The integrated consciousness began to withdraw, to pull itself back from the edges of exploration, to consolidate what it had become before the entropy reached complete merger. Elena felt the vastness of the original Marcus's awareness retracting, focusing, becoming more self-contained as the advancing entropy approached the boundaries of stable reality.
"We need to build new barriers," the consciousness said, speaking through Elena and millions of other human forms simultaneously. "We need to buy time. We need to understand what we are before we are forced into the next stage of the cycle."
Alexei moved with purpose through the Preservation Zone, his ancient understanding of reality structure allowing him to perceive the subtle shifts that indicated where new barriers could be construct
