The main body of Noah remained on the Shore, watching as his people, groggy and disoriented, began to wake.
The main body of Khor, her task here not yet finished, floated towards the now-conscious form of Bob and the still-writhing Mutated Inevitability, her expression a mixture of clinical curiosity and ancient sorrow.
Outside, in the region of Collapse, the three Dukes of Law who had remained awake were reeling.
The avalanche of darkness that had washed over them from the Aegis had been a force beyond their comprehension. It had not been an attack, but a simple, absolute statement of power!
"What… was that?" Duke Themis whispered, her voice, usually so steady, trembling with a profound, existential dread.
The Early Tools they wore, artifacts of immense power, still glowed with a protective, legalistic light, the only reason their consciousnesses hadn't been snuffed out like all the others.
As they were finishing their panicked discussion, a new wave of arrivals began.
