated.
"Yes, we should," said Otis, still accusingly. "First of all, Demon Yan's genome contains the DNA of Crawling Cindy. How is this possible?"
"If you want to accuse us, just say so," the snake said defiantly.
"I don't need to imply anything. The facts are clear. You have tampered with the DNA of Demon Flame." Otis stood up, put his palms on the table and leaned forward.
The snake smiled mockingly, which made Otis even angrier and blushed.
"The improvement of Demonic Flame is a great achievement, I must admit. It's a pity that this credit does not go to us."
"What does this mean?" Otis could already smell that crawling Cindy represented a new diversionary tactic. But he definitely didn't intend to fall into this trap.
The insectoid beside the snake began to speak with clicks and chirps. "We created the Demon Flame," the computer also translated.
Otis hadn't expected this. He had been so convinced of Creeping Cindy's guilt that he was momentarily speechless.
"This goes against Cindy's ethics," Plant Cindy's representative Shan Mo explained in a calm voice, although his long claws and the trembling of his fingertips betrayed his excitement. "We don't share our DNA with anyone. We're diverse enough."
"That's your opinion," Rep. Insect Cindy responded simply.
"But why crawling Cindy's DNA?" Otis wondered. "Why not use your own?"
"The Fiends have always been reptilian-like creatures. When we first encountered them, they were primitive and aggressive. Their brains brought a degree of intelligence, but mostly they were governed by instinct. ," the insect man explained this incredible fact. "Since they were already reptiles, we felt that the DNA of Crawling Cindy was the best fit. But we also put our own DNA into it. So we gave the Demon Flame compound eyes. The Demon Flame got, if you will, the DNA from Crawling Cindy and The best thing about insect Cindy.”
"But... why?" Shan Mo combed his thick chin beard suspiciously with his paws, which is the symbol of all tree-dwelling animals.
"One hundred years ago, when the time thing told us that humanity would destroy us in the future, the Council decided to build a weapon that could destroy the Earth," the insect Cindy spoke at length. "We had doubts about the success of the mission. Therefore, we formulated our own plan. The goal of the plan was to pit humanity against an efficient war race that we could control. So the Demon Flame was created. A man with one purpose in mind race that existed, to fight the war for us. So that the insectoids would not have to die. Even after the primary weapons failed, the plan was never abandoned."
"But it turns out that the time thing has its own agenda," Otis retorted, stunned. "Humanity never intended to destroy us; on the contrary, destroying humanity would lead to our own destruction."
"Who said that?" Crawling Cindy, who turned into a snake, interrupted unceremoniously. "Of course what humans tell is a lie. They will never admit that they planned genocide."
"But the truth..." Otis trailed off.
"The facts clearly indicate that humans are going to destroy us. They just misinterpreted the facts. But humans have always been cowards. Only we, the Crawling Sindy, at least try to safeguard Sindy's interests. Therefore, we should rule over all Sindy." Snake Ambition said vigorously.
Otis's eyes darkened. Shan Mo, the representative of the plant Cindy, widened his eyes in fright, while the tong fish, the representative of the aquatic Cindy, accelerated his swimming.
"Once humanity is wiped out, we will rule over all Sindy," the snake said confidently.
Otis looked at him grimly from below. "what do you want to say?"
The snake was so proud that he could not stop boasting. "As you have discovered, we are occupying triangle area 859J. We are building a weapon there, and we will use it to destroy the earth forever."
...
