Chapter 12
Jess stared at the visitor. Keep him here for the rest of his life? It hadn’t occurred to him that he might be prevented from leaving.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“We have kept our presence in this system hidden for tens of thousands of years. You know of this location, as does the Wanderer, so in different circumstances neither of you would be allowed to leave.”
“What would have happened to me? Would you have killed me?”
“No. Not at all. We would have simulated a world for you to live in. You would have been cared for and content for the rest of your life. We are not cruel.”
“Really? You’re prepared to destroy everyone and everything, yet you are not cruel?”
“That is unavoidable. We have spent far more years than you have been alive searching for alternatives
