The Pilgrims' Souls had not been completely rewound. These intangible essences were merely gathered in some intangible place, where a portion of their memories was erased before they were returned to their reconstructed bodies.
Now, this process was finally over.
The dilapidated Holy Temple Spaceship had already been swallowed by an even more massive behemoth. Inside its hangar, docking craft quickly approached, scanning, dismantling the shattered hull, and clearing away radioactive interstellar dust.
Then came the constant hails. The Holy Bell system was back online and had established contact with the *New Marlin*. The other side requested that the Pilgrims' vessel undergo quarantine and troubleshooting; the two crews would only have face-to-face contact once it was deemed safe.
The Bishop readily agreed, then briefly explained the situation to the survivors:
