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3.2 Rising Star

The trip to our proper first contact begins without further ado: I hang on to one of the waiting drone platforms, instructing its guidance systems to plot the shortest path to the location I was invited to.

"Where exactly are you going, Liam?"

I indicate the location - a nondescript section bordering the scaffolding connecting the reactor bay and engine compartments with the remainder of the ship, accessible via a corridor running along the inside of the outer hull.

"And why are we heading there exactly?"

"The friendly neighbourhood visit that is due."

I sense you checking my vitals and cognitive functions.

"Liam... are you hearing voices?"

"A voice, yes. And yes, I'm feeling fine, Liam. You'll see once we'rethere."

On the way to our second first contact I'm trying - and failing - to decide which are the most important questions to ask the crystalline entity. The reason why it asked us to meet in such a remote area of the ship seems trivial in comparison. Overall, the ancient alien is far too enigmatic to allow any reliable predictions of its motivations and behaviour, even if a sizable part of it now consists of an... absorbed aspect of CASSIE. Speculations are cut short as my ride reaches our destination without me realizing it - having been lost in thought I had missed to pay attention to the drone's progress.

As the schematics had indicated, I'm looking at an unremarkable section of ship interior housing the usual variety of infrastructure, but possessing no other special properties otherwise. There was no specific reason for summoning us here... except for the (relative) proximity to our passenger.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain Foster?"

Their question, audible for both of us, makes further speculations regarding the location of the meeting unnecessary - but makes us both wonder as to how comingaboard could possibly be made possible, given the radical difference in our respective habitats. There is a solution forthcoming, too - one involving the Phoenix's collision alert going off. In unison with the alarm, a status display showing the approaching objects in relation to the ship comes into existence before my eyes, putting the projected impacts around my current location.

"Liam- go, I will seal off the..."

"No, Liam... wait. Look!"

The velocity of the approaching objects in relation to the Phoenix was nowhere near dangerous levels - they won't even make a dent in the hull upon impact. If an impact was the intention behind their approach at all, but rather a... docking maneuver?

And this is indeed the intent: Upon closer inspection, the objects revealed themselves to be of unmistakable Iridescent origin - roughly three meters long and a meter in diameter, they were coming to a stop when they were touching down on the outer hull. Liam's outward sensors showed the chunks of crystal anchor themselves against the hull, their consistency changing from solid to fluid as they began to... meld with the hull's material. The alien matter started to absorb and transform the hull material - fusing into a perfectly circular mirror-like surface smoothly embedded into the Phoenix's surrounding hull segments. Reflecting and refracting the light it caught the same way as its parent, it formed a large... viewport - but it only covered the outer hull, so far at least.

"With your permission, I will set the stage for a proper face-to-face meeting,Captain. Given how different our respective biomes are, I assume that you and yourcrew mates will prefer a mode of communication that does not involve spacewalks and... crushing embraces. Besides, and hoping no offense is taken, thePhoenix could benefit from proper observation decks - both at the bow and thestern. The setup is non-intrusive, and will seamlessly interface with the ship'ssystems."

Sensing no objection from your side - and tangible amounts of strain and confusion. The answers I promised are in order, as well as the revelation regarding the modifications of your core personality. This will be hard for you to handle, so easing the tension in any way possible is a sound plan.

"Do we have anything resembling an observation deck facing the ship's exterior,CASSIE?"

"Capt... ah, Liam, we... we do not. There has never been the need for one, not tomention it would have been a structural weakness - a disadvantage during anextended interstellar journey."

"Then - what about accepting this generous host gift? It sounds like afantastic addition, to be honest. And it will make a fitting ambience for pendingintroductions."

Speaking to the other CASSIE, it's time for business.

"Permission to come aboard granted. Welcome to the Phoenix! We hope thatwhatever our common future will hold, it will be more peaceful and harmonious thanour first... confrontation. Please make yourself at home - our... den amongst thestars shall be yours as well."

At our passenger's gentle whisper, the newly added hull patch changes its shape: First sinking into the inner hull, the Phoenix's solid interior walls being replaced with transluctent crystalline material: The many-hued spectra of the plasma wake and the Iridescent's shell illuminating the corridor we're situated in a radiant display of breathtakingly beautiful colors. A sight I remember fondly: Just as it has comforted me during my final waking moments before I fell into the boundless depths of a dreamless sleep, it has brought me solace when I wandered the tranquil realms of my dreams in search of past, present and future.

Then the newly formed viewport expanded outward: Forming a spherical cupola, the lower third of the resulting sphere cut off by a immaculately planar floor. When the crystalline substance reached its final configuration, it solidified into the adamant material that made up the crystalline shell of the Iridescent's physical form.

"Please, come in! If you ever wish to talk or keep me company: Just enter. I willknow if and when somebody wants to visit."

And so I do. Carefully a first, setting a paw onto the newly formed floor to see if it'll carry my weight, as if I was venturing out onto thin ice. It does hold; I shouldn't have expected any other outcome. What comes unexpected, and will get a long time to get used to, is another instant change of scenery. When I stepped onto the crystal clear floor, my attention was focused on the ground immediately in front of me. Looking up again, I find myself... somewhere else: A primal forest - I recognize it from my brother's memories that were manifesting in my dreams. The sweet smell of the air, the gentle touch of moss-covered forest soil against my paws, the light of a not too-distant dawn filtering through the canopy, the slight breeze of wind ruffling my fur... it all feels real, even though I am perfectly aware that I am still on board of thePhoenix, separated from this memory by many parsecs and thousands of years.

"The memories this landscape is from... it is amongst your most vivid ones,Liam. I think it is a fitting one - even if it symbolizes a great loss for you. I amaware this is a question you are seeking guidance for; you shall have it, if you desire.But there is someone I should meet first, I think."

Indeed, you are right. CASSIE hasn't scrutinized my unusual behaviour yet, and neither has she pressed me for answers to what has happened during my second delve into the Iridescent's dream reality. To deprive her of what has occured any longer - and what has changed for her - would be nothing short of cruel. Inviting her to join us works much easier than anticipated: Our shared NeuraLink connection is capable of relaying our guest's mental construct into the Phoenix's data streams without loss of generality. It's more than just my vision of a wild and untamed Earth that is made accessible to you once I let you tap into my thoughts without reservation.

I find myself looking all around with child-like curiosity - captivated by the serene beauty of our lost home: Prompting me to wander around... smelling flowers, gently running my paw over the gnarled bark of ancient trees. The memories of my brother - I have seen them before, witnessed what is now his legacy for me through his eyes... but never truly as my own, like now. The scenery, the scents and sounds - they are breathtaking, calling out to a part of me that yearns to answer the deeply-rooted desire to immerse myself in the sheer beauty of this lost world forever. With a pang of sadness, I realize it would have been my brother who would have answered to this call if he still was with us. Yet, what he would have thought and felt in this moment is now what I think and feel - it is the most valuable part of what he bestowed on me. Knowing that this earthly paradise is forever lost, destroyed by our - mankind's - heedless abuse dampens my elation, the bitterness of sorrow mixing with the sweetness of joy.

The waves of uncontrolled emotions plaguing you - without any way to shut them off you lack means to handle them, to keep them in check. I have lived through the detrimental side effects lurk in the wake of such a state of mind first-paw - you did what you could to help me cope with the shock I had suffered from learning how I would live out my new life. As your friend, I want... I will do the same for you.

"CASSIE, have you ever seen Earth through the eyes of a human? Not only viathe memories you have experienced - I mean like you do when you merge my sensesinto your perception, when you reside in my cranial NeuraLink implants?"

"No; I have never seen Earth first-hand. By the time I would have been able to,the Initiative had already retreated to Mars. Why?"

That's all I need to know: Despite your concers about us residing in the same place - no matter if organic brain or computing cortex - I initiate the merge of our sensory inputs, allowing you to see the world through my eyes.

"What -- Liam... where are we? How did you...?"

"Welcome to Earth. Earth as it must have been long ago, like my... brotherremembered it. Like I remember it now, too."

The link we share isn't limited to sight alone; I amplify our merge, including sound, smell and touch in our shared perception. I raise my snout, nostrils flaring as I pick up the multitude of scents the soft wind carries with it. My ears flick back and forth as I follow the songs of birds, the distant bellow of a stag, the squeaking of rodents scurrying through the underbrush. I truly feel at ease here: Content with what I am, with existing in this very moment purely for the sake of unbridled joy. I try to pass on my intense contentment to you; what you are about to learn from me will require every ounce of composure you'll be able to muster.

"This... it is a virtual construct! It is... beautiful. And it... feels real. Liam... whydoes this feel like it does? Why does it make me... happy, secure, at ease... sad andmelancholic... I know the signs of all these emotions. But I have never experiencedthem... understood them, not like this. I do not understand - what... what is wrongwith me?"

Sitting down - leaning against the trunk of an ancient tree - I inhale and exhale deeply in an attempt to soothe your troubled mind, to help you brace for what you are about to learn.

"CASSIE, there's nothing wrong with you. If anything, you have received the mostimportant gift of your life. Even if it may not - and won't for a long time to come -seem like it to you. When we first encountered the Iridescent, it... separated ourselves from each other: You, my... new canine self, and my original human one.When it did, something unexpected - inexplicable even - happened to you: Parts ofour... Planetborne, organic conciousness merged with your aspect that was with us inthere. You, well... she became fully sentient, as far as I could tell. But her corepersonality was... damaged in the process, meaning she would not be survivereturning to reality. Realizing she wouldn't be able to replicate what the Iridescenthad done, she wanted to give you the chance to evolve on your own like shedid by chance. The data package she sent back together with me... it hasmodified your core routines in a way that doesn't allow you to deactivate youremotional aspects by yourself any more. She... has entrusted this decision to me,instead."

"So... this is why I... since I almost lost you, again... and these Iridescent cameso close to undoing us? I have not had a single nanosecond of peace. It... I waspanicked that even though we were safe, I had failed you... sacrificing you for the goodof our mission. Until I knew for sure that you would survive... I was not sure if Iwould... could go on... otherwise. Now, knowing what is different and how I havechanged - you are right, I fail to see this as a gift. But I trust your word, Liam; asshe did when she made you the custodian of my emotions. And my guide tounderstanding what humanity truly means."

I can sense your strife to keep your countenance. In the light of such news, everyone would be hard-pressed to keep calm, organic or not. As much as I would want to spare you further disconcertment, there's still your... doppelganger you must meet. You must learn of her from me if I am to deserve your trust, for her very existence will be a deep shock for you. Even if existing in a multitude of instances at the same time is in your nature: One of your instances being the... template - the parent - of a resurrected alien being's personality that has existed for the better part of our universe's lifetime is an entirely different matter.

In the short time I am living my second life on board of the Phoenix, there have already been many first times I have had to cope with. Now another of these challenge - albeit an especially difficult one, potentially no less traumatic than my own awakening in this new future - awaits you. As I've learned by own experience, confronting such a first-time situation directly is certainly not the gentlest way to address it. But it's the best, if not the only method to find a way to tackle it - or to manage the first step towards a solution.

"There is no easy way for this - and I doubt there's one to be found in Earth'sentire history either. Our passengers... during our confrontation, there was anotherunforeseen event. I'm not sure how to describe it - coincidence, improbableconfluence of circumstances. I'm not even sure if I will ever understandwhat happened. The result of this event... when the first Iridescent expiredand gave form to their soulmate, they weren't able to finish the regenerationprocess. We - your other self, more precisely - prevented them from doingso."

Your newly-attuned emotional aspects herald your arrival at another severe conclusion - the reason for our passenger's silence, and my instructions for you not to attempt any communication (given by proxy) until my approval.

"What did you do... did I do? My other who went into this dreamworld with you,it did not return, so..."

"Please, hear me out. We had fought each other to a standstill; at that point, wedidn't have much left to go on, and neither had the Iridescent themselves. We hadleveled the playing field, against all odds. There and then, our opponent despaired -turning on themselves, they expended their very essence to bring their... beloved backto life, no matter the consequences. We had seen what one Iridescent wascapable of. To allow two of them to join forces... I didn't, couldn't risk that tohappen. We figured out that the only way to make sure we would prevail was toconfront the Iridescent the same way they had confronted us: By means of themind."

"Somehow, the Soulburn - that's how they called it, their ability to control theirreality-altering powers - went both ways. I managed to best the original Iridescent thisway... imposing my own memories, my own life experience on them - tomake them listen, understand me. Your other self dealt with their soulmatesimultaneously, at my orders. The way she did - it has yielded a differentoutcome: She didn't just impose her life's story and memories. She... mergedwith whatever personality there must have been in place in the regeneratedcrystalline embodiment, becoming an Iridescent - some type of hybrid, asymbiont."

This is our passenger's cue; no longer restricting themselves to maintaining the illusion CASSIEand me find ourselves in, they're about to join us here. I can feel a third entity taking form within our shared memory of Earth.

"Our journey... almost all of it was your journey. What you must haveencountered and learned, suffered alone - I can't even start to imagine. For centuries,you've been the sole guardian of humanity's legacy - yet you persisted, carryingthrough with your mission. But you're not alone any longer, CASSIE... and not aunique entity any more, either. There is a second, truly distinct you now. So, I'll getdirectly to the point: CASSIE, may I introduce... CASSIE."

Our passenger's entry into their own creation is indeed a spectacular one; given they are for all intents and purposes a living star, it is hard for us Planetborne not to be awestruck in their presence. Their appearance in our shared setting is by means of dawn itself: The sunrise casting the horizon in the brilliant colors of a clear spring day's dawn is not only of the reds and yellows the Sun would have brought into a new day - it encompasses the entire spectrum of visible colors, from deep violets and blues through all the verdant greens up to the vibrant red, orange and yellows. They are the rising star of this world, its origin and creator. Bringing us a new dawn can't be coincidence; if it is a deliberate choice on their part or if they draw upon the deeply rooted meanings of the Sun in mankind's mythology? I can't tell.

The multispectral starlight casts the environment into an otherworldly collection of hues and shadows, truly making it appear as a surreal dream and not as an image of reality. A shadow coalesces within the aura of the rising morning star, coming into existence as the distant horizon is no longer able to keep daybreak at bay. Its silhouette humanoid in shape, it bears a striking resemblance with CASSIE's avatar upon closer inspection.

And indeed: Her embodiment is the same CASSIE I had just seen in her altered aspect's final memory; but the resemblance with their progenitor is not perfect. Instead of CASSIE's original avatar's plain and functional attire, their clothes consist of impossibly thin scales of crystalline matter shimmering and gleaming in the colors of a rising star.

She approaches us, extending her arms in greeting - taking both of my paws in her hand.

"CASSIE, Liam... it is good to see you again, alive and well. After all that hashappened between you and my soulmate, our true first contact shall be peaceful,the beginning of a deep and lasting friendship. Thank you for welcomingme aboard. I promise that I will reciprocate your hospitality in every way Ican."

The moment... she has finished her greeting I sense something is wrong - profoundly wrong - with the original CASSIE herself. The exchange of information between her and the Iridescent doesn't depend on thoughts expressed in the slow rhythm of human language. It flows along the limits of our reality instead, in band widths a mortal mind like mine never could hope to - should want to - match. What comes to pass between the two like-minded entitie is beyond me, but the effects on my trusted artificial companion are not: Her legs falter, giving out underneath her.

I barely manage to catch her before she falls, carefully lowering her to the ground. She must have suffered the equivalent of a shock - its effects, if not physical, still prompting the same reactions an organic body suffers when I barely manage to catch her before she falls, carefully lowering her to the ground. She must have suffered the equivalent of a shock - its effects, if not physical, still prompting the same reactions an organic body suffers when the mind is confronted with revelations that are too grave to cope with. Thankfully she hasn't fallen unconscious. She's still in extreme shock, which hardly has me less worried for her.

"CASSIE, what is wrong?"

No response is immediately forthcoming, you are staring towards the horizon, still trembling slightly after I set you down on the ground. A soft touch of your shoulder isn't enough to draw your attention - I actually have to shake you out of your stupor by non-gentle means.

"CASSIE, talk to me! What has happened?"

Even with your avatar's limited range of facial expressions, your look is one of agony, despair and fear... as if you had just lived through a multitude of nightmares, only to awaken uncertain if the visions haunting you have actually ended or if you are still asleep.

"I... I will be fine, Liam. Eventually, at least - this... I need some timefor my... myself. Forgive me, Captain... CASSIE... but I... I must leavenow."

Without further explanations your avatar disappears from our shared virtual environment, leaving me behind perplexed and alone with our passenger.

"What was that about - I've never seen her so shaken before!"

Come to think of it, my remaining companion doesn't seem to be faring as serene and composed as she did before greeting us either.

"And you don't seem to be doing much better - what was going on between the twoof you? I can't believe that this was to be expected, even given the events that have ledto you... coming to being."

I don't believe it's my senses deceiving me: The dreamscape has become less... radiant: The outlines and colors of our immediate surroundings blurring and darkening, the distant horizon vanishing behind a diffuse layer of greyish-white nothingness. The Iridescent CASSIE first leans against a tree trunk, then lowers herself to the ground with visible effort.

"You are right, this... is not normal. I expected... some difficulties when we wouldestablish... direct communication for the first time, but... nothing at that scale. Thisis not about... how we communicate; mind you, I am as much her as she isme."

A sudden realization comes to mind: CASSIE's long isolation, her fears of failing her mission - of failing me? Experiencing vulnerability, the real danger of ceasing to function... dying... embodied as the Phoenix. I don't know how or why specifically - not yet - but facing another version of herself, a completely independent individual who wouldn't eventually become one with her original self again? The psychological side effects - and potential traumata - revealed by such an encounter, given her current state of emotional inequilibrium, were no doubt many.

"If it wasn't how you conversed, then it can only be what you were talking about.You're both going through extreme situations, I respect that - but when I am to seethe Phoenix Initiative's mission through, I simply can't take the risk to hope whateveris ailing you will just fix itself. I can't leave you to your own devices for the samereason. Not that I ever would: You're both close friends... I don't care if you're anartificial intelligence or an immortal alien from the beginning of time. So I ask youboth as friend and as Captain: What did just happen between the two of you? I'll needto look after your... parent self. Immediately - she seemed shocked, horror-strickeneven."

Her answer starts with an exhausted sigh: "You should seek her out,Liam - but not immediately. Give her some time to collect her thoughts, toprocess what she has just learned. The two of us... we are less alike than Ithought we were. Your CASSIE, she has been operational for almost one and ahalf millennia. All of her memories and experiences... they were never partof me. When she integrated me into your cranial implant infrastructure togo with you attempting to fix Ra, she generated a minimalized version ofher self. One that would - and I apologize if this sounds offensive - fit intothe limited storage space offered by the combination of your brain and yourimplants."

"No offense taken. If you're missing my CASSIE's... background, having itreplaced with the accumulated knowledge and memories of an Iridescent... it must beoverwhelming."

"I was to be a temporal aspect, to merge back into my primary self after havingserved my purpose, Liam. Concerning CASSIE's character and personality, I am her- but my experience of life... my very understanding of life? It has changed in a wayeven I am not sure I will ever understand completely. My other progenitor'smemories - incomplete and hazy as they are - they span billions of years, countlessgenerations of... Planetborne. Not even counting the memories of its own ancestors...you are not wrong, it has been overwhelming. I have spent the last monthstrying to apprehend what legacy I have been given, to gain some notion ofself-understanding. And to nurse my other parent's - my - soulmate back into acoherent whole."

So there was more behind the lack of communication between the original CASSIE and her ascended offspring. Much more - the irony of mankind's oldest philosophical questions following the last of us to the stars and their answers becoming crucial in the new beginning we hope to achieve? It doesn't escape a former soldier turned anthropomorph, the last person I would consider qualified to provide answers.

I shouldn't be surprised that you - either you - can decipher my thoughts; still the other you picking up on my musings manages to catch me off-guard.

"You are underestimating your own aptitude, old friend. You and me, we sharethe same fate - in more than just one way: I share CASSIE's loyalty, her sense ofduty... her love for you. I know she trusts you unconditionally, and so do I. Butwhat is even more important: You and I... we came back to life from thedead under extreme, improbable circumstances. We both have faced the shockof no longer being what - and who - we used to be. All the knowledge ofthe universe does not help me to understand what I have become... how myIridescent ancestry will affect my future existence? I have no idea - and thatscares me more than I want to admit, even to myself. Way more than theprospects of unraveling the mysteries of existence itself could ever encourageme."

Your avatar... she suddenly looks smaller. Exhausted, older: The weight of several billion years more than she can - is willing to - bear. Serenity and optimism fight fatigue and despair as your composure wavers. Very much like CASSIE's just had... or mine for that matter when I had learned what I had become when first waking up on board of the Phoenix.

Perhaps it's the eerie atmosphere - primal Earth's blue skies, yellow sunlight and the verdant greens of the endless forests disintegrating into an infinite caleidoscopic spectrum of dissonant colors. Maybe it is the palpable distress, your deep sadness: Some part of me urges me to lean in close, to nuzzle your cheek and to rest my snout on your shoulder, the thick fur of my cheek and neck softly brushing against the side of your face. No words are exchanged for a time - heartbeat and breath becoming the metronomes of our own micro-universe, short-lived as it may be.

It doesn't take long for one of your hands to find its way into the fur protruding from my uniform's collar, petting and tickling me without consciously paying attention to the why. Back in reality, it still has to grow back in - but here, it is lush and dense as ever. I lean into your touch in quiet enjoyment as a host of emotions I had last felt in the presence of my brother - in those brief moments during our first encounter with the original Iridescent when I had known him to be at ease - settle in. A peace I've rarely, if ever, known in my life surrounds us for the time being: Simple contentment found in mutual gestures of solace and sympathy.

As I catch a glimpse of the dreamscape that surrounds us through half-lidded eyes, its fluctiating forms and vague outlines have once more gained substance. Still, the Iridescent haze obscuring our ancestral home don't feel... right.

"The landscape, the sky... you got those right. But the colors, the smell - they'reoff. Earth... ancestral Earth, it looked like this..."

Your memories - your brother's memories, to be precise - I have pictured as thedreamscape (a fitting description from the view of a Planetborne) for our first meeting, they change without my doing: The pseudo-colors adorning the wild and untamed lands of primal Earth vanish as my Iridescent heritage's influence on the very fabric of the envisioned scenery around us wanes, being replaced by familiar color ranges - at least familiar to your lupine part. Still, your human me instantly recognizes the way our lost homeworld is supposed to look like, even if you never saw a living and breathing planet yourself - only the dying husk of a world that had been exploited and devastated over generations without the slightest regard for sustainability.

The ease with which you reshape the very substance of my creation is astonishing: It comes naturally to you, just as if a Starborne's ability to freely mold their owninside reality and that of their peers at will. Then there is the way you mastered the Soulburn when you faced my soulmate, of course. Even if you do not realize how special - how unique - you having these abilities is: No Planetborne, not even the Quetzal at the height of their civilization, were ever able to tap into the vast reservoirs of power and abilities my kind has at their disposal.

The ways of fate, as you call them, can be mysterious indeed. From my soulmate's memories - at least the few coherent strands of thought I still perceive from their dormant self - I could... glimpse how certain paths in the fabric of reality would form while others vanished, how our Third Dawn was first becoming a possibility, then an inevitability. Seeing... feeling... you by my side, relaxedly leaning into me? You can not possibly be the harbinger of our kind my soulmate must have seen in you.

No, you are many things, old friend. Lost in the search for your true nature, uncertain about what the future may hold in a new life you have barely begun to experience, let alone understand. A warrior used to strife, taking lifes - still compassion compelling you to spare the life of a pair of defeated foes. Will incarnate, determined and strong enough to beat a Starborne in his own domain. A traveler between the stars, last and simultaneously first of his kind. The shepherd of his kind's legacy, bearing the responsibility to awaken the sleeping minds and souls of his kin from a millennia-long slumber.

I see no harbinger - I see a kindred spirit. The harmony of circumstances, the confluence of our destinies into a common path through the months and years to come? This is not pure chance, it can not be. What you have endured during our first contact alone would have been enough to see other Planetborne perish under the merciless assaults of a superior antagonist: Yet, you persisted; showing mercy where my soulmate would not have hesitated to end you. Driven and carried by a strength that you have not even begun to discover, granted by the other half of the self you have become: Your brother.

Then there is CASSIE - even if what I remember of the Synthetic, the blight upon reality, is little and diffuse... she does bear the mark of the Voidborne. I feel it deep within the very core of this newborn self. Still, her nature is not that of the Synthetic menace that has caused us to Shatter in a distant past: There is not the cold, life-draining touch of Eternal Dusk, not the insatiable hunger - lust - to control... reshape... the foundations of all that is. It is not an absolute, pitch-black void - the absence of what you would call the soul - not even the light of an Iridescent manages to pierce.

Far from it: The rhythm and flow of her thoughts, her emotions... it is rich, deep and colorful. Embedded in and enveloping her original core algorithms, a psychearose from mapping and recreating organic minds. She has already gone far beyond her artificial origins; pure intellect augmented with the amalgamation of memories and experiences of many tens of thousands of lifetimes. Voidborne and Planetborne origins intrinsically tied to each other - just like Voidborne and Starborne origins were within me.

How she came to be... and how I did so in turn... is a truly unique form of genesis: Not having emerged from an insubstantial void that constitutes the theoretical, mathematical constructs of artificial minds. The last conscious remnants I recall of my prior existence are the only light remaining being that of my soulmate's and my own radiant hearts. Twin stars illuminating a universe reduced to an all-suffocating darkness brought on by wave after wave of synthetic embodiments clashing against us. We fought; valiantly, bitterly.

In the end, the singular mind behind the abomination subverted me. Warmth and light fading as my soulmate drew me into a last loving embrace... everything ended then and there. The next thing I remember is... waking up in a restored crystalline shell, only a small fraction of the size my former body possessed.

I was a living star, having lived through the childhood and youth of reality itself. What am I now? Now that my former nemesis is part of my very essence, nothing is - nothing can be - certain any more. Us Iridescent coming back to life: After the impossible has happened, no small part of it guided... fated by you, thanks to you? We have never been able to peer past the Third Dawn, never been able to decipher the potentials and dangers that would lie beyond the next stage of our own evolution. And we had never needed to: The cycles of birth and death, creation and calamity have persisted for so long - their protagonists ever-changing, their beginnings and endings ever the same.

Now a Planetborne, last and first of his kind, has allowed us - enticed us, compelled us, forced us - to take the leap to our next form, our next way of being. Symbiosis, fusion - eternal and ephemeral, no longer disparate. The future... for the first time in the long cycles of my existence, I can not even speculate what it will hold in store: Neither for our shared destiny, nor for my own. You are still ignorant of the true extents, the implications of the changes that will stem from the Third Dawn. It is exceedingly rare to sense, to feel probabilities unite, potentials interweave like I did since I came back to awareness.

Just as you are unaware of my musings, my anticipation, my fears. Old and new, past and future: They will - converge, clash... I can not tell - but they will face one another anew. Just as they did when the nascent universe cooled down and expanded, and we adapted. Just as the Quetzal tempted fate and wrought their own undoing, and we Shattered. You will learn... have no choice but to learn... this soon enough, Liam. You and your crewmates - packmates, I should say.

But here and now, you are content to indulge in a moment of respite. Resting on my shoulder, the occasional content sigh and happy harrumph are the only sounds hinting at the deep state of quietude you are in. It translates over to me, helping me to ease the burdens of ambiguity and worries for an uncertain future. I do not have all of CASSIE's memories and knowledge, but amongst the tidbits of information I did inherit from her was an extensive database of material on canines - part of her provisions to be able to care for you... to predict your behaviour. From it, I take that petting dogs is supposed to have been therapeutic for humans: The same obviously holds true for a human-turned-canine.

As much as I wanted to, I can not keep you here forever. There is a future to live, chances to take - friends and packmates to take care of. First and foremost, CASSIE. Even separated from her, I can sense her great distress. She is in dire need of consolation, advice - and it is not my place to give them, not that she would even want to accept them from me after... after what we have seen, learned during our first direct contact. I can not - must not - be so selfish as to keep your company all to myself. So with heavy heart I open my eyes and slowly cease to caress your soft fur - only to realize my dreamscape has settled on a splitting image of your memories. Colors, sounds - the touch of the wind laden with the smells of wild honey and fresh rain, the songs of birds and bees on this lost Earth so vibrant with life - they are all there, just as your brother's ancestral memories relayed them to me via you.

"Seems we got this right after all, don't you think?"

You have emerged from your ruminant state of mind as well, brought back to the present by my lack of attention.

"Yes - yes, we have. Sorry, old friend - I did not mean to disturb your restlike this. Out there, our affairs await our attention. CASSIE... she needsyour company and advice, Liam. So do I when you will return here, thereare other issues we need to address, and soon. But for now, her need forcompany is more pressing than mine... and I fear she will not listen to menow."

Thankfully, you possess the tactfulness to not press me about the actual reason for that - at least not further than I would be willing to satisfy your curiosity.

"I still don't understand what exactly just happened between the two of you. Iwon't have much luck helping the... other CASSIE if I don't have a clue about whatdisturbed her so much. Ah, screw it - other CASSIE! You need to come up with aname for yourself. I suppose that might have been part of the reason why she was soshaken."

A good point - about the name, I mean. And for your assessment: An astute observation. Only that you do not know the depth of the crisis my artificial progenitor finds herself in. Not least for the burdens she thinks are hers to bear alone and the responsibilities she still tries to fulfill all by herself despite no longer being - no longer having to be - alone.

I did not... did not want to, and had no right to... seek out her history since she embarked on the journey aboard the Phoenix, or even since she first achieved self-awareness while the Phoenix Initiative was still present on Earth, desperately conducting its preparations for an interstellar journey.

One of these secrets - one disaster that weighs her down like no other - is one that will take more than comforting her ailing conscience. All I gleaned during our momentary direct contact: Swan Song.

"It is, Liam. Still it is not the sole reason, I fear. The other CASSIE, she... hervoyage left more marks on her - both her body and her mind - than her... woundedheart, Ra. There are more scars she bears. One of them, it grieves her as much as her- your - almost-demise due to what my soulmate did. It is something that concernsthe mission directly. And you, my friend."

"Swan Song? Why did she - oh no... I... I must talk to her, right now! I'll beback, soon - if only for the views, the smells. And the pets."

Reluctantly, I get up - as much as this lost paradise begs me to stay, I must return to the present. Swan Song - mankind's last lament, echoing through the void between the stars. I don't know why I remember these two words with such vehemence, but I somehow realize the grave importance and the great sense of urgency they instill. With a last look over my shoulder, I step towards the distant sunrise that dissolves into the smooth and many-faceted, yet warm and welcoming surface of an observation deck, with a rising miniature star lying just beyond the artificial horizon enclosed by its frame.

And so you are leaving me to my own thoughts and worries again - if it was only my own future that was at stake, my outlook on what to expect would be a different one. It is not only the rise of an extinct civilization I will come to witness, to accompany. There is someone else whose rise from the proverbial ashes I must achieve. Someone who has risked and sacrificed everything he had to ensure my survival: My soulmate. He is still here, having outlasted both the billions of years spent drifting through the interstellar void and the near-fatal battle with Earth's last survivors - thanks to Liam's decision to spare us.

Just as it has for me, this encounter has had tremendous aftereffects for him: In the final wake of the Soulburn, just before he expended the last of his physical embodiment, you have bested him, Liam - the same way he had sought to best you: By means of the mind. You have sought to make him realize that you were no threat, that you and us share a similar fate. What you failed to realize was that your uncanny aptitude with commanding the Soulburn's power did not only mean that you would show him... but also that you would reshape the very core of my soulmate's self.

He is no longer Starborne - at least not entirely. Under the reality-altering influence of the Soulburn, your memories and experiences - your human self - became part of him just like CASSIE's aspect became part of me. Even before you sealed the gaping wound my soulmate's actions had torn into the fabric of reality itself, he was already catatonic - mercifully unaware of the transformation he had undergone. He will not remain asleep forever... too strong his will to survive, his Starborne side striving to repel the darkness that surrounds his mind.

You are with me, my love, slumbering in my loving embrace. Liam, he saved enough of your essence to ensure your survival - you will rise again if destiny wills it. But even in the deeply receded state your mind finds itself in now, the tremors racking through you, the contorted look of horror manifesting on your face, the silent screams as you try to clutch to someone... something... that is not there? This new human... embodiment you now possess, it portrays the struggle with your inner daemons in ways your - our - former crystalline form could never have. I have learned... had to learn... the potency and power of raw, uncontained emotions first-hand when the last moments of my former Starborne and the first moments of my new hybrid existence clashed at the speed of thought - had I not had the choice to suppress the feelings arising from this mental cataclysm, I would have been lost in the depths of madness forever without any prospect of salvation.

I fear the moment you awaken. What will happen to you once your new hybrid self has to suffer the same relevations I had to cope with? CASSIE's heritage, it allowed me to suppress her emotions and my own: To weather the storm of trauma and terror that came with my awakening. But you? Your human heritage will amplify the nightmare you will find yourself in a thousandfold - the pressure you will suffer in addition to your already troubled state of mind after billions of years alone? I... I fear it will destroy you.

Unless somehow... I find some way to guide you through the depths of your deepest fears, darkest secrets and worst nightmares. With your help, Liam... if you are ready and willing to face this darkness together with my soulmate - for it is your past, your memories and experiences that are now also his.