by Adair Hart
“Of course,” said Evaran.
Dr. Snowden leaned over toward Emily and whispered, “Surprised he knows who we are.”
The attendant raised his head a bit. “I am everything you see around you. My initial probe told me all I needed.”
Dr. Snowden jerked his head back. “Oh … uhh … that’s interesting.”
“Everything, that is, except for the actual event,” said the attendant. He waved his hand in the air, and a large black cube appeared off to his side.
Dr. Snowden noted that the cube was massive relative to his position. It appeared to be several hundred feet wide by tall, but it was hard for him to judge the actual dimensions based on the environment. Inside the cube were floating specks of light.
The attendant gestured at the cube and bowed at Evaran. “You may enter when ready.”
“I shall be back,” said Evaran. He faced the attendant. “No harm will come to them while I am in there, correct?”
“Of course. In this environment, Syrilus is still active. The last thing she would do is harm anyone traveling with you, unless you were not pure.”
Dr. Snowden narrowed his eyes. He was not sure what the attendant was referring to about being pure, but it made him glad to know Evaran was. Thoughts of what would happen if Evaran were not pure floated around in his mind.
Evaran closed his eyes and raised his head a bit. “I can feel her already.” With a final glance at the others, he entered the black cube.
Dr. Snowden’s eyes popped open when he saw Evaran transform as he stepped into the cube.
Evaran’s suit and all his gadgets disappeared, and in their place was a glowing orange humanoid with black striations highlighting the muscle groups.
Dr. Snowden staggered over to the cube and took a deep breath. As everyone else assembled next to him, he said, “Is that his true plane form?”
“It is his raw essence, although it is still molded. Give it a moment,” said the attendant.
“It’s beautiful,” said Emily, staring with intent into the cube.
“Analysis. It is pleasing,” said V.
After a moment, a glowing silver woman with black striations appeared in the cube. She walked toward Evaran.
Dr. Snowden gasped as a flood of emotions surged through him. He saw what appeared to be tears flowing down Evaran’s face. They stood out since they were darker in color than the rest of his face. Dr. Snowden’s throat constricted. The death grip of Emily on his right arm confirmed she was feeling something to. It had been such a long time since she had done it. She was frowning, and a tear had landed on her cheek. V placed a hand on his left shoulder. Whatever was going on in the cube must be impacting them somehow.
“Empathy. Very interesting,” said the attendant.
As Evaran and Syrilus approached each other, they dissipated into gaseous-like clouds with a lighter tone than their bodies. Darker streaks and lights appeared in the clouds. They swirled into each other when they touched.
“What just happened?” asked Emily.
“They are entwining themselves and enjoying their last moment together.”
“That’s so sad,” she said, gulping. “How long can Evaran see her for?”
“Time is relative. From your perspective, it may seem like milliseconds, but it could be thousands of years for them.”
“Whoa.”
Dr. Snowden cleared his throat. “How do you know so much about all of this? Just something plane attendants know?”
The attendant smiled. “Not quite. Let me show you.”
Emily wrinkled her eyebrows. It was becoming routine to meet others who had already met or knew of her. There was the lingering heroic title she had heard ascribed to her, and that was something she aimed to find out more about at some point.
The attendant shimmered for a moment and re-formed into a fair-skinned woman with short black hair and slightly glowing blue eyes. “I am a part of the plane, hence a part of Syrilus.”
Emily pointed at the cube. “I thought … you were in there?”
“I am, and also here, although in a diminished plane form.”
Dr. Snowden took a step back and gulped. “How … how could Evaran not detect you?”
“This is my domain, at least for this event. I know what awaits me afterward.”
Emily narrowed her eyes. “So … inside the cube is your … essence?”
“Yes. I created two time-locked events before transforming into a plane, with each event containing the last vestiges of my being. Evaran only knew about the first one … until now. The first event was triggered by Evaran’s plane form coming into the plane.”
“Oh,” said Emily with wide eyes.
“However … I did not expect that there would be seven other entries. From my perspective, they all happened at once. I had to split the first event eight ways to talk to them simultaneously. I did not give the others a Torvatta, but I did give them a capable ship that could travel inside a universe. In that regard, the first plane form is unique.”
Dr. Snowden gestured at the Torvatta. “What makes it so special? I mean … we know it can travel anywhere.”
Syrilus nodded. “The Torvatta is a plane unto itself. I allocated a portion of this plane to create the Torvatta. This is something that can happen during a celestial death-to-plane transformation, or if an eternal does it, which, although I know they can, I have never seen done. It is … extremely rare. It was my gift to him, my partner for as long as we have existed. You can imagine the danger of giving anyone other than Evaran the Torvatta. It would allow for plane invasions by powerful beings who could bypass the plane’s defenses.”
Dr. Snowden shook his head. “Yeah … that doesn’t sound good.”
“It is not,” said Syrilus. “When Evaran’s plane form dies and is being ejected from the plane, there is a brief moment where it has the abilities of a higher APR and can perform a few planar-wide actions if it chooses to do so. However, once ejected, the plane’s outer defenses adjust and reentry with a new plane form is not possible.”
“Unless there is a Torvatta,” said Dr. Snowden.
Syrilus smiled. “Exactly. When I gave the first plane form the Torvatta, I locked down certain parts of it, such as the activation coordinates to come here. This event was created to ensure that no corruption existed in his plane form. The Torvatta would always come here upon exiting the plane, regardless of who was using it. If there was any corruption detected, then I would collapse this event, and it would be an extermination.”
Emily jerked her head back. “It’s a good thing he isn’t corrupted then. What could possibly corrupt him?”
“Evaran’s plane form has a lower Arillian power rank than his main form. As such, it is prone to attack by other cosmic entities that enter the plane, and those who have ascended to the highest rank possible in a plane,” said Syrilus. “I needed to ensure that during his travels, he was not corrupted by such entities.”
“So the other plane forms would never come to this second event, just this one, right?” asked Emily.
Syrilus nodded. “You are correct. The eighth and final plane form wishes to sync with the first plane form so that the first plane form is up to date with information only an Evaran would know.”
“Did the other plane forms not want to sync?” asked Dr. Snowden.
Syrilus drew her lips taut. “Some did. However, only the last plane form should sync. I also saw … some disturbing things with some of the other plane forms. This plane form can deal with that if he chooses to do so.”
“I guess then that we will meet with this last plane form after we leave here,” said Dr. Snowden.
Syrilus nodded. “Since Evaran’s main form is now gone, I have honored the last plane form’s sync request and entered the coordinates in the Torvatta to a critical junction in the last plane form’s personal time stream. The first plane form can make a judgment call on whether or not he wishes to help the last plane form. The last plane form has also requeste
d that I withhold some information that only a sync between plane forms can provide.”
“Why wouldn’t Evaran help his last plane form?” asked Emily.
“That is not for me to say. It is his judgment.”
Emily nodded. “So the plane … you … allow any cosmic entity in?”
“I do. However, other cosmic entities do not raise to a higher APR on their plane form’s death. Evaran is unique in that regard. Also, if the plane is being flooded, it will trigger the defenses. However, Evaran is Arillian-touched. This allows him to send multiple versions of himself, as he did with the eight plane forms. Even if one of his plane forms caused the plane to reject his entry, the Torvatta is that safeguard that allows entry back in. As the first plane form is not corrupt, I am allowing this event to continue.”
“Wow,” said Emily with wide eyes. “I’m … glad it’s continuing.”
“Same here,” said Dr. Snowden, nodding. “On another note, we met Dian the ancient, and Pozarra the Hoxscarus earlier when we were outside the plane.”
Syrilus’s eyes misted for a moment. “This plane form has shown me that visual.” She swallowed hard. “I am not familiar with Pozarra, but I can see the Hoxscarus formation, at least one possibility of it.” She stepped forward and ran a hand along V’s face, then his arm. “You are beautiful. I did not know that …” She retracted her hand. “You will find out soon enough. I am just glad to see you.”
V tilted his head. “Analysis. I do not understand.”
“In time,” said Syrilus as her blue eyes flared for a moment.
“You sound like Evaran,” said Emily.
“Or … he sounds like me,” said Syrilus. She squeezed V’s shoulder. “You sound like me too.”
“Analysis. It is a function of the universal translator that came with the Torvatta.”
Syrilus grinned. “Oh, I know.”
“I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but we’re honored to meet you,” said Dr. Snowden, glancing at the others.
“It is I who am honored. Evaran brought you here. Do not take the weight of that lightly. He does not see what I see, but he will in time.”
“We’re just humans,” said Emily. She glanced at V. “And he’s an artificial intelligence.”
Syrilus faced V. “Artificial? Not quite.” She faced Emily. “Although I can see all of space and time at a plane level, it is every possibile event. I do not know which will occur and which will not. All of you have a potential destiny. Whether or not it occurs, I do not know, but I do see a possibility of it.”
Emily raised her eyebrows. “I suppose you aren’t going to tell us. Timeline integrity, right?”
“It goes beyond that.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
Dr. Snowden gulped. “How long have you known Evaran?”
Syrilus eyed Dr. Snowden. “Imagine all the time he has spent involved with this plane. That is but a tiny fraction of how long we have been together. I was created after him, and although he is Arillian-touched, I am not.”
Emily could not fathom that amount of time. It was incomprehensible to her, just like when Dr. Snowden tried to explain the number of galaxies and solar systems that must exist in all the universes. She peered into the cube, and a wave of sadness swept over her. A tear formed in her eye. “I feel … feel like I can sense how sad Evaran is.”
“That is my doing,” said Syrilus. “While I am outside the cube, what happens inside can leak out in small doses.”
“Analysis. Evaran is in pain.”
Syrilus gulped. “I know, but this event had to occur.”
Emily swallowed hard. The emotion from Evaran in the cube was still impacting her and Dr. Snowden. Even V could sense it. It was like a spigot had been turned on and a torrential rain of emotions flooded out. She exhaled through her nose and wiped her eyes. “Evaran’s emotions … so powerful.”
Syrilus focused for a moment, then said, “I have dampened them as much as I can. You should feel yourself again.”
Emily breathed a sigh of relief. “Much better, but is Evaran going to be okay? I mean … he’s seeing you for the last time.”
“He will be fine,” said Syrilus. “Such is the way of cosmic beings.”
Dr. Snowden smiled. “I wish we had the time to get to know you better. You’re such a big part of his existence.”
“Hmm, you do know me in a way. The matter that makes up your body is a part of me. In a sense, you are my children.”
Dr. Snowden’s eyes darted back and forth. “I guess so, come to think about it. I would say star matter, but planar matter might be more appropriate.”
Syrilus nodded. “I suspect it is why Evaran hangs around, even if he cannot converse with me. He removes planar threats that might destabilize the plane with their very presence and also those who would prevent the Hoxscarus from forming.”
“Well, we did remove one Hadryn spawn already,” said Emily. “Sounds like there may be others like that in our future.”
“Quite possibly. Whatever the threat, I have full trust that you can handle it,” said Syrilus.
Dr. Snowden wagged a finger. “I do have a question about our three-Ls you might be able to answer. It’s stumped even Evaran. If our three-Ls are universal, how can they function outside the plane?”
Syrilus eyed Dr. Snowden. “Evaran cannot detect planar three-Ls. They appear as universal to him. Your time aboard the Torvatta has changed your three-Ls from universal to planar. As the Torvatta is a plane itself, you are now bound to it.”
Dr. Snowden’s eyes widened. “So if we die …”
“Your three-Ls will dissipate and go into the dimension that powers the Torvatta.”
Dr. Snowden raised his eyebrows. “Oh. I … didn’t know the Torvatta was dimensionally powered.”
“The last plane form has more on that.”
Emily narrowed her eyes. “Being tied to the Torvatta would explain why we could travel outside the plane, but what about V?”
Syrilus smiled. “He already has a planar three-L.”
V tilted his head. “Analysis. This must be due to my origin.”
“You are correct, young one,” said Syrilus. She raised her head a bit. “Evaran is coming out, and with that, my presence here comes to an end.” She extended her arms out.
Dr. Snowden looked at Emily, and then they both approached Syrilus and hugged her, one on each side.
V joined them and placed his arms around Dr. Snowden and Emily. With a tap of his right hand on Syrilus’s arm, he said, “There. There.”
Syrilus laughed as they all stepped back. “You are funny too. An admirable trait. Nonetheless, it is time. Be at peace, my children.” She transformed back into the attendant.
Emily swallowed hard. The sensation that coursed through her reminded her of love in its purest form. A great joy swept through her. Although she had only known Syrilus for this event, there was a deeper attachment. She enjoyed the conversation with Syrilus, and it dawned on her how unique this was. Having a planar life link layer had implications she was not sure she fully understood, but it sounded like they could go anywhere the Torvatta could. She tapped V’s arm. “Did you feel that emotion at all?”
“It was a new sensation. I am still processing it.”
Emily pointed at the cube. “Look!” She stood raptured as she watched the gaseous forms inside the cube separate.
They re-formed into their respective humanoid forms and hugged for a good while. After a deep kiss, they stepped apart. Syrilus faded away.
Emily frowned as she saw the pain on Evaran’s face when he turned to head out of the cube. Her heart sank as he began his tortured walk toward the cube wall. She saw that Dr. Snowden was struggling to keep his emotions contained.
Evaran did a final look behind him, then stepped through the cube wall and back into the pure white environment.
She noted that when Evaran crossed the cube wall, he reverted back to the plane form that she knew. The only sign of emot
ion on Evaran’s face was his lips drawn flat.
Evaran took stock of his surroundings and then joined the others. “I have spoken with Syrilus.”
“We have too,” said Dr. Snowden, rubbing his eyes.
“Elaborate.”
The attendant chuckled. “That was me. Syrilus occupied this form temporarily while you were in there.”
Evaran eyed the others. “Did you like Syrilus?”
Emily sniffled as she rushed over to give Evaran a bear hug.
Dr. Snowden wiped a tear off his face as he put one arm around Emily and the other around Evaran.
“Another hugging session,” said V as he strode over and hugged them all.
“She can have that effect,” said Evaran with a grin.
Everyone stepped back.
“She’s amazing,” said Dr. Snowden. “I can see why you traveled with her.”
Evaran nodded. “Yes, and I miss her.”
Emily smiled. “She said our three-Ls are planar too and tied to the Torvatta.”
“She mentioned this to me when I was inside the event,” said Evaran. He focused on the attendant and said, “According to Syrilus, I am to get the coordinates to my last plane form so that I may sync. That form has information for me.”
“They’re in the Torvatta already, along with the structural changes shown to her during your meeting.”
Evaran studied the Torvatta for a moment, then nodded at the attendant. “Thank you. Do you know much about the Torvatta?”
“Actually, no, I don’t, but your last plane form would, from what I understand.”
Evaran wrinkled his eyebrows. “Syrilus said I would know at some point, so I am guessing I told her that I will tell myself. Before I go, is there anything I need to know about where my last plane form is?”
“Only that the Torvatta has what you need to help your last plane form at the given coordinates.”
“Noted,” said Evaran. He swept his gaze across everyone. “I believe it is time to go.”
Dr. Snowden adjusted his glasses and exhaled sharply. “I feel like I’ve been through an emotional ringer.”
“Me too,” said V.
Emily laughed. “I’m ready to go too.” She smiled at Evaran. “We’re with you.”
