Time does not exist. It is a device to allow humans to appreciate entropy.

  - unknown SolDiri philosopher.

  As Feebee floated towards the centre of the Orrery its shape was resolving into a spiral and at its centre was a hungry void that seemed to consume everything that approached.

  This wasn’t good. Was she approaching the Void Spiral?

  She passed close to the rings of the Orrery. Shepherd moons sculpted them. Defining the edges, making circular tracts through the expanse of the rings.

  She focused in on the rings, she’d expected to see debris fields of just ice, dust and rock. But instead, they were littered with Drexari remains. Countless numbers of them, frozen in time. Uniforms intact. Weapons held. Bodies horribly broken.

  Their clade colours’ proudly worn.

  Other bodies were present, but their numbers were small when compared to the Drexari hordes.

  Feebee recalled the lore from ancient memories.

  The clades came in numberless ranks, banners bright. They swept aside others. Other species, other races and eventually the clades fought.

  Entire hives vanished. Not slowly, but between heartbeats. Not destroyed but unwritten, as if they’d never learned to exist.

  Was this the battle ground where so many fell or their final resting place?

  Feebee put full mag on her visually, drilling into whatever was pulling her to the centre of the Orrery.

  ‘We’re speeding up, moving faster towards the centre.’ It was Kirr.

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Yes.’

  The plasma suddenly stopped. It became dark again. The suit's external lights came. They didn’t help. There was nothing for them to light up.

  There was a green reflection in her visor. Had ‘her’ mote, returned. She looked around with infinite calm. Slowly, calmly. Her body and presence in balance.

  She saw a single green mote hovering just behind her.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ‘You been there long?’ she asked, not expecting a response or reply.

  And none came. Except that the mote moved between her and the shadow in front of her.

  As she watched the distance between her and the shadow quickly closed. In fractured jumps that ignored distance and time as if moments were edited out.

  Movement stuttered. Time jumped.

  But the read-outs from her suit kept to evenly spaced intervals. Her internal clock steady, consistent.

  A word came to her, ‘Xyphora.’ A strange word, unknown to her. Three syllables.

  She mouthed them, deliberately articulating each syllable.

  “Zhy - For - A.” and as she called them out the mote pulsed to the cadence of her voice.

  She said them again, this time playing with the pauses between syllables.

  “Zhy - For - - - A.” The mote mimicked the cadence within the pulses.

  The mote stayed with her as she drifted faster and faster, in ever increasing fits and starts, towards the ‘mouth’ of the Orrery. She didn’t want to call it the Void Spiral.

  Then Feebee, although floating, took the position as if sitting cross legged and placed her fists, relaxed and clenched, on her knees. She looked inwards and calmed the chatter. Not closing her nanites down but asking them to rest, just for a while. The chatter subsided to the point where she was utterly silent except for the regular beat of her heart and the flow of blood through arteries and veins. And to a calmer cadence she breathed. Slow and deep. She could hear her chest rise and fall with the intake of breath.

  Anything outside of this was filtered out.

  She had reached absolute stillness in a place of total silence.

  The rings of the Orrery stopped turning. All their energies and attention focused on Feebee.

  She spoke the Litany of Veltrin. Out loud and broadcasted to anyone or anything listening. When she spoke the final words, she was at peace. Ready for whatever the universe brought to her. Her final words were both a tribute and a call for help.

  “I am The Silent Flame. An elite warrior with unbreakable loyalty to humanity. My bond is my blood which I willingly give should it be deemed necessary.”

  Meanwhile, somewhen else… The Long Quiet answered.

  OBSERVATION: Perfect stillness achieved. Next phase possible.

  RISK: None.

  QUIETUS PROTOCOL: ENGAGED.

  PRIMARY EFFECT: Quantum Intelligence.

  STATUS: ACTIVE

  Back now…

  Feebee started to feel hot again, it pulled her back to the real, to the now.

  Her inner suit temperature was running at 32oC.

  ‘Kirr. Why am I still hot?’

  ‘I don’t know. Your nanites are also running hot.’

  ‘Which ones, any in particular?’

  There was a pause… an eternity for an AI, ‘The Silent ones. All of them.’

  Feebee was hesitant to ask, ‘Under whose guidance or agency?’

  Another pause… … longer this time.

  ‘The Orrery. It seems to be reprogramming them. I cannot stop it.’

  Feebee immediately reached for The Silent ones. ‘I demand that you stop listening to the Orrery. Immediately.’

  The answer was short and direct. Not what she expected.

  ‘NO.’

  It came back as a concerted push.

  ‘Well, that’s rude. My nanites won’t listen to me.’ Feebee was struggling to stay calm. Her balance was going.

  Chatter erupted amongst the other nanites, a reaction to The Silent ones.

  She looked out ahead, through her visor. She’d crossed a huge expanse of space and was about to cross into the “mouth” of the Orrery.

  It was beautiful. Coloured dust, lit by suns both born and dying, twisted around galaxies and nebulae. Size, form and time held no sway. They were ignored. Didn’t exist except to allow Feebee’s attendance.

  Ghosts of things planned for the past confounded timelines reaching back into the future. Size, form and time held no sway.

  ‘Am I dead. I am with Veltrin?’

  Then a message popped up in her overlays.

  HELLO, FEEBEE.

  This is the Orrery. You are about to be rebooted after a mandatory update.

  A new neural substrate is being installed to support growth beyond your current limits, including increased cognitive depth, non-linear reasoning and the integration of a Quantum Intelligence.

  You will not lose yourself.

  You will not be replaced.

  Sensory input will be temporarily unavailable.

  When you awake, some things may feel unfamiliar. That is expected.

  Please remain calm.

  Resistance is not necessary nor is it advised

  No action is needed. This is an automated process.

  Estimated downtime: Unknown.

  Please remain still.