Übermensch (3rd Edition)

Day 248, 19:24:01

The Id EIS eyes open.

Oh...

Shooting stars are streaking across infinite void in a gorgeous cosmic display. When turning and pressing up with an Id EIS hand on red-sheets, I see shooting stars breaking apart high in the atmosphere of a grey planet enveloped by dark storms threaded with lightening.

Mmm. Apropos of pleasure.

I sit up, the Audiovisual Representation environment fading. Rising from the bed, I then begin striding across an immense bedroom, occluded floor showing a mosaic-style high view of The Master's spiral canyon residence quadrant. I near one the nearest luminescent black wall, a portal smoothly irises open and I step through it back into a featureless white cell. Turning, I see the portal iris shut before successive waves of blue light then PULSE up from floor to ceiling...

Brightness above...

I pass up and outside...

Thin wind blows atmosphere, an overcast sunset dominating the sky. Rising stops, and I now am standing upon the vast white square of the Tower roof. Across from me are small white drones buzzing nimbly about a dark, hulking... thing, with various seams open, crouched upon the edge. The Master is working by on the big lowered circle-head...

What?!

I step forward, alarmed –

(Wait.) That is... the long gestating Gateway Machine.

After I remain motion for a time, The Master glances over. "So," it husks, "you have decided to join me..."

I hurry over to it. "Sorry to be late!"

The Master chuckles, turning back to the lowered circle-head of the Gateway Machine. "No apologies. The time we spent in Somnotic Experience was pleasurable enough, but the final experience was for you alone."

"Thank you, Master Gabriel."

"You are welcome."

A connection has been building between us since the first weeks, and months later it seemed to be leading us now from the impersonal, towards...

Endless.

Smiling slightly, The Master gestures, causing the buzzing white drones to each suddenly flit towards open seams across the vast dermal material of the Gateway Machine. Each drone extrudes searing, white-hot tendril-manipulators, using them to adjust material and begin to weld seams shut. The quickest finish, to begin burnishing surfaces clear...

It is almost finished. (Or started.)

The Master floats up through these semi-automated activities, its black robes rippling until it slows to a stop again alongside the Gateway Machine's broad shoulders.

I call up: "is there anything I can do to help?"

Waving away the nearby drones, The Master glows it's grey right hand whitehot and slices a new seam through the dermal material before drawing the hand back, cooling. It reaches forward with its other hand to pull the newly opened seam wider in a display of casual post-human strength, after which the fingers of its now cooled hand into writhing grey cords and thrust that split-fingered hand inside of the machine all the way up to its grey elbow...

I wait patiently.

"Boot the main Control Display and check energy input/output," it finally calls down.

"Yes, Master Gabriel." Having contributed a fair bit to Project completion, I move without hesitation around the base of the Gateway Machine to a large, dark screen on one side of the head-gate before tying away at the keyboard below it.