Though the fact that this discovery could destroy everything that was the foundation of this species' sciences, Khane kept quiet about it. For there were forces far beyond his authority which concerned themselves with this matter. The International Society for Cosmic Sciences had poured the yearly GDP of about eight nations into this project. The greatest of the government officials had halted the discovery budget of about three galaxies which could support life. The amount of time and money spent on this project by the number of influential people was absolutely mind boggling. Though it seemed that Khane and his team had worked hard on the final stages the project would most likely have been successful even without their involvement.
Khane had only worked in small groups, though his work required him to collect and verify data from a plethora of various organizations he either did it personally or with the help of his five teammates. No one else had the authority to study his files except them. Hence the emotional and physical fatigue from the job was astounding. Many eminent scientists had left the project not because of government pressure, but because they could not bring themselves to provide the quality that was asked, and considered themselves unworthy.
After completing his final report, Khane signed off the copy and sent it directly to the office of the World Government, an entity which was formed after all of the nations decided to support the cause of science. Khane knew the amount of conspiracies his predecessor had carried out to achieve this. He had dirtied his hands himself.
Khane wore his brown coat and took his set of documents to the Zenorail, due to the importance of this project multiple lines were laid out throughout the country. Though the telepods weren't really dangerous, Khane was a man of old customs. Khane took out his set of essentials and soaked them in one by one, another old habit of his. While exiting the facility he had asked for any previous records of Gods and any known relic pertaining a possible myth or tale that he could possibly read. Honestly he was quite baffled when the system showed up over 318 million individual stories of God.
The Zenorail stopped as his stop had arrived. Khane got down and was soon greeted by Rika a robotic pet that was honestly the only thing that Khane had any liking for though today he didn't even listen to its cries of joy upon seeing its master return, there was a far heavier realization that had gripped him. Khane thought about how the world government will deal with this anomaly. Can they even imagine one such scenario? He tuned in on the live broadcast from the Chaflik station:
There were crowds of people witnessing the spectacle outside a giant white dome structure, the structure ought to be at the very least 2000 meters tall and 4000 meters wide. The capital city was chock full of people. One could not even see the ground or discern any direction as there was no apace for movement. The AI had an extremely difficult task to avoid crashing everybody, but by seeing that almost nobody was hurt, it seems it was doing a good job. There was not a single soul out there who was unhappy. Everyone was chanting the name of some legendary figures, who had made this possible all the way from Frit Lort, the very first government leader who passed this resolution to Khane himself, interest in knowing their personal life had skyrocketed. Pages where their entire lives were put on display from their elementary results to their love lives, everything was been read with a massive amount of enthusiasm. Banners, chants and praises were very much allowed in the university in stark contrast to previous affairs, where as much as a call to your distant friend could land you into trouble.
However the broadcast was cut short and an interesting message popped up. Interrupting the program Khane's connection was cut off. 'Prof. Riel Khane, you are requested to reach your office the President urgently demands your presence. You shall be escorted by the your personal task force we request you to comply.'
Could they have understood it this early? Khane thought to himself, surely it wasn't possible that they had understood all of the information so fast? There was a vast variety of responses that could be awaiting Khane, maybe they had already understood that they were no match and they ad hatched a plan to escape the local group of galaxies? just in case. Needless to say Khane wasn't shocked by the message and simply complied. No matter what they did Trucia was just too much for Khonrur to handle. It was as if a stick holding baby was put up against a hyperspace bullet. There was no chance for the baby to even comprehend its surroundings, it was already too late.
As the message detailed, there were some twenty odd guards brandishing state of the art weaponry waiting for him. Each of them carried weapons and skills which was rumored to be more than enough to subjugate a small city. Rika looked scared and was trying to defend them by barking loudly and closely following Khane. The guard at the front gestured him to leave Rika back, Khane just gave a command to turn off its AI and Rika became emotionless. "Return to home," Khane ordered and the pet followed dilligently. Khane himself quietly occupied the empty seat that was placed for him and refused any drinks. It was a twenty minute drive from his residence to the administrative council if he travelled by the fastest available transportation to the public, however in the carriage sent by the President of the World Government, it took seven and a half seconds.
Even though Khane was the most important man in the world after the president, he was nowhere near the level that the president enjoyed. This was evident in the literal palace that he lived in. After entering through about seven different doors, Khane stood before the one man whom the world bowed to. According to protocol, he was to kneel and report his rank and reason within five seconds or he could be tried with the obstruction of justice crime, which carried real punishment when it concerned the president.
However, he cared little about such trivial details now. Something far greater had arrested his attention, he could not be bothered.
Evidently the man carried a lot of charm, he worn a suit which was slightly flowy. He had worn an all black suit and pant however clothes mattered little, since you could change its color and texture in a fraction of a second today. The most captivating part about him was his smile, an incredibly warm smile that never seemed to falter or fade, it was not so much as plastered on his face but it wasn't a small grin either. Everything about him felt just right from his hazel eyes to his clean jawline.
"Mr. Khane, why didn't you follow protocol?" President questioned, his steely gaze meeting dead eyes. "Why didn't you report your findings to the office of the ISCS on time?"
"I was asked not to." Khane replied calmly. "By Geobt Karl." he added. "The protocol required me to not speak of any event that may jeopardize the celebration"
"Listen if you understand even a little bit about how crucial this issue is," He came in close to Khane with the eyes now going from hazel to a bloodshot red, "you will never joke about it, if you so much so breathe wrong there are going to be riots, this information alone could endanger the lives of millions."
The President moved away from him and drank off some liquid from a flask. "Your discovery has lead to massive amount of intrigue from them."
For the first time since discovering the fallen city, Khane felt real emotion, truly if there was someone possibly on the same scale as the trucia, it had to be them.
"The Overlanders have sent a message," the President stated before dressing up. Soon Khane realized that not all doors were doors to inner halls, they were gates.
"Get ready, we are going to meet them, now." The president stated as the effect of leaving the atmosphere finally hit.