The response came faster than expected.
Not thousands. Not hundreds of thousands. Millions. Millions of consciousnesses answering the call. Millions of guardians responding to need. Millions of transformers crossing dimensional boundary. Millions of helpers arriving. Millions of everything coming.
The collective guardian-network had grown during Kaine's ten thousand years. Had expanded beyond anything she'd imagined. What had been thousands was now millions. What had been guardian-network was now guardian-civilization. What had been collective was now cosmos-spanning unity. What had been impressive was now incomprehensible. What had been thousands was now millions. Millions.
They arrived in waves. First wave: hundred thousand. Second wave: five hundred thousand. Third wave: two million. Fourth wave: ten million. Fifth wave: fifty million. Waves kept coming. Kept arriving. Kept crossing boundary. Kept responding. Kept answering. Kept everything-ing.
