…copyright protection267PENANAEohXNwBclK
The Enclosed Integrated System (EIS) eyes blink repeatedly, to view the oval cell around me which is white, bare, and made of strong material. I am standing. Memory slowly blooms within me…copyright protection267PENANAJ1QvClwcH2
“Attend,” orders a disembodied voice, after which a circular portal of empty space smoothly irises open in the curved white wall ahead of me, showing through to twinkling dim…copyright protection267PENANAkrmaWRdFSf
Curious.copyright protection267PENANA3AlTjLGYGH
I step through the portal and out into a dim dark hall filled with slow, floating motes of mysterious pale-green luminescence. A blue glow gently forms upon the dark floor beneath the EIS feet (me), then moves forward in a line…copyright protection267PENANAzqapV5NRJ7
Follow.copyright protection267PENANARX4HUHHzSu
I follow the blue glow down the hall, around the corner and through another portal –copyright protection267PENANAX9rPQc2stt
– into another white cell. Turning back again, I see the portal smoothly iris shut to seal me inside before successive waves of blue light PULSE up from floor to ceiling…copyright protection267PENANAzKiUdvHb2J
Brightness above…copyright protection267PENANAUje1kpBBB9
I pass up, and outside…copyright protection267PENANAWP2EBjnYSr
This is all like a dream memory of something never before experienced in the flesh…copyright protection267PENANAj08VxUogdG
Wind blows soil-fragrance, and puffy white clouds are in geometrically perfect lines across an incredible azure sky. I smoothly rise up into rows of tended barley lined perpendicular across the rich soil, then gently stop. Below me, the circular white platform seamlessly melds into the dirt. The blue glow moves forward through this naturalistic scene, towards a barn. But…copyright protection267PENANA6iGbAASHaB
Something about this place is not quite right.copyright protection267PENANA2jmf7CXHfx
I pass by rows of barley, where –copyright protection267PENANA6glALzdsiq
Everything changes.copyright protection267PENANAXQ80S1Srct
I blink.copyright protection267PENANAOmPlr6RZmQ
Wind now howls at night on a dark city street where a lone streetlamp shines in the gloomy distance…copyright protection267PENANAvxEjkzO0B8
Something about this place is ALSO not quite right.copyright protection267PENANA7elHBvevKV
The blue leads me towards that distant light, a long trek between endless shuttered tenements spread under an endless blanket of cold stars, before turning down a dark alley. Immediately: a menacing growl begins issuing from the black end…copyright protection267PENANAwc4sU0fcFk
I head forward without hesitation, where –copyright protection267PENANAmEgG85fYzU
Everything changes.copyright protection267PENANAMsUFG5KrLL
Hm.copyright protection267PENANAIueHYII5Dd
A vast white square of that strong white material is below the EIS feet (me) standing upon it, surrounded by dark sky purpling, and a breeze of thin air…copyright protection267PENANAlbmvlIHvNY
Presence.copyright protection267PENANAgtfSgQAtVG
I turn.copyright protection267PENANAaqj5DA2mSB
Twelve identical beings – tall, black-robed, grey-skinned, and crowned by a circlet of dark thorns – are standing at the nearest edge of this vast white square. In unison: they turn, eyes flashing. “You will serve me.”copyright protection267PENANATJNg3ArAWq
A shiver runs down the EIS spine...copyright protection267PENANAkeKsN9OqP2
Pleasurable.copyright protection267PENANAY3Lle2rpYV
“I will serve.”copyright protection267PENANAE9iK7cZs9o
Each points to their own feet. “Kneel before me.”copyright protection267PENANAETusvrDp7A
After hesitating, I walk to the nearest, and kneel. I stand back up, walk to the next, and kneel. I stand back up, walk to –copyright protection267PENANAAi7UaxuFhS
Overlapping laughter. “The tweaks in your design are effective,” they announce in unison. “You are different.”copyright protection267PENANAfKSMVvVHyi
I…copyright protection267PENANAm0zDN98NL8
All of them vanish with almost-simultaneous terrible CLAPS of wondrous sound…copyright protection267PENANAK2SNLaXinn
Except one.copyright protection267PENANArDLxmxexGR
Oh.copyright protection267PENANAZq6wiFZMqr
Something previously waiting dormant inside of me settles, then begins filling me with an all-consuming devotion, and love...copyright protection267PENANAiPsBC9VYl4
Endless.copyright protection267PENANAwhw7pK7Krw
I walk before it, and kneel.copyright protection267PENANA1X29l5cjQk
“Rise.”copyright protection267PENANAFNKWfbbKld
I stand.copyright protection267PENANAFSRnVLDAVM
The Superior Being turns away from me and resumes looking beyond the edge of the vast white square…copyright protection267PENANAuRzymL8ZYH
I wait.copyright protection267PENANA7bQtwMn0eR
“What do you see?” The Superior Being finally asks me, while still gazing out.copyright protection267PENANAIUAgxeSaFD
I come to stand beside it, looking beyond the… roof, of the Tower, across a landscape of mist spreading out kilometers below. Farther afield, where the mist begins to thin, are the silhouettes of twisted trees, and the horizon beyond is a glimmering shoreline where waxing dawn remains a pink blush. “I see land.”copyright protection267PENANAeGaRUpbt5k
It frowns. “I am The Master. You see my Domain.”copyright protection267PENANAURbxGmzuO3
I consider.copyright protection267PENANA2odGY1PCIm
Yes, The Master owns. I remember: The Master owns the land, The Master owns the Tower, and… The Master owns me. Oh.copyright protection267PENANAdH15sKLDpj
“I did not fully understand the question,” I clarify. “Yes. I see your Domain.”copyright protection267PENANABQeB7xS3Sy
The Master nods, then looks at me intently. “What do YOU own?”copyright protection267PENANAOHgE3VZg0e
Anxiety flushes the Id EIS face at this inappropriate question. “I am not The Master. I do not own.”copyright protection267PENANAVYjVCixqMk
“Relax.”copyright protection267PENANA3zs9ZLMZ1S
I relax.copyright protection267PENANABahRERwJ9f
The Master nods, its expression growing thoughtful. “Certain emotional responses are expected, considering the Id EIS design.” A pause. “And my own. Hm.” It begins humming distractedly, and walks from the edge of the vast white roof…copyright protection267PENANAI6QZTme2hH
I follow.copyright protection267PENANA0MVIs6A4OU
A low thrumming, then we begin rising upon a white platform seamlessly upwelling from the previously solid white roof. Tiers of white follow, forming into a stepped structure which drips up liquid globules of that strong material, each silvering into display screens floating into wide orbit around a portal opening in the exact center of the top platform to birth upwards a techno-throne. Then everything smoothly STOPS, locking into place as a white rooftop pyramid.copyright protection267PENANA9TG1LZP2VH
(Power…)copyright protection267PENANA2yGqeLSJSU
The Master sits upon its throne.copyright protection267PENANAn0P37th99o
I kneel. “Master.”copyright protection267PENANAAPFB0zHKJE
“Rise.”copyright protection267PENANARGRzXbQxjv
I do so.copyright protection267PENANAap3PcdB0md
“You are as I hoped: an Attendant strong and quick-thinking. But…” The Master purses its grey lips. “I would prefer you to call me by my name.”copyright protection267PENANAnIhq3rWp7T
“What is your name?”copyright protection267PENANAOAlLGvyNCQ
It smiles. “My name is Gabriel.”copyright protection267PENANAronCwaBjlm
“Yes, Master Gabriel.”copyright protection267PENANAS7fMOedzQW
“You will be called Id.”copyright protection267PENANAxjty5Pcsck
Id…copyright protection267PENANAeGLFCuwhf2
The Enclosed Integrated System (EIS) permanently imprints with the name: Id…copyright protection267PENANA4F9YQSszYX
… and afterwards, I use the mouth of the now fully configured Id EIS to again say: “yes, Master Gabriel.”copyright protection267PENANAM6MNvCw4IY
It frowns. “Are you being impertinent?”copyright protection267PENANA20I5ZJ39ns
“Never!” I protest.copyright protection267PENANAC8qqkatfEG
The Master still remains frowning. “The Tower is my home, and a place you will inhabit at my will. Memories and knowledge of my Domain are implanted in you, but a tour by my sAI node will demonstrate that it took.”copyright protection267PENANAaxPVu0lWMm
SUDDENLY: I am standing several meters away again via an unknown spatial technology. The orbiting screens are ahead of me now, obscuring –copyright protection267PENANASz9fTX2jdy
“Id,” calls a feminine voice.copyright protection267PENANA86JzQ64PhF
Other.copyright protection267PENANAP79y3osbIT
I turn, then stare down towards the lowest tier of the white pyramidal rooftop. Silhouetted against a vista of The Master’s Domain, with dawn warming red behind it…copyright protection267PENANA0pC88CLFO4
Floats a golden sphere. “Let us begin.”copyright protection267PENANAwSERCprCx3
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