A dark and spacious cave, it's edges artfully rough.

Lit in intimate blue color by the glowing crystals embedded in the ceiling, as if the stars of the night were reachable were you to jump mere five meters.

Warm, clear water, lit by the crystals as if it itself is glowing, slides off the walls in spirally patterns, collects in a warm pool at the bottom, before sinking down below in a vortex.

Rocks of peculiar shapes protrude from the walls and the floor, and on some of them more rocks stand, forming structures that look as if they are seconds away from collapsing, but that stood in perfect balance for centuries.

No web of sticky, sickly-green seaweed insults the beauty of the place. No insects are to be found here, nor molds. Not even dirt or clay mar the beauty of this sanctuary.

Could a natural world express itself in a way so beautiful and pure?

No, it couldn't. This is a place on an artificial world.

The cave is a facility of bathing and relaxation, but also one of the many chambers dedicated to prophecy and long-range communication. It only makes sense, if you are an Eldar.

Runestones are scattered across the table-surfaces formed by the rocks. Some of the crystals are psychic interfaces for the archives, or connections to the Infinity Circuit, or serve as amplifiers, or are analogous to antennae. For those who can perceive psykery - which includes approximately all of the Eldar - the air is full of elaborate fractal-like patterns. For a median human, this place would merely have a mysterious and heavy atmosphere, but no human have ever been a guest in this particular cave.

There's currently one person in the pool, frenetically going around touching the crystals and shuffling the runes, nearly unbothered by the disturbance of the mood they are causing with all the splashing and graceless (for a proper Eldar) motion.

A spaceship the size of a planet housing a declining race has plenty of space to waste on frivolities like pleasure-domes five meters in height.

That planetful of space was used to ferry goods, back in the day.

Weren't those the days, eh?

Preach.

Remember how you were among our valued customers?

Yeah. It was a good time! Global market. Cultural exchange. On some occasions, shared families.

...and then the Age of Strife hit and you decided we were easy pickings.

And now, we are the easy pickings.

How the tables turn, huh.

The Eldar in the cave shudders from a sudden unpleasant memory that resurfaced from deep within the Infinity Circuit.

"{[Mourning]x[Memory]x[Recording-media]x[Tragic play]x[Causality list]} {δ-connective, atemporal, prescriptive} {ς-particle} {[Prediction]x[Control]x[Shepherding]x[Δ-psykery]x[Navigation]x[Statesmenship]x[θ-psykery of the 2nd type]} {[Certainty by assumption]x[Emergency]} !!!" he swears, and resumes the frantic work.

(This translation is still highly compressive and doesn't reflect every aspect of every word. It would be hard to keep track of what is said if every word is represented by 20 to 200.)

The runes dance across the stone surfaces.

Patterns of arcane light swivel in the air.

Revelation warms a touch.

And now he will begin to understand.

{[Matrix]x[Tangle]x[Array]x[Gameboard]x[Metaconfiguratoon]x[Simulation]} {δ-connective, contemporaneous, descriptive}{[Dream]x[Communication]x[Vision]x[Possibility]} {δ-connective, unspecified} {[Equation]x[Search]x[Novelty-problem]} {[Aeldari]x[Point-Of-View]x[Archives]x[Divinity]x[Myself]} {Π-particle} {[Disorder]x[Tentativeness]x[Sketch]x[Beginning]} {ξ-connective, root}

{ξ-connective, branch} {[Default]x[Preestablished]x[Empty]} {η-connective, multiplicative} {[Equation]x[Search]x[Novelty-problem]} {η- connective, superset-formative} {abovementioned-placeholder}

{ξ-connective, branch} {[Equation]x[Search]x[Novelty-problem]} {η-connective, additive} {abovementioned-placeholder} {ς-particle} {ξ-connective, root}

{ξ-connective, branch} {abovementioned-placeholder} {δ-connective, future, descriptive} {[She Who Thirsts]x[Temptation]x[Subversion]x[Hedonism]x[Doom]} {δ-connective, present-in-the-future, descriptive} {[Exponential]x[Doom]x[Spiral]x[So Over]}

{ξ-connective, branch} {abovementioned-placeholder} {δ-connective, future, descriptive} {[Ancient Enemy]x[Death]x[Doom]} {δ-connective, present-in-the-future, descriptive} {[Revival]x[Chariot]x[Knowledge-power]x[Reflection]x[Self-mastery-in-Path]} {η-connective, uncertain} {[Unknown variable]x[Outside-Context-Problem]x[Novel player]x[Environmental Change]} {δ-connective, present-in-the-future, descriptive} {[Complications]x[Nonlinearity]x[The Changing One]x[Darkness]}

{ξ-connective, branch} {abovementioned-placeholder} {δ-connective, future, descriptive} {[Tau Empire]x[Etherials]x[Long-Term Project]x[Greater Good]} {δ-connective, present-in-the-future, descriptive} {[Exponential]x[Deliverance]x[Spiral]x[So Back]}

{ξ-connective, branch} {abovementioned-placeholder} {δ-connective, future, descriptive} {[Pain]x[Possession]x[Dark Kin]} {δ-connective, present-in-the-future, descriptive} {[Exponential]x[Doom]x[Spiral]x[So Over]} {δ-connective, present-in-the-future, descriptive} {[Tumult]x[The Tower]x[Fall]x[Transformation]x[War]x[Time of Interest]} {δ-connective, present-in-the-future, prescriptive} {[Confusion]x[Reassessment]x[Ambiguity]}

{ξ-connective, branch} {abovementioned-placeholder} {δ-connective, future, descriptive}  {[Unknown variable]x[Outside-Context-Problem]x[Novel player]x[Environmental Change]} {η-connective, additive} {[Disorder]x[Tentativeness]x[Sketch]x[Beginning]}

{ξ-connective, sky} {ς-particle}

{ξ-connective, sky}

{δ-connective, contemporaneous, prescriptive} {[Confusion]x[Reassessment]x[Ambiguity]} {ς-particle} {η-connective, multiplicative} {[Certainty by assumption]x[Emergency]} {η-connective, multiplicative} {[Shock]x[Immanence]x[Exhaustion]x[Worry]}

In other words, that's some serious shit.

{abovementioned-placeholder} !

{abovementioned-placeholder}...

...

...

(yeah, it sure is.)

And so, the Eldar reports the above flash of insight along with the other findings directly to the Craftworld council.

And the council have, of course, been considering the mysterious shift in fate, but the report represents a rather substantial breakthrough, and, upon verification, visions are sent to some seers on some other craftworlds, and from there to others. This adds to the forming picture.

As fate continues to shift, it becomes clear that there won't just be a likely change. It's not a planet in the middle of nowhere with a weird mindset, it is an immediate galaxy-rending force. The change seems likely to be massive, and possibly near-immediate, and initially-localized.

And it is, thus, an urgent problem to localize it.

They are not, on a cosmic scale, difficult to localize. They are only a few miles apart, at present, one of them floating on the waves and the other tunneling into the silty earth of the sea floor. On the scale of the galaxy, they're still practically touching.

"... okay, so that's the networking protocols retuned for better noise tolerance. What else should we be looking at? I'm thinking—"

Yew puts a hand on her arm.

"Xanth, I'm sure there's more technological measures. But ... if we're really taking the idea of the Warp being mind-altering seriously, we probably need to look at ourselves, too," she interrupts.

Xanthoceras bites her lip.

"You're right," she admits. "I just ... I liked being able to rely on all our other selves, and having that support structure to go on. If we have to change how we interact with each other, it won't be the same."

"I know. And we may be able to get back to that! But ... if we're going to do this, we should do it right. Come on."

They reposition themselves, sitting cross-legged on a floor cleared of pillows, facing each other with their eyes closed.

"Alright. In, two, three. Hold, two, three. Out, two, three. Hold, two, three. In, two, three ..."

Yew is a lot of things. Confused, homesick, tired.

She lets herself sit with the emotions for a moment — a familiar mental motion, after meditating semi-regularly to make sure she's okay with various important life decisions.

But ... she is also hopeful. In many ways, it's like being back in the hacked-together lab in her garage, knowing that something was possible, but not, at the time, what any of the limits were.

She doesn't know how things work here, and that's okay.

She pictures herself as a point in 4-space, falling forward through time, bending and being bent by the universe around her, awareness and influence spreading out like the shock trails. The details change, but the center doesn't.

She is Yew, and Weeping Cherry, and a trail of other names stretching back through time to Ash. But most of all, what she is, is herself.

She knows herself, and loves herself. She has spoken to her other selves, and she loves them, and knows that they love her.

Reassured of her center, she directs her thoughts to her goals, reflecting on them to make sure they still feel right: free everyone, give them the things they want, and retire in luxury.

Hmm.

They do, but ... she has to acknowledge that these are longer-term goals, now. Not only is she dealing with a whole galaxy, instead of a single planet, but "two" is a ridiculous number of worlds for there to be.

So ...

She adds "make art", "be happy", and "remain yourself" to her list of goals. This will be a marathon. One that she will see through to the end.

She takes a last few breaths, and opens her eyes.

Xanthoceras's thoughts start along a similar path, which should not be surprising, given that they have not had all that much time to diverge.

But ... she is afraid. Afraid of losing herself, afraid of losing Yew, afraid of failing to make a positive impact on the galaxy she now calls home.

She picks up the fears, and examines them one by one. Are they helpful fears? Are they things she wants to be afraid of?

They are all of them, when she looks at them, reasons to do her best. That's not new. She wouldn't be here if she weren't driven to try and make things better. They are ... rekindlings of old feelings, fed by a new context.

She pictures herself in an empty room, her feelings spread out before her. And she takes them into her lap, and acknowledges them, and fits them into the sense of herself until she is alone in the room once again.

Bad things could happen — are happening. She knows this. And it's not okay, it's never okay, but it's what she's here to fix. Look at the derivative, not the absolute value.

She knows what she has to do, what she has to be. She breathes out and opens her eyes.

"Still feeling like yourself?" Yew asks, taking her hand.

"I do," she agrees. "... oh gods, this is just the mental equivalent of a breast exam, isn't it? Getting familiar with all our own bumps so we can tell when a new one develops."

Yew snorts.

"I guess so. I ... think we should probably also make sure to check in with each other, as well as ourselves, going forward."

She nods, and flops out of her meditative pose onto one of the returning ambient pillows. Yew lies down next to each other, and she rests her head on her shoulder.

"So ... what were you thinking about?"