Harbinger/11

Salutation
This was something unusual to Daniel, so he naturally asked, [[What's Salutation?]]

[[It is a ceremony held whenever psionically potent leaders of previously unmet groups meet each other, and it is one of the most influential of events. The last salutation was held back a millennium ago, when Adun and the Dark Templar underwent Salutation-]]

[[Wait, there's DARK templar?]]

The Protoss did not respond that that, but Daniel felt their upswelling of anger at the mention of what seems to be their foes. [[-The Salutation before that was ill-fated, as it was with the Zerg... and the first two Salutations were what united the disparate tribes, bringing together Khalai, Templar, and Judicator...]]

Daniel dropped his head. Four Salutations in all of recorded Protoss history... Two were for the better (supposedly), and two were definitely for the worse, at least so it seems. So it is up to me to determine whether Salutation is for the better or for the worse... Daniel felt the pressure of the psionic emanations of the Protoss weighing heavy upon him... He had to prove that he was on their side, that this ceremony were not in vain...

[[So how do we do this Salutation?]] Daniel asked inquisitively.

The Templar replied, [[Each one of us has a special role in the Salutation process. The Templar make sure that all goes as it should and that nothing disrupts the process. The Judicator act as witnesses to its process and determine that it is indeed legitimate. And the Khalai--]] The Templar's psionic signal pattered off into the chaos of conflicting emotions.

The Khalai stepped forward, and psionically began to undress itself. As the white sash fell to the ground, exposing the sleek, wrinkled skin, Daniel felt a sense of repulsion. He had no intentions of seeing a naked Protoss like that... Or is that the Protoss definition of naked anyway? And is naked a bad thing for an alien race?? Such questions were fighting inside Daniel's mind as the Khalai stepped up toward him and came down to its knees, so that its head was about a foot and a half lower than that of Daniel's.

[[What's going on? What am I supposed to do?]] Asked Daniel, perplexed, while staring at the Khalai.

A pause, and then, [[Salutation requires that one party creates a Khalai and the other to eliminate it.]]

[[So... How do I eliminate...??]] Daniel already had the sense of what was coming.

[[More specifically, Whispering One, you must kill her,]] replied the Judicator.

[[What????!!!!]] Daniel was in turmoil. He had no wish to harm anyone, much less kill a Khalai, who was after all part of the Protoss race, who had given the humans, as well as him in particular, the opportunity to escape the wrath of the Zerg back on Tarsonis... Why would they want to have one of their own number killed? Were they savages? Daniel could not think of an answer to them, so he postponed, the sides of his brain still fighting with each other-- This is much like the human sacrifices of old, and they were always bloody and detestable, Daniel recalled from his history textbooks. Then again, they were after all Confederacy history books, so he couldn't be sure anything like that had really happened... But the idea was disgusting, just the very idea itself, so he knew that he ought not to do it... 'Do unto others what you would want others to do unto you' was that Commandment (which had made it to Koprulu along with the Confederacy), and it was the cornerstone of human society. To break it, shatter it like it were nothing, for a pointless meeting--even if it only occurred four times in history--is a clearly barbaric act. Yet something told Daniel that it was different this time, that something about this occasion would pardon him if he were to do as the Protoss bade him do. It was, after all, a monumental moment in the history of both races; but still, why the sacrifice of an entire person, mind, body, soul, and all? And then Daniel remembered what the Templar had told him earlier, that through the process of Phasing, they could recreate a new identity that was exactly the same as an older one, so death would not technically be the loss of a unique individual; he had experienced this himself, as the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet had fled from Tarsonis... Then Daniel remembered how so many of the rules had been broken, how nothing is as it should be, how things so strange had happened... Maybe this was just another one of them? But no, he couldn't allow himself to commit murder, be it of another race entirely... Killing a cornstalk to eat the corn may not exactly be murder, but a Protoss was more similar to a human than to corn; and he had seen in the Judicator, eyes that were strangely reminiscent of a human eye... Back on the core planets, even pets were treated like people, not merely killed; how could he treat the Protoss any differently?

Gradually, another presence entered his mind: that of the Khalai, feeling anguish, repulsed, discarded, unwanted... Left all alone, unsure as well... Daniel, moved out of pity, were about to console the Khalai, when he realized that the psionic emanations were generated not because the Khalai feared for death--in fact, it seemed that the Protoss feared honor far more than death, much, much more--but because of Daniel's very inaction. In other words, the Khalai wanted to die at his hands!?! --which struck Daniel was an experience that was totally out of this world. The strength of the signal increased; now the Khalai was pleading to be killed, pleading to complete its mission, the Salutation ceremony...

[[Remember,]] a third voice echoed into him, throwing Daniel into even more confusion, and as it continued over the next few seconds, Daniel felt his conscious slip away...

[[...Remember, that real Protoss don't die, they just fade away--]]

The heck??!?

[[--Remember, this Khalai, who has devoted to you all that it has, even placed its honor on the line, so that this salutation may be accomplished...]]

[But... How... I can't!!]

[[...Remember, remember this Salutation, which marks the true beginning of the relationship between Terran and Protoss, two races, different in many ways, yet which stand united...]]

---But how does this have anything to do with the relationship between Terran and Protoss?--

[[Remember: let this Khalai's end be a marker for all of you, on Aiur, on Braxis, on Shakuras, on Zerus, on Char, on Tarsonis, on ....... ......... ......... ......... .......... ......... .......... ......... ........... ........ ]]

--What's all those names??? Why do we need the Khalai to be a marker?!?

[[Remember this point in time, the dawn of a new era, the end of another beginning, the beginning of another end...]]

I shall remember, like all of you!!! I shall accept!!! May our two races live in peace for all time, and may we triumph over the Zerg!!!!!

[[[[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]]]

[[Remember... Remember... Remember...]]

Acknowledge, Remember, Forget...

Daniel awoke on the ground of the Hyperion, mind summoned back by the Judicator's powerful psionic pull. The Templar and Judicator were standing nearby, looking down upon his prostrate body.

He pulled himself back up, stepping around--only then did he see the corpse of the Khalai glowing brilliantly, shining rays of light erratically flying in every direction, arc lightning trailing across the surface, as the body started to shrink, keeping its proportion, as the brilliant light grew ever stronger until Daniel had to turn away from the blinding crescendo; each moment drawn out, a ball of yarn, streching and stretching with no end in view; sparks of heat burst forth from the violet-cyan-lavender-white sphere of amassed psionic potential, focusing with every moment, condensing, pulling itself together faster and faster, the black hole of a vortex consuming the psionic power discharged from the Khalai's body, drawing back together, into a mere pinpoint, revealing a tiny yet immensely beautiful crystal that pulsated with the very life-blood of the sacrificed one, and now its light was dimming, enveloped within the bluish, nearly opaque material, stored, empowering, enchanting, overpowering...

Daniel was dazed by the psionic shockwave that traversed through his mind. When he re-awoke, the Judicator held out a beautiful, golden amulet with the crystal embedded into its socket, placing it gently around Daniel's neck. The moment it touched his skin, Daniel felt an overpowering surge of potential, of majestic might, graceful grandeur, such a powerful feeling that few would know what it meant... He felt--capable.

It was then that Daniel realized how powerful his true psionic potential might one day become. For as Daniel looked at it, he realized that it was--

A Khaydarin Crystal.