The preservation zones had been created with remarkable speed, the ancient consciousnesses working with the precision and efficiency of beings that had spent billions of years refining the craft of reality manipulation. The zones were designed not as prisons, but as sanctuaries. They were sealed sections of reality where time flowed differently, where the transformation that had consumed most of the world would not penetrate.
Kirin stood at the entrance to the primary preservation zone, which had been established in what had once been the mountains of Switzerland. Around him were millions of humans who had made the choice to remain unchanged. They came from every continent, every culture, every possible background. They had chosen stasis over transformation, preservation over merger, the
