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Elliot, So, you’ve stayed, despite all the horror I’ve shown you. What would it take to drive you away, I wonder? You amaze me. Do you know that? Your capacity for love, your innate understanding of my people’s tech in spite of your origins, the pure goodnes...

Emotionally drained, I sprawled beside Cambris with her wife, Liala, on the other side of her. After spending quite some time piled in their bed, talking and laughing and sharing about our lives, we’d tiptoed along sleep’s shores for a good quarter hour now wi...

I should be urging Himi toward the tunnel and the safety found there. I should tell her that we could discuss this new conviction of hers once the palace lay far behind us. Instead, I clenched my jaw while something unwelcome flooded through me. What was it? ...

When I eventually returned home, I stopped a frantic Zhao from making an unnecessary trip to find me before deciding that following him through his front door wasn’t a good idea. Better to avoid Himi right now. She was no doubt hurting and could use the compan...

Himi didn’t seem to like how much attention we were paying her. Flinching, she drew her feet onto the bench, hugging her legs to her chest. “I guess it’s my turn now,” she said into her knees. “Do you remember that sphere Sunada had? The one that played music...

In our room, Brennan threw her satchel over her shoulder, crossing her arms as she watched me gather my weapons. Was that bag all she’d need when heading into a probable battle? “I’m sorry,” I said. Looking away from me, Brennan said, “For what?” “For not t...

Disgorging from the earth today brought the same mixture of elation and relief as it had years before. Zhao dragged me up the ladder’s last few rungs, and without discussing it, we took a moment to catch our breath. It didn’t matter how physically fit one was....

Kasai vanished into thin air, taking the disturbing spread of new skin that had been bubbling from his pores with him, and I- I- What could I do? His words kept ringing in my head, a tolling bell that was fading with every repeat. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find ...

After striding through the Gateway, I’d thought I’d have a moment to prepare. Traveling between distant points usually takes time, after all. That didn’t happen. One second, I was standing with the people I loved in my best friend’s creation, and the next, I’...

After all of the effort I’d put into reaching this place promptly, I’d expected someone to greet me. At the least, Alouin should be here since this was his pocket world, his refuge from the iterations’ many troubles. What I got was no one. No welcome party, n...

Kasai had vanished into thin air, taking his ingenious layering of new skin atop the old with him, and I hadn’t been able to stop him. Unable to focus, I couldn’t find either of the life sparks I’d wanted, whether that of the tree trunk that had held me capti...

For centuries, ushering essences to what lay beyond life had been my least favorite part of what I did. Listening to someone’s unfulfilled hopes and dreams quickly got tiresome, and don’t get me started on regrets.As quickly as an unlocked memory of the future...

To whomever receives this note, once it’s been smuggled across the boundary: As far as history stretches, humanity has theorized about what may be waiting for us beyond death’s veil, spawning so many ideas that it makes the head whorl. Some believe we’re rebor...

When an alarm roused me, the Southern Fells’ moors were racing below my skycruiser with the river that fed Lake Phiabe splitting them. Nestled in a crook of this snaking path of water, lights resisted the night, the only ones visible for as far as I could see....

Leski, as usual, cuddled Korix and I just as fiercely as we always did with her. She and Korix might have kept their relationship within the realm of the platonic whenever I wasn't involved, but they still loved spending time snuggling together. And of course...

From the many pilots available to me, Third Stratus Damari had been my favorite for years. I liked them for four reasons. One: They were competent at what they did, no more and no less, and they were comfortable with that. For instance, our current trip to Ib...

As I glided onto the street, I hoped my desperate need for my partners’ imparted comfort hadn’t been shining from me as we’d spoken, just as I hoped it hadn’t been why Korix had brought up our old game. There was a reason I’d been putting off my responsibiliti...

Mother Time, I hated assembles. They were pointless, a complete waste of time, but even still, the Houses’ shukusenth and First Strata came together every month, rotating our meeting spot between the six headquarters. Today, we were halfway up Kirst’s tower, ...

Nerves set in when our guests started arriving. It was strange for me because I loved social gatherings like this. I loved the energy of people coming together to commune in one way or another. I loved the attention that was paid to me. But this time, my palm...

As I drained my drink, a mixture of cheering and laughter blended with the first chords of a whimsical sonata, featuring the Xygek Symphony Orchestra. Many pieces featuring Leski’s performances would play throughout dinner, but once the plates and tables had b...