The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani (story reading .TXT) 📕

could not touch your memories or interfere in any way, and even now I cannot probe your mind without harming you. But I learned from what you were thinking, what you did, and what others around you thought and did. I knew you might be on the path to the breakthrough, as I thought of others in the past. None of them got to that point before they were killed or turned away from a life of advancement. Yet you have succeeded, and I know you probably better than any other being in the universe, though I am a stranger to you.”

“So much for keeping secrets.”

“If you do not think them, they cannot be seen from the Saiolum. And I know that is not sufficient, so I will also teach you how to shield your mind from me and the others. It will take millennia for you to grow to that level, but it is possible. We Ju’en’xa exist as repositories of knowledge, experience, and skill for our race. My race is now gone, and I have been purposeless and imprisoned in the Saiolum for most of my life. Being able to speak to you is a luxury beyond measure.”

“You’ve been alone all this time?”

“Able to see others, but they cannot see me. Able to learn about them, but unable to teach. Able to discover, but not touch. In that way, I have been alone.”

“And you can’t die?”

“No. And I will not destroy myself, though that temptation is always near. I fear the others may have, or may have been caught on worlds rendered lifeless. If our current portion of the Saiolum dries up, we will die. The thin filaments that stretch between galaxies cannot sustain us, but those between most planets can. We can travel in this way between the stars, but we cannot go where there is no, or little life. If I wanted, I could catch myself on a dying world and end myself in this way, but I cannot leave the thicker areas of the Saiolum by will. It is not possible.”

“So the Saiolum is not everywhere?”

“Is not light everywhere in the universe? By similar measure so is the Saiolum, but the amounts out in the void are too small to matter. Perhaps there are some very dark areas where nothing exists and the Saiolum is not present, but I could not know that, for I cannot exist beyond it, and anywhere a person travels you create the Saiolum in and around you. That is why I can travel with you across the stars, for your bubble sustains me.”

“If my ship exploded enroute, you die?”

“If the route is not thick enough, yes, so there is a risk in traveling, though the denser areas in the Core of the galaxy are free passage, as if a great sea containing everything there.”

“Including the Spring Points?”

The image of the Zen’zat nodded. “Though there is no life in them, the Saiolum is usually strong there.”

“You’ve observed them?”

“Yes.”

“And what do you see?”

“Cascades of energy and matter spontaneously appearing in a fixed point in space.”

“Relative to what?”

“Unknown. But this galaxy is correlated due to the fact that its matter most likely originated from the central point.”

“Central? Are there others?”

“Not within the swirl, but beyond it.”

“Where the Apocalypse Monsters lay in wait?”

“It’s far more complicated than that, but yes, there are ones deep in the void that I cannot get to, and dare not risk traveling to on a courier. I would be trapped for eons if they did not send another out. But we speak of irrelevant things. My time is short. Focus on more pertinent questions, for there will be another lengthy wait until our next conversation.”

“What plans do you have for me?”

“After viewing Star Force, I would describe my race as lightside-aligned. We did not hold to it as you do, but our natural inclination was one of building rather than destruction. Now that I have studied your philosophy, I find I am learning new things. You and the others are an anomaly within the dark universe, and I wish to aid you in your growth. You do not know the dangers ahead of you, but I know of many. When you finally seek to rid this galaxy of the Hadarak you will gain attention, but not much. Other things will make you more visible, and those I will caution you to conceal until you are ready…but you are not near them yet. Your breakthrough is the reason I am here now. I wish to be your Yoda.”

Paul laughed at the metaphor, partly because he didn’t use it right. “What did I do to make the breakthrough?”

“It is a natural erosion of the limiting factor. Only a builder or protector can attain it without outside help. One seeks to enhance life rather than end it. You must become in tune with the harmony of the universe, and when you get close the barrier begins to disintegrate. Combat is not harmony, and you are almost always in some combat mindset. You had to relax out of it in order for the erosion to take place. Normally it would occur gradually, but you altered so much without resting that your erosion occurred quickly…then you shut yourself out again when duty called on you. Once you relaxed, the opening reappeared and began to erode a bit more. I then stepped in and wiped away much of the crumbling barrier, ensuring that it could not recrust over if you became steeped in death and destruction again. It is necessary at times, but runs contrary to the harmony.”

“Define this harmony.”

“To understand harmony you must understand the scope of the universe. I am still learning, but what my race discovered over the vastness of time was that nothing remains the same. Everything is in motion, and the universe