Ghentun bent to give the angelin a primordial speck of dirt, a crumbled bit of Earth’s basalt—the traditional payment for an audience. These were the old rules, never to be forgotten. The Librarian and all his servants were liable to withdraw at a whisper of rudeness into ten thousand years of silence—something the Kalpa could no longer afford.
“Why are you here, Keeper?” the angelin asked. “Has there been progress this side of the real?”
“That is for the Librarian to judge. All honor to its servants.”
The angelin silvered and froze—simply stopped, for no reason Ghentun could fathom. All the forms had been observed. Ghentun switched his cloak and plasma to slow mode so he might maintain some disciplined comfort. Clearly, this was going to take a while.
Two wakes passed.
Nothing around them changed except that out of the Chaos the Witness’s gray knife-edge beam swept three times through the chamber.
The angelin finally cleared its silvery shell and spoke. “The Librarian will receive you. An appointment will be made available in fewer than a thousand years. Pass this information to such successors as there may be.”
“I will have no successor,” Ghentun said.
The angelin’s reaction came with surprising swiftness. “The experiment is concluded?”
“No. The city.”
“We have been out of touch. Explain.”
Ghentun observed sharply, “We do not have the luxury of time. Decisions must be made soon.”
The angelin expanded and became translucent. “Soon” could be interpreted as an affront to any Eidolon, but particularly a servant of the Librarian. It was difficult to believe that such beings still lay claim to the honor of humanity—but it was so.
“Explain to me what you can,” it said, “without denying the privilege of the Librarian.”
“There are troubling results. They may be harbingers. The Kalpa is the last refuge of old reality, but our influence is too small. As the Librarian anticipated, history may be corroding.”
“The Librarian does not anticipate. All is permutation.”
“No doubt,” Ghentun said. “Nevertheless, world-lines are being severed and unnaturally rejoined. Others may have been dissolved. Whole segments of history may already be lost.”
“The Chaos has crept backward—in time?”
“Something like that is being felt by a few of the ancient breed. They are our indicators, as they were designed to be.”
Intrigued, the angelin reduced and solidified. “Canaries in a coal mine,” it said. Ghentun did not know what canaries were, and only vaguely understood the implications of a coal mine.
“Do any of the ancient breed experience unusual dreams?” the angelin asked. Ghentun drew his cloak tight. “I’ve revealed what I can, all honor to the Librarian. I need to make the rest of my report in person—directly. As instructed.”
“From Malregard, we watch your breeds crossing the border of the real—violating city law. They seem determined to lose themselves in the Chaos. None have been observed to return. Is your report an admission of failure?”
Ghentun carefully considered his position. “By nature, they are a sensitive and determined folk. I am humble before the Eidolons—I leave those observations to your kind, and seek criticism from the Librarian, if it is due—directly.”
Another long pause.
The Witness’s gray beam again swept the chamber. As it passed through the angelin, Ghentun observed a lattice of internal process—the highly refined, jewel-like structure of sapphire-grade noötic matter. The angelin oscillated before Ghentun’s face. Its lips did not move but its bubble of cold shimmered. “Induce an individual affected by these dreams to accompany you to the Broken Tower.”
“When?”
“You will be notified.”
Ghentun felt a flush of frustration. “Do you understand urgency?” he asked.
“No,” the angelin said. “You can either stay and explain it to me, or carry out these instructions. In seventy-five years there will be an interview with the Librarian. Is that soonenough?”
“It will have to do,” Ghentun said.
“Peace and permutation be upon you, Keeper.”
The angelin darted off, leaving a trail of silvery vectors that quickly summed and vanished. Once, the vector trail of an angelin would have been a glorious thing to behold. Now it seemed pale and constricted.
Reduced fates, narrowing paths.
Ghentun gathered up his cloak and departed Malregard. He had not answered the angelin’s question about dreams, because he needed to hold back as much as he could, to be revealed only later—to the central mind of the Librarian himself, he fervently hoped. At any rate, his level of optimism about this whole endeavor had never been high.
The end of all history, of everything human and worthy—consumption in the malign insanity of the Chaos that had been looming for ages—was now upon them.
After a hundred trillion years, it was likely that the Kalpa was beyond saving.
PART ONE
FATE SHIFTERS
PART TWO
BROKEN LOGOS
PART THREE
TERMINUSAND TYPHON
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
THE KALPA AND ENVIRONS
A. FOURTEEN ZEROS
PROLOG
PART ONE FATE SHIFTERS
TEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
FOURTEEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
TEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
FOURTEEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
TEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
FOURTEEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 23
TEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
FOURTEEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
TEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
PART TWO BROKEN LOGOS
FOURTEEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
TEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
FOURTEEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
PART THREE TERMINUS AND TYPHON
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
FOURTEEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
TEN ZEROS
CHAPTER 67
NO ZEROS
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
CHAPTER 75
CHAPTER 76
CHAPTER 77
CHAPTER 78
CHAPTER 79
CHAPTER 80
CHAPTER 81
CHAPTER 82
CHAPTER 83
CHAPTER 84
CHAPTER 85
CHAPTER 86
CHAPTER 87
CHAPTER 88
CHAPTER 89
CHAPTER 90
CHAPTER 91
CHAPTER 92
CHAPTER 93
CHAPTER 94
CHAPTER 95
CHAPTER 96
CHAPTER 97
CHAPTER 98
CHAPTER 99
CHAPTER 100
CHAPTER 101
CHAPTER 102
CHAPTER 103
CHAPTER 104
CHAPTER 105
CHAPTER 106