This took no longer than a blink of the eye to complete; this was a velocity that had never been felt by Emma before, the speed at which they took that covered a distance which they had arrived at that shouldn't be possible.
Reality jerked back into focus like a rubber band that had been stretched to its limits.
Emma gasped as the Observer lurched shuddered around them, the ship's consciousness mingling with Emma's in a way that was different now. They had entered a place that did not exist, or maybe it was a place that existed too often. Through the view screen, she could see things that hurt when she tried to directly view them.
Floating structures that may have been space. Or may have been a frozen moment of time. Emma was no longer sure which it was.
And well, besides all of this impossible architecture, Emma notices something else. This nagging feeling that the location of her body doesn't quite jibe with where she thinks it should be; although now she's holding the control handles with both hands.
She seemed to be floating outside of true reality.
"Well, That was unpleasant" Lucas grunted from his engineering console where he'd been tracking this transition for them. One dead servo arm swung at his side. This was no good; that portal jump burned out the last of the operational paths on his servo arm. Lucas ran his diagnostic with his other hand. His fingers flew across the console with a practiced ease that belied the disorientation that came with being conceptually transversed.
She slowly turned her head to the right; there at the navigation station was Chloe. Her face was white, whiter than usual even for what they'd been experiencing lately. She was looking up at her navigation display where readings flashed by in patterns that shouldn't exist according to normal physics.
Well, it looked like a problem with the measurements to Emma; she did not quite understand what was going on from where she was standing. She was having a hard enough time entering the right parameters for a calculation. Beside her was the set of holographic information that indicated varying measurements of distance according to the observation pattern.
"We're. I think we're at the coordinates," Chloe declared, with a note of doubt that was unusual for a person who was normally so sure of herself when it came to navigating. "Meta-Nexus outer boundary confirmed, I think. But the readings don't add up, the distance readings keep fluctuating based on the way I calculate them, which shouldn't happen no matter what paradigm I'm working with."
'That's to be expected for conceptual space,' Auren declared himself on the Questmind interface. This was going to be interesting; at least his personal guide was working properly after the shift. "You're no longer moving through physical space in a recognizable way. The waiting area lies at the point where several infinite reality structures intersect; conventional methods of measurement don't apply there."
Emma moved her head away, staring at the central display where Gray was studying sensor data. It's been quite a journey to get to this point. She sighed inwardly when she observed how far they'd actually traveled from their starting point.
Only minutes since their departure from conventional reality and she was aware of the disorientation that was affecting all of her crew members: all of them no less than the symptoms of humans who found themselves caught up in space that their minds weren't equipped to grasp. This was because the human brain was designed to understand three spatial dimensions with one temporal that was moving in one way only. Any more than that was merely annoying; no, it was worse than that: it was simply alien to the way that minds worked.
Through the Lattice network that she was a part of, Emma was no less than aware that her supplies of WoodDust for Aetherweave manipulation were at critically low levels during the portal crossing, of course; she was already cognizant of the source of that condition, which was the huge energy outlays needed for penetrating dimensional barriers and further that she felt a strange resonance emanating from somewhere before that was absent during previous engagements with preserved intelligences.
This reportedly led to a set of results that was quite important to her internal analysis of their circumstances.
Strategy of approach for them would then be to go along with Emma's initial thinking concerning the procedure for dealing with ancient psychic entities from another sphere, disregarding the prudent procedures of standard first contact affairs for Seedkeeper operations for entities that are not known. This would then involve their efforts at direct communication with the intelligent presence that was before them in that sphere, such as ancient communications that often simply needed to be received without a lot of forethought or psychic obstacles to get around. Consequently, a point of careful observation was then needed for humans caught up in a situation like this to grasp before making contact.
However, at the same time, they could only stand by with a sense of awe at being on the level of the Meta-Nexus when the majority of the Seedkeepers would never get to this level for the entire course of their careers.
And now the current situation is that the sphere is lingering in the center of the cathedral waiting for them to get near. It's hard to plan an approach strategy while being conscious of the coherence of thoughts in this conceptual realm where thinking seems to be a burden.
The next thing that needs to happen is making contact with the Archivist's Echo. Emma drew her gaze away from the impossible buildings that surrounded them on the outside and struggled to focus herself for what was to come next.
Gray relocated to the central viewing screen, his actions always methodical as he assessed the sensor information with the steady attentiveness that was characteristic of him no matter what was happening around him. "There's a structure before us," he stated while analyzing the information. "Estimated at about two thousand meters according to conventional reckoning, but I'm sure that's irrelevant here where space itself doesn't behave according to conventional patterns anyway."
Emma could pick out what there was to see by looking at the viewport. A cathedral made of thoughts that had been solidified into being, with walls made of information that had been given substance by a method she did not for a moment think that she could understand. Towers reaching into dimensions that only her heightened senses could follow with difficulty, vanishing into angles that did not belong. Doorways that led into areas that appeared to be larger than the buildings that surrounded them, a spatial geometry that defied every lesson she had received on the subject of space. And at its heart, a sphere of blazing silver that pulsed with rhythmic energy.
"That's our target," Auren confirmed through his interface with his characteristic accuracy. "The Archivist's Echo. A psychic message that has been held for one of the original guardians of the Meta-Nexus as a whole, a level of entities that predates the current tier system."
Emma felt a stir of something in her consciousness as they drew closer to the cathedral-shaped structure. Not recognition per se, but a level of knowledge that was somehow more than simple familiarity. Like her Aetherweave senses were picking up on the presence of the sphere before she was even conscious of what was going on. Like a part of her was waiting for this moment without necessarily realizing it.
This kind of journey takes some getting used to, she finds as she watches this impossible architecture before her. From Dragon Sovereign's assessment to theoretical space travel to this waiting area on the border of understanding. Just how far have we actually progressed?
Emma appeared to grasp that the spot that they had somehow found themselves stuck in was some kind of nexus spot between several reality frameworks that intersected at points that formed stable viewpoints. This did not cost them a single thing concerning immediacies of danger; this made Emma pretty relieved that at least for now, everything was safe. Yet to merit their Seedkeeping status moving further into higher tiers of operation, all that they could do was attempt to move forward into some kind of space disorientation that was a consequence of them being somewhere like that where nothing followed normal rules.
Her thoughts of their situation had been that they were at a juncture of huge importance, and that they were survivors who merited entry after successfully completing the Dragon Sovereign's assessment. They knew that they deserved to hear whatever further instructions of their quest parameters led them to next. This message did contain coordinates to the Dragon Realms somewhere in this message; however, their knowledge to further continue without understanding what these coordinates really represented was not complete. First, they needed to decipher the Archivist's message. Then and only then could they start making decisions according to whatever information it held for them.
On the positive side of things being at the level of the Meta-Nexus was that it was definitely different from other places that they had been before on their quest, such as Zogarian space with its highly valued WoodDust crystals, K'tarr territory with its sterile machine-world Khatia, or the Schism with its Blackhole Universe. This enabled them to easily tap into information on higher-level operations and concepts, particularly information on what was known as the 'Dragon Realms,' and how to get to Kaelen-Thot that was important for them to locate. This made it imperative that Emma take this counsel as Seedkeepers while appreciating the breadth of what was being undertaken.
And of course, there were some risks that went along with gathering information from entities this old. This level of knowledge was certainly going to pose some problems for their ability to understand. They are all human; therefore, some level of processing was going to go on that they needed to be careful not to hurt their minds. A human brain could only take so much impossible knowledge before it broke down.
But by all of Emma's experiences with psychic messages relayed through Aetherweave manipulation techniques that she has received over the years, messages of this kind would be received through the interface systems of the ships under the understanding that nothing that was tainted had penetrated the preservation matrix during its waiting times for the last few eras. This could also be filtered through Auren's analysis structures for good measure, but by no means would a modicum of prudence be improper with a circumstance of this kind since they would be interfacing with an intelligence that was far beyond their comprehension of reality at a fundamental level.
Therefore, Emma who was quite experienced with Lattice connections as a member of the peer group had a reception strategy for the message to be able to deal with whatever revelations came to light from the ancient intelligence without losing mental coherence.
This reception method recognized that their situation was a consequence of ascending beyond normal tier levels for specific reasons that related to their mission. Beyond that point, they consistently demonstrated that they deserved to obtain access to this level of knowledge that other Seedkeepers never would. This was hardly a situation where things happened by chance or where they entered the Meta-Nexus randomly.
Because the origin of their access was definitely not questionable or questionable at best, they deliberately positioned themselves for reception and intended to receive the message with open awareness and integrate the implications of the message into their understanding and mission parameters.
Such scenarios would not be unusual for the Seedkeepers to be found in as a level of operation that Emma vicariously imagined. This was a kind of situation that needed appropriate reception of advanced levels of intelligence that only preserved sources could adequately convey. Emma had already developed some mental constructs for the reception of the "complete transmission." Otherwise, Emma feared that she would go crazy.
Such protocols involved but were not limited to being conscious of consciousness coherence while making psychic contact with entities that are unknown to them, information filtering for safety checks by Aetherweave perception, and the integration of new coordinates into guidance to help pave actionable plans that could be implemented by the protocols.
Emma was of the opinion that provided there was no mental resistance to the reception of the messages or skepticism towards the information that the preparations such as this one would be adequate for dealing with scenarios of reception of messages from advanced intelligences.
And even if they came across information that would contradict their basic understanding of the world and attempt to exceed their current levels of understanding, Auren was there to help them with analysis and processing capabilities. This was enough to keep things stable while the information was received, but complete absorption of that knowledge certainly would not be easy for the human mind to accomplish instantly. This made it possible for Emma to assess this situation without being overly concerned with immediate mental repercussions of the encounter.
Compared to their initial experiences with the help of this kind of conceptual space, the ability to access the Meta-Nexus shows that there has been a marked improvement for them. Emma slowly made her way towards the forward view screen while pouring over the silver globe suspended at the heart of the cathedral.
"D'oh!" Aisha exclaimed from where she was sitting while analyzing their power distribution network. She was analyzing a chart with a mixture of worry etched on her face. "We're at a level of about sixty percent power after that last portal jump. And should we choose to indulge in a second jump after hearing that message, we'll have to give ourselves a long time to power back up."
"We'll proceed with caution," Emma continued to say while assuming a comfortable position at the helm. The Observer reacted to Emma's plan almost at once by moving into space that was not quite space at all. "All of you are to keep your positions and watch for irregularities. None of us can guess at what reaction may befall us while accessing this Echo."
But as they approached the building itself, the cathedral broke down into details that Emma's mind was almost sure she could grasp. She saw doorways that led to larger spaces than the buildings that held them. She recognized patterns that obeyed the laws that came before physics itself; as if the buildings had been built before space knew enough to get its act together. A silver globe that pulsed with a rhythm of light was at the heart of the cathedral.
"I'm picking up traces of energy patterns all over the area," Gray said as he examined his sensor readings. "No hostile patterns that I can pick up, of course. But this place goes back a long way. Long enough that our last few adventures seem like last week's troubles to me, like playground worries compared to what this place was built for."
"How old are we talking about?" Lucas queried from the engineering station.
"Older than the notion of time as we understand it today," Auren answered back through the interface with that analytical precision that somehow made untenable statements seem plausible. "The custodians of the Meta-Nexus predated the current level system paradigm and the organization of reality into the structured realm we move about today."
This was reassuring, Emma noted with wry humor that covered a growing sense of fear. A message from beings that exist before the concept of time? What could go wrong? Oh boy.
The Observer assumed a stable location with relation to the cathedral and kept a distance that was appropriate although Emma could not quite articulate the reasons for that. She felt the tension of being on the ship by way of their link, that simulated fear that derived from being somewhere where the usual rules for a ship's operation no longer applied.
"Getting ready to receive the message," Emma declared to her crew. Her words appeared more steady than she actually felt; that was probably a good thing for morale. "Auren, what should we expect during the transmission?" Emma asked.
This was psychic broadcasting of compressed information, which was the way Renn explained it. "The Echo will transmit its message directly to your mind, without using your actual senses at all." This information would be transmitted to all of them at the same time through the ship's communications network and their Lattices.
"That's perfectly safe," Chloe grumbled from where she was stationed with a sarcasm that no doubt helped to mitigate some of the fear that each of them felt.
Emma took a deep breath and held it for a second before exhaling slowly. It's just like with every other state of boost, she told herself as she struggled to quiet her mind. You've been in worse than this before. You made it through the Dragon Sovereign's assessment that nearly killed you. You withstood the Inversion method that almost broke your mind. You've survived many levels that should have been your last encounter. This is simply information from a ancient source.
But before she could ponder that further, a twinge of doubt snuck into her thinking like icy water. What if the knowledge itself was poisonous to human awareness? Would she be made susceptible to corruption or possession by the Archivist's Echo simply by exposing herself to this long-lost knowledge? Would the Archivist's Echo not be what Auren said it was?
Too late to turn back now was a resounding decision for her. Indeed, we have come too far to stop at this point because of fear.
She stretched out with Aetherweave awareness, carefully reaching for the silver sphere with golden threads of consciousness. As soon as her awareness touched the sphere's surface, a blinding burst of light filled the vestibule and obscured her sight.
A flood of information burst into Emma's mind with a force that almost knocked her back physically.
Not words. Not pictures. But knowledge condensed into a psychic format that short-circuited the usual senses altogether and implanted itself directly into the parts of her brain responsible for comprehension. Emma gasped as the Archivist's Echo bloomed inside her mind like a flower of compacted knowledge, every petal layering meanings she never knew existed.
But the voice that spoke was not a voice in the usual understanding of that word.
This was the presence into which communicative form was given. Awareness was transmuted into transmission. Ancient beyond understanding, worn down by the burden of ages of waiting, but persisting with a conviction that compelled recognition and reverence.
"To whomever this message may reach, you stand at a threshold moment," the Archivist's Echo started its planned communication. Every word was freighted with significance that went beyond simple meaning, as if the ideas themselves are being relayed directly into Emma's mind without the aid of words as go-betweens. "The corruption you have borne witness to, the Small God manifestation that has infiltrated normed realities, has exceeded levels of containment that were intended to safeguard against just this outcome."
Emma felt her crew through the Lattice connection that bound them all to one another. They all received the transmission at the same time. Lucas with the precision of analysis that came from his engineering background. Then there was Chloe with a focus that came from grief after Marcus's passing. Then there was Gray with acceptance that came from his years of tactical training. Aisha with an assessment that was characteristic of a methodical person.
"What started with sporadic occurrences has evolved into a systemic failure," the Echo continued with a sense of morbid finality. "Reality structures at multiple levels of tier are falling to the infiltration of the Small God. Progression of the disease outpaces efforts at control that have been in place for ages."
A star chart appeared to Emma's senses, laying another pattern of awareness on top of the one for the vestibule. Not a tangible star chart that occupied regular space; instead, it was raw coordinate information that entered her Aetherweave awareness directly as if it was always a part of it. Through space that was more of concept than physical reality, Emma traced lines between points that led to the Meta-Nexus and back into other worlds that clung to the edge of mythology.
And there, labeled with coordinates that appeared to sear themselves into her mind with phosphorescent intensity, was their destination.
"The being you refer to as Kaelen-Thot, the true Sovereign of Accumulated Wisdom, has deserted the Seat of the Forgotten," declared the Archivist with absolute finality that sent shivers down Emma's spine. "The level of corruption was too high; the small god infiltration was complete to the point of no longer being viable to fight. Instead of risking that taint reaching their awareness and undermining all that they embodied, however, Kaelen-Thot has retreated to the sanctuaries of the Dragon Realms."
Emma's mind was a jumble of conclusions she was hardly able to incorporate. Kaelen-Thot abandoned their seat? This was a saliant indicator that the Seat of the Forgotten was affected by the corruption of the small gods. All of their mission planning was simply turned upside down by this information. A crisis of hope altogether was what this indicated for their chances of halting the corruption.
"The Dragon Realms are where concept meets living myth," explained the Echo with detailed patience, as one would instruct children in primary truths of existence. "To access them means not only passage but a metamorphosis of concept to traverse the boundaries that safeguard that access. You must transform into that which you seek while seeking that which you are."
But what does that even mean? Emma wondered in exasperation with the cryptic message. Become that which we seek? Is that some kind of puzzle or actual guidance that we're supposed to follow? How does one become something that one is looking for?
Coordinates imprinted themselves on her awareness with a burning lucidity that felt as if it was being seared into her neuronal paths. And it was not a system of location points that would lead them to a spot that these coordinates represented, she slowly came to grasp. These location points represented conceptual door-opening passwords that would allow them to access areas inaccessible to the majority of entities.
"I have made a key for you to stabilize your passage," the Archivist went on with a weight of importance that was hard to ignore. "A key of harmonies to unlock stable paths between the barrier layers that shield the Dragon Realms from those who would misuse knowledge of their location." Because without it, access would only lead to catastrophic dispersals of one's essence into the possibility matrices that should never intersect.
The key appeared as a pattern that Emma could not quite hear but somehow comprehended fully nonetheless. Musica harmonies that exist outside of the range of aetherial perception, a melody that was composed of the harmonics of existence itself that resonated with a part of Emma's Aetherweave comprehension. She felt the pattern blend into her comprehension as a part of herself that had always been there to begin with.
"Find Kaelen-Thot in the Dragon Realms with all due haste,"
the Archivist's manifestation was beginning to fade now,
the message ending its planned communication after conveying all the information it was intended to relay.
"They hold the only knowledge that can hope to reverse the corruption of the Small God before a reality collapse happens at all levels of every tier of reality. But be warned with absolute
clarity at this point: what lies before you now holds sacrifices that may exceed what you have so far suffered on your quest to date."
Then the silver sphere flashed one last time with a brilliance that filled the entire vestibule with light.
"The Dragon Realms do not welcome those who have not first surrendered everything they believe defines them."
Transmission cut off abruptly.
Emma gasped as the link was severed abruptly, and she felt as if she'd been simultaneously emptied and filled with every particle of her consciousness at once. She felt as if she'd been filled with something that was vast and incomprehensible and then drained of it all at once, leaving her to wonder what was left. She could hear the aftermath of the link being severed with her crew members around her.
"That was." Chloe trailed off, clearly struggling to articulate what they'd collectively experienced together.
"Intense," Gray finished for her.
His cool demeanor was momentarily shaken, revealing a rare display of passion by a man who was always impeccably composed no matter what the situation.
"More than intense," Aisha continued softly. "That was. .. I've never felt anything like that before."
Information overload," Lucas grumbled while already accessing information although clearly disoriented. "I feel like my head has been crammed with knowledge that I'm not sure I'm able to process."
Emma turned her head away from the view screen to gaze at her crewmates. Oh boy, it's been an honour to get that kind of transmission. She reasoned while attempting to gather some coherence to her thoughts.
Not more than a few minutes since making contact with the Archivist's Echo did she pick up on the mental toll that was being taken by all of them, none of which was anything other than that of humans who received too much information for their brains to handle.
"The coordinates are interfacing with our nav-matrixes now," Lucas said after a brief moment of down-time to recover. Lucas was analyzing his readings with rapt concentration despite his cerebral pain. "I'm picking up on route characteristics that completely short-circuit standard dimensional evolution. Routes that don't exist according to recognized physical and mental constructs of way-finding that I've known."
Aisha was analyzing her power distribution graphs with increasing worry etched on her face. "The power needed to get to that location is at our maximum limits. With our fluxion collectors running at peak efficiency and tapping into ambient power, we can only hope to have some small margin of power left once we get to the Dragon Realms. Otherwise, we'll have no way to escape when we arrive."
Emma felt the weight of decision settling onto her shoulders like a physical burden pressing down.
And it was a journey that was so far along now for them. A journey where they'd survived things that should never have been possible to overcome at all. And then to be sent further down into a situation that made mythology reality and ideas manifest.
"We don't have choices to think about," she whispered. Her words seemed simultaneously blindingly apparent and patently inadequate to the crisis at hand. "The corruption continues unchecked on reality structures. If Kaelen-Thot has knowledge available to mitigate it and forestall a complete disaster, then by all means, we go to the Dragon Realms at whatever expense to ourselves."
She relocated to the top spot and assumed her position as captain while the Observer's awareness blended with hers in that comfortable numbness she was so accustomed to. She felt the determination of the Othership resonate with their connection as the vessel sensed that determination with its own machine's response of being prepared to go on.
Aisha, begin to charge the portal generation systems for Dragon Realm transit, Emma commanded with the authority that only came from acceptance of their journey. "We'll need to tap into any power reserves we have at our disposal. Lucas, interface the Archivist's harmonic key with our barrier penetration algorithms. Chloe, plot a stable course through the conceptual layers we'll be traversing to get to our destination."
Her crew was a well-oiled machine. A precision of motion honed from hard-won experiences. Every member doing what needed doing with an efficiency that was the byproduct of hard-won survival. Emma felt achant to stand by and watch with a prickle of proud pain at the responsibilities she carried for their existence.
These people had trusted her guidance through everything they'd faced. She couldn't fail them at this critical threshold.
"Portal generation systems charging for maximum output," Aisha said after several minutes of intense configuring. "Our power levels are ascending towards the minimum requirements for barrier penetration. Within eight minutes and seventeen seconds, we should be able to establish enough energy unless something goes wrong during the charging process."
Lucas's biological hand flew expertly across his console at lightning speed to compensate for his dead servo with a level of adaptation that impressed Emma. "Harmonic key integration into our dimensional nav-matrixes is going smoothly," Lucas proudly declared under his expressed concern. "I'm picking up resonances that harmonize with the coordinates of the Dragon Realm with absolute synchronization. This should give us good transit points for getting past the barrier protection circles, assuming that the Archivist's equations have held true for however long this message has been buffered for reception."
Chloe's projections of their route appeared on the main holographic display as she plotted their course through spaces that hardly qualified as traversable by any conventional means. This course would involve traversing seventeen levels of conceptual space before reaching the interface for the Dragon Realm. "Course plotted and locked into primary nav systems," she verified with a second check and a third to be sure of the accuracy of her projections. But of course, there was no way to calculate a transit time. Or at least, not by conventional means.
Emma nodded in acceptance of the uncertainties that they knew that they would be facing. Throughout their entire journey, nothing that they did was expected to fit into predictable patterns since the very first moment that they started their life as Seedkeepers. Why should this pattern be different?
"Gray, final comprehensive systems verification," she requested.
"All stations ready to begin transition," he answered back with his usual composure fully recovered. Then his tone turned slightly clinical. "Hull status maintaining integrity at acceptable levels; life supports systems nominal; defense systems ready for whatever may lie ahead of us after transition."
"Auren?" Emma asked through the Questmind interface.
All guidance protocols are active and operational, as I verified with methodical specificity to reassure Emma. "I can keep contact during the transit provided dimensional conditions are ripe for communication between us. Understand that Dragon Realms have a different paradigm for information than has ever been seen before. Extreme degradation of communications or total loss of signal may be felt by me after your arrival."
Emma breathed deeply and held the breath for a second while she felt tension build in her chest. She let it out slowly. This was it. All of the struggles that they'd faced to get to a place that shouldn't exist.
"Begin the portal-creation sequence for Dragon Realm coordinates," she declared resolutely.
The Observer's systems whirred with mounting intensity as power surged and optimized distribution channels raked across the ship's infrastructure. Outside the view screen, reality started to undulate and fold like fabric being manipulated by invisible fingers as the portal was formed before them. A vortex of golden-silver energy condensed into a pattern spiraling across dimensions that Emma's heightened senses could hardly follow correctly.
The coordinates seared into her mind like a branded memory that would not fade. The key of the harmonic matched the resonance of Aetherweave awareness with a perfect clarity that was almost musical. All was working as specified to achieve the synchronization necessary for barrier penetration and then travel to the Dragon Realms.
But then Emma felt it with a sudden intensity that cut through everything else.
A sensation so faint that she almost missed it altogether in the presence of the portal. A whispered wrongness that was hardly noticeable against the landscape of energy that the portal presented to her senses. Her hyper-sensitive senses that had been heightened by the effects of the WoodDust and honed by recent experiences that tested the limits of human endurance picked something that should not be there against the after-resonance of the signal.
A psychic signature. Alien. Cold. With voices that held the patterns of words but patterns that never made sense to her no matter how hard she focused on them.
Brief syllables that somehow hit a wrong note, as if she were hearing words backwards or with a waterlogged understanding. She shuddered at the physical sensation of revulsion that the words induced.
Emma's eyes flew to the display of the navigation coordinates where the digits shone with a soft blue radiance. All the values changed before her eyes. Not dramatically. Not quite noticeable enough for normal surveillance algorithms to pick up on the shift.
Just one infinitesimally small tweak to the location of one of the coordinate axes's seventh decimal place. A fraction of a conceptual degree of shift that would never register as noticeable unless caught by a perceiver with heightened senses at the exact right instant of its occurrence.
This shift was so subtle that not even Chloe was conscious of it at that particular instant as she was intensely focused on calculating her way towards a specific location.
This shift was transmitted to their systems as if it was a natural part of their system to begin with, instead of an after effect of some unknown source.
Emma's breath was caught in her throat with sharp concern.
Should she terminate the sequence?
Only a microscopic shift, hardly measurable without the increased awareness.
Just a blip from the artificial portal activity against space concept instabilities.
Instability was always a factor with the vestibule's nature anyway; coordinate wavers can certainly be expected during barrier crossing procedures. And they were already committed at this point.
The portal was fully formed and waiting for them; their power reserves being drained by the active maintenance of their vortex structure.
She hesitated with thoughts racing to a calculation of possibilities and choices at a speed that was simply beyond normal human mental capacity.
Turning back at this point would mean exhausting their last reserves of energy to no effect at all, leaving them stuck in the Meta-Nexus waiting area for who-knew-how-long without opportunity to recharge for another attempt at reaching the Dragon Realms.
And what was she supposed to give as a rational for halting them? Because she'd picked up a sensation out of a psychic trace that was shorter than a tired mind picking patterns out of quantum randomness? Because she'd caught some words that she hadn't been able to identify?
"Portal reaching complete stability for transit" Aisha proudly made the announcement from her console.
"All systems are showing peak readiness for Dragon Realm penetration sequence." Aisha continued.
Emma made her decision during that condensed unit of time. It was nothing much really. Just her overactive mind trying to impose meaning on randomness, finding danger where there was only darkness. Too late to go back now for reasons that may only exist in the paranoid world of one person's perception.
"Engage jump sequence to Dragon Realm coordinates," she ordered while forcing back her disquiet with a conscious effort. Then the Observer propelled itself into the vortex with intent and determination.
The Meta-Nexus waiting room lurked momentarily behind them into a conceptual erasure as if it never was. Again, they entered the dimensional transition realm with their goal fixed inexorably in Emma's mind like a foregone conclusion that refused to be avoided.
Dragon Realms waited for them in that unknown place. Kaelen-Thot with knowledge that answered queries that propelled them across unimaginable distances of realities that would be out of reach for common life.
But at that instant before a complete transition was achieved, the foreign pattern whispered momentarily into Emma's Aetherweave awareness one last time.
Those strange syllables ringing with patterns that made her skin prickle with instant revulsion she could not rationally account for. A presence noting their departure with a chill sense of satisfaction that made her mind shun instinctively from contact.
She brushed it off as a kind of portal influence clouding her perception during the strong energy process, but at a level of her heightened awareness where intuition resided, a germ of doubt was forming.
Something had entered their intended location with design and deliberation, and their course was already set to follow wherever those altered paths would take them.