"So when do they start?"
The alien grinned back.
"This is why I thought you should come and watch. They are already playing."
She paused, eyes looking upward and face thoughtful. When she turned to Ally, she spoke in a low, sing-song rhythm.
"Within the universe there are two planes, the physical and the spiritual. This is a simplistic way to view things, but it will suffice. Many races, known to us as the border races, exist only on the physical plane. Humans are one such race. You have in the past accessed the spiritual and brought things back from it, which I think you call magic."
She paused, putting her hand on Ally's shoulder.
"You must understand, the universe has been like this for thousands of years. It is not that we know your race, or that our disdain is based on any real values, simply that there are two tiers, two ways of being."
Ally found herself nodding. Despite the anger she felt, she could in a way understand. To people who could do what she could with her mind, humans must seem so simple, so childish. Bridyant went on.
"To be honest with you, most border races aren't even known of. I only know of humans because of my role within my people. It is important that I am aware of who and what I may come across when traveling. Your race is one of the larger border groups and your links to the Atrile make you an obvious study."
The alien paused, her face again showing that slight doubt. She shook her head and went on.
"Wherever I am in the universe, I can access the spiritual plane. Within it I can speak to anyone, anywhere. I can travel distances in seconds that physically would take years. I can be whoever and whatever I choose. This plane is a replica of the physical, only the rules are suspended, they are what you wish them to be."
Ally was nodding, remembering the place she had been when she read the Lord. She knew instinctively that was where Bridyant was talking about.
"I've been there. I was taken there when I read the Lord, before we killed it."
Bridyant nodded knowingly.
"That would make sense. The Atrile are an old race, and many of them live almost constantly within the spiritual plane. In honesty, if I looked like that, I would choose to spend much of my time there as well."
She giggled, a sound entirely at odds with the fierce face she normally wore and Ally couldn't help but join her. She gestured down at the gamers.
"So, they are in the Spiritual plane, yeah?"
Bridyant nodded like a proud teacher.
"Exactly."
She nodded at the Master.
"Which is where he comes in. I do not know whether he can do this anywhere else, but within the Nexus, the Master has the ability to shape the spiritual itself, to make of it what he wants. So, he looks at the gamers and designs the board. No one knows what it will be until the game begins."
Bridyant was looking at the Master with envious eyes and Ally touched her shoulder, making her turn back towards her.
"So how do I get on this plane then?"
"Oh, well, that is easy Alicia. When you touch me and enter my mind, how does it feel?"
"Umm, like I'm actually physically doing it, you know? My whole, uh, me, goes into you."
"So; the 'me' you so eloquently described is your spiritual self."
Ally looked at her, certain she was being mocked but not entirely sure why. Unwilling to ask her what eloquent meant, she nodded, waving her to continue.
"Try to imagine your spiritual self leaving your body, just as it does when you read someone. Only this time, it will not be going into anyone."
She sat back, closing her eyes and trying to recapture the way she felt, as Bridyant had suggested. She could imagine it easily, so strong was the sensation. She reopened her eyes and gasped. The games room was entirely different. The centre of it was dominated by a vast metal frame that soared up, high above her head and plunged down. The platform was hidden somewhere in the mass of twisting metal. The two gamers were nowhere to be seen. She glanced sideways to see Bridyant smiling broadly at her and gesturing just behind her. Looking back she saw her body, sat just as it had been.
She grinned herself, reveling again in the feeling of oneness that suddenly swept through her. Looking around the room, she could see doubles of each spectator, their physical bodies hidden behind their spiritual projections. She turned back to the alien.
"I can't imagine ever leaving here. It feels amazing."
The grey woman looked suddenly serious.
"There is a simple rule that accompanies your presence in the spiritual plane. All of my people come here and this lesson is taught with learning to walk and speak. It is ingrained. For one such as yourself, unused to this, it is doubly important that you take it in and heed it."
She stopped, putting her hands on Ally's shoulders and squaring her to look straight in her eyes. She was momentarily distracted by how solid everything felt, before the dark gaze drew her back.
"Your body is vulnerable. Vulnerable to others and to life itself. Time here can be elastic, as you found out when you breached my defences yesterday in the market. You must be aware of your physical body, and you must never spend too long here. When your body dies, you are not stuck here, you simply die with it. Do you understand Alicia?"
She nodded, suddenly sober. The alien continued to stare at her, before letting go and turning to view the game. She waved a hand at it and Ally turned to watch as well.
"Both of these two are warriors, hand to hand experts. The Master has chosen a board that will challenge them but keep the combat close up."
She nodded, eyes roving around the structure, trying to spot the gamers.
"Of course, much depends upon the gamers themselves. The way that you dealt with my defences yesterday was quite advanced. You changed not only your own being, but also the space in which you found yourself. That is, unusual."
She paused, as if wanting to say more, but chose not to and gestured once more to the centre of the room.
"Watch closely."
She watched, letting herself relax. As she did, she noticed something, a slight change in the light on one side of the frame. She focused on it and saw the white robed man, for just a split second, before he vanished again. He seemed to be changing the space around him, hiding behind nothing. Keeping her voice low, she nudged Bridyant.
"How's he doing that?"
"He is changing how the light is reacting when it hits him. It is an advanced skill, actually manipulating the way in which forces react within the plane. I am glad I will not have to play him."
"You're playing?"
"But of course, it is why I came here."
She sat silently, wanting to ask more questions but suddenly finding herself wrapped up in the contest before them. She could feel the minds around her, all focused on the game and realised something else about the spiritual plane. The same force that gave her the sense of oneness, of belonging, meant that she was connected to everyone in here. Their emotions worked on her, subtly affecting how she felt. Just like when she and Stem were touching, much more slight but multiplied by the hundreds of beings in here and the billions that existed across the universe. She felt like her head was going to explode and made herself very small, a tiny figure standing on her physical knee.
She took deep breaths, realised how pointless it was, and stopped. She thought back to what it had been like inside Bridyant and imagined a wall around herself. She was encased, a round sheet of metal separating her from everything else. The feeling of oneness disappeared, leaving her desolate. She panicked and let the wall drop. OK, maybe something a little less drastic. She had seen trees on the videos from Earth and now slowly grew a set around her, small but thick with branches and leaves. She felt the emotions slowly fading and stopped once they were at a level she could manage.
She expanded back to her normal size, the wood growing with her, then poked her head between two of them. Bridyant was looking at her strangely, confusion sitting as unnaturally as the do
ubt had earlier.
"It's, you know, to protect me from the emotions, it's all a bit full-on."
"What emotions?"
"You know, all the other people here. I get what they're feeling, it's kind of overwhelming."
Bridyant's face changed, now fascinated.
"You can feel the emotions of everyone here?"
"Uhh, yeah?"
The alien sat back, shaking her head. She turned to Ally, went as if to speak, then stopped herself.
"What, what is it?"
"I have never heard of that, it is not something I knew existed. I wonder if it comes from you being border people? Alicia, you are unique amongst the people here, truly, this is most exciting."
A gasp rose up from the crowd and they both turned back to the game. The creature in red had apparently grown bored and was using his enormous arms to haul himself swiftly up the frame, all efforts at stealth now abandoned. She could just make out the other, close to where she had seen him originally, still, waiting. The man in white began to move, slowly but surely and the spectators could see that he was putting himself on course to meet with his ascending opponent.
Without warning, the man in white was suddenly there, his knife clear of its scabbard and cutting across the others' broad arm. Blood blossomed up and the crowd cheered. The frame disappeared to leave just the platform, both men returned to their physical bodies. She could see that where he had been cut, a wound had appeared and blood was now running freely from it. The man lifted himself from his sitting position, his legs seeming even more incongruous and they stood side by side facing the master.
"A good game, if a little tedious. First blood was agreed and so you."
He gestured towards the man in red.
"May leave. Should you choose to return here and try again, may I suggest a little more practice first?"
The man bowed his head. As the walkway reached the platform, he seemed to fall forward, then caught himself. She gaped as he walked on his hands back across to the waiting area. The Master had turned his attention to the white robed gamer.
"A good win, especially on your first time here. Why did you choose to spare his life?"
She was still on the spiritual plane and reached out, focusing on the man. She felt confusion, the man trying to sort through what he had been asked. She also felt pride.
"Our agreement was to first blood. Why would I have killed him?"
The Master shrugged and she felt herself shiver. His lack of caring, of humanity, made her feel ill. She focused in on him, trying to get a sense of what he did care about. Sat around him were layers of the same white translucence that formed the Nexus. As she touched the outer one, his head jerked up and his eyes met hers. Where before she had seen something that at least looked normal, now she saw only a depthless, impenetrable black. He stared at her, the rest of the room fading away as she found herself unable to look away.
After what seemed like an age he turned away and she sat back gasping, abruptly back in her body. Bridyant touched her shoulder.
"Alicia, are you alright?"
She was shaking her head, dimly aware of the Master explaining to the confused man in white how much more entertaining a good kill could be for the spectators. She blinked, met eyes with the concerned woman sat next to her.
"The Master knows about my ability, I think. I'm not sure he's very, umm, impressed."
"Did you try to read his feelings?"
Her face showed just how foolish she obviously thought this was. Ally shrugged, slightly embarrassed.
"Well, yeah, I mean, why not?"
"Did it not occur to you to think how rude a God may find that? I know that I spoke earlier of there being no higher being, and I truly meant it, but he has power we can only dream of. In here, he is God Alicia. Please, try not to insult him."
She held her hands up in front of her, her face now a little red.
"Hey, fine by me. Sorry, I didn't think he'd realise."
She looked back at the platform that now lay empty, fishing around for a way to change the subject.
"So, what happens now. Another game?"
"That is all that happens. There will be games until the Master grows bored, or leaves. Then we will wait until he returns. That is life here, aside from the market. This place is not intended as somewhere to live, only visit, and play and then return to your own place, somehow enriched, or humbled."
"It's kinda weird."
The alien chuckled.
"Yes it is. Have you decided what you are going to do yet?"
She shrugged, looking around the room at all the strangeness that had assailed her in the last two days. She knew what they were going to do, had known it before they left the platform, but was she willing to own up to it? She sighed and looked at Bridyant, changing the subject.
"When do you play?"
"I am playing tomorrow, and I intend to win."
A pause, then the alien spoke again, more quietly.
"You did not answer my question."
"Do I have to?"
"No, you do not. I think that you know the answer. I think that you believe in what you and Stem are trying to do and something like this is only a stone in the path on your journey."
She turned in her seat to face Ally.
"I think that you have many things in front of you Alicia, many events that will shape you and those around you. I am pleased to have known you at this point in your life."
She looked down at her hands, unsure of how to answer. When she looked up, Bridyant was nodding, her face once more smiling. She smiled back, deciding that she didn't have to respond. She took her hand and stood, pulling the alien up with her.
"Shall we go to the market? Maybe you could give me some hints on how to win this thing, you know, assuming that I play of course."
Chapter Seventeen
Stem was struggling. She could see it on his face without having to read him. He'd dealt with her choice to go to the games without him just fine, and even seemed unsurprised when she said that she thought they had to play. It was her certainty that it was her that had to play he didn't like.
She'd half expected it. Despite her being a better pilot and despite them spending their years fighting and flying both against one another and together, he still believed it was his job to protect her. It was one of the things that made her think she loved him. He reminded her of dad that way. Despite her expectation though, she was struggling to remain calm, just as he was.
"OK, let's try it again, right?"
She half expected him to thump his hands on the bed, but instead he nodded, put his head back and closed his eyes.
"Right, just remember what is feels like when you read someone, yeah? That feeling of being taken out of yourself, of being separated from your body."
As she spoke she let herself drift out until she hung above the bed, her body motionless next to her. She waited, watching as his face screwed up with frustration. Finally his eyes snapped open and now he did thump the mattress, though only once. She slipped back into her body.
"Why can't we wait? I'll get it, it's just time."
"Yeah, I know. But I'm not sure how long we can wait. Don't you wanna get to Earth, start doing what we're supposed to be doing?"
He nodded and she reached forward, taking his hands. They flowed together and she poured her love into him until he sighed. He smiled at her.
"That's really not fair, you know?"
"Hmmmm."
They sat, their physical bodies forgotten as they swam the currents of their emotions, entwined and serene.
He broke contact first, his face serious now.
"I just. I'm supposed to protect you, you know?"
She nodded, then shook her head.
"Yeah, I know. But you can't, at least, not in this. You protect my..."
She paused, suddenly embarrassed and vulnerable. But it was true.
"You look after the part of me that stays hidden. You have to, you're the only one who can.
"
He looked like someone had just handed him the keys to a Homeship. She laughed, then became serious.
"But out here, we're equal. At least, I think we are. I'm strong Stem, powerful. It's scary, really, really scary, but I can't just pretend I'm not."
He was nodding and she felt herself relax, even as the reality of what she was saying sunk in.
"I think I can win this game. I think I can win it easily, like we do when we fly together."
"But what if you're wrong?"
He blurted out, clearly not quite ready to relinquish his role. She shrugged.
"Only one way to find out."
He sighed, shaking his head, refusing to catch her eye. She sat back, waiting for him. Finally he turned to her, eyebrows raised.
"So what now?"
She grinned.
"Allow me."
She lay back, letting herself drift up and out of her body. She was eager to test herself before she played and this was a chance. Bridyant had said that the Master could affect the spiritual plane, actually change the landscape. She hadn't said it at the time, but she was fairly sure that she'd done the same when facing the Lord back on the Homeship. She drifted to the walls of their room, letting herself sink into them.
It was like stepping into water, she was smothered and gasping. She made herself relax, knowing that she couldn't drown, that she wasn't here physically. Instead she let the water in, let it fill her lungs until she couldn't tell where she ended and it began. As she lay back she became aware of a mind, a consciousness so huge it engulfed her.
It didn't speak, or seem to want to communicate, it simply was. She felt the wall in which she lay dissolve around her, until she hung in space, wrapped only in the being. Looking around, she could see minds, thousands of tiny sparks. From each she received feelings, small bursts of emotion that seemed to bump up against her. One spark glowed much brighter than the others, and she made her way towards it.
Realising who it was, she paused, waiting for the feelings to reach her. When they did she recoiled, the taste of boredom bitter, mixed with a sense of self-righteousness so thick she almost choked. She floated gently back and away, suddenly nervous. The Master was everything he appeared to be, arrogant and all-powerful. Except, she reflected, not entirely all powerful, not now.
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