Titans of Chaos

In large enough volumes, such a thing could create a universe. She was doing on a small scalewhat Saturn had done on a vast, unparalleled scale. His universe was merely a lapse, aspace-warp, a singularity surrounded by an event horizon. My father, all of us, we were the peoplewho were older and above that singularity: the prelapsarians.

The twist of space was shining like a jewel in her hand, and yet it was made of memory-substance,not matter.

"Take this parting gift from me," her soft voice cooed, "which I give to our ancient foes, the darkand horrent Lord of Dream. Morpheus will bring to you this dream, and emplace within yourframe of reference, selecting a point in the time-stream when your consciousness might bereached."

"What is it?"

"Hope! Hope I give you! Once you are free of your captors, the greater things you are destined toaccomplish will be made real. Were it not for Man, nobler souls than any the demiurge could havemade (Saturn did but capture and demean them) all Myriagon would rise as one to oppose yourdownfall. The primal beings, more crude and more ancient than the bright children of your father,who dwelt in this place before us, hang thick as clouds about the tiny, dim spot of the materialworld, ready to close with it and crack it open like a seed, should any word of you come forth:Phlegon our bold cousin will prepare the Thousand-Dimensional Object!

"Remember that from our point of view, those of us who love you, you have already escaped andbeen welcomed with rejoicing arms back to us: Happiness and freedom are inevitable. Any worldpath you select will lead you back to us; your task is merely to find the shortest. Let this thoughtbuoy you while you labor in that world where despair is absolute: Your first duty is escape.

Accomplish that."

I woke with tears in my eyes.

I rolled over and shook Vanity awake. "I volunteered! I volunteered for this!"

Her hair was mussed with sleep, and her eyes half-closed. "Mm? Why are you crying, Amelia?"

"Because I'm an idiot!" I sobbed, "I volunteered! I could have stayed home!"

Work and Days

Swimming time! My way of mixing business with pleasure was to follow Victor's example andperform my experiments underwater. Morning, noon, or evening, it was always a good time toswim.

I could hold my breath longer than a three-dimensional person (hint: a volume is only across-section of a hypervolume), and even when I dove deep, the pressure was less than thecrushing oily thickness of hyperspace.