Blue Drop: Angel's Home: Chapter 11
A Frightening Forecast
One day, Mari'il headed to Ariel's office with more than typical anticipation as Ariel had said they would be meeting another researcher whom she thought Mari'il would want to talk to. She arrived to find this new Arume already seated waiting in Ariel's office.
``Sorry I'm late,'' she apologized to them both.
``Don't worry, Mari'il,'' said Ariel. ``You're right on time.'' She gestured to the newcomer who had risen to greet her. ``Allow me to introduce Abdiel. She and I met while we were both looking into the Arume genome and she's discovered a few things I think you'll also find interesting.''
Abdiel bowed in greeting, as did Mari'il. She wasn't quite as tall as Ariel, and her pale hair was cut in a style that would have been called a bob back on earth. Her expression was one of knowledgeable competence, and while her eyes didn't show the same gentleness as Ariel's—few did—neither did they hold any trace of the scorn that Mari'il had seen in some.
Introductions completed, the three sat back down for a more relaxed discussion. Ariel began. ``I met Abdiel while we were both looking into the genetic aspects of telepathy. She'd left a telltale in that section of the archives asking anyone else who might be investigating the field to contact her for possible collaboration. Thinking of you, I called her to see about her research.'' She paused to find the right words before continuing. ``I know you may not have a good view of Arume telepathy researchers after encountering Zephrael, so I made sure that Abdiel had nothing of her attitude before even mentioning you. And it turns out that attitude relates to some of what Abdiel has to tell us as well.''
Mari'il turned with interest to Abdiel, who continued. ``Thank you for vouching for me Ariel. Mari'il, first let me say that Ariel told me nothing about you other than you'd be interested in what I'd found about telepathy and about Zephrael. She seems rather protective of your privacy, but hinted you might not be enthralled by Zephrael.''
Mari'il laughed. ``True. She really is careful about that, and Zephrael didn't exactly treat me ...with the most kindness and respect I've ever received. And Ariel is right, you have aroused my curiosity.''
``Well, let me start with the subject of Zephrael. I'll reiterate what Ariel said. I don't have any professional connection with her, other than doing research on closely related topics. And with what I've found out about her in the course of my research, I want it to avoid any such connections in the future.'' Mari'il raised an eyebrow in interest at this. ``You see, the area Zephrael is looking most deeply into is the possibility of artificial telepathy for better communication—or so she says—though guessing at her motives it looks like she might be aiming beyond communication to a means to control people. Of late, her research has branched into a new direction: using the equipment she developed to test and strengthen telepathy to actually transfer the consciousness of one Arume into another. She has a prototype set up, but there still seem to be some hiccups in the process, most dealing with the target's consciousness.''
Mari'il sat bolt upright in her chair on hearing this. ``You don't mean... No. Please continue. I shouldn't interrupt.''
``Yes, you're right to be suspicious here. I think you see where this is going. What really prompted me to wonder about her actions is the question of what might happen to those she transferred consciousness into. So I poked around in what she's released about this topic, and what I saw worried me enough to ask for Ariel's opinion too. I guess you won't be surprised to hear that Ariel's judgment on ethical matters is highly respected in medical circles. It seems that Zephrael's process suppresses the target consciousness. However, there are hints that Zephrael is trying to find a way to completely eliminate the target consciousness, not just suppress it, as in her experiments it has often returned and eventually supplanted the transferred consciousness. This worries me, as it seems she's already doing actual experiments and I can't find out on whom. The only reference I was able to find was one note that mentioned she was using `defective' Arume as the target, but I haven't found exactly what she means by that term. Knowing some of her opinions, I'm pretty sure she means something different by `defective' than we would.''
``I agree that she likely is letting her ideology influence her definition of `defective'.'' Ariel gave her a keen glance. ``So does this mean that one of the two people in the transfer would die? It sounds like that's what would happen to the original consciousness when the target supplants it.''
``Yes,'' Abdiel agreed. ``That's the way it seems. I'm trying to find out what happens with the original body, and if there's any consciousness left in it. If there's not, then if the target consciousness supplants the transferred one, that would be their death. Conversely, if it never does, this would be the death of the target consciousness. The data she has seem to indicate that having two consciousnesses in one body is somehow an unstable condition.''
The color drained Mari'il's face hearing this. [[ Ekaril, dear. If what we have is like that, does that mean I'll someday reject and kill you? There's no way I want that to happen. I'd rather die myself so you could keep living. ]]
[[ Oh, Mari. Please don't do that. I don't think I could live without you now. ]]
``Abdiel,'' a shaken Mari'il asked, ``did you find how l... long it took before this rejection happened? Were there any symptoms showing it starting?''
``I'm sorry. I haven't found much more on that, but I will look and let you know what I find. It seems like this really matters to you.'' Abdiel smiled reassuringly, ``From what I've seen, it does not seem a quick process, but I will look into it.''
Ariel reached over and comfortingly took Mari'il's hand. [[ Mari'il, ]] she silently asked through this touch, [[ I think we can trust Abdiel with the truth. Would you like to tell her? ]]
[[ Go ahead, you start. ]]
Ariel turned to Abdiel. ``Let me explain why I asked Mari'il to hear about your findings and why they are important to her, that is if it's OK with you Mari'il.'' When Mari'il assented with a nod, she took a breath and began, ``I don't know if you found anything in looking through Zephrael's work about tests she may have done regarding telepathy with Forime.'' Abdiel nodded. ``Well, Mari'il here is the one she tested. Allow me to introduce Commander Ekaril from the Forime expedition and also Wakatake Mari from Forime itself.''
Mari'il bowed and explained, gesturing to her head. ``Yes, there really are two of us in here. We're used to it now, but it did take a while to figure out.''
Abdiel looked at her in surprise. ``Really? That's incredible. I can see why Zephrael would want to do all sorts of measurements and tests on you.'' She turned to Ariel. ``I hope you're not letting her.''
``No, never. With help from Grand Admiral Loriel, we've been able to protect Mari'il.''
This reassurance brought a smile to Abdiel's face. She turned back to Mari'il. ``But if your really are both sharing this body... I guess Zephrael's experiments would be of interest, especially what happens after a transfer.'' She shook her head. ``Would you mind my asking how the two of you ended up sharing one body?''
``No, we don't mind,'' answered Mari'il. ``Do you have time to hear a long story explaining it?''
Abdiel agreed and gestured for her to proceed.
``Let me start this as Ekaril,'' Mari'il began. ``She remembers the beginning.'' She then continued in that slightly different tone of voice telling of her first meeting Mari when she saved her after Blue's drive exploded and of their reunion five years later at Kaihou Academy. Mari and Ekaril then continued their story together, describing their shared dream and other instances of touch telepathy and concluding with their merging and then coming to Arume. ``There's a lot we still don't understand, but we try to accept it and find joy in simply being together.''
[[ Loriel would be proud how you were able to do that while not disclosing any military secrets, ]] Mari commented silently.
``Oh my,'' said Abdiel when Mari'il finished her tale. ``That is quite the adventure the two of you have had. And I do see why this research would really matter to you and why post-transfer instability could really worry you. I promise I'll look deeper into the post-transfer symptoms and prognosis. You deserve to know everything we can find about that. I really hope I find good news for you.''
``Thank you. We really appreciate that.''
``And there is one more reason I asked you here to meet Mari'il,'' added Ariel.
Abdiel looked up. What she'd been told already was sufficient to excite her curiosity, but now Ariel promised more.
``Yes,'' Ariel continued. ``You see, Mari'il has found that sometimes her touch telepathy works with me as well.''
``Really! That's fascinating. Mari'il, are you able to communicate telepathically with anyone else?''
``I'm sorry,'' replied Mari'il. ``So far, I've only been able to talk like this with Ariel ...that is, beyond Mari and Ekaril talking to each other.'' She reached over and touched Abdiel's hand. [[ Can you hear us now, when we talk like this? ]]
After a few moments Abdiel gave no sign of hearing the telepathic query. Mari'il then continued, ``Well, we just tried talking to you that way, and it seems you didn't hear us. We can try again, as this doesn't seem to always work with Ariel, either.''
``Thank you. I'd appreciate that. But even with you and Ariel, having an actual pair who can talk this way could help immeasurably.'' She paused, realizing what she was assuming. ``That is, if you're both willing to help with this. I don't want to presume to much.'' She laughed. ``After all, I don't want to act like Zephrael.''
They assured her that she was not, and they'd be happy to help.
.
On the skimmer ride home Mari'il thought over Abdiel's new revelation. It was disturbing that Zephrael had been monitoring her brain-waves when she was first staying at the Fleet Hospital. She was exceedingly grateful for Abdiel's assurance that it was still impossible to actually ``read minds'' this way. All that could be detected was general mental state: sleeping, waking, concentrating, talking or the like. Still, she felt it a rude invasion of privacy that this was done without even telling her. Both Abdiel and Ariel were equally offended. In fact, this was the most upset she'd ever seen Ariel.
What was more personally disturbing than the invasion of privacy was the possibility Abdiel brought up about two consciousness not being able to stably share a body. She really hoped that didn't apply with Mari and Ekaril. Perhaps their initial telepathic bond would help. It was a slim hope, but they agreed to hope. Abdiel had also promised to find out anything she could on this, so at least they had a helping friend. And it was nice to make a new friend in Abdiel.
Their few close friends were really the only thing Mari or Ekaril missed from earth, and making new friends here was the way to cope with that loss, though they tried not to think of it that much.
ooo OOO ooo
A few days later, Ariel again met with Mari'il and Abdiel in her office.
``I talked with Grand Admiral Loriel this morning,'' Ariel began after they finished their initial pleasantries. ``She was very concerned about what I told her about Zephrael, especially that she might be experimenting on living Arume. She wants to investigate a few things and then talk to us.''
``I'm glad to hear she agrees with our concern,'' said Abdiel. ``Can she actually do anything to help? Her title is Grand Admiral, but I'm not too familiar with military rank, or what influence she might have.''
``Well, she certainly helped me when I came here,'' explained Mari'il. ``And her rank of Grand Admiral is one of the highest ones in our military.'' She took a breath, then continued. ``But, since Zephrael is not actually in the military, merely a scientist working with Fleet Hospital, Loriel can't just issue her orders. On the other hand, it sounds like this transgression may be even worse than the way Zephrael treated me, so maybe she can do more.''
ooo OOO ooo
Mari'il sat in the lobby of Admiralty House waiting for Abdiel to arrive. She had offered to meet Abdiel here and show her the rest of the way to Loriel's office. Abdiel had never been here before and was afraid of getting lost in the maze of corridors. Mari'il was again dressed in her Fleet uniform, though since starting her job at 'Ships she no longer wore a commander's cape. Others here were used to seeing her in uniform at her job here, and it felt right to wear it to formally welcome Abdiel on her first visit. She figured Loriel would agree with her reasoning.
Abdiel arrived, right on time and Mari'il headed over to greet her.
``Thank you for meeting me here,'' Abdiel said. ``I will admit to being slightly nervous.''
``Don't worry. Grand Admiral Loriel is actually quite a nice person, though I'll agree that all of the corridors here can be confusing.'' She grinned. ``We have yet to actually lose anyone in them, nor have we ever shot a visitor for ending up in the wrong place.'' They shared a laugh at this. ``But I'm happy to meet you here and be your guide. Shall we go?''
The two headed off down the corridors Mari'il just joked about. They met Ariel in the ante-room of Loriel's office and were immediately ushered in.
``Thank you for coming here and meeting me,'' began Loriel, leading them toward the conversational grouping of overstuffed chairs around a low table near the expansive window rather than the more formal environment of her desk. ``Ariel told me some of what you have uncovered, and I'd like to discuss it further.''
``Of course,'' answered Ariel. ``Allow me to introduce Abdiel. She was the first to uncover this. Abdiel, this is Grand Admiral Loriel.''
``I'm pleased to meet you,'' said Abdiel, bowing to Loriel. ``Thank you for making time to see us.''
The three sat down and Abdiel explained what she had found about Zephrael's experiments with consciousness transfer. Ariel and Mari'il contributed their own observations.
``So you see,'' Ariel said when Abdiel had finished. ``We thought you should know since Zephrael is working at Fleet Hospital and since Mari'il has been affected by her `research'.''
``Thank you,'' replied Loriel, taking in all three of them with her glance. ``You're right, I am very interested in this. When Ariel messaged me about Zephrael, I decided to do a little investigation on my own. I knew that Zephrael was already hostile toward Mari'il, so I had arranged for some tracers on her what she was doing in the Hospital. It seems Zephrael was sharp enough to keep her activities from triggering any automatic alerts. However, looking back and correlating those records with what you've found, I think we may find she isn't quite upholding her half of her research contract.''
``I'm also worried about the direction her research may be headed,'' added Ariel. ``And about how she may be treating experimental subjects.''
``True,'' added Abdiel. ``It looks to me like her real aim is more than just the telepathy for communication that's her stated goal. It looks like she's trying for two other outcomes. First, I've seen hints that she's trying to use her `artificial telepathy' technology to actually control people, not just help them communicate.''
Mari'il nodded, ``Controlling others, even against their own will, fits with some of the philosophies of her teacher Sariel. She claimed that some, like her, were smarter and endowed with better judgment how things should be done, thus they should be made rulers over the rest of us. She couldn't stand our egalitarian society, so anything like this that would help her rule others...''
``I agree,'' Ariel added. ``I've run into that group academically before, and they definitely have some extreme ideas. They usually hide them to fit in better, but...''
``Then there is the other direction I fear she might be heading,'' continued Abdiel. ``More than just communication or control, Zephrael has been experimenting with actually transferring the consciousness of one Arume to another. So you can see why she would be quite interested in Mari'il,'' she concluded, gesturing to her. ``Apparently her measurements of Mari'il convinced her that it was possible.''
``I can see why she was interested,'' replied Loriel, ``and also why she's continued to try to get more data on her.'' She turned to Mari'il. ``I'm sorry you've been subjected to her `data gathering'.''
Abdiel continued, ``One frightening part—beyond the fact that she's even tried these experiments—is that she's working to try to eliminate the target consciousness so that only the transferred one remains.''
Loriel started, and a little surprise showed through even her excellent control over her face. ``That would amount to ...killing the target Arume, wouldn't it.''
``Yes, it would.''
``Then why would she do that?'' wondered Mari'il.
`''My guess,'' explained Abdiel, ``is that if she can perfect this process, then she—along with the other privileged few she grants access to it—will have have gained practical immortality. They can keep transferring their consciousness into younger bodies and never have to die of old age. But that's merely my guess at her motivation.''
``And,'' added Ariel, ``the fact that this immortality would effectively be at the cost of other Arume lives would matter not at all to Zephrael. As long as achieves her goal, she wouldn't care how many others she has to sacrifice to get there.''
Loriel thoughtfully looked from one to the other of her visitors. Mari'il recognized her expression as one of thought and careful consideration. After a few moments pondering this way, she sat up straight and looked directly at Abdiel. ``You have certainly brought me an important piece of news, and not a happy one. On the other hand, I long ago learned things don't always go the way we wish. I find it troublesome that Zephrael seems to have actually tried these experiments, not to mention her work toward eliminating, even killing, the target consciousness. Would you mind copying me on the data you based these conclusions on? I give you my word I will keep it as private as I can and only use it to try to protect people. I have a feeling some of this is unpublished and valuable to your academic career.''
``Of course,'' said Abdiel, taking out a data chip and pushing it across the low table to Loriel. ``Here's everything I've found. I brought it thinking I might have to use that to convince you.'' She gave a small bow. ``And thank you for your reassurance. If you are able to save anybody, that is more important than any scholarly benefit I might gain, but you are right, I would like to publish my conclusions from this research once I have finished verifying them.''
``Thank you,'' said Loriel, taking the data chip. ``I'll see what I can do from the military side to make sure that Zephrael doesn't harm anyone else in her `studies.' I will also cut orders to that effect for her work with Fleet and at Fleet Hospital. Unfortunately, I am not sure how much effect I will be able to have in the civilian world.''
Abdiel looked at Ariel who nodded, so she began, ``Thank you. I will see if there's anything I can do at the University. That may take a while, as such things tend to require many meetings and much deliberation.'' She looked up as an idea came to her. ``One thing may help. If you happen to uncover anything pointing to her use of non-consenting subjects, that is against academic policy and also against the oath we swore upon getting our medical credentials. That might help move things more quickly.''
``I will be sure to give you anything like that I find,'' replied Loriel, ``gladly.''
``Thank you, all of you,'' said Mari'il. ``I've experienced Zephrael's callous attitude toward `patients.' I hope you will be able to save others from it, or worse. If there's anything I can do to help...'' She trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
``You already have,'' explained Loriel. ``You have been the catalyst here, and once again I think you maybe helping more than you know.'' She stopped, looking like she might have more to add but decided against it.
The meeting over, they all got up, and Loriel walked them to her office door. ``Thank you for uncovering this and bringing it to my attention,'' she said. ``If I find out anything further, I'll make sure to let you know. Would you mind if I asked an occasional question in return?''
All three agreed they'd be more than happy to answer, and thanked Loriel in return for her help.
``Well,'' said Abdiel as they headed back through the corridors on their way out, ``that went far better than I expected. I was quite impressed by Grand Admiral Loriel.''
``She does leave an impression, doesn't she,'' said Mari'il.
ooo OOO ooo
Mari'il took a skimmer across town for an appointment with Abdiel. Her office was in a high-rise in the university district. Mari'il thought that there were a lot more high-rise buildings than on earth. [[ But I guess that's to be expected given the control of gravity we have here and which the Forime lack. ]]
Abdiel's office looked like that of a typical researcher: most horizontal surfaces where covered with recorders, instruments and random notes. The walls which weren't covered with shelves were configured as display screens, most showing data for some upcoming article or the results she was checking. However, one spot in easy view on the corner of her desk was kept clean. There sat a tiny projector, above which glowed a hologram of Abdiel standing next to another Arume. They had one arm around each other's waist and their other hand on the shoulder of a little girl standing in front of them.
``Your family?'' asked Mari'il.
``Yes.'' Abdiel smiled. ``That's Tachiel, my partner, and our daughter, Gloriel.''
Mari'il also smiled at this happy domesticity and took the chair Abdiel offered her.
.
``Thank you for coming,'' began Abdiel. ``Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your telepathy back when you ...had two separate bodies?''
``No, go right ahead.''
``From what you've told me, it sounds like you first experienced touch telepathy in that one shared dream. Where there any cases before then?''
``We're not quite sure,'' answered Mari'il. ``None come to mind right now, but we'll think about this and get back to you.''
``Thank you. Anyway, that dream you shared seemed to prove that the two of you certainly had touch telepathy, and your conversation in the pool showed you can control it. Were you ever able to talk telepathically like that when you weren't touching?''
``I don't think so,'' replied Mari'il. ``At least we were never able to `talk' that way.'' A wistful smile grew on her face. ``Although we can't be certain about that. It seems like we were holding hands most of the rest of the time after our confession in the pool.'' Mari'il blushed as Abdiel joined in smiling at this happy memory.
``On the other hand,'' she continued. ``Looking back, it does seem we were able to sense some of what the other was feeling. For example, when the invasion interrupted the play, I could tell that Ekaril was worried and scared, and also sad. But I couldn't tell about what. I couldn't even ask what worried her ...or beg her not to leave,'' she concludes the memory of pain showing on her face.
[[ You know that I— ]] Ekaril began, but Mari cut her off.
[[ I know, ]] said Mari, sending all the love and reassurance she could to Ekaril. [[ I know, and I understand why... and you were able to come back to me anyway. ]]
Abdiel nodded, understanding. ``I'm sorry. I didn't intend to dredge up painful memories along with this.''
``Don't worry,'' Mari'il reassured her when the short exchange between Mari and Ekaril was done. ``Every time you have `dredged up' memories like this, we have ended up feeling closer to each other afterwards.'' She smiled. ``So, from a little sadness, we end up with a stronger love.''
``Thank you. I'm glad you can see it that way. I certainly never wanted to bring you pain.''
Abdiel gave a nervous laugh as she changed the subject. ``On the other hand, that all matches my theories.'' She brought up a graph on one display wall, replacing the existing data there. ``This graph is one representation of the brain-wave data like Zephrael was gathering from you. I—and some others in this field—have learned that certain rough shapes on these graphs correspond roughly to certain strong emotions or thought-patterns like complete confusion.''
Mari'il nodded, indicating she understood this much and that Abdiel should continue.
``I think you could sense the same general shape these graphs show at a distance, but without touch, you couldn't sense enough detail to get more than a general feeling. The knowledge of each other you already had let you understand each other's general feeling from these `shapes' that you could sense a at distance just like the sensors that gathered the data for these graphs. If you'd like, I can talk more about quantum brain-waves, tunneling and information loss, but that gets a bit technical.''
``You don't need to do that now,'' said Mari'il, her ordinary expression returning to her face as the painful memories finished receding. ``I don't think we'd really understand the technical details anyway. Though it does sound like you understand why this telepathy only works when touching.''
.
``So, moving on to another topic,'' Abdiel continued. ``I'm not sure if it will help in figuring things out, but would you mind telling me how you learned to `live together' in Mari's head?''
``We don't mind,'' said Mari'il. She looked at the ceiling for a bit, trying to arrange her thoughts and answers. ``Ekaril and Mari could always talk. I guess it's obvious we were always `touching' each other after Ekaril `moved in' so our telepathy worked. However, at first, that was all Ekaril could do. I guess Mari's brain and body were different enough from her own and the surveillance remote that it took some time to learn how to work with it.''
``I also felt I was a `guest' and didn't want to do anything that might hurt Mari,'' she continued in Ekaril's tone of voice. ``Just being able to talk with her and be with her was sufficient.''
``Yes, but,'' she responded with Mari's accent. ``There was so much I wanted to share with you and show you, and I didn't want to keep you there as a prisoner.''
Abdiel laughed at Mari and Ekaril's dialog as they answered, and at how it continued to reflect their feelings for each other. She motioned Mari'il to continue.
``Anyway, the first thing Ekaril learned—and this in the first couple days—was to share what Mari was sensing. For example, we were both able to see or hear the same thing. Next we learned to concentrate on different things. That proved useful in class where Mari could listen to our friends whispered conversation behind her while Ekaril paid attention to the teacher so she wouldn't catch us not paying attention.'' Mari'il laughed at the memory of this frivolous use of so big an advantage. ``As we practiced changing focus and the like, Ekaril learned to move our eyes and head. Though she was always very careful to ask permission before `doing something' with our body.'' Mari'il smiled at the memory. ``And Mari was good about encouraging ...inviting Ekaril to do more. Anyway, that led to her learning to control the rest of our muscles, like our arms and legs. There were a couple embarrassing accidents while learning, but Ekaril's natural grace soon overcame any awkwardness. At first it was only gross motions, but fine motor control came soon after. Somewhere in there came enough control to allow Ekaril to speak. Personally I think that Mari's subconscious helped a lot with this whole process.''
Abdiel nodded in agreement.
``Ekaril claims she could never have learned this all without help. I think she might be right, as Mari feels she got similar help from Ekaril's subconscious when learning to control our nanomachines.''
``That makes sense to me,'' Abdiel replied. ``It's nice that each of you have been able to help and teach each other like this. And it sounds like both of your subconsciousness are on good terms with each other.'' She smiled at Mari'il. ``Of course, I shouldn't be surprised at that, seeing how deep your love for each other is.''
Mari'il joined Abdiel in happy laughter at this, and agreed that Mari and Ekaril did seem to have settled into a cooperative cohabitation.
.
``Oh. I almost forgot,'' exclaimed Mari'il. ``I brought something for you.'' She took out a data chip and passed it over to Abdiel. ``I found that I actually do have some brain-waves recorded from our time back on Arume when we ...each had our own bodies. I thought you might find them interesting. Maybe they could even help.''
Abdiel's eyes grew wide. ``This is priceless. Thank you. Could you tell me how these were recorded.''
``These were made by a surveillance remote. I'd have to look up which exact sensor suite it probably carried, if you want that detail.''
``No, that's all right.''
``The only other survivor on Blue was concerned about me and kept a closer watch on me than might have been strictly in accord with regulations.'' Her eyes took on a distant look as she remembered Tsubael and all that she did. ``Now, I'm really glad she did. Tsubael was more than just loyal crew, she was a good friend.''
``Thank you. I don't think that I'll need details on the recording,'' answered Abdiel, ``but if I do...''
``Of course. All you need do is ask.''
``If you wouldn't mind telling me anything else about when the recording was made which might help me interpret them?''
``Sure, I don't mind,'' answered Mari'il. ``The main part here was recorded one evening when the two of us were returning from a neighboring town. Mari wanted to walk back together, so that's what we were doing. Mari hurt her foot and we ended up taking shelter from a sudden rainstorm in a vacant restaurant. As we slept there, Mari was able to see what Ekaril dreamed about the explosion aboard Blue.'' Mari'il paused, remembering the whole incident and a sad smile slowly grew on her face. ``Thankfully that shared dream helped bring us together rather than push us apart. ...I, that is Ekaril, wish I'd found the courage to tell Mari everything then. I found out that keeping secrets from her was actually more painful to her—and to me—than the truth.'' An echo of regret passed across her face. ``Yes, Mari dear, I did end up telling you everything. We've forgiven each other now ...and yes, even ourselves.''
Abdiel looked at her, respect and thanks growing on her face as she listened. ``Thank you for sharing this... this truly precious moment for the two of you. I really hope I can find something in this data that will help you as well.''