The seduction of the place was primal. This was being, pure and simple, without needs, time, words, senses, thoughts. Ekatarina continued to exist but her memories bled into those of countless others. If I didn’t leave this place soon, I knew that I would be unable to do so at all.

Urgently, I began to gather myself back together again, dredging through humanity’s collective experience for anything about Ekatarina Tyurin. Then, I sought out the pale blue beacon and the lifeline that it promised. Finding it, I struggled to descend.

Soon the tiny voice came again, Oh, there you are, contentedly.

I paused for a moment. Looking for the connection to my own body, I found not the one that I expected but dozens, all leading in different directions. Since I now held some of the life experiences of other people, memories and thoughts of me but not mine, perhaps some new, permanent connections had been formed.

Like a harpist, I brushed the strands. Names emerged: Leo, Rosalia, Vasily, Escobar, … Koslov.