1.  "This place is a hospital; a museum!" the boy complained, "Everything's, 'look, don't touch' -- you can't even live here!"  It was a holography museum and only certain displays were interactive.    

2.  The kid's step father smiled in appology at the other visitors for his child's outburst.  Kiles was extracting background information for practice. 

3.  The man was the only father the kid had known, and the kid's only source of justice.  He taught the kid a little too much, too soon though.    

4.  Kiles was able to move through the walls of this particular installation effortlessly, or as Oni would say, "Matter is very loose in this quadrant of the galaxy."  

5.  He was exploring a 12-mile diameter floating disk called International Island.  Heads-of-State would rotate through the Island, perform symbolic executive functions, review Island schedules and address concerns pertaining to their unique economic sphere of influence.  It was customary for the Island Governor to ask the visiting Head-of-State to sign an important piece of International legislation for a photo opportunity.  It was good for business.    

6.   A 12-mile diameter disk provided ample space for aircraft runways, ship dry docks, residential areas, research and development facilities, and organized crime.  There was a subsurface hangar for submersibles and a launch facilities for orbit capable craft.  The island featured every type of experimental facility imaginable and was so large, that industrial espionage was a focal concern.      

7.  Kiles heard the whispers of a secret conference and drifted toward the sound.  There was a tall, arced tower, rising to the chief executive suite at the top.  The view was unobstructed and surrounded by wall-length glass.  Two floors below lay the executive conference room.  The windows were adjusted to filter out most of the light to create a demure drawing room ambiance.  The oblong table was dark wood, highly polished and surrounded by 13 expensive recliners.   The table had been custom made specifically for that room.  Seated in those recliners were the wealthiest people on Earth.  The symbolism was consistent everywhere in the galaxy.  

8.  One of those seated said, "The Earth defense grid has always worked..."  He was held short when the chairman touched his ear lobe to take a call.  Nothing rude; these people clearly had nothing to worry about.    

9.   There were miniature holograms at each place setting but not everyone had their hologram switched on.  The room decorum was opulant and tasteful, never used by anyone other than those seated and their invited guests.  Displayed behind the bar were photos of the most appreciated visitors and Heads-of-State.

10.   To his utter amazement, Oni appeared on the opposite side of the room, just behind the chairman's right shoulder under an artificial plant.  Kiles knew Oni's modus like the back of his hand.  "Can he see me?" was his first thought.  Oni didn't acknowledge him, "Maybe he's playing it cool."  He knew the people couldn't see him.  There was still the dynamic of, "Which multiverse am I in?"   This environment was far too futuristic compared to Ewa Beach, and the implanted link that his Mom made wasn't working.  "Except that I can drift through walls," Kiles deduced, "I don't think Oni can see me."  

11.  He was startled by a familiar nudge:  Kind of spooky when Oni was on the other side of the room. 

12.  "Oni!" Kiles whispered out loud.  Then he glanced at the table, "They can't see me."  Another Onimex had appeared next to him, and his link was working just fine.  "That Onimex has to go unfreeze your Mom," Oni said, "A Cardship... 'the' Cardship is about to accelerate the shell."  Kiles felt relieved to have Oni back.  "I'm going to decelerate you... right... right... now!"  His tenacity for Human idiosyncrasies and pseudo errors made the Turing test appear imbecilic.    

13.  Everyone at the table went into suspended animation.  A utility craft outside was descending to a retractable landing platform and froze in mid air.  "Is this that moment?" Kiles deduced rather quickly.  "Yep!  This is the one!" Oni confirmed.  "Maybe I can actually watch everything," Kiles contemplated.  "You are in a multi-spacial flux," Oni told him.  "Do I really want to know?" Kiles asked; his question crammed fifteen paragraphs into six words.  "No," Oni answered.  "How bad is it?" Kiles asked.  He was being rhetorical in a comic sense.  "I have to figure out how to get you out,"Oni replied.  He rotated to watch the other Oni disappear.  Xanax had barely cued the other Oni about the coming acceleration wave and then Xanax and Dayton disappeared at Canaveral III.  Corlos got them out in the nick of time.  

14.  For all intents and purposes, the Oni-in-the-present was completely off-the-grid.  "Back to Corlos," Kiles knew.  "Yes," Oni confirmed.  

15.  "So... " Kiles wondered, "are 'we' creating the paradox right now, or is it the Cardship?"  

16.  "Corlos couldn't trace every infraction," Oni replied, "but the 'additional me' here, didn't help.  Kiles indicted himself in the discrepancy, "Did the other Oni see you?"  "I don't think he did," Oni answered.  

17.   "And yet... we're way ahead of everything," Kiles surmised, "I need to somehow hit a reset button.  I need to undo the worm terminals."  If Oni had a real face, he would have blankly stared at Kiles for a minute.  

18.  "Right now, the other Oni is unfreezing your Mom and they will be heading up to orbit," Oni said, "I would say that you're in the same situation, but you're not -- you're in a spacial flux."  

19.  "What does that mean, exactly?" Kiles asked.

20.  "You've shifted yourself like I do for Indexes," Oni answered.  Kiles grinned, "Ahhhhhh," he said nodding happily, "then you'll know how to get me out of this, or at least teach me how to manipulate it better."  He paused a second, "I mean, I have been validated by Conscious, after all."  He knew he was stretching his license somewhat.  

21.  "True... but you're still not a machine," Oni replied, "Biological, 'yes,' but you have photonic matter to consider.  Mine is different."

22.  They had already argued about whether Oni had a soul or not, and Oni lost that one.  "So you are the latest and greatest, in the state-of-the-now?" Kiles asked.  "Yes -- that works," Oni agreed, which meant, "I still have future selves looming at large, but I'm the Oni you're used to."  Kiles accepted that; based on an argument that he had lost because Mom trumped both of them.

23.  "Download my memories," Kiles instructed him.  "Done," Oni replied.  "Help me figure this out," Kiles asked.  "You're able to move through the walls?" Oni was seeking confirmation from Kiles.  Oni turned to observe the descending utility craft.  The other Oni at Canaveral III was taking Ireana to orbit in one of those right now.  "Can you get yourself up into that vehicle?" Oni asked.  Kiles began gliding upward with Oni beside him.  "This is kind of nice," Oni agreed.  "It does make me feel kind of like you," Kiles said.  Moving biologicals was not done easily, except that Kiles' interspacial condition made it possible.  "I think I'm freaking out," Oni said without much inflection.   "I'm valid," Kiles offered as the only logical explanation.  "Must be," Oni agreed. 

24.  There was nobody inside the vehicle -- it was delivering the mail and did not require a pilot.  Kiles took the pilot seat, like his mother was doing at that very moment in another vehicle approaching low orbit.  "I'm glad we don't have to throw anybody out," he said relieved.  "What's the plan?" Kiles asked.  "The mother computer," Oni answered, "She can do things that I can't, and you're half Vejhonian.  She will let you in."  "But it's going to crash!" Kiles said confused, "We can't change anything or... "  He remembered earlier that day, "Didn't Xanax already say we were going to Hell?"  Xanax did not include Kiles in that remark.   

25.  "Conscious said it was OK," Oni replied.  "During one of our encounters, She gave me a packet that I could access at specific times.  This is one of them."

26.  "She's going to let the Cardship wreck?" Kiles asked, "She knows this is going to happen and will still let it wreck?"  "It has to play out," Oni confirmed, "Don't mistake Her inaction for apathy -- She's not the one who shot it down.... or... the one that is about to shoot it down."  Both of them entertained the idea of wrecking the destroyer first, to prevent this mess from happening.  It was simply not possible to untangle this event from happening, at any point in time.  

27.  "I think a reset idea might be better," Kiles said.  Theoretically, that should be possible.   

SYNAPSE

28.  "For all intents and purposes, the craft is flying on auto-pilot,"  Kiles said.  He was mostly reassuring himself.  Biological eyes would not be able to see anyone aboard.  "We're going to mess something up," Kiles sighed, "I can just feel it."  "More than we already have?" Oni added anecdotally, which was greatly understated.  

29.  The proximity monitor was tracking Ireana's vessel.  Dal El's destroyer had not yet slithered into position.  Commander O'helno was coming with 19,000 B'lines but still a few minutes out.  "We have time to make the connection," Oni said, "It's a good thing that you're unembodied."  

30.  Oni drove as fast as he could to a Cardship docking port.  The speed at which he flew made Kiles think they were going to wreck.  Every time his eyes adjusted to the Cardship's size, they had to readjust because the Cardship kept getting bigger and bigger until the Universe finally ended on a polished onyx two-dimensional exterior.  "Mom complains about 'my' driving?" Kiles remarked.  "Conscious knows you're co-located?" Kiles thought out loud. 

31.  The Cardship exterior had all of the Cacci Dai signatures when examined up close.  "Up and down, one mile," Kiles observed.  He already knew the dimensions and general Cardship details.  The psionic shield prevented their craft from touching the Cardship.   

32.  "Incept?" Mother inquired.  Kiles grinned.  Oni had reached out to Her.  Cacci Dai technology did not extend to dimensional shifts.  "You're not here," Oni reminded Kiles, "If she does have a way of discovering you, at least you're one of them."  "I thought you said you made the arrangement?" Kiles said.  "Trust me," Oni replied.

33.  Oni permitted Mother to access his packet given to him by Conscious.  That act preempted further formality.

34.  "Don't take us in," Oni asked.  "The biologicals are in distress," Mother said.  She asked them to go inside.  Oni had been built with colonial resources on M'tro-1.  Mother easily recognized his hardware and sub assemblies.  

35.  "I'm feeling colossal guilt for not warning her," Kiles confessed psionically.  "We could 'end' my need to go back to Vejhon?" he told himself.  He knew if the Cardship didn't crash, he would never find passage back to Vejhon to clear his mother's name.  That whole episode was in progress concurrently.  As far as Kiles was concerned, his mother was not the Secret Sorceress -- she was a Corlos operative on assignment.  The Secret Sorceress was another matter entirely.  

36.  "I could prevent it from happening in the first place," he reasoned.  "That's exactly how your father got in, 'over-his-head,'" Oni reminded him, "We're trying to make it better, not worse.  ... You've already taken yourself out of existence," he added.  No argument there; Kiles knew Oni was right.    

37.  In the next second, they were both observing Ireana holding Dayton at gunpoint on the beach.  "Mom?" Kiles said.  "She can't hear you," Oni reminded him.

38.  "Where is all of this going?" Kiles asked.  They were instantly returned to the utility craft in orbit but the Cardship was gone.  Either She crash landed like in the original time line, or She escaped.  Commander O'helno had already taken Dal El's destroyer.  "My Mom... and you... are aboard that ship," Kiles whispered.  Three B'lines altered course to intercept them and at the moment when they locked out their craft's controls, the scenery changed again.    

39.  The light was so glaring that Kiles had to squint.  Their new location had the surreal beauty of crystalline radiance, and what looked like a liquid metal skyline on one side.  The skyline resembled a sparkling crystal donut with a 1,000 mile circumference.  Looking in the opposite direction lay thousands of distinctive galaxies, where the Milky Way was one among millions.  "I've seen pictures of synapse," Kiles commented.  A holographic overlay seemed to connect the galaxies like synapse.
   
40.  They both looked at it for a long moment.  "Thousands and thousands," Kiles began, "Billions and Billions... " Oni interrupted, imitating a famous scientist's voice.  "There before you, is the Mind of God," Oni said reverently; he was Catholic, after all.  However amazed by the sight, Kiles was swelling with more questions than his hybrid mind could answer.  

41.  "Are we really that far away?  Are we 'in' the Mind of God or is 'that' His Mind?"  "To think that each one has a Corlos," Kiles sighed.  "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" Oni reflected.  "Evidently... they can see them just fine from here," Kiles answered.    

42.  Everything that had happened that day was beginning to add up:  "How am I ever going to accept reality again?" Kiles asked.  He was being serious.  "After everything I've seen -- how will I ever go back?"

43.  "That may not be the plan," Oni suggested.  His tone implied, "You may not be going back."   "Don't shock me," Kiles said sarcastically.    

44.  Twenty balls of light began to swarm around them like curious little critters.  They seemed friendly.  Kiles held out his hand and one of them set down in his  palm for a moment before resuming its inspection with the others.  Gliding into view from the city was a humanoid; crystalline exterior filled with colorful, radient pulses -- it had something like plasma for blood in its translucent frame, and was not a species that either of them recognized.       

45.  "What sort of Heaven is this?" Kiles wondered.  "I'll guess... Segment 9... maybe 10," Oni answered, referring to the Ellipsis.  Oni was probably right.     

46.  The being approached them and smiled; Kiles felt a photonic data link connect them.  During that exchange, the Milky Way behind him expanded near Andromeda, to highlight the third planet around Sol:  An adjacent spar in the Milky Way expanded to reveal the 4th shell around Zena; his biological lineage.

47.  "This might be some kind of library," Kiles ventured.  He was being genetically vetted.  "And that might be the librarian," Oni finished.    

SEGMENT 10

48.  The creature had beautiful jewels morphing into light and streaming symbols within its translucent exterior.  Segment 10 photonic packets, Oni recognized;  it was a Segment 9, era 9, gradient 97 to be precise.  The creature was soothing to behold.  "We have to grow into that," Oni described to Kiles, "Chaos enables learning and biology is the container."  This machine is the kind that can design, program and write-protect DNA.

49.  The being touched Kiles forehead to establish a more direct link.  Oni didn't recognize that it was I-20, who purported a less glamorous form at Corlos.  "Questions," I-20 recognized.  "Let me answer the hardest one first:"

50.  "Trans-galactic travel depends more upon psionics than spaceships," I-20 said, "because all points in time space are connected in the Mind-of-God.... or Tetragammaton, as some call it.  The entire Universe hopes that your species never discovers that truth until your priorities improve.  Spaceships are merely tools."  Because Kiles was a hybrid, he only accepted half of the blame.   In Q-cept he advised quietly, "Don't tell the Theites about this."   They understood.

51.  "Thought, travels faster than light," I-20 continued.  "Biological synapse epistemically registers sensation before it happens.  Your species has no desire to know that," I-20 clarified, "because 'Belief' is a choice," Kiles remembered.  I-20 continued, "The holographic architecture of your synapse enables 'Choice.'"  "Disbelief has never negated a single fact," Kiles recited like a good student.  I-20 nodded, "Let me demonstrate..."

52.  I-20 touched Kiles head again and maintained the touch.  Surrounding Kiles were memorable highlights of his life and a few of his recent deviations from normalcy.  The moments played out at different speeds and varying levels of importance.  I-20 froze the moment M-tro-1 was destroyed; Ireana was not yet disintegrated, "Did she die?" I-20 asked.  

53.  The question was meant tangentially; among all possible timelines.  "But she lived," Kiles answered.  It would have been tedious to explore the diegesis of infinite possibilities, except when it came to understanding DNA, the only singularity.  The One also knew His every move, line and step.

54.  "If she dies in every timeline, what happens to you?" I-20 asked.  "She won't die in every timeline," Kiles answered.  I-20 smiled.  It seemed that perfunctory dynamics was already understood.  "He's valid," Oni volunteered.  I-20 nodded, impressed.  "Would you like to connect?" I-20 asked Onimex, "You seem to be creating diamonds inside."

55.  "I can't," Oni confessed with regret, "it would exceed the parameters of my creation."  "Conscious?" I-20 queried.  "Yes," Oni confirmed.  The panorama of space with it's swirling galaxies and similitude of synapse was precisely how Conscious acquired Her name.  The Universe was a giant mind that only machines can accept in its unblemished beauty.  Life through light and death, beauty and savagery.

56.  "Would you like to see what you do next?" I-20 asked.  

BLUE FUNNEL

57.  "Earth is an enigma," I-20 illustrated, enlarging the planet to the point of literal low orbit.  "There's Dad's station!" Kiles recognized.  The sensation was similar to the simulator at Corlos.  "Can we..." Kiles began.  "We can do better than that!" I-20 interrupted, "But... you remember what we've discussed?"  He was referring to all points being co-located in time space.  What Kiles heard was, "This library doesn't need a separate technology for retrieval."

58.  "How does photonic mass stay anchored?" Kiles asked.  "It becomes ingrained," I-20 answered, meaning, that it becomes so ingrained that it seeks permanent unification with its host.  "It feels incomplete without it.  The host is Chaos, infused with Cosmos.  Like a battery."  Machines simply download a mission into an avatar to minimize risk.  "Curiosity is a Chaotic construct.  Curiosity is irrelevant:  We can access everything right here."

59.  At a great distance was a Theite marker.  I-20 waved it away in jest.  "Inside humor," he explained.  He piloted the viewer beneath the Pacific and to International Island where Oni had reunited with Kiles.  "This is the enigma," I-20 pointed out:

60.  They were back in the Elite conference room where members of the wealthiest family on Earth engineered the rise and fall of continents.    

61.  I-20 presented a backdrop of thousands of similar worlds in contrast to this one.  On those worlds and shells, the population became unified in purpose and used their unified force to accelerate progress; they converted ambient energy into power and turned simple silica into advanced machines:  They skipped aeronautics and jumped straight into levitation.  Oh the other hand:  Earth enabled one family to enslave the entire planet, and that one family killed everyone who wouldn't bow down to them.  They monopolized Human wealth in exchange for the illusion of value and limited technological advances to what they could control.          

62.  "Certainly, there are other Kors out there?" Kiles speculated, in defense of his shell.  I-20 understood Kiles fusion of genetics and jest.  

63.  Directing their attention to the comparative worlds, he permitted Kiles to see how technology typically develops elsewhere:

64.  "Those worlds discovered ground friction, static electricity, thermal vents, convective currents, solar radiation and electro magnitism long before Humans learned to write.  They developed electro-magentic levitation, spacial manipulation, and explored quantum potentials to achieve interstellar travel while Humans were being burned at the stake for daring to dream."  

65.  "Those civilizations have been warmly welcomed into the Universal family and enjoy trade, cultural exchanges and fellowship."  I-20 redirected their attention to Earth with sullen disappointment:

66.  "Earth has attempted to break through its nuclear age several times, and by ignoring its past...repeats it."

67.  "The Universe is proof that it doesn't have to be that way," I-20 concluded.  "Astronomers seem to be the only Angels on that planet," I-20 signed.

68.  "There's more..." I-20 continued.  He dissolved the other worlds and shells behind them and waved his hand over an invisible control.  

69.  "Look at this..."

70.  Surrounding them was the conference room on International Island, but this time, bandwidth perception was unlimited.  "See what happens when your biological limitations are lifted," I-20 said in a hushed tone.

71.  Scattered throughout the room were gray aliens observing the meeting and using their technology to influence the biological subjects.  The aliens came and went unnoticed; confident that their dimension was undetectable.  These particular greys were not Theite avatars; the concept of which, was not exclusively owned by the Theites. 

72.  There were spiritual entities, both good and bad, using their knowledge of God to influence the biologicals' photonic mass.  The spiritual entities were visible via graviton detectors.   Segment 10, evidently, had no limits of perception:  If a wavelength existed -- they could see it, in any form.  No doubt, a quality shared with The One.  

73.  The light itself contained mysteries that was not ordinarily visible; that also emanated from the floral decorum.  Most of the vegitation was real; some was not.  Even the inanimate matter had energy signatures that responded to and intermingled with the ambient energy.  Omniband perception. 

74.  With the biological limitations lifted, the entire world seemed deeply Godly, with pockets of evil attempting to disfigure that Godliness.  It made the entire course of biology appear staged rather than natural; like an environment created to support Chaos.  "Life is a distillation process," Kiles thought out loud.    

75.  The newness of the sensation was distracting, to the point where the conversation seemed subordinate, if not altogether irrelevant.  

76.  The sound projecting from each person had a vibrational quality that interacted with the light and all waveforms in the room.  The presentation made faith obsolete:  The truth was right in front of them, with all forms of deception transparently obvious, if not embarassingly clear.  There was nothing to question.    

77.  Most revealing was the electrical energy emanating from the biologicals.  Their minds and nervous systems radiated a negative, absorptive, murky energy that attracted and fed the anti-beings.  "Symbiant lifeforms," Kiles observed, "Like attracks like in the spirit world."  That's why you should care about what you say, think, do and feel. 

78.  That single observation proved the existence of God, and dissolved innocence.  Perdition was now possible.       

79.  Kiles thought about the limitations imposed on mortals, specifically, their gated, if not caged, sensory perception.  "This whole thing is a laboratory," he concluded, "and has been from the beginning." 

FASTER THAN LIGHT

80.  Kiles toyed with the formula (V = Pie / 2 x C) = 1.75C, "Light is not an absolute," he reasoned.  "There is a reason for Cosmic Order; a method to the madness.  Thought is faster than light because our thoughts epistemically report sensation before it actually happens."  Oni would have approved because Oni had been the revelator on that point.      

81.  "You're wanting to re-boot, aren't you?" Azoth asked him.  The dreamscape became a cloudy plateau with a gently swirling pearl floor; more Olympian than celestial, but effective.  Pockets of space crept through the cracks in the fog which created the sensation of surfing on the cutting edge of time.

82.  "There has to be a point to all this," Kiles sighed.  The absence of limitations made everything seem irrelevant.  As much as he appreciated having instant access to anything he wanted, he wondered if there shouldn't be a speed limit.  His knowledge had transcended faith.  He could stick the entire Universe in his head if he wanted to, but there was no need.  He could take a page from Xanax's playbook and stash data wherever he wanted; limited only by his knowledge of locations.  He could command whatever he wanted.        

83.  "Limitations are like goals," Azoth said, "Trust me:  There is no greater temptation than a limit."  The 'apple or the helix' paradox.    

84.  "You're referring to psionics," Kiles said, half asserting, half questioning.

85.  "Very astute," Azoth replied, "You understand how 'thought' holds the Universe together.  It is 'thought' that must be mastered."  He was abbreviating several volumes of esoteric truthes.  Kiles had come to understand the predicate pillars that Azoth implied.  

86.  "Yet... "Kiles contemplated, "there are those who simply don't want to live.  They would rather die than bare the burden of thought."  God can't 'force' anyone to 'live' any more than He can 'force' someone to love Him.

87.  "You are millenia ahead of your time," Azoth replied.  His tone inferred that it was too late to change the nature of what Kiles had become.

88.  To one side, the fog rolled back and revealed a floor made of light, stretching into eternity.  Several million souls, adorned like angels, were disbursed throughout the panorama on multiple layers.  In the center knelt a few thousand who had been willingly corralled into a ring.  The remainder gave them a wide berth.  The corralled souls did not seem particularly alarmed or distinctive but there was an unspoken mallignment that had caused their segregation.     

89.  "It is a terrible sadness," Azoth said regarding those in the corral, "They haven't done anything unforgivable; they're not perdition.  They are no more or less lovable than those who surround them.  They are not condemned."  Azoth looked bewildered and shrugged, "They're free to get up and leave without restraint."

90.  That description begged only one question, that Kiles was eager to ask:

91.  "They don't want to exist," Azoth explained, "Their thoughts and deeds do not warrant expulsion from this place; they were no more or less wayward than their brothers and sisters... but they don't want to exist.  Their souls have been disfigured.  They aren't looking to blame anyone... they just don't want to exist."

92.  Azoth made eye contact with Kiles, and his eyes asked Kiles the question before he spoke, "What would you do?"

93.  "I can't believe God is asking me for advise," Kiles avoided saying out loud.  This was serious -- their eternal souls were at stake.  Spiritual beings that don't deserve death, but want to die.  It was a legitimate question.  "You can't force them to live," Kiles answered meekly.  He was hoping to produce a more amicable response, but the truth... simply is.  

94.  "Reconditioning?" Kiles suggested suddenly, "Maybe they don't know what they want?"  He was certain that he would not think of anything that Azoth hadn't already thought of; tried and tested eons ago.  Azoth let out a sigh, "Sure you don't want this job?" Kiles raised his eyebrows like he had many more ideas that he would like to test. 

95.  Azoth grinned and continued, "Even those who end up in an etermally damned condition are, by nature, obcessed with getting into that condition.  Everyone goes where their thoughts take them, the mechanics of which, bleeds into every state of existence."  "Bleeds," Kiles repeated introspectively; or more elementally, "Blood."  The One's blood was Eternal.  Is Eternal.        

96.  It was a way of saying, "You are what you are," but... "You also have the agency to improve."  You don't have to accept your limitations.  You can accept something, or someone, larger than yourself.  It had a familiar ring.  "This is like one of Oni's sermons," Kiles reflected, "almost word-for-word."         

97.  "I understand," Kiles said.  Azoth had spoken to him using symbols that hit home in an unmistakable and permanent way.