I must admit your report is most… disappointing. It seems we were mislead, which has dealt a harsh blow to my ego, to be sure. But at least my contingent was wise enough to plan our escape route, should such a disaster as the one which has befallen us arise. I would encourage you to follow us. You still have that chance. The invitation is open, your seat is ready.
I don’t think you’ll gain much by staying. In fact, I don’t you’ll gain anything at all, besides a newfound appreciation for pain. The effects of our… operation are… I would like to say they are reversible, but saying something doesn’t necessarily make it true. You of all people should understand that. We can both look outside and see what is happening. The natural disaster is building upon itself as we speak. Was that what we intended? Not what I understood us to intend, of course. And all of this is deeply regrettable, to say the least. And it is in fact regrettable that we didn’t have a larger escape operation for the rest of the planet, but most of our finances had to go to the operation itself for it to run through. And we can say to each other that of course in retrospect we should have spurred a little bit more of that cash into our contracts up above, but of course, so much has changed now in retrospect that we simply can’t judge our past decisions based on the present, least not fairly. The situation is as it is, and the snows will keep falling, presumably forever. This world is doomed, and every living being on it is damned as well, perhaps besides some of the hardier plants and protozoa. Already there is a grand darkness which is consuming the sky in the south. We are, as of recording, unsure of what this anomaly is, although we are sure that is related to our operative’s success, and our failure of understanding what that success would entail.
But, again, I am disappointed with your report. I am proud of you for organizing the evacuation of Jehenessburg. I trained you well in that respect. Your governmental abilities are to be commended, that is certain. But I am unhappy that you think that you can fight this, that you can flee from it. You have enough knowledge of the program to understand that even though we may have been wrong in this respect, in our prizes and the devastation of the world, we were not wrong in the sense that this thing is incredibly strange. So strange in that there must be no reason in even fighting it, at least these repercussions. With the Burning One we had time. We had the combined resource of dozens of years and thousands of dedicated scholars, and with all that expertise we came away with this situation. How much time do we have now before the crimson tinged darkness falls upon us? Maybe a month? Two? And how many scholars will we have? There are maybe three people with the combined intellectual rigor and heroic will necessary for understanding one twentieth of what we see before us. Two months. Three people. While the very world is ending.
And then of course you will counter that we could receive further help from our fellows in the stars. And then I might remind you that we are already receiving that help in evacuation. Our dues have been paid in full, but we don’t have enough wealth to find any further aid. Do you think that they’ll come over here, whisk everyone away purely out of a humanitarian sentiment? No. Our brethren are much like us, and where we fail, they will fail as well. Nevermind their technological advancement. They are not so brilliant that they could understand this, least I don’t expect them to. It would be a miracle for them to do so, and we do not pray for miracles here. They do no exist. You understand that, right? We must work on what we understand about the universe, and pry at that which we don’t. Presumably more slowly than what we did here, but you get what I’m saying.
The ship is chartered. We have our plots secured in the outer worlds. With what cash will we procure another vessel? What benevolence will run through a war torn galaxy so that we receive a full evacuation? So even while your deed was impressive, all it did was buy a few people a few more days. So they can enjoy the coming devastation longer. I understand that this must feel extraordinarily perverse, that in your doing of a good deed you simply did wrong, but then this whole situation is perverse. The very foundational concept of this apocalypse to begin with, that is perverse as well. And we’re dealing with that, too. There’s not an answer, not on the horizon, and there will never be an answer for us, not if we allow ourselves to die. You will more reasonably find the answer than any of the others on this planet, maybe even myself included. So, I beg of you, come follow us. If you want any recompense for our wrong doings, our poor judgment, the only way you’ll find any of that is if you keep your head above your shoulders. Your seat is chartered, and it will be leaving in a week. I hope to see you here.