A Request to Exile Kwil Farkos

When it became clear Logan would survive, Kwil called a meeting with his colleagues and the GPO director Draska Bakein to inform them of how he envisioned his nightmare project's end. Logan had to be returned home--he would never be happy on their worlds--and he would have to be monitored for the rest of his life. They had an opportunity, however, to study what they had created and this new discovery about the use of kanti. While Kwil masqueraded as an unaffected academic, Hako knew his devastation as well as she knew her own. He convinced no one else that his project wasn't an irrecoverable disaster either.

Kwil volunteered himself to oversee Logan, and he recommended they treat it as exile for his crimes. As the surgeon who agreed to perform the operations, Hako volunteered to join him, but Draska refused; it was hardly an exile to send married partners to the same planet. While he knew Draska was only to eager to see him, a deviant, punished and blamed for the GPO's failures, Kwil agreed with her. She was right, too. Unbeknownst to Hako or his colleagues, he believed he should be punished alone as fueled by his persistent dreams that an evil within him caused this nightmare.

Unwilling to accept the director's arbitrary punishment, Hako demanded mediation from the pajas. They re-explained their predicament in a rare closed court session: no observers. Disturbed by the GPO's story, the pajas agreed Logan must be returned home. The damage their intrusion into human society caused had been done. All they could do was observe the aftermath. Punishment also had to be dealt to demonstrate to the gods that they would atone for their crimes and take responsibility for the consequences. They needed to convince the gods not to do worse.

Kwil was exiled to Earth for the remainder of Logan's life and Kadas afterward. When the GPO revealed what they had done to the public, everyone who participated in the experiment would also be exiled to Kadas or Kreid, but before such a time, Kwil was to find a worthwhile result from his experiment to prevent mass panic. In the meantime, no one in the room was to speak of what had happened. They were to go about their lives and give the impression that the state of the GPO hadn't changed.

Draska was outraged that she would also be punished for Kwil's actions. Kwil was a deviant, susceptible to illogical manipulation from his sexual partners, and Jigo Kadas, the war monger, was one of them. The pajas dismissed her complaints as irrelevant and inappropriate. Draska consoled herself that she would find a way to prove all of this was Jigo's doing. He influenced Kwil with the intent to start a war. The pajas' delay in her punishment had given her time to avoid it all together.

Hako protested that she should be the one condemned to Earth. She performed the surgery and condoned Kwil's use of mind manipulation. She was a doctor sworn to do no harm, and she agreed to perform an unnecessary surgery to a patient under duress. The pajas entertained her suggestion. Kwil, who had portrayed nothing but calm acceptance of his punishment, however, descended into a fit of hysteria.

"Kwil, you make me think this punishment is more fitting for you," the pajas said darkly.

Hako had the opposite reaction. "Pajas, I rescind my suggestion. We've caused enough suffering. The gods would not smile upon torture."

She knew Kwil had attempted suicide once. He said he'd never repeat that mistake, but depriving him of his means of atonement and service to his gods might inspire him to change his mind. While she had a terrible feeling that exile on Earth would kill him just as well, he would take more responsibility than he should no matter where he was.

The pajas agreed to their original arrangement. Hako and Kwil had until the end of the court session to say their goodbyes. Kwil's exile would begin immediately within the GPO Headquarters until Logan was ready to return to Earth. Kwil and Hako's marriage contract would remain intact to avoid suspicion. Should they choose to break it after the GPO's failure was made public, it would be done remotely through a Court Attendant. Kwil and Hako were to never see each other again. Knowing this, in their final moments together, Hako established a deeper connection with Kwil, a form of mind reading where she would always feel the emotions he felt.

"You'll never bear our sins alone," she told him.