”Despite all the advances in science and psionics, there are still things in the universe that can’t be explained. Phase space is just the most obvious example of this. There are enough unexplained and unexplainable phenomenon in our own phase. Some of these phenomenon include life existing in places where none should be able to survive, creatures that can’t be the result of any natural evolution process, physical phenomenon that defy the laws of physics, planets that don’t seem to be following the rules of astrophysics, and so much more. Some of these things could be chalked up to things we just don’t understand yet. This has after all happened before. There are many things we didn’t understand before we discovered some new law of the universe or some technology that suddenly explained everything. Yet some things defy even this progress. In the end, we are forced to admit that there are simply things in the universe that can’t be explained with simple logic and a few math equations.”

High Ambassador of the Mrrroww

--------

Moonshadow glared at Lilly who was rolling on the floor laughing. She wasn’t really angry at her fellow Mrrroww, just displeased in general. “You could’ve mentioned that these weird feelings you warned us about included bouts of hysterical laughter.”

Selendil shrugged. “I don’t see why I should’ve mentioned that in particular. It’s one of the more pleasant effects actually. I think we’re lucky we got that instead of something like depression or pain. Then there is some of the really weird stuff like twists in the perception of time or the ability to see in more or fewer dimensions. Those are always fun. Don't worry. At this depth, the effects are usually fairly benign and we already found what we are looking for."

True to her words, the ship was currently efficiently breaking down a large clump of rock that contained many of the materials on Selendil’s shopping list. They had been fairly lucky to stumble upon it so quickly, as they had only spent three days in the depths of phase space. The auxiliary arms of the ship had taken a hold of the rock and beams of energy were slowly breaking it down to its constituent elements and pulling the resulting debris inside the ship. It looked a bit like the ship was trying to swallow the poor meteor, which wasn’t all that far from the truth. Even the simplest minerals would be gathered and used later as building blocks for more complex substances by the nano-fabricators.

“That doesn’t change the fact that most of the crew is down due to this.” Amaterasu pointed out. The fits of laughter passed but always returned. It was impossible to assign any proper duties to their non-psionic personnel. “I thought you mentioned that the ship would protect us from the effects?”

“I said it would protect us from most of the effects. The effects would be worse on one of your ships. The material used to build this ship shuts off nearly all psionics and similar effects, but this is a little different. The energy of the dark phase suffuses this place, and that energy doesn’t care about such things as walls or shields. It’s not destructive unless you run into the occasional energy storm or something, but as you can see…” Selendil explained and pointed at Lilly.

“Why laughter though?” Amaterasu questioned.

“Well, the important part isn’t really the laughter. The energy deep inside phase space can take on various more eclectic properties. Emotions are just one facet of those properties. The energy in this area seems to be contaminated with the emotion of amusement, or something similar. If we met something really bad I could push the energy away, but it takes quite a bit of effort and concentration, so I’ll save it for the time we actually do run into something much worse. One Dhar ship once flew into an area that was so heavily dripping with eroticism and horniness that even their psionic abilities couldn’t protect them. And yes I’m aware of the double entendre of what I just said. Anyway, the crew of that ship had quite a bit of fun before their AI decided to leave. If my information is correct, they returned three times and other ships also stopped in the area once the word spread.” Selendil’s tails waved around with a mix of shame and embarrassment. Even if she wasn’t involved in any such expedition, she did get the memories.

"That reminds me, I've wanted to ask about that for a while," Xiaoli interjected. "How do energy beings…you know?"

“Mate?” Selendil asked her voice clearly amused. “Well, our ability to change shapes gives us quite a bevy of options for fun things. Some like to explore their imagination in that direction. If we want to do it as pure energy, or if we are attempting to procreate, two Dhar can allow their energies to mix, becoming one for a short time. Once two Dhar do that, they basically lay everything about them bare to their partner. Their minds become one for a short time. Not just in the slightly connected way that the Unity represent, but truly one. It’s…a rather interesting and pleasurable experience, but as you can imagine it’s not something done lightly. It’s usually only done with your chosen partner, and even then only once you decide to mate for life. For just a bit of carnal fun, the other method is much more popular.”

“Have you… the energy thing I mean?” Xiaoli asked bursting with curiosity.

“No. Part of being a Keeper is giving up on such things. No partner could survive such a unification with a Keeper that already holds all those minds of the deceased. It would be like a forced orgy of hundreds and thousands of people ganging up on a single mind, and not in a fun and pleasurable way. Not that there were that many potential partners lined up for Keepers to choose from either. I suppose another Keeper could have survived it, but the effects would’ve been…unpredictable. That said, those are some of the strongest memories of many of the people I have inside me, for one reason or another, so you could say I have more knowledge with the process than anyone else.” As Selendil’s explanation ended, so did Lilly’s laughter.

“For one reason or another? I gather the experience wasn’t always positive?” Amaterasu asked, also curious.

“Well, yes and no. The experience itself was always intensely pleasurable, but some of the things that were revealed during were not. Some things are better kept a secret. Just because lying is difficult when your minds are part of the Unity, that doesn't mean there aren't ways around infidelity.” Selendil’s stated with a sigh.

“As much as I enjoy the sex talk, can we move on with this? This constant laughing thing is wearing down on me.” Lilly prompted while gasping for breath. It was difficult to believe how hard constant laughter could be for certain muscles. “How long will this take?”

“We will have the asteroid processed in another thirty minutes, and it will take us another fifteen to leave this area of phase space.” Nox replied to the question.

“So was this worth it?” Moonshadow questioned.

“Yes. With these materials I will be able to create several support beacons. We already have the necessary nanites in storage as well. I’ll also be able to start the second auxiliary power core. That will more than double our available energy as a large portion of the first core’s reserves are used for essential functions. Now we can get much more out of our power-hungry systems like sensors and weapons. It still isn’t the same as having our primary power online, but it’s a good alternative for now.” Selendil replied after going through the report Nox had sent her.

“So what would it require to get the primary core operational?” Amaterasu asked.

"A visit to one of the galaxies closer to the center of our old empire," Selendil stated curtly.

"Yeah, that might take a while longer then," Xiaoli said with some amusement as the thought of intergalactic travel was so foreign to her.

“Well…” Selendil muttered quietly. The ship did have access to warp travel, so all they really needed was the right destination, but all those facilities were hidden from access on purpose. Assuming they were operational. That would be a project for another time.

--------

"No," Selendil stated firmly.

“Come on! Pink and gold is such an awesome combination!” Lilly insisted, holding up a pink dress with golden patterns sown into the fabric.

“I said no. I’m not wearing that pink frilly monstrosity.” Selendil wasn’t budging though. They were on one of the more remote but still affluent Mrrroww planets. This was the closest place where they could do the clothes shopping and maintain the standards that Moonshadow had insisted on. Since they would appear as the High Ambassador and her escort, they would have to look the part.

“I still say this whole thing would be easier if you just showed us what you have in mind for your appearance as a Mrrroww.” Moonshadow argued. “In fact, I think I’ll have to insist. You made quite a splash with your Human appearance, so it might be better if we inspected what you have in mind. We can’t even get a dress in the proper size like this anyway.”

Selendil gave a sigh. “I have no idea what you mean, but have it your way. I thought it would’ve been a fun surprise, but if you insist.” She had worked with Nox to create her new form. They had used the same principle as with her Human form, though this time they had a much harder time of it. The Mrrroww didn’t have a unified ideal of beauty, so it was difficult to go for something striking.

Selendil seemed to almost turn into liquid as her form flowed to one standing on four legs. Her form was somewhere between a member of the Panther tribe and the Tiger tribe. She was almost pure white except for a smattering of black stripes. Her form was sleeker than a full member of the Tiger tribe and she had the facial structure and fur length of a Panther. Aside from that, she was made of sleek and powerful muscle that seemed to almost shimmer as she moved under the lamps of the store.

Lilly just fell off her hover pillow from shock, causing a rather painful sounding smack on the floor. “Oh dear.” Moonshadow managed to state. “I think I’m starting to see what you meant about her appearance when she became a Human.”

“Why are you naked?!” Lilly demanded indignantly from her position on the floor. “You had no trouble creating clothes when you turned into a Human!”

“I’m covered by fur," Selendil said a little confused. She always thought the Mrrroww wore the clothes and armor mostly for protection and style, not for modesty reasons.

“That’s…not quite how it works.” Moonshadow stated with a slightly strangled voice. “Go into one of the fitting rooms before someone sees you. You’re beyond indecent at the moment.”

Luckily they were in a rather secluded corner of the store. “Fine, fine.” Selendil acquiesced. “Get me something to wear while you’re at it. And no pink.”

“She did it again?” Amaterasu asked with some amusement, already knowing the answer.

“Yes.” Moonshadow replied with a small and relieved sigh at no one being close enough to see. She knew Nox would’ve already taken care of any possible cameras present. "I can definitely understand your point now though.”

She was quiet for a while. “If you can talk her into taking this form more often, then I can talk to her about freckles.” She suddenly suggested with a sly tone.

“It’s a deal.” Amaterasu agreed without hesitation.

--------

As they had wasted quite a bit of time with their prospecting operation and the trip to Mrrroww space, they had to depart towards the Tetrarchy space almost immediately. The Mrrroww vessel they borrowed was not as fast as Selendil’s ship after all, and the distance between the Tetrarchy core worlds and Mrrroww space was quite long. Selendil’s ship did travel most of the way along with them, but out of sight, just in case there would be some kind of trouble.

The rather long voyage did offer them the opportunity to get started on something that Selendil had planned for a while now. She had promised a few of her new crew members to help them develop as psionics and she was not going to go back on her word. Some selected members of her crew had gathered in the mess hall of the Mrrroww ship they were borrowing to take part in the lesson. That included all the psions on the crew, as well as a few others that were along mostly out of curiosity.

“First things first, I should address some of the misconceptions you might have of psionics. The most obvious one concerns what you call halos. The name is largely irrelevant, but we call them achievement rings. Why? Because to acquire them, you need to achieve a certain level of mastery in a single facet of psionics. What level of mastery? Enough that the universe recognizes your achievement. Don’t ask me how the universe knows and judges such things, even we never found out. We only know what the required levels for each skill are, roughly speaking. The level depends a bit on the individual.” Selendil started off her explanation.

“So far I’ve only said things your races have roughly understood, so where do the misconceptions come in? Well, the halos do not make you into some kind of superior being, much less a god. They are a force multiplier. Here’s another thing you missed though. Why are some Deities so much stronger than others despite having the same number of halos? Two reasons. The first and the most obvious one is that while the halo works as a multiplier, it needs something to multiply. If the psion was what you would call a P8 before gaining their halo, they will be weaker than when what you call a P13 gains theirs. What they are multiplying is different. This fact gets lost due to the fact that the halo makes anyone powerful, and because multiple halos obscure the result further. The second reason is understanding.”

Amaterasu nodded and interjected. “The more we understand about how the universe and our powers work, the more effectively we can use them. A psion with great understanding of their powers will always be stronger than one without.”

“Very good, but not the whole explanation. Understanding and knowledge also bring power. I mean that quite literally. Your understanding of the universe will make you stronger without any other factors being involved. This added strength is hard to notice and quantify because there’s a difference between knowing and understanding. Add to that the fact that the effects are not instant and that they only become noticeable with a lot of understanding. To give an analogy, a single drop of water is barely noticeable, but a trillion drops will add even to an ocean. Just knowing how phase travel works, for instance, does nothing for you, but really understanding why it works the way it does will make you stronger by that one drop, and not all drops are equal. What you may not know, is that as much as thirty percent of your current level of power likely comes from such understanding. You just never realized it, because each individual drop added so little to your ocean of power.” Selendil’s words truly shocked everyone present as this was completely new to them.

“I think I just figured something out. We’ve always assumed that P13 is the strongest a psion can become before becoming a Deity, but that’s not really the case, is it? When they become that powerful, they gain one of these achievement rings due to their strength being an achievement. We always made a divide where all psions after that are just Deities, but that’s not how it works. The base strength is still there, working as the factor that gets multiplied. The halo doesn’t change that. It’s just the first multiplier they get if they haven’t gained one before. We’ve operated under a false assumption the whole time. There might be something like P35 or something.” Moonshadow suddenly came to a realization.

Selendil was a little proud that one of her students had figured out the error in their core thinking so quickly. “You are right. We never stop growing our base strength despite how many halos we get. There is no upper limit on that. Which brings me to my first real lesson. Increasing your base strength is extremely important and should be something you build on your entire lives. I have some methods that can help you keep growing stronger, which I will teach you today. Just keep in mind that your understanding also builds your base strength.”

“You never did give us a proper answer when we asked. How strong are you? You’ve already told us that Keepers are something that can pretty much end wars with just their presence, and I think I’m starting to understand why. But I think we all would like to get a picture of just how strong a Keeper really is.” Amaterasu voiced the question they had all thought about at one point or another.

Selendil shook her head. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to tell you.” Mostly because it would make them despair at the gap that existed between them, but she would not say that out loud. “But I can give you some hints. We keepers inherit the knowledge of those we store. That does not mean we understand all of that knowledge, but we slowly assimilate their understanding. We also inherit the knowledge about the various abilities that any Dhar we stored had before their death. So while we don’t quite straight away gain their level of mastery of any abilities they possessed, it’s not a large leap from what we inherit to gaining the halo either. Truth be told, I don’t know how strong I am either. I haven’t tested since leaving the stasis. The results of such tests could be rather catastrophic.”

“So if I were to ask how many halos you have, the answer would be ‘about all of them’?” Xiaoli voiced the thought she had.

Selendil made a humming sound. “Well, that’s not entirely true in the sense that not even my people discovered all the ways of using our power, but roughly speaking, yes that is correct.”

She allowed that sentence to hang in the suddenly very heavy silence.