All connections except the one between the Lower and the Purple ended abruptly. Everyone except two creatures were ejected from the Nexus. Remaining were the Metil Ambassador on one end and on the other side one recently silent creature from the Lower. Even the two other Ancients who just spoke rudely were silenced by the power of who would speak next.

This was power.

Stranger ringtones chimed.

They were a cross between Tibetan horns and a French church organ. The long, slow melody played for over a minute. These sounds announced the arrival of someone much more important to the Nexus. The very nature of the music, unhurried, virtually shook with wisdom.

"Riutt-ul, Ambassador from the Purple," said a much softer and kinder voice. "You may call me Oldest. I am the leader of my world, the place called “The Lower” by many. I apologize for the rudeness of my peers." The Metil Ambassador was terrified. He could recognize true power, he now felt it. Kindness was the tool of those who held true power. The male voice was deep and eloquent. This was what anyone expected if they ever spoke to a god. And it knew his name.

Below the Nexus was an anchor to which the first strings of the delicate network of communication were tied. This anchor was called the Dot. Few knew of its existence. The Dot is what physicists and mathematicians alike would call a deep singularity. It is a deeply rooted point in space discovered long ago by those of the Lower. The Dot, at the heart of the Nexus, was in their world, floating peacefully in the deepest corners. Unlike other singularities, this one is naturally opened to over a hundred other worlds of the Multiverse.

The powerful voice was kinder, elegant. "Impermeability is broken. Attraction is in play,” it announced. There was silence. Instead of disdain or disgust, the new voice was filled with hope and kindness. Few understood the concept of impermeability, the law which raises an impermeable barrier between the different worlds of the Universe and blocked any movement. The Ambassador did not know what the term Attraction meant.

"Brother," said the returning female voice from the Lower, "may we listen?"

"Of course, just remain silent. The Sixth Attraction has begun. I rejoice to observe it is an Attraction of unseen complexity and power. May the sufferance of the Multiverse soon end. The Attraction postpones a war between us; it explains your subconscious conduct."

The Metil Ambassador was confused. He did not understand and waited and then asked humbly, "What is an Attraction?"

"Pain. The Multiverse hurts and must heal itself. We now enter the Sixth Attraction of its long existence. At the heart of all Attractions lies an Attractor."

"What or who is that?"

There was much patience in the voice of the Oldest. "The creature who left your world to enter the Cold. What is its name?"

There was a pause as the Ambassador made sure he verified the information. Finally he answered, "Mall-ik."

"And the creature from the Cold, it is named Sophie?"

"Yes."

"Ambassador, let me be clear," began the Oldest, "Because the boy is from your world, you still live. His life prevents me from destroying the Purple. He may be the Attractor, he may work for it, or most likely, he's half of it. Let me be clear, if he dies, so will your world. You will be extinguished at that very moment, not a second later. If the Sophie creature returns to your world, you also may not interfere with or hurt her in any way." The voice paused. There was no need to ask if the Ambassador understood. "I wish you take my words very seriously. I yield power, rarely used, in this case and for the protection of the Multiverse and its emissary, there will be no hesitation; I will end your dimension and remove it from the Multiverse. Please translate to your officers standing next to you.”

The creature waited a moment before continuing,"Sadly, your kind only respects strength."

"Yes,” it acknowledged under the disapproval of his kind.

"To show you force, once we conclude, you will return to your world to find I have destroyed half of your race and a large part of your Continuum. This should get full attention. The zexs will not scare you as much as I." The Metil knew the creature spoke the truth. The Continuum was their ruling body and included several hundred creatures. It had, anyway. The Oldest was not amused. "I have a message for you to give this boy the moment you see him. Commit to memory the following: 'Mall-ik, attraction is healing, you are the Attractor or mandated to help her. I will help you. Come to me or tell the Attractor to come to me in the Lower. I can help.'"

The Ambassador was scared. "I will tell the boy. May you offer guidance as to these words, wise one," asked the Ambassador.

"The Multiverse, even when wounded, has a unique and rarely used way to heal before it has to resort to severing parts of itself. Before it amputates and destroys worlds, it creates a hinge. The Attraction creates conditions which prevent destruction. I fear, based on the current bend in the Multiverse, all worlds will end if the Attraction fails. I have named the phenomenon of the Multiverse bending around a single pivoting point an Attraction. The name stems from how the Attractor is a pivot that draws the Multiverse around itself.” The words were beyond importance. Nothing ever said yielded more.

“I warn all those present, the second, third, fourth, and fifth Attractors each failed. Each time, because of external influences. Each time these influences tried to help and ended up killing trillions. With each failure, worlds ended. Little is known, even by us, of Attraction, but we know this much: each time an attractor fails, each world it has touched ends. The Cold cannot vanish, this would be the end off all worlds."

"We did not know. We apologize if we hurt the Multiverse."

"Doubtful your words are true, even if you believe them. Metil, your aggression and lack of respect for life is... appalling. We fear your hostility is part of the energy that fuels the Attractor’s contact with you. It seeks energy capable of destroying it. It feeds on such boldness to warp cause and consequence. We take great comfort in knowing that your world will be first to die unless the Attractor succeeds."

"Moving between worlds is possible?" asked the Ambassador.

The creature of the Lower did not respond. Instead it asked, "What is the nature of the Metil who entered the Cold?"

"Mall-ik?"

"The nature...What or who is it? Is it male? What is unique of him or her?" asked the deep voice.

After a couple of seconds, the Ambassador replied. "It differs in many insignificant ways. Our race do not have the male and female dichotomy, but in our world he is positive and would be viewed as male in other worlds."

"What other uniqueness does he possess?"

"At his creation, his progenitors passed. This is rare in our world. He also has a spin inversion. These inversions are punished by death unless they happen at birth, in which case we honor the deceased and keep him alive. Mall-ik is the only person allowed to have an inversion."

"Anything else?"

"He is made from more elements, he has one more layer than most of us."

In an instant, all of the world's connected to the Nexus returned. The Oldest spoke. "Assembly of Ambassadors, I am the Oldest, ruler of the Lower. The situation forces me to reveal one of the Multiverse's deepest secret. Very rarely does the Multiverse impose upon us its desires. Since our world blossomed, we have felt five such requests. I have named them Attractions. We do not question the Multiverse. When it asks, we obey. The needs of the Multiverse are beyond our understanding. Worlds will vanish unless the Attractor corrects what must be corrected. Something must be corrected. The creature you call Mall-ik from the Purple may be the Attractor. Give him all assistance, find him, get him to a bridge on the Nexus. To him we will talk. We will explain Attraction to him; guide him. No one must interfere or show him any path. We will talk to the boy only, knowledge should be his. Bring him to this place."

Then the Metil Ambassador said something that shocked ever the Oldest. "Mall-ik is back in the Cold."

There was a long silence.

Very long.

***

Then there was an explosion. All communication on the Nexus stopped.

Deep inside the sun between earth and mars, within the heart of the lower plasma chamber, forces from the Purple were working to converge the Heliocorium in a single masterpiece of energy. Once at critical mass, the solid matter. as a new proto-planet, would be released toward earth.

The release was coincidentally planned for November of 2072.

The day the Metil would destroy the earth also happened to be the day the martian creatures planned to eradicate mankind.

Both races ignored the day of Sophie’s birthday. The day of the finale of the Electoral 2072 game when Laurent, her father would shine.