'A layer to make souls work, Justine said thoughtfully.
'Yeah. This is all built around rationality and its evolution, the fulfilment your retard Skylord is fixated on. So maybe another layer which handles thought processes — maybe that's the soul one, maybe not. That's not the point. There's a whole ton of layers, ones we can deduce from observation and stuff we can't even guess at. And Christ knows what the nebulas are and why they're singing. Doesn't matter. What we have here is an enormously complex construction. But the nucleus is the centre — again, not physically.
'So the nucleus does control it all.
'Who knows what the hierarchy is? What we have to do is find a route in, something we can rationalize and engage, just like you wanted.
'Why would the nucleus create Kazimir for me?
'It didn't. I don't believe you can think big enough to attract its attention. That confluence nest you have on board probably imprinted the Kazimir dream on to the creator layer. It was a thought more powerful than it's accustomed to. Most of the layers don't operate at a conscious sentient level, they just perform their task. And nobody ever took a confluence nest inside before. The one thing a confluence nest does above all else is hold a memory and repeat it ad infinitum. Your dream was the only one it received and that warped reality. The creator layer simply responded in the way it was designed. Nothing personal.
Justine sat on the bed, trying to fit together what he was saying. 'If my thoughts aren't powerful enough, what's the point of me trying to find the nucleus?
'This dream is being received by everyone who has a gaiafield connection. Understand?
'Ah.
'Don't try and find the nucleus, it's a waste of time.
'But, you just said—
Gore knelt in front of her, his hands gripping her upper arms. His eyes peered out intently from the gold skin mask that was his face. 'You have to get to Makkathran.
'There's nobody left there. The Skylord said the humans had all gone to the nucleus.
'I don't give a shit. Get to Makkathran. It's important. That's where humans are centred in the Void.
'How? The Silverbird can't fly.
'Wrong. Gore grinned right at her. 'You're in the Void. You've got telepathic powers. The Silverbird can't fly now.
'Oh. She worked out what he was proposing. 'Oh!
'That's my girl; as smart as you are beautiful.
'But, Dad, Kazimir won't exist then. I'll have killed him.
Gore let go of her arms. 'I'm sorry, run that by me again.
'If I go back to then, he won't exist.
'Oh, Jesus wept, Gore slapped a hand theatrically across his brow. 'Don't you go all liberal on me now. Not now.
'I can't wipe him out of existence. He's real now for better or worse. I have a responsibility.
'He is the equivalent of a re-life clone, one that has been stuffed with your recollections of his memories. How pitiful is that?
'He's alive, she said firmly.
'And you've got the hots for him.
'I have not.
'Your own DNA test showed you he's not Kazimir; just some poor doppelganger the memory layer had in storage.
'Exactly. He's human. I can't do this to him.
Gore took her hands. 'Listen to me, darling. This is the fundamental catastrophe that is the Void. He was a stored memory. Everybody who was ever in the Void is exactly the same, everyone who crashed there in the colony ship was copied; everyone who was ever born. Owain is still there, for God's sake, still frozen in the memory layer at the moment the Waterwalker shot him — and for all the decades he lived before. In all the resets Edeard performed afterwards, he never went back past the point where he wiped out the conspirators. He could never bring himself to do that all over again, because that's what he would have had to do each time. This is what the Void throws at us. They lived in the time they were meant to live. You can't change that, Justine. You cannot allow rationality and ethics that evolved in this universe to apply where you are now.
'I know what you're saying; but, Dad, you haven't met him. He's so sweet. He doesn't deserve this.
'The galaxy doesn't deserve the Void, but we've got it. And I have met him, darling, I've felt your silly little heart beat faster at the sight of him. I tasted the chocolates you ate when you smiled and flirted with him. I know the urge you've been trying to ignore. I'm sorry. You have to do this. You have to go to Makkathran.
'Oh Goddamnit.
He kissed her brow. 'Look on the bright side, if we lose you get to stay and live in the Void, you can find him again.
'You are a thoroughly fucking useless coach, you know that.
'I know. Now go and wake up.
Justine nodded weakly, knowing she didn't really have a choice. For the first time she looked through the bedroom window. The land outside wasn't the grounds of the Tulip Mansion. Instead, her old home was sitting at the bottom of an impossibly huge valley, with mountains curving away through the sky like a monstrous green and brown wave about to break overhead. The sun was a long band of glaring light. 'What the hell is that?
Gore shrugged lightly. 'I had to make a few sacrifices so I could dream your dreams.
'Dad…
'I'm fine. He raised a hand, waving, his smile fond and proud. 'Go on. Wake up.
Justine's eyes opened wide, staring up at the cabin ceiling. Tears blurred her vision. She wiped them away angrily. 'Oh hell. And Kazimir would know something was wrong. No telepath had the strength to shield those emotions.
Sure enough, he was standing at the end of the rope ladder as she struggled her way down. He even held it steady for her.
'What's the matter? he asked.
'I have to go, she said flatly.
'I see. That's good, isn't it? You know how to reach the nucleus. You wanted to go there.
'I can't take you with me, she stammered.
'I understand.
'No. No you don't. She took a deep breath and kissed him. Delight banished the surprise from his face.
'Kazimir, I want you to know something. If there is a way back here, I will find it, I will find you. I promise that. Know my thoughts and know the truth in them.
He gave her that tentative worshipful gaze which just made her feel worse. She never thought she'd ever see that again.
'I see the honesty in your thoughts, he assured her. 'Now do what you know you must.
Justine sat on a rock a few metres from the Silverbird's landing leg. The warm late-afternoon sun was a pleasant pressure on her face and arms as she folded her legs into a yoga position. Kazimir was squatting down a little way past her, watching anxiously. She gave him one last smile and concentrated.
Her thoughts flowed into the confluence nest, using its routines to hold her mind steady. There were memories in there, the time where Edeard stood on top of the mountain and reached into the fabric of the Void, seeing the past. She followed what he did intently, and tried to shape her thoughts in the same fashion, pushing her farsight down into the nothingness that lay around her.
Her own body was there, a long multiple image winding back and forth across the ground, going up into the ship, talking to Kazimir, radiating such sorrow it threatened to resonate through her now. She pushed past it, saw the Silverbird swoop down from space. Further.
It was incredibly difficult, without the support of the confluence nest she would never have maintained focus. She couldn't believe the Waterwalker had ever done this unaided. There was a single distinctive moment in her life which she wanted to achieve. Her mind held it up, instinctively matching it to the moment contained within the Void's memory of everywhen. Then all she had to do was impel herself into it. There was a cry of desperation somewhere in the physical world as she attempted to force her thoughts into a pattern they were never intended for, calling upon the strength of the confluence nest to support her. The precious moment was there, linking present and past. Justine pushed. The Void reset itself-