Heirs of Earth

by Sean Williams

  “What about your motives?” she asked the Nexus, seeking a way out of the turmoil filling her mind. “If we’re going to communicate, shouldn’t we start talking about you at some point?”

  I AM NOT THE SUPPLICANT IN THIS RELATIONSHIP, IT SAID DISMISSIVELY. I AM NOT COMING TO YOU FOR SUCCOR. I HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN THIS SITUATION, AND I DO NOT INTEND TO LOSE THAT BY DIVULGING INFORMATION TO YOU. MAKE NO MISTAKE, CARYL HATZIS: WE ARE NOT EQUALS, NOR SHALL WE EVER BE.

  “Then what is this? Are you just toying with me? Killing a little time?’

  ON THE CONTRARY. I AM LEARNING MANY THINGS ABOUT THE WAY YOU OPERATE THAT I COULD NOT FROM TAKING A STATIC SNAPSHOT OF YOUR MIND. NO MATTER HOW SUPERIOR I AM, THERE ARE DETAILS OF PROCESS THAT CAN ONLY BE OBSERVED, NOT PREDICTED. THE EVOLUTION OF THINGS IS THE ULTIMATE STUDY FOR ANY INTELLIGENT LIFE-FORM. WHAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER ME IS FAR LESS INTERESTING THAN THE WAY YOU OFFER IT. IF INFORMATION DOES NOT FLOW, IT IS DEAD. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?

  She thought she might be beginning to. No matter how far advanced a mind could be, no matter how much it knew about the way things were, it could still be interested in the unfolding of things. In the narrative, in the story. In her story...

  YOUR STORY HAS COME TO AN END, CARYL HATZIS OF THOR.

  “Don’t write me off too soon,” she said defiantly. “I’m not dead yet.”

  THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE. YOUR BODY IS NO LONGER FUNCTIONING, AND WHEN THIS CONVERSATION IS OVER I WILL ERASE YOUR PATTERN FROM MY MIND ALTOGETHER. YOU WILL CEASE TO EXIST AS A CONSTRUCT OF THIS VIRTUAL WORLD.

  “Cease... ?” Her stomach sank at the words. “But why?” she asked feebly. “What have I done to make you want to kill me?”

  YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING, CARYL HATZIS, replied the Nexus. YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING, AND YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME. YOUR FATE IN NO WAY CHANGES WHAT I AM OR WHAT I MUST DO, AND I HAVE NO COMPUNCTION ABOUT KILLING YOUR BODY TO ACCESS YOUR MIND. YOU ARE BUT AN INSECT ATTEMPTING TO ALTER THE MOTION OF CONTINENTS. NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU STRAIN AND PUSH, YOU WILL HAVE NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER.

  “Butterfly wings,” she said, desperately trying to think of a counterargument. “Small things can make a difference.”

  CHAOS CANNOT BE CONTROLLED. THE BUTTERFLY CANNOT KNOW AS IT BEATS ITS WINGS THAT IT WILL CREATE A STORM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.

  “But it can try!” She struggled to think past the fact that her life hung in the balance. “And if it tries in an interesting way, doesn’t that count for something? Doesn’t its narrative become interesting?”

  OF COURSE. THIS IS WHY I QUESTIONED YOUR MOTIVES EARLIER. I MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN HELPING SOMEONE WHOSE MOTIVES ARE MORE THAN JUST ASPIRING TO BE THE TOP OF HER PRIVATE HEAP, BUT I HAVE NO INTEREST IN MEDDLING IN INDIVIDUAL VENDETTAS.

  “Then why are you still talking to me if you have no interest? Why haven’t you erased me already?”

  I AM NOT UTTERLY WITHOUT WHAT YOU WOULD CALL COMPASSION. THERE REMAINS A SHRED OF INTEREST IN YOUR FATE AND THE FATE OF YOUR COMPANIONS.

  Thor felt infinitely weary and utterly drained. What did the Nexus want of her, for fuck’s sake? She had been more honest with it than she was with anyone—perhaps even herself. It could read her mind itself rather than drag her through this ridiculous charade. Why didn’t it just decide and be done with it, and put her out of her misery?

  “Look, who are you?” she asked after a few seconds. “Can’t you at least tell me that much, before you’re done with me?”

  WOULD IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

  “Of course it would! If you’re one of the Starfish, then you already know what I came here to tell. At least I could die knowing that I got the message through. But if you’re not, if you’re just another underling getting in the way, then...” She halted, unsure what to say.

  THEN YOU’LL BE ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED, the Nexus finished for her. AND YOU’LL STILL BE UNABLE TO ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE.

  That seemed to sum it up well enough. But again the feeling of pointlessness to the whole conversation rose up in her. Why use words when the Nexus knew her thoughts as they occurred to her?

  THERE’S ALWAYS A POINT, CARYL HATZIS. YOUR BEING HERE HAS A POINT; MY TALKING TO YOU HAS A POINT. THAT POINT IS AN INTERSECTION, A LOCUS OF CONNECTION. THE DYNAMICS OF EXCHANGE ARE VERY DIFFERENT TO THE IMPOSITION OF ORDER. BY GIVING YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE MY MIND, I FEEL THAT I HAVE AT LEAST ACTED FAIRLY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NATURAL PROCESSES OF LIFE.

  She shook her head, feeling very much out of her depth.

  “And have I changed your mind?”

  NO, YOU HAVEN’T.

  “So this was nothing more than a diversion for you, then, before you go off and destroy another of our colonies. Is that it?”

  She thought she almost heard a sigh in the brief silence that followed, LISTEN TO ME, CARYL HATZIS, the Nexus said finally. THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE GIVEN ME MAY BE VERY IMPORTANT. THE CONCLUSION YOU HAVE REACHED—THAT THE SYSTEM YOU CALL PI-1 URSA MAJOR CONTAINS SOMETHING ANOMALOUS—SEEMS INESCAPABLE IN THE FACE OF THE DATA YOU HAVE COLLECTED. MUCH OF IT IS CIRCUMSTANTIAL BUT PERSUASIVE NONETHELESS: AN ENIGMATIC FLYBY DECADES AGO, SEVERAL SCOUT VESSELS DESTROYED IN MORE RECENT TIMES. IT INDICATES A CHANGE OF TACTICS ON THE BEHALF OF THOSE WE FOLLOW, THE ONES YOU CALL THE SPINNERS, AND THAT, IF TRUE, IS A MOMENTOUS DEVELOPMENT. WE HAVE BEEN LOCKED IN AN EMBRACE THAT BEGAN LONG BEFORE YOUR RACE EXISTED. CHANGE IS SLOW AND SUBTLE, BUT ONCE BEGUN CAN UNFOLD IN AN INSTANT. YOU MAY BE A CATALYST OF A KIND WE HAVE NOT SEEN FOR MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

  “Then ... you are one of the Starfish?”

  NO, I’M NOT.

  Despite the coolness of the thoughts that flowed directly through her mind, it did little to sweep aside her confusion.

  BUT I AM CLOSER TO THEM THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS YOU ENCOUNTERED BEFORE. THERE IS, AS ONE OF YOUR NUMBER SURMISED, A RICH ECOLOGY OF LIFE CLUSTERING AROUND THIS GREAT MIGRATION. THERE ARE NUMEROUS CONNECTIONS AND LEVELS: IT IS A MAGNIFICENT ENVIRONMENT FOR ONE SUCH AS MYSELF, WHO THRIVES ON PROCESS. THOSE PROCESSES GOVERN MY EXISTENCE HERE: I EXIST TO FACILITATE INFORMATION FLOW. IN THAT SENSE YOU ARE FORTUNATE. HAD ANOTHER NICHE DWELLER FOUND YOU, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED OUT OF HAND.

  “So you’re saying we happened across the right person to help us?”

  I AM INTERESTED IN YOUR STORY, CARYL HATZIS, BUT I HAVE MY OWN NEEDS TO SERVE. I CAN ASSIST YOU, OR I CAN DISMISS YOU, KILL YOU. THOSE ARE MY OPTIONS. IF I DO NOT REGARD YOUR QUEST TO BE WORTHY, THEN I CAN HARDLY LET YOU WANDER AROUND UNCHECKED.

  “Then why not help us? If you can read my thoughts and have already been listening in on my crew, then you already know that our quest is worthy.”

  BUT IN ORDER TO HELP YOU, CARYL HATZIS, I MUST FIRST KILL YOU.

  A protest rose in her thoughts, but the Nexus caught it before she had even uttered a single syllable.

  PLEASE, LET ME FINISH. YOU MUST HEAR ME OUT BEFORE I DECIDE. THEN IT WILL BE YOUR TURN TO MAKE THE DECISION. YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE STARFISH AND THEIR MOTIVATIONS. YOU TELL YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY KNOW, BUT YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU DO, REGARDLESS. YOU ARE AS INCAPABLE OF KNOWING THEM AS I AM, AND I AM THE MOST ADVANCED INTELLIGENCE YOUR SPECIES HAS EVER ENCOUNTERED, INCLUDING THE ONES YOU CALL THE GIFTS. THE ASSUMPTION THAT YOU KNOW THEM IS BLINDING YOU, CRIPPLING YOU. YOU MUST SEE WHAT I SEE BEFORE YOU CAN PROCEED.

  THOSE YOU CALL THE STARFISH ARE UNKNOWN TO ALL WHO TRAVEL WITH THEM. I HAVE SERVED THEM FOR MANY THOUSANDS OF YOUR YEARS, AND I AM NO CLOSER TO KNOWING THEM THAN YOU ARE. THE ONLY ADVANTAGE I HAVE OVER YOU IS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE WITH THEM: OBSERVING THEIR WAYS, THEIR PATTERNS, THEIR METHODS. WHAT GOES ON BEHIND THOSE FACTS, WHAT PROCESSES DRIVE THEM, IS A MYSTERY WE MAY NEVER ANSWER. FOR ALL WE KNOW, THEY MIGHT NOT EVEN EXIST ANYMORE: THE MIGRATION COULD CONTINUE WITHOUT THEM QUITE EASILY, FOR WE NICHE DWELLERS CAN CARRY OUT OUR TASKS FOR CENTURIES WITHOUT REQUIRING INSTRUCTION OR DIRECTION.

  WHAT HAPPENS AT THE TOP OF THE CHAIN IS A MYSTERY. I HAVE DEALINGS WITH BEINGS HIGHER UP THE ECOLOGICAL LADDER IN THE MIGRATION, AND THEY TOO REP
ORT THAT THEY HAVE NO CONTACT WITH THE STARFISH. PERHAPS WE ARE THE STARFISH OURSELVES: ALL THE NICHES COMBINING AS ONE TO FORM A SYNERGISTIC SOCIAL ORGANISM THAT SOMEHOW RETAINS COHERENCE AND STABILITY DESPITE ITS MANY DIVERSE COMPONENTS. I DON’T KNOW, AND MY IGNORANCE IS AS GREAT AS YOURS IN THESE MATTERS.

  AND AS SUCH, I CANNOT TELL YOU WHAT THE STARFISH WILL THINK OF THE INFORMATION YOU WISH TO GIVE THEM. I CAN ONLY HELP YOU DELIVER IT.

  “But you must have an opinion on it.”

  Jagged branches swayed against a wintry sky for a few moments, as if the Nexus was considering her comment.

  IF WHAT YOU SAY IS TRUE, IT SAID EVENTUALLY, AND THE SPINNERS HAVE INDEED HIDDEN THEMSELVES IN PI-1 URSA MAJOR, THEN YOU MAY WELL ACHIEVE THAT WHICH YOU SET OUT TO DO. THE SPINNERS MAY BE DELIBERATELY CHANGING THEIR TACTICS NOW UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE STARFISH, AFTER SO LONG, WILL NOT NOTICE. AS THE SPINNER WAKE MOVES, WE FOLLOW; AS WE ACCELERATE, THEY PULL AHEAD. LULLED BY THIS ROUTINE, PERHAPS WE WOULD NOT HAVE NOTICED ONE SMALL DEVIATION, WERE IT NOT FOR YOU. THIS DEVIATION WILL BE A WELCOME CHANGE IN ROUTINE FOR SOME AND A THREAT TO THE ESTABLISHED ORDER FOR OTHERS. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE SPINNERS ARE DESTROYED? WILL THE MIGRATION DISBAND? OR WILL WE BE DESTROYED ALONG WITH IT, NO LONGER NEEDED? AGAIN, WE CANNOT POSSIBLY HOPE TO KNOW.

  “But will you pass on our message?” she asked, sensing an offer of assistance in the Nexus’s tone. “Can you tell those others higher up the chain so that the Starfish will eventually find out?”

  NO. I CANNOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE DO THAT. THERE ARE THOSE WHO WOULD RESIST THE MESSAGE, PERHAPS EVEN EXPUNGE IT FROM EXISTENCE, ALONG WITH ALL OF THOSE WHO HEARD IT. I COULD NOT RISK THAT. I ENJOY THE PROCESS OF MY LIFE TOO MUCH.

  BUT LISTEN TO THIS, CARYL HATZIS, FOR IT IS PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I WILL TELL YOU: YOUR RACE HAS MADE ASSUMPTIONS. I HAVE TOLD YOU THAT ALREADY, BUT I HAVEN’T TOLD YOU ALL OF THEM YET. THERE IS ONE MORE THAT YOU MUST CONSIDER. IF YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THE SPINNER TACTIC, THEN YOU ARE POTENTIALLY COMMITTING A GREAT CRIME AGAINST THEM. THEY ARE, AFTER ALL, SELFLESS PROPAGATORS OF KNOWLEDGE, PROVIDING A GREAT SERVICE TO NEW CIVILIZATIONS AND CULTURES WHEREVER THEY TRAVEL. AND YET YOU WOULD BETRAY THEM SIMPLY TO FURTHER YOUR OWN EXISTENCE. WHO WOULD BELIEVE AN EMISSARY FROM SUCH A TREACHEROUS CULTURE?

  “It’s the only way we can get your attention,” she defended quickly. The moral question of her mission had never been satisfactorily resolved beyond the kill-or-be-killed argument. “If we don’t, then—”

  PLEASE, the Nexus cut in. ALLOW ME TO FINISH. YOU REGARD THE STARFISH MIGRATION AS A GREAT DESTROYER, SWEEPING ALL LIFE BEFORE IT. DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS HOW WE SEE OURSELVES? YOU HAVE REASONS FOR WANTING TO BETRAY A BENEFACTOR: PERHAPS WE HAVE REASONS, TOO.

  “But you said you didn’t know what the motives of the Starfish were.”

  WE DON’T. BUT WE CAN SURMISE: WE CAN PROJECT. AND WE CAN PROPOSE NEW THEORIES AND TEST THEM AGAINST NEW DATA, AS I HAVE DONE WITH THE DATA YOU HAVE GIVEN ME. WHAT YOUR DATA HAS TOLD ME DOES NOT CONTRADICT THE STANDING MODEL OF OUR SUPERIORS’ BEHAVIOR, EVEN THOUGH THAT MODEL STANDS IN CONTRADICTION TO YOUR OWN. PERHAPS I AM GUILTY, AS ARE YOU, OF CHOOSING MODELS THAT SUPPORT MORAL DECISIONS I MUST TAKE IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. THIS IS A REAL POSSIBILITY. BUT I OFFER YOU AN ALTERNATE MODEL FOR YOUR APPRECIATION. THEN I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR CHOICE.

  A chill wind swept through the orchard. She hugged her arms around herself. The idea of what her choice might entail made her uneasy.

  THE GALAXY IS AT WAR, the Nexus said. IT IS A PLACE OF CONSTANT CONFLICT ON A THOUSAND FRONTS BETWEEN MILLIONS OF SPECIES. YOUR SPECIES IS FAMILIAR WITH WAR; YOU HAVE AN APPRECIATION OF THE WASTEFULNESS OF IT, OF THE CHAOS THAT ATTENDS IT. IT IS FREQUENTLY POINTLESS, DESTRUCTIVE, AND TIME-CONSUMING—BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT CAN GENERATE CHANGE, DRIVE EVOLUTION, AND ENCOURAGE PROGRESS. IT IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD THAT BALANCES HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF STARS ON ITS POINT. IT IS THE ONLY UNIVERSAL BEHAVIOR THAT WE HAVE DISCOVERED.

  I THINK, THEREFORE, THAT YOU WILL APPRECIATE THE PROPOSAL I HAVE FOR YOU. I WANT YOU TO IMAGINE A RELATIVELY SMALL SKIRMISH IN AN OUT-OF-THE-WAY CONFLICT. WHO THE ANTAGONISTS ARE IN THIS SKIRMISH IS UNKNOWN TO US, NOR IS IT IMPORTANT WHO WINS. BUT ALL IS NOT LOST FOR ONE COMBATANT. SHE BREAKS AWAY AND FLEES. SHE MIGHT BE THE AGGRESSOR IN THE CONFLICT; SHE MIGHT BE THE VICTIM. EITHER WAY, SHE RUNS. ONE OF HER ENEMIES FOLLOWS, SEEKING TO BRING HER DOWN. THE CHASE IS LONG AND HARD. THEY RUN THROUGH TANGLED FORESTS, ACROSS BLASTED BATTLEFIELDS; THEY SKIRT OTHER CONFLICTS AND NEVER RETRACE THEIR STEPS. THEY ARE LOCKED IN A CHASE TO THE DEATH. ONLY ONE WILL RETURN.

  THIS, THEN, IS THE SPINNER/STARFISH MIGRATION—THE AMBIVALENCE, AS THE CREATURES YOU CALL THE PRAXIS AND THE YUHL REFER TO IT. THEIR NAME IS A GOOD ONE. IT SUMS UP THE UNCERTAINTY OF OUR POSITION WELL. TO YOU THE STARFISH ARE VICIOUS PREDATORS, INTENT ON THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL THE SPINNERS’ GOOD WORKS. TO US, THE SPINNERS ARE FUGITIVES FLEEING JUSTICE, TO THE QUEST OF WHICH WE DEDICATE OUR LIVES. WHICH OF US IS RIGHT? WE MAY NEVER KNOW.

  “This doesn’t make sense,” she said, holding a hand to her forehead. “Why would the Spinners help us if all they want to do is get away?”

  THEY’RE NOT HELPING YOU.

  “But the gifts—”

  —ARE DIVERSIONS SOWED BY THE FUGITIVE TO DISTRACT HER PURSUER. SHE GIVES YOU JUST ENOUGH TO ATTRACT OUR ATTENTION BUT NOT ENOUGH TO DEFEND YOURSELVES OR EVEN UNDERSTAND YOUR FATE. WE CANNOT IGNORE YOU BECAUSE THERE IS AN OUTSIDE CHANCE THAT THE SPINNERS WILL ONE DAY FALL BEHIND, INTO OUR PATH: SHE COULD MASQUERADE AS ONE OF YOU, IF WE CHOSE TO BE LENIENT. SHE SLOWS US DOWN BY FORCING US TO BE THOROUGH, TO LET NOTHING PAST US. THE SPINNERS HAVE USED YOU, CARYL HATZIS, AND BETRAYED YOU TO YOUR DEATHS.

  “Why would they waste so much energy on us?” she asked softly. “It doesn’t make—”

  YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT ENERGY FROM YOUR OWN NARROW DEFINITIONS. WERE YOU THE FUGITIVE, YOU WOULD EXPEND A LITTLE ENERGY IN STOPPING TO AGITATE AN INSECTS’ NEST, INCITING THE COLONY INTO A FRENZY TO DISTRACT THOSE FOLLOWING.

  Tears of frustration sprang to her eyes as images of burning colonies filled her mind. The sound of excited scientists switching on their ftl communicators for the first time and inadvertently igniting a conflagration that would eventually consume the human race...

  IT IS AN OBVIOUS TACTIC, THE NEXUS WENT ON, BUT AN EFFECTIVE ONE. IT IS HOWEVER, NOT AS ELEGANT AS HIDING OUT IN ONE OF YOUR EMPTY SYSTEMS AND MASQUERADING AS DEAD AS THE STARFISH SWEPT BY. FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YOUR YEARS THEY HAVE CONTINUED ALONG ONE PATHWAY, SO MUCH SO THAT ONE MIGHT BELIEVE THEY WOULD CONTINUE THIS WAY ALWAYS. BUT NOW THEY HAVE CHANGED, AND BY A CURIOUS TWIST OF FATE—AND INDEED LUCK—YOU HAVE NOTICED THEM DOING SO. THEIR TRAP TURNS AGAINST THEM: THE INSECTS RISE TO BITE THEM AS THEY HIDE. THE VOICE OF THE NEXUS TOOK ON A RISING PITCH. THIS IS INFORMATION THAT COULD WORK TO OUR ADVANTAGE; IT IS INFORMATION THAT NEEDS TO BE FORWARDED SO THAT OTHER NICHE DWELLERS MIGHT HEAR AND APPRECIATE IT.

  She took a deep breath. “This is where I have to make a decision, I guess.”

  YES, CARYL HATZIS, IT IS, said the Nexus. YOU SEE, THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY I CAN BRING THIS MATTER TO THE DIRECT ATTENTION OF THE ONES YOU SEEK. CENTURIES OF EXAMINATION OF THE MIGRATION HAVE CONVINCED ME AND OTHERS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PLACE THE NICHE DWELLERS REFER TO AS THE SOURCE OF ALL. YOU HAVE SEEN IT; YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A SMALL STAR. IF THE STARFISH REMAIN AMONG US, THEN IT IS IN THERE THAT THEY RESIDE.

  “So what do I have to do to get their attention?”

  NO ONE KNOWS THAT. ALL I CAN DO IS GET YOU THERE. A warm light blossomed at the end of the row of apple trees beneath which she sat. It seemed for a moment as though the sun was rising. But this sun was smaller, denser, hotter, its light was hard and piercing. She braced herself as it rose higher in the sky, but there was nothing she could do to withstand its heat. Beneath her, the grass browned and withered; leaves and fruit fell like ash to the ground. Her nostrils filled with smoke, and it took her a second or more to realize that she herself was burning.

  NO ONE HAS ENTERED THE SOURCE AND RETURNED, the Nexus co
ntinued, IF YOU DECIDE TO GO, YOU WILL MOST LIKELY NOT COME BACK.

  “So if I go, I’ll die,” she said. “But if I stay, you’ll deactivate this illusion, and I’ll die anyway. Not much of a choice, really, is it?”

  There was no pain, but she could feel herself being consumed, millimeter by millimeter. She did not resist. There didn’t seem any point.

  THAT ISN’T THE DECISION I ASK YOU TO MAKE, said the Nexus. THE DECISION YOU MUST MAKE IS THIS: I CAN SEND YOU INTO THE SOURCE AND TO YOUR CERTAIN DEATH, OR I CAN REACH INTO THE MINDS OF ONE OF YOUR COMPANIONS, PUT YOU IN THEIR PLACE, AND SEND THEM INSTEAD.

  Her breath caught in her throat, not just from the heat. “Inari or Gou Mang, you mean? One of the engrams?”

  NOT JUST THE ENGRAMS: I COULD PUT YOU IN ANY OF YOUR CREW. I COULD MAKE YOU PETER ALANDER OR FRANK AXFORD. I COULD MAKE YOU CLEO SAMSON. AND I COULD DO IT WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING. EVEN THE ONE YOU CALL SOL.

  The fire of the Source licked at her bones as she considered her options. Near-certain death at the hands of the Starfish, or the chance to live inside the body of someone else. And more than that: a chance to become the original Caryl Hatzis, the one everyone looked up to and admired, and to whom they turned to for leadership and advice. She could be the one person in the universe she wanted to be, just by telling the Nexus that that was what she wanted.

  But even as she considered the possibility, she doubted that it could be so simple. Why would the Nexus go to so much trouble just to soothe her ego? Wasn’t it more likely that this was some sort of elaborate moral test designed to see which way she’d jump? If she made the wrong choice, she would be unworthy of any help at all, let alone the attainment of her overseer’s deepest desire.