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"What about the potential for a technological solution to the same problem?" said Ibai, still chewing.

'What do you mean?'

"It's another idea put forth in The Hypothetical Evolution of Friendship--the concept that one day, perhaps, science and technology will be able to accomplish what only you reapers are currently capable of."

Chergoa was silent.

"It makes sense, doesn't it? It might be a very long time, but given the steady march of human ingenuity, it seems all but inevitable, don't you think?"

'Hmm.'

"I think that book had a slight anti-reaper bias, though. The author seemed to take a certain level of delight in the idea that reapers might one day be rendered obsolete."

'That's understandable,' said Chergoa. 'I would wager that reapers, in large part, could be blamed for many of the world's societal problems throughout history. We make for pretty easy scapegoats.'

"The book also discussed a kind of 'secret society' of reapers," said Ibai. "The Andanatt? Or 'Sovereign,' in modern Mohssian? Ever heard of it?"

'I have.'

"And? What do you think of it?"

The reaper was quiet a moment, and she glanced around the room another time.

Ibai looked as well, but it didn't seem like anyone was paying them any attention at all.

'It's tough to say for sure,' said Chergoa. 'I've heard rumors, of course, here and there. But decades go by, or centuries, until I hear something else, and it's hard to tell if it's anything more than someone's overactive imagination.'

Ibai's nose was itchy, so he scratched it. And kept eating. "Well, Kareem Rambata seemed to believe it was real. He even said that Andanatt was the true enemy of all mankind and that it had been actively trying to suppress technological development all over the planet for millennia."

'Yes, I've heard the like before,' said Chergoa.