Kidhe had invited Flavia to stay and watch the entire session. The newcomer observed the routine of the guardian deities of the neighboring universe worlds. She discovered one of those worlds before sharing another meal with Kidhe, Wilol, and Clyella, and two more worlds that same afternoon.

The sky was turning shades of evening orange and blue when the Assembly members left the dome to enjoy the last part of the day. As the group dispersed, Kidhe paused to hear Flavia's impressions. Enthusiastic, the latest addition to the Assembly expressed her gratitude and desire to commit wholeheartedly to her role.

«As you've seen, the procedures are quite elementary, even if they might seem strange to you. Once you've learned our language, it will be even easier.»

«I've already started studying it. It seems very simple; I shouldn't take long, maybe a month.»

Kidhe laughed.

«I was actually thinking about the synaptic reconfigurator. You can ask the computer even now; it would take you two minutes to be rid of translation.»

«No, thank you,» Flavia wrinkled her nose. «I'd rather not have a machine touch my synapses...»

Clyella signaled Kidhe to drop the subject. The president sighed. «As you wish. I'm off; Wilol invited me for a game of Sphere before dinner.»

Flavia waited for Kidhe to walk away.

«I know,» she said to Clyella, «you're thinking that if I don't even trust a touch-up to the synapses...»

The Executive put an arm around her as they walked out of the dome. «Your sense of identity may not be the strongest... but only you can know if you're ready or not.»

«But I am ready! Damn it, I've been ready for years!»

Ahead, Flavia saw the city break the horizon colored by twilight. The lights made it look like an immense brazier tearing through the blue sky. Inside, Flavia felt a similar fire sting a body she did not consider her own.

The shadow of doubt vanished from Clyella's face, which lit up with a smile. «Let's not waste time then; you decide!»

She quickened her pace on the path, and along with Flavia, reached Riklev, whose tall figure stood out among all the others.

«Would you like to join us?» she proposed. «Flavio wants to change his body.»

Clyella ordered a means of transport from the computer, and Flavia saw a layer of blue-glowing mist form beneath their feet. In a few seconds, she saw the landscape rushing past until they arrived at the city gates. From there, they found themselves transported up through the gallery to the entrance of a large hall.

The sensation of speed and paradox was replaced by a tingling excitement on Flavia's skin, and she immediately realized that the garden room they were entering was the same one she had come back to life in earlier that morning. However, she could have sworn that the position of the entrance was different. With other thoughts on her mind, Flavia didn't dwell on it and followed the Executives on the carpet of turquoise grass to the center of the space enclosed by aquarium walls.

At Clyella's command, a large, luminous, and translucent cylinder lit up in front of them. Within its faintly green light, Flavia saw the life-sized image of a man take shape.

A sense of modesty struck her upon recognizing the identity of that naked body. Even though the hair was too long, and the posture and musculature had an elegance she would never have associated with Flavio, the tall and slender figure and the similarity of the face left her with no doubts.

«It's just a projection» Clyella said as she brushed the surface of the cylinder with her fingertips. The image of Flavio began to rotate. After completing a full turn, Clyella stopped the rotation with another touch on the cylinder. The Executive smiled thoughtfully. «What do you think, does it feel like you?» she said, still admiring the image.

Flavia took a moment to regain control of her jaw. «It's... it's...»

Riklev circled around the cylinder, inspecting it with a relaxed air.

«I think it's quite different from what he expected, Clyella» he deduced with a quick glance towards Flavia.

Clyella narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. «Mm... perhaps we can change the hairstyle. For now. Computer, execute and synchronize.»

The projection's hairstyle shortened and became similar to the one with which Flavio had presented his thesis. The image of Flavio changed its posture, and Flavia understood that it was mimicking her movements.

«I think it looks good» Clyella commented, «right?»

As if she had a mime in front of her mocking her by mirroring her, Flavia could observe her own astonished expression, speechless.

Clyella tried to get her attention. «Flavio...»

«Huh? What?»

«The computer needs your confirmation to proceed.»

Flavia smiled, so euphoric that she doubted it was true, that after such a long time the moment had come to receive what she had desired so much.

«Yes» she swallowed with evident effort, «of course!»

A second cylinder lit up, its yellow glow contrasting with the green of the first. Inside it, Flavia saw nothing..

«That's a nano-materializer» Clyella explained, «much like the ones we use to eat. You enter, authorize the computer to recycle you, and then you'll be cloned with your new body. This time, all of it with your own DNA, not just your brain.»

Flavia's smile vanished at once. «Wait! No one told me anything about recycling or cloning!»

Clyella shot a glance at Riklev and sighed. «Here we go...»

Riklev approached Flavia. «This is how it works. How else do you think we can transfer your neuro-conscious group and your memory into a new body?»

Flavia crossed her arms. «I... I don't know... I thought you could anesthetize me and do some kind of transplant...»

Riklev took a deep breath, searching for the right words to make himself understood. «Your neural tissues and genetic structures are intertwined with Claudia's at a molecular level. To separate them, you must be rebuilt from scratch, molecule by molecule. Even with a molecular-level transplant, you wouldn't remain conscious throughout the process. This means that, however you look at it, there will be a moment when you are technically dead.»

«Technically, I have no intention of getting myself killed, not again!»

Flavia had raised her voice, and her rapid breathing accentuated her alarmed expression. With a gesture that Riklev deemed overly theatrical, Clyella rushed to embrace her.

«It's okay, it's okay...» she whispered into her ear, «you're not ready yet. Relax, you don't have to do it if you're not convinced.»

Flavia felt a grip of helplessness. Just when she had the means to obtain anything, she didn't have the courage to give in to what she most desired, and she didn't understand why.

She was consumed by uncertainty about who she was. Was she really the same person who had sacrificed herself on Earth? And was that person indeed the same one who died in the lake in the Alps? Or did they all just have the illusion of being someone from whom they had only inherited memories? Did each of their consciousness cease to exist forever at the moment of death? However she pondered it, she couldn't see how she would ever get a definitive answer.

All she knew was that she was alive at that moment, whether a copy of her predecessors or not. She didn't want to risk leaving her memories, her genetics, and the body she desired to the next copy, to someone who would only have the illusion of being her.

Claudia's body was a dead-end trap. Yet, millennia-old representatives of an interstellar civilization were proposing that she surrender to death with the promise of yet another resurrection. She gritted her teeth, held back tears, and forced a whisper past the lump in her throat.

«Is there a way to be sure I'd remain the same?»

Clyella smiled at her, trying to soften Flavia's bitter expression. «You'd have to study holographic mass theory, quantum biology, consciousness field physics... with your abilities, in a few years, you should be convinced.»

«A few years...» Flavia echoed, horrified.

With his arms crossed, Riklev leaned against one of the immense coral pillars. «If you used the synaptic reconfigurator,» he suggested without conviction, «you'd achieve it in just a few minutes.»

Flavia sighed, heartbroken. «I might as well throw myself directly into the nano-materializer.»

Clyella bit her lip and gave a sidelong glance to Riklev before speaking in a hushed tone. «There's another way.» Flavia's eyes widened. Clyella turned to the other Executive and pleaded in an imploring voice, «Riklev, could we make an exception for him concerning certain... rules?»

Riklev looked skyward, smiling and shaking his head. Flavia succumbed to the anxiety that was making her muscles tense.

«Please, tell me what you're talking about!» she begged.

«Clyella, you could have spared us the act. Do you think I didn't know what you had in mind the moment you invited me to accompany you?»

«Come on! I know it would also please you!»

The Executive stepped away from the pillar, and with long strides, approached Flavia, who watched him, feeling her nerves about to snap.

«There's a reason why what Clyella is thinking of is against the rules. She wants to create your duplicate while you're still alive.»

Flavia was confused, straining to make sense of the words she heard. She wondered how seeing her own duplicate could solve her situation. On the contrary, she feared that losing her uniqueness, already in doubt due to Flavio's existence, would only make things worse.

«If we allow someone to create their own duplicate, then we would have to grant the same right to everyone else, including the duplicates. It's easy to see that such a system would be clearly unsustainable, from a social, political, or material perspective. It would be chaos, sheer idiocy.»

«I'm not interested in creating a duplicate for myself...»

«But it's not just a simple duplicate,» Clyella interjected. «For the initial moments, it'll be another bodily extension of your consciousness.»

«Until the epigenetics of the two bodies start to evolve differently,» Riklev clarified, «then the mental coherence would be lost, and we'd find ourselves in serious trouble. All four of us.»

«Are you telling me that in this way, I can personally test whether this cloning thing retains identity?» Flavia asked. Although she appeared curious, her voice gave away unmistakable skepticism.

«Either that or the synaptic reconfigurator,» Riklev confirmed. «Or a degree in consciousness physics lasting four or five years.»

«I think I can try...» Flavia conceded.

Riklev gripped her shoulders and looked her squarely in the eyes. «It's not about trying. Realize that in your case, the coherence might not last for more than a couple of minutes before generating two independent entities. You'll have to destroy one of the two bodies as soon as you've ascertained what you wanted. Promise it.»

Flavia felt the Executive's concern deep in her stomach. She saw his blue eyes towering over her, pinning her to his face. She thought about it for moments that felt endless. She considered giving up and ensuring she continued to live as she was. Then she nodded. Finally, compelled by the Executive's gaze, she uttered, «I promise». Clyella let out a smile.

Riklev paid it no mind and warned her again. «If you break the promise, the Assembly will send us all into exile. You, your duplicate, Clyella, and me. And this time, it's certain.»

«I'll keep the promise. I've already accepted other sacrifices of this nature before.»

Riklev's face finally relaxed, breaking into a light laugh. «Indeed. It's remarkable that both on Earth and here, you managed to push Clyella to repeatedly violate laws and rules. Two planets in a few months... impressive.»

Clyella did not correct him on the fact that on the Eternals' planet, she didn't miss her opportunities to break the law either, and a good number of times, at that. Instead, she quickly issued the cloning command.

The computer responded by addressing Riklev with its melodious and friendly voice. «Sir, I need the explicit confirmation of a second Executive to proceed.»

Riklev took Flavia by the hand and led her in front of the yellow light cylinder. Then he stepped back and disappeared from her field of vision. «I grant authorization to proceed.»

Flavia saw the transparent cylinder glow and a silhouette form inside it. Then she had the unsettling feeling of her vision being blurred and obscured by a glare. She blinked, and to the glare was added a sensation of dizziness and seeing double.

The images inside the cylinder and what was behind it overlapped in her vision for a moment. She then realized she wasn't seeing double, but was seeing from two different perspectives. Her mind found itself in an intense state of dissociation that lasted until she could separate the two distinct perceptions she possessed.

Both perceptions looked down at their own body, and Flavia understood that one of them was outside the cylinder and the other inside. From both perspectives, she looked forward and saw the part of her that was in the male body exit the materializer, and saw the part of her in Claudia's body looking at the materializer, standing still in front of Riklev.

She realized she was experiencing the paradoxical sensation of possessing two brains. Each had its own perception, and each of the two perceptions added, from its own perspective, parallel memories to the same shared past.

She heard Clyella's anxious voice echo in her four ears.

«You better hurry; we really don't know how much longer your consciousness can remain coherent.»

«It's amazing...» Flavia-Flavio spoke in unison.

«I'm still in Claudia's body...»

«I'm already in my new body...»

«What just happened?» she laughed with both her perceptions. «Funny,» she said again in unison, «each brain has its own independent language center...»

«Oh, heavens,» shuddered Clyella, «that's not exactly a good sign.»

«Please, don't get caught in experimentation now!» urged Riklev. «You also have two independent motor centers, use them! Into the materializer, quickly, you promised!»

«Of course,» Flavio-Flavia responded in unison right away. Promptly, she commanded Flavia's body to enter the materializer and Flavio's body to watch from the outside, next to Riklev. «Computer, proceed with the elimination,» she ordered with both voices raised.

There was a clenching of sixty-four teeth, with the expectation of some pain, but all she felt was a warmth on Claudia's body's skin, as along with the senses of one of the perceptions, the state of mental dissociation also faded. After another moment of dizziness, sight regained focus.

Then came the certainty of always being the same self, every time after dying and coming back to life. It was clear that the sense of identity had never been a deception.

Flavia was experiencing the perspective of being Flavio once more.