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  She didn’t ask him anything but tasted and adulterated her food until she was satisfied with the flavour. If it tasted good going down, it might not hurt so much coming up.

  Kali ate her meal and waited for the inevitable return. Nothing happened.

  “What are you waiting for?”

  “My body to reject the food. It isn’t happening though and that has me confused.”

  “The Orb filled you out, provided you with body fat and regrew your hair and eyebrows. Perhaps it reset your digestion.” He shrugged and consumed the stew that he had in front of him.

  “What is the Orb?” She kept her gaze pleasant and waited for an answer. It was not long in coming.

  She sipped at a cup of tea and asked every question that she could think of. When he was finished, she had even more questions, but something was telling her to hold them for another time. There was someone else to ask and that someone would be with her very soon.

  Chapter Three

  Kali shocked herself when she realized she was hungry again. Despite the obvious reaction that she had been expecting, her body had betrayed her and instead welcomed nourishment via something other than a tube.

  Odin didn’t mind, so she got to her feet and made her way back to the buffets, this time selecting salads, meats and a roll that made her mouth water. She had always been a girl who liked her carbs, and having an array of bread and butter in front of her was almost too much to bear.

  Her body felt steady and far sturdier than it had been in years. She moved carefully back to the table where Odin waited and noticed a glow on his skin.

  “Why are you glowing?”

  He looked down and then up at her in surprise. “I am being summoned to a moment in time. I will contact Ravikka to take charge of you.”

  She frowned. “How long will your mission take?”

  “I don’t know. Sometimes hours, sometimes days, other times it is minutes.” He shrugged.

  She twisted her lips. “Where is the council hall?”

  He raised his brows and turned to point out the huge window. “That building there.”

  She smiled. “When I am done here, I will walk there. No problem and you don’t have to summon anyone. Okay?”

  He gave her a long look through those dark eyes. “All right. If you are still here when I return, we will go to the seven together.”

  “Agreed.”

  With only a small frown line between his eyebrows, he glowed bright and disappeared.

  Shrugging, Kali continued eating course after course until her body finally felt full and hunger was no longer prodding her.

  A good meal was just what she needed, and her early days as a chronic dieter had prodded her to start each return trip to the buffet with vegetables.

  Sighing, she pushed away her tray and watched it disappear. Odin told her that Acquisitions took care of dishes just like they did the beds in the quarters of the Nameless, but since he didn’t need a bed, it was not an issue for him.

  She glanced around and located a restroom. Once she had scrubbed her hands and face, she was ready for the next part of her day.

  Locating the council hall was easy enough, and all of the other inhabitants came and went, popping in and out of space with only a few taking the walkways. Usually, the folk on the walks were couples, arm in arm.

  Kali smiled. Apparently, there was love after death. It was reassuring on a number of levels.

  There was atmosphere on this piece of another universe. It ruffled her skirt and tugged at her hair. In the distance, she noted dust devils forming and swirling in jewel-toned dust. Something was coming, and she had the inevitable feeling that she was walking right into it.

  This feeling had plagued her once before, years earlier. The day was burned into her mind. It was the moment that she had put her peculiar mind on offer to the Alliance and they had accepted.

  When the doors of the council hall loomed in front of her, Kali knew that this was what she had been pushed toward. This moment was the ultimate direction of her life or rather afterlife.

  Kali stood on the threshold of the hall and waited until the butterflies in her stomach settled. When she felt relatively calm, she reached out, and the doors opened before her.

  The Council of Seven, with a woman in the centre, waited for her.

  “Kaliana Borning, Relay of the Alliance, born of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra. Welcome Home.” The woman smiled and inclined her head.

  The others sat and did the same.

  “Thank you for your welcome.” She curtseyed as gracefully as she could manage. Her limbs still fought her control, but she managed not to fall on her face.

  “Are you prepared to meet the Orb of Time and become one of the Nameless?” The woman’s black eyes were watching for something.

  “I am. I am as ready as I am every going to be.” She straightened her shoulders, and her hair lifted in a breeze.

  The councillors looked a little surprised, and it took Kali a moment to figure out why. The doors had closed behind her, so there was no breeze in the chamber.

  She smiled brightly, trying to hide her nervousness. “Shall we?”

  The female, the speaker, got to her feet and took Kali’s hand. “I am Ravikka. You will know me better in a moment.”

  With that enigmatic statement hanging between them, Ravikka led her to a dark hallway that trailed into a spiral staircase and coiled lower under the hall.

  Power started to lap at Kali the moment that she put her first foot on the step. It continued to swirl and caress her while she walked with Ravikka and the rest of the seven followed them.

  Her instincts took her around the spiral that was suspended over empty space. Her life in the tank had not prepared her for this image, but it had a homey feel despite its unfamiliarity.

  The rest of the seven ranged around the edge of the room, and to Kali’s surprise, Odin coalesced on the far edge of the room and watched the proceedings.

  At a predestined signal, the seven pressed icons around the room and light flared high, locking those icons in the open position.

  A ball of light separated itself from the swirling of stars under Kali’s feet. She knew that ball of light, and more to the point, it knew her.

  The ground shook as the mass got closer to the building, and surprised murmurs from the folk around her made Kali a little more afraid of what was about to happen than she had been before.

  The light filled the room, spinning slowly. Kali heard a voice in her head that she had not heard in years.

  My dear Kaliana. You are truly everything I have ever wished for in an Avatar.

  Um…thank you?

  No, thank you for becoming everything I had hoped for.

  Unsure of how to respond, Kali stared up into the light and saw her entire life flash before her eyes.

  Her awkward childhood staring at the stars, the mocking of her cousins when she couldn’t understand their obsession with time, her difficult time in school where her mind could not grasp linear functionality and finally, her life in the florist shop where everything was an emergent event. She could function there. It was easy to do everything as it came to her attention. Her boss quickly figured out that she could do amazing work, but only if everything was a rush. It involved some fancy paperwork, but they created a working situation that was mutually beneficial.

  Finally, she saw her application to the Volunteers as well as her acceptance into the relay program.

  And now you are here, and with your help, I shall awake.

  Kali didn’t have a chance to say anything else, a stream of light came toward her and poured into the blank spot in her mind, filling it and making room for more at the same time.

  Her body rose on tiptoe as endless power coursed into her and made itself at home. She shivered as the true Nameless entered her and settled in.

  As the light died to a normal level, the astonished faces of the seven caught her attention. With each face, she now had their entire life story
. Ravikka’s bearing her child in a snowstorm and losing her life the same day. Gwetho’s finding his true love and losing him within hours of their meeting.

  The others had similarly tragic tales, life and death in their last moments, inexorably entwined. The moment that they died, an agent of the Nameless had come to them and brought them Home.

  Once in this place outside of time and space, their bodies had been restarted using energy from the dead universe, giving them the ability to move through both time and space.

  A tremendous chunk of that power now resided within Kaliana, and she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with it.

  Chapter Four

  Instead of following the path in an outward spiral, she simply floated directly to stand in front of Odin. “Hello again.”

  I sent him on a bit of a tour so you would have a chance to explore a bit of Home on your own.

  That explains the pissed-off and confused look on his face.

  Odin lacks a sense of humour since he was burned to death, but there is no one more loyal. He will guard you while we commune.

  Commune?

  We have much to discuss, and if there are any Nameless who disagree, he will stand between you and death…again.

  Kali didn’t have time to request an explanation. She was dropped on her feet, and she swayed. Odin caught her.

  “Hello again, Kaliana. I assume that you have taken the Orb within you?”

  She nodded and smiled weakly. “I am guessing yes.”

  “Then, you need to rest. Come with me.” He leaned forward and flipped her into his arms.

  He formed a gaseous column where his legs had been, and he climbed the stairs more rapidly than any sets of legs could have managed.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The tower. A new level appeared when you arrived, and I rather think that it was designed with you in mind.”

  She wasn’t sure what he meant until she looked over her shoulder and the lower level of the tower was visible. It had an arched opening with the icon of an hourglass on either side of the doorway. A new bridge led from an arcing walkway to the doorway.

  “Your new home, Kaliana.”

  “Please, call me Kali.” She kicked her legs idly. “I think you can put me down now.”

  He set her on her feet, and she skipped away, her skin still warm from where he had held her.

  Kali looked around at the expanse of her new home. While the exterior appeared to be stone, the interior was made of transparent panes that showed the entirety of Home.

  “Wow, this is impressive.” She knew she should have been feeling exposed and nervous about being out of her tank, but she couldn’t manage it. The Orb of Time was sitting in her fear centre and not allowing any impulses in or out.

  He blinked. “It certainly is. It was not this developed when I last saw it.”

  Kali shuddered, and her voice was suddenly not her own. “I am sorry to have sent you on a fool’s errand, Odin. I needed to see how Kali adapted to her situation. She could not stand on her feet if you were constantly there to catch her.”

  He stared at her in shock. “Orb? You are speaking through her?”

  “There are matters to discuss that require group participation. For that purpose, I needed to take on a body, and Kaliana is perfectly suited. Her mind was designed for this, and she is taking me beautifully.”

  Kali looked down at her hands, and to her shock, her available skin was the same midnight as Odin’s eyes, or the eyes of the other Nameless.

  “Is she aware of you?”

  “She is looking out from her own eyes. Can you not see her?” There was amusement in the tone of the Orb.

  “Her eyes are the same aqua, but the rest of her has changed. How is it that her colouring is reversed from the norm?”

  “I am within her in a way that I am not within you. She still contains only a fraction of me, but it is far more than any of you could manage.”

  The amusement of the Orb was palpable from Kali’s vantage point. The ancient universe was excited to be speaking directly to one of its chosen, and Kali was content to watch.

  “Odin, you are appointed Kaliana’s bodyguard. You will assist her when necessary and stand at her side in case of opposition or danger.”

  “There is a danger to her?”

  “I will explain it when the rest of the Sentinels have been summoned. Which reminds me, please show Kali how to use the food requisition system. I selected her body shape based on her favourite period in her life. She needs to maintain it to keep her positive mental image and that is something that is very dear to me.”

  Odin nodded. “Very well, I shall do as instructed, Orb.”

  Kali cleared her throat. “It is just me now. Let me guess, my eyes are black?”

  He nodded. “Do you know what that is about?”

  “One runs the body and one the soul. You can tell who is running the emotions by the colour of my eyes.” She looked around and whistled softly. “This is really quite the place.”

  “The Orb initially built this as a holding cell for the more unconventional of the Nameless.”

  Kali gave him a mysterious smile. “Of course that was the purpose. There could not have been another impulse behind creating homes with no doors.”

  A knock in the open doorway got their attention, and Odin moved between her and Ravikka. “State your business, Speaker of the Seven.”

  Ravikka smiled. “Stand down, Odin. I am here to help Kali with her adaptation.”

  “The Orb has charged me with that duty.”

  “Then I will come for tea.”

  Kali smiled and found the small screen that held access to Acquisitions. She ordered a selection of small sandwiches and a few Terran teas that she missed. The Orb was filling her mind with data, and she really didn’t need either one of the two who were bickering for her attention.

  Kali worked on the water dispenser to acquire a hot pot ready for the tea.

  In her mind, she could hear voices and thoughts that were not her own. Images, emotions, it all trailed through her mind without affecting her vision of the space she was in. Kali grinned. She was back in the data stream, and while it was different, it was blessedly familiar at the same time. As long as information was filtering through her, she felt alert and alive.

  The delivery of food and tea made her jump, but she opened the hatch and pulled out her requests with a smile on her face. It had been a while since she had settled down for tea with someone and even longer since she had been able to relax just a little bit.

  Odin sat scowling at Ravikka with his arms crossed over his chest, and he grudgingly leaned forward to take the tea that Kali set before him.

  “Kali, do you have the knowledge of the Orb within you?” Ravikka sipped at the tea and raised her brows in surprise, followed by a pleased grin.

  “Only what I need to know. It is trying to allow me to integrate at my own pace, and I must confess to a bit of hesitance.” She sat back and breathed deeply of the familiar scent. Tears pricked her eyes as it took her back to her home and the mall where she had tried it for the first time.

  Odin’s face grew concerned. “Kaliana? Is something wrong?”

  “No, just a memory that was mine alone.” She lifted the teacup. “My first time tasting it was when I was a teen.”

  Memories spun through her mind, and she sat quietly as the Orb ran through her emotions and thoughts one by one.

  Ravikka’s features took on an expression of concern as well. “Are you all right?”

  “It is peculiar having something else trying to learn how you have felt about all the events in your life. The Orb is being most thorough, but it is reaching my time in the tank. Almost done.” She smiled.

  Odin frowned, “What is the Orb doing?”

  Kali looked at him and saw every moment of his life. “It is learning how and why I responded to everything that I have ever experienced in my life. It is using me as an emotional training tool.”
r />   The Orb finished running through her experiences and then replayed all of her sexual encounters. There were less of those than car accidents.

  Why so few? From what I have witnessed in your history, women with your physical characteristics never lack for companions.

  Kali felt a blush heating her cheeks as she mentally whispered, The current generation has been taught to despise curves in women. They may crave them but few are strong enough to be seen with one in public.

  That is unfortunate. You do so enjoy your current body shape.

  Images filled Kali’s mind of her enjoying her curves with a participant and by herself. Those times are behind me, Orb. I don’t know many men who would sleep with a woman occupied by a celestial being.

  The Orb fell silent, and Kali was relieved. She smiled at Ravikka. “How long have you been one of the Nameless?”

  Ravikka blinked in surprise. “Don’t you see it?”

  Kali sighed, “Yes, but it isn’t polite to rummage through someone’s past when they can tell you themselves.”

  “I have been in service here for close to a century.”

  “And you, Odin?”

  “Seven hundred and fifty linear years, or something close to that.” He inclined his head.

  She raised her eyebrows. “You don’t look a day over six fifty.”

  Ravikka chuckled. “You won’t age either now. It takes some getting used to, but it will come more naturally after some time.”

  They talked about inconsequential things and the roll of the speaker for the seven. Kali confirmed that the council’s roll would not change. They would still induct the new Nameless as well as administer discipline and advice when needed. Ravikka’s job would not change.

  With a warm handshake, Kali dismissed the speaker, and she left Kali and Odin alone.

  To her surprise, the door that had been wide open sealed until there was nothing but a column of stone where the doorway had been.

  Kali turned toward Odin and smiled. “I suppose I had better get some rest to continue the meshing of minds. The Orb is being careful, and for that, I am thankful.”