The Beyond's connection pulsed with a warmth I'd never felt before.
I stood in the center of the final stage, surrounded by the vast expanse of light. The network was at peace. The entities were at peace. The Source, the First, the Origin—they were all at peace. The Beyond had merged with everything, completing the connection that had been waiting for eons.
But something was wrong.
"James," the Origin said, appearing beside me. "I've been monitoring the Beyond's energy patterns. There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
The Origin was silent for a long moment. Then it said: "The Beyond is stable, but there's a shadow on its edge. A presence that wasn't there before. It's been growing slowly, almost imperceptibly."
I reached out to the Beyond, trying to understand what the
