CHAPTER TWO

=-=-=-=-

"So, who do we have today?" asked Dr. Takashiro, with more than a little unease. None of the three dominants were exactly fun to deal with, Hayley herself was almost never ascendant.

The tech focused the monitor on the recumbent Hayley's eyes and through lids only barely slitted they could make out the emerald green.

"Damn! Krrn... his answers, gods, so infuriating."

Stepping in to the isolation chamber, the Doctor smiled and greeted the dominant personality. Its name a harsh almost click, followed by a buzz, ending on a brief hum with a rising tone.

"Good Morning Krrn. Might I speak with Hayley today?"

"The child has yet to choose and is thus too weak to manifest."

"Choose?"

"To accept and join, or refuse and pass."

"What does that choice represent?"

"If the host chooses to instantiate."

"And that means what?"

"The awareness of eternity, or the oblivion of the now." Krrn started a buzzing and dropped into a kneeling pose. Experience told Dr. Takashiro that he would get nothing more today. Sighing, he exited the suite. Hayley had been here a month and they knew little more now than they had the first day. Krrn claimed to be Vreen, a Monk Adept. Tyra was Anori, a mercenary thief that had left her home space long before they and the Chel exterminated each other. M!Tekk claimed to be of a species that wasn't even native to this arm of the galaxy, something called Chet!Tzu that had existed and passed beyond long before Earth's dinosaurs had reached their peak.

Each day the scanners reported the web work as spreading, growing more complex. Barely detectable at all, the best theory was that as Humanity used Atoms and Molecules to build their nanotechnology, this long-lost tech seemed to use Quarks directly.

=-=-=-=-

Hayley was nearly lost in what seemed an infinite void. An odd undefined lunar like orb hung at the center, it fascinated Hayley and called to her, but even more it somehow scared her. In the vast distance, other orb systems hung, separate but connected. Somehow she knew she was now smeared across the event horizon of a singularity set on a careful orbit, drifting between galaxies, it would be trillions of years before it's path intersected a source to fuel its eternal hunger and possibly disrupt their existence, otherwise they would exist until the end of Baryonic matter some 1.3x1032 years from now, when protons themselves decay.

Three bright orbs that burned fierce as Suns orbited the closest selenic orb, she didn't dare look too long on their brilliance, or she would drift closer. She could see the clustered dimmer sources, spinning in terminal orbits about those bright cores. Scattered in the void were the dim glows it didn't hurt to approach, but they mostly filled her with despair. Like the one next to her now. She reached out to brush fingers of light over the dim orbs nearby.

< what is happening? why can't I go home? just let me go home. > The voice a mere echo of what should have been strong and vibrant. Looking closer, images filled her of a small furred cub that found a half buried silvery metal rod and tried biting it, giving it entry.

Turning from that one she approached one that always made her feel better.

< hello child! how nice of you to visit. i think the grandchildren are due today. stay and eat with us when they arrive? > She always felt like she was visiting her grandmother in her rocker, even though she could see it was an aged Vreen lounging in a bubbling pool of mud. Each time she visited it was like a replay of some ancient memory. Events and dialog barely changing. Hayley drifted away, deep in thought.

Suddenly her drift veered out of her control and spun her in to the dim shining core. Pulled into a pocket, tendrils reached out poking, prodding, and testing.

[ Have you decided? The time has come, accept now and become one, or remain separate and fade to the echoes you see. ] The almost voice set every fiber of her being to vibrating.

< But how can I decide, I really don't understand the consequences! >

[ Irrelevant. You are already weakening. Already it may be too late, your soul too weak, if you refuse to decide, that then will be your choice. ]

< Then yes, I accept. I will be part of it forever, whatever that means... >

Hayley felt something, something vital, at her core change. Spat out of the selenic orb, she saw her new sun like light reflected from the myriad of dim glows. The dim glows starting to slowly seek out her light and warmth.

The doctors and technicians outside watched as the scanners picked up sudden furious activity. Then with a surge of energy, the web work spreading throughout Hayley's body, faded from the scanners, leaving only afterimages and memories. Even the highest resolution scanners now failed to find any traces remaining.

=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hayley Stewart opened eyes that were merely human and blue. Taking a deep breath, it felt like her first breath ever. Slightly stale air, lacking any zing, any life.

Standing, she moved to the fresher and splashed water on her face. Undressing for a quick shower she heard them for the first time clearly.

< Such a waste of precious water! > M!Tekk grumbled.

< Hush! I think it is delightful that they brought the summer rains inside. > Tyra laughed.

< Summer Rains? This is barely a light mist as you well know! > Krrn scolded.

< Umm, hello? > came a tentative Hayley.

< Welcome Sister! I have such secrets to show you, so many things we can do! > came the bubbly purr, < I am Tyra! First though we must get us to safety. Away from this observation. >

Hayley walked through the suite, exploring. A fresher with both bath and shower. A full vanity along one wall with a full-length mirror. A bedroom with a tiny wardrobe, a dispenser that a quick flick through showed thousands of clothing options. A central common area with couch and recliner, a huge wall screen had a library of viewing options. All the other spaces depending off this central area. A kitchen that was little more than just a dispenser with a seating area. A full gym had a VR exercise gym, many attachment points would provide resistance, all while providing whatever environment was desired. A full mirrored wall had a ballet barre. All the public spaces had visible camera domes. The exit door was sealed behind a security lock. Hayley started tugging on the exit handle, even slapping the emergency release. The door remained sealed. Hayley started racing from room to room, but found no other doors.

< Child! Calm and discipline always! Never let the outside world disturb who you, who WE are. Steady now! > Came a rumbling voice. < I am Krrn. The inner world is all that truly matters. >

< Others seek to control you. I M!Tekk will show you how to resist, and in turn control them! >

It was the image of Tyra enfolding her in a massive hug that brought her to stop and calmed her racing heart.

< Okay. How do we start this? >

=-=-=-=-

Three days of exhausting physical tests, had doctors and nurses trooping through, each with intrusive questions, scans, and some bizarre test.

As upsetting as having three others sharing her head should have been, Hayley felt calm and collected. They were always there, with suggestions and advice. M!Tekk started showing her that what she had thought were limits to her strength and endurance, were merely goals to work beyond.

Krrn barely had time to start to show her how to relax and stabilize herself when she felt one of the drifting echoes slid into orbit around her center. Bringing its talents and knowledge into her. The poor cub would cry for a home no more, now it was part of her for eternity. Her 'sun' growing slightly brighter, and now had more echoes drifting closer.

< Krrn? These echoes? Are they what I would have become if I refused to join? >

< Yes child. They are the memories, knowledge and energy of those that refused or failed to join. Their 'self' has gone on where we never will, leaving just the shell behind. >

< How can there be so many echoes? >

< Whoever made the spikes, did so very long ago. The oldest self I have ever found has been here almost a billion years. And they didn't even have rumors of the origin. In all that time, millions of what you know as Soul Spikes are drifting through thousands of galaxies and there isn't even a hundred thousand of us who chose to continue. There are trillions of echoes, over time more and more will come to you. That is why you must strive so to remain yourself, never let them overwhelm you. >

< So? Who are we now? What are we? >

< I am Krrn, as I have always been. You will be always Hayley. You will change bit by bit as others join with you, and one day this body, your body, will die. When that happens, we will return to waiting for the next Host to find us. But the core that is you will watch the eventual end of everything many many years from now. We are bound to this node, but during long periods between hosts we can travel to other nodes and visit with the others there. For now, this is our home, make it your own. >

Hayley walked over to one of the blank pastel walls. Slapping the wall there was a flicker and the active wallpaper's control panel appeared. Selecting from the menu, she chose a pastoral scene and with a flicker all four of the Common room walls became a scene, so familiar to her, the prefab farm home, the sheet metal barn, the milling near-sheep being herded by Cy-dogs. Three days later the farm vanished, replaced by a neutral forest scene, trees blowing in a gentle breeze. The farm was far too painful as the door remained sealed...

9