(6x09) The Magic of Antiquity: Part 3, Episode 3
Sure enough, almost as soon as Keius arrives in the wild lands, his quest is interrupted, as he is captured by a task force sent by the Church of Geiana. Skilled religious practitioners such as those sent on this errand are strong of mind and will like the ascetics from whom Keius descends, though they use this psychic strength in stubborn and dogmatic ways; and they are thus able to resist Keius' mind control. Keius could of course easily dispatch them and force his way to freedom; but as he is invulnerable and thus in no personal danger, and as he seeks to be a just and ethical person, he refuses to use violence to escape from his captors, and so they are able to impede his quest.
Instead, he converses with his captors, denies any malfeasance on his part, and explains to them his quest and the origin of his phenomenal abilities. Though at first they simply deny his story as heretical lies, he manages to convince some of the younger ones amongst them by drawing their attention to the voice of Geiana, which is far calmer and more harmonious now than it ever has been. He further amazes them when a dangerous wild Dragon is drawn to their camp at night, but is easily subdued by Keius' empathic connection with all Ehrban life. Combined with Keius' invulnerability and other powers, these young church men come to believe that Keius may not be some sort of demon but rather their savior, sent by Geiana to redeem the Ehrban, to usher in a new era of a more peaceful and loving Geiana. Keius of course denies this and explains again what he is really doing, but it falls mostly on deaf ears; one way or another, enough people side with him that he is freed, against the will of the others, and together they resume his quest.
After further meditation and much wandering on foot through the ancient wild lands, tracing the evolution of his raptor-like ancestors back to their airborne predecessors, back further through tree-dwelling gliders, and further still to lizard-like insectivors which hid in the forest litter, Keius leads his new disciples (and the begrudging remainder who still oppose him but tag along to keep watch on things) at last to the site of his oldest of memories. He recalls visions of an ancestor, a tiny, mud-dwelling creature, like a six-limbed worm, stunned and reeling in the upturned earth around the edge of a recently-formed crater. In the center of this crater shone a gleaming, silver, metallic form, roughly egg-shaped, which must have fallen from space. Back in present time, Keius is thrilled at this discovery, and warns the others to stand far back. Closing his eyes, he feels through the ground with senses unknown to any other Ehrban, utilizing the advanced sensory capabilities of his nanites. Then, opening his eyes and raising his arms, he summons a great whirlwind which blows the soil from the ground, drilling downward and raising up what lay beneath, until out of the ground comes a gleaming, silver, metallic egg, nearly twice a man's height. The whirlwind settles and restores the earth to the ground beneath the egg, and Keius approaches it. His followers approach with him, though keeping a step behind, as Keius peers reverently into the egg. Curiously, he speaks; perhaps to his followers, perhaps to himself, perhaps to no one, saying that "minded worlds", maybe hundreds of thousands of them, are listening to all their thoughts through the egg; listening, but not speaking back, waiting, Keius thinks, for "Geie", a more harmonious Geiana, to speak her first words to them.