As I seated myself back on my taboret—once more forced to look down on people—Ragni took off the panel in front of it, lifted the Elem Mil Nadua out of its recess and rolled it out on top of the panel. For now it was mostly a simple white cloth but in time Ragni would fill it out with colorful patterns that would come to symbolize her time as my Captain. Next were the Shenneru and the Pagumogne: items too fancy to be called a cup and a coffee pot respectively. The former was made in the obsidian darkness of the void with decorations in shining gold like a sun. In other words: the same as a Vugni, the same as me. Like the walls of the Command Center the Pagumogne was decorated with warriors, mystics, and warrior mystics—the two categories tended to blend together a lot in Mezhained history—made from the same pale wood of the Tazhenannuk tree and blood nacre produced by its Yevegorellum symbiote.

First Ragni placed the Shenneru in the center of the Elem Mil Nadua, then, with careful, practiced movement, handed the Pagumogne to Salukam who held it above his eye height before decanting the coffee with circular motions. The dark liquid descended in a thin stream, slowly filling up the Shenneru with nary a sound. Amidst the great care he took, Salukam recited the proper words:

Flower unfurling upon the Everblazing Tree.

Light of of the Ineffable All shines through you.

Let the Father of the Void keep his cold knife.

His lesson already known to us since ancient days.

Allow our lives their own lights flickering at the Border of Creation.

So it will be.

His words finished, Salukam had allowed just enough coffee in the Shenneru before the surface tension gave up and spilled over the edges. Supposedly a good omen but to me it looked like a contest to see who could brag about pouring the most coffee in a fancy cup.

Next Ragni handed him the Yashar Korellum: the knife that spills the light of small fires. Libations offered to any secondary had the option of becoming a blood offer to make the devotion to one's Vugni just that little bit more proper. When offering to the prime avatar, however, a dosage of blood was always expected.

I sat up straighter.

The Yashar's small curved blade caught the light momentarily as Salukam let it silently cross the tip of his thumb. Crimson beads welled up from the tiny wound. Not enough to drip in to the Shenneru. Pressing his index finger just below the cut, Salukam coaxed more of his sticky Mezhained blood out.

One drop.

Two drops.

That was enough to break the surface tension and beads of the black drink spilled out on to the hydrophobic surface of the Elem Mil Nadua. Having the spill happen at the moment of blood offering was another one of those good omens. Not that I cared.

Just give me more blood, Nuvainom.

Only two more drops was all Salukam could manage. Oh well, that had to do.

Everything in this ritual was done with great care. Even the way a Captain presented the libations to his or her Vugni. Spilling the coffee was required when lifting the panel with the Elem Mil Nadua and Shenneru, but spilling too much wouldn't do. Luckily it was rare for a Mezhained to have an unsteady hand and my own dear Captain was no exception.

Still the Shenneru was very full and I had to steady my own hands to not add more droplets to the Elem Mil Nadua. At times like these I was happy for a mechanical body. I allowed a slight disassociation in my arms to instill a smooth operation lifting the Shenneru to my lips.

The coffee kicked with a strength I had come to appreciate. Somewhere else on my Greater Self there was a grating annoyance, but I did not let it reach my prime avatar as I drank to get to the blood. The thin swirls had their own warmth and I quietly praised the anti-coagulant in my coffee. Salukam was the kind to be more in touch with his technoma and probably felt from that that he was of exemplary physical health. His problems were of a different domain.

Entirely too quickly, the Shenneru had gone empty. I glanced at Salukam's thumb. Nothing was coming out of there anymore. Mezhained blood coagulated too fast in the naked air. Definitely way faster than Becca's. I should be glad I got any at all. All that remained of the coffee were a few droplets, most of which trembling on that fancy little cloth. I regarded them silently.

The attitude of the Mezhained towards divination was a tricky one. There was a sort of taboo about it. Sort of. It was intertwined with practices of contemplation. Many times now I've seen those of my crew who would empty a bag of screws on a cloth to ponder the patterns they fell in, sometimes sitting down but often pacing around it to take the relations of the immediate surroundings to the screwy happenstances into account. They'd say it brought them closer to the Ineffable All, which, in the case of the Illustrious Siblings I readily believed. Most of the regular crew not so much. They had silly little charts. Not just for screws, but many small items that could be thrown into a heap.

For the droplets on the Elem Mil Nadua there were no such charts. The unwritten rule was that the Vugni, through her prime avatar, interpreted one's fortunes but kept them quiet. All I saw was a circular constellation little brown droplets. Maybe I could vaguely interpret it as a nebula or an odd galaxy if I unfocused the lenses in my eyes.

It didn't matter. I was sure my friend Salukam would do well.

Was he my friend? Was it possible for me to be something other than a deity to these people?

This ritual so precisely kept to over so long a time began to crush me. How could someone like me be worthy of reverence like that? Ancient human trash had taken the place of the real Shissurna and all these people were being lied to.

I forced a big gasp of air in my artificial lungs and played it off as me having too intensely drunk the offering. It wasn't the time to think those thoughts. It never was.

Without too swift movements I put the Shenneru back down with three and then even four hands. At this point the ritual was properly over. "Thank you so much, Nuvainom." There was no problem calling him by his given name. Outiside of Ragni none of the other command crew heard it.

"It was an honor, Ship." He still kept to titles. Perhaps there was more work to do bringing down his walls.

"An honor you've earned today, Salukam." Ragni used his family name. She too felt his stiffness. "I will be sure to incorporate your findings in my own report and mention you by name."

"That would be too much, ma'am."

"I will do it regardless. As for you, you are relieved of your duties for the rest of the day or until you feel pride in your work, whichever comes last. That is an order."

That was enough to wipe some seriousness off his face. "I will try my best, ma'am."

"Good to hear. Now go."

Salukam nodded, rose to his feet, turned around, and... for a moment stood still, wondering what to do with his free time, before walking off the command dais and exiting through the Command Center's evening door.

Right about then the infuriating annoyances moved in closer to the command center.

I jumped off my taboret again. "Hey, Ragni?"

"Hm?" She was putting the ritual implements back in their places.

"How about you take a nap after you're done with that? You look exhausted."

"Exhausted? Whatever are you talking about? I feel like a freshly wound spring."

"You're at risk of becoming exhausted if you don't take a rest right now."

"What? Now I'm 'at risk'?" She laughed it away.

"Regardless, you've worked enough today."

She had finished cleaning off the Elem Mil Nadua and was in the process of folding it back up. "I have barely started writing my report. I would like to get a good portion of it done today."

"Then let's go to your private quarters where you won't be distracted." I walked over to the early morning door.

Some confusion subtly translated into her physical language as she craned her neck around to take stock of the Command Center. "There's only Melusum and Kanmurdi here right now." Of those two only Kanmurdi seemed to take note of my actions but was mostly preoccupied with her work.

I slammed the door shut. "Right now." Two voices could be heard murmuring on the other side.

Even Melusum paused from his work. He, Kanmurdi, and Ragni watched me brace myself against the door, blocking all efforts from the other side to open it.

"Go away," I called out. "You're interrupting ritual!"

The annoyance behind the door could be heard through an air vent above. "What ritual would that be where you alone are allowed to shout?"

"The one where you don't have to soil us with your presence!"

"Let Dzayiss and Lennaivu in, Shishi." There was a look in Ragni's face. The kind where a subtle smile informed who was actually in charge.

I let one hand go of the door, then a second, a third, and, finally, the rest. I took two steps aside, looking away as the door swung open behind me.