The jump to the coordinates of the 69th Particle was the quietest transit in the history of the multiverse. There was no screaming of reality-cores, no visual distortions of color, and no sensation of being compressed. The Memory of Water simply slid from one state of being into another, like a needle passing through a still pool of water.
When the viewscreen finally cleared, X gasped. "Jian... the sensors. They’re... they’re not broken, but they’re not finding anything to 'label'."
Before them lay the Transparent Shard. It didn't look like a planet, or a station, or a nebula. It was a vast, shimmering expanse of pure clarity. You could see the stars behind it, the distant galaxies, and the deep void of the "Subtext," but everything within the Shard's influence felt intensely, vibrantly
