Sophie had a strange feeling. As she soared upward in the darkness, she became aware she was no longer alone. Someone other than her father was holding her hand. Liam was with her. She felt his warming life-force. The creature was acting like a child. She knew he was ecstatic.

~ Amazing, ~ said the voice of her companion. It came from within. ~ This is amazing. May I call you Chosen, or Mistress? ~

"I'm Sophie, just Sophie. We're equals."

~ In my world, we prefer titles. ~

Sophie was exceptional at always getting her way. She even knew she could be a little bratty from time-to-time. She was not, however, going to walk around letting a tiny, glowing, ancient alien calling her “Mistress.” "My mother chose this name for me. She passed years ago. It's all I have left from her."

The comment cut Liam like a knife. He had insulted the Attractor with his very first question. ~ I apologize. I will call you Sophie. ~

They continued punching through veils, making their way to a new destination.

"What's happening?" asked the girl.

~ I believe we are moving through worlds; you may be perceiving them as if they are curtains, ~ replied Liam.

"Worlds?"

~ Yes. Or realms. The terms have become interchangeable. Sadly, we are not in your father's mind. The universe is made of many layered worlds; that is why we call it the Multiverse. The position of these worlds relative to one another is very complex. You alone can move through these worlds. No one, and no technology can allow anything except communication to move between realms. ~

"So why can I? Why me at all?"

~ Sophie, I apologize in advance, but some questions I will not be able to answer. Certain knowledge, especially if shared before you're ready to hear it, might guide you down the wrong path. I cannot answer those questions yet. I do not want to manipulate your decisions. ~

Obviously, her new passenger knew very little about Sophie. She had not gotten to where she was by accepting “no” for an answer. No one, aside from her father, could deny any her requests once she was riled. She'd agreed to ferry him about the cosmos only a short time ago in exchange for information. Now he was refusing to provide it? "Liam, I like you, but you will not keep secrets from me. Do you know the answers to my questions?"

~ In a manner of speaking. ~

"While you are with me, you will not withhold information from me. I won't hesitate to drop you where you stand if you ever do so again. This isn't for you to decide. Things will happen my way, at my pace. You will give me all assistance possible, or leave me. I have no patience for the grownup way of hiding things and keeping secrets."

~ I fear that arming you with the wrong knowledge, gained at the wrong time, could create great harm. ~

"Back on your world, you promised me information. You promised to help me. You also told me to trust myself more. You need to learn to trust me. Your Multiverse seems to have picked me because I'm something that isn't ordinary, and my ways work. Look at what I did with you. I was gone. You'd be in that awful brown cave right this second, and for the next however long, if I hadn't done what I did. I came back to grab you."

The girl was truly amazing. She was correct. Who was he to hold back? ~ I understand, ~ said the creature softly. ~ I promise never to hold any information back. We must speak, then. As soon as possible. ~

Sophie realized she'd possibly been a bit rough with Liam, but she liked her new companion and figured it was best to set things straight from the start. She relented, every so slightly. "At a minimum, explain to me why I cannot know."

~ You are wise, Sophie. ~ Liam had to educate the Attractor. He'd spoken of the fine line she would have to walk, but in truth, his own perch was nearly as precarious. This lore was secret. Divulging it to an outsider was nigh unthinkable, and punishable by death back in the Deep. Yet still, she was the Attractor. Liam fervently hoped he was never going back to his world. ~ First, we must slow down and not enter the next world before you have listened to me. ~

Sophie willed their halt, and their surge of upward momentum ceased. The pair was now standing in the dark, floating in the silence.

~ This is wonderful, ~ said Liam. ~ I apologize for trying to hide information from you. ~

"Stop apologizing all the time. Geez, I'm a kid. Everyone always to walk all over me at least once. Don't feel bad."

~ You are the child, how so? ~ asked the oldest creature in all the universe.

"I am twelve. Back in your world, you'd probably just call me 'young one' or something."

~ To me, everyone is young. I do not know how you count in your world, the span of your race's lifetime, nor how your development takes place. ~ Sophie was taken aback by the honesty of the answer.

"Well, it's hard to explain."

~ Do not worry. For now it is more important that you understand what I tell you rather than the opposite, ~ said the creature. ~ View the Multiverse as a living creature. A very large creature in which each dimension, each world is a different part of a single body. Each world serves a purpose. We do not understand the purpose of any individual world, but we know there always is one. The Multiverse and its true purpose remain largely a mystery. Each world is important to the whole, and like any living creature, there is a balance between worlds. The Multiverse grows and changes. As part of this aging process, we believe some worlds are asked to disappear. ~

~ Very rarely, the ignorance or the arrogance of the inhabitants of a world results in damage to the fabric of the Multiverse itself. Worlds often fight against extinction, but the Multiverse is extremely resistant. It nearly always finds a way to avert truly severe damage to itself. In exceptional cases, the Multiverse deploys a powerful counterbalancing force to neutralize the existing threat, preventing the destruction of worlds meant to survive or destroy those meant to go. We call this force an “Attraction.” It is the Multiverse's last line of defense against an unquantifiable outcome. ~

"Strange word," Sophie mused. "Attraction? Marilyn used that word." Unlikely, Liam thought. He alone knew of the Attraction Theory. The creature made a mental note. He had to find out who was this creature called Marilyn. It was inconceivable that this same creature knew his most advanced and guarded secrets and had stolen The Dot.

~ Indeed. We know little about what is intolerable and hurts the Multiverse. Our guesses are always wrong. To understand the way the Universe fixes itself, imagine a long string. Undesirable events bend the string. The Multiverse twists, bends and becomes tangled in unplanned ways. Eventually, the string ties itself into a hopeless knot. Unless repaired, part of the string must be cut away forever to save the whole. ~

Liam, in his brown ball form began slowly floating back and forth in front of Sophie, a symphony of color that bloomed into geometric shapes. It reminded her of nothing so much as those old videos of University Professors lecturing their classes. ~ At the bending point, the heart of the knot, an Attractor appears. We think that the Universe somehow infuses part of itself into an Attractor, widening the Attractor's capacity to store and conduct energy. Then, the Universe fills that new-made void with the most efficient means it can find of igniting the Attractor's potential. ~ Liam ceased his pacing motion and faced Sophie directly. His next words had a new timbre to them; he was no longer lecturing.

"I don't understand."

~ I am sorry. I have no good examples or analogies that might help. I know nothing of your world or its physics to help explain at the moment. I think your world is unique in many aspects. It may actually be based on physical objects. Since our race began, long ago, we have seen five Attractions. The Multiverse has begun its buildup toward the sixth. You are the Sixth Attractor, Sophie. ~

"What does that have to do with me? I'm just a kid trying to take care of her sick Dad! I don't even understand most of what you're trying to tell me!"

~ You are the Attractor. Your mastery of movement across worlds confirms this fact. That being so, I am afraid there is no avoiding your role in things to come. ~

"I don't think so."

~ I understand your discomfort with being told you are different. ~

"It's the second time today."

~ What do you mean? ~

"Back home, a computer told me my brain emits different types of waves. She called them Rho waves. She says they're rare in others. I produce more of them. Like you, she says I am unique and what I do is impossible."

~ I must speak with this computer. I am unfamiliar with these waves. ~ Liam tried to ease her worries. ~ Everyone, in every world, is unique in one way or another. All living creatures have a purpose. Few ever find, before their death, the nature of this purpose. ~

"Things are simple for me, okay? I have to help my father. That's all I care about. Right now he needs me."

~ Then we will try to go to him, help him. ~

"I tried that already, and I wound up meeting you in the brown world."

~ I am mostly to blame for that. I drew you to me. Your powers exist to serve a higher purpose. The road you must take will lead you to where you must go. I am happy to see the Multiverse agrees with my theory. In the eyes of the Multiverse, I am going to help you achieve your purpose. This brings me great satisfaction. ~

"How come you speak English? That makes no sense."

~ You are observant little one. Apologies, I meant Sophie. ~ She liked Liam. His voice was very respectful and reassuring. ~ The worlds and realms of the Multiverse are extremely different from one another. The laws of physics in each are different: even your bare glimpse of the Lower has made that obvious to you, I am sure. The uniqueness of these laws is the reason why realms do not fuse into a single unified place. The barriers between each are strong. All worlds rely on some type of energy, but few use waves, and fewer yet use cold, hard matter. I think your world is unique in that it relies almost exclusively on matter. If you are, as I suspect, from the world we call the Cold, the arrival of your world will be a treat to most.

~ As you can imagine, life in each world is completely different. All creatures differ, and a physical barrier exists between worlds. Nothing can pass except some very limited volume of information at key points, precious portals. But each time we communicate, somehow language is never a barrier. ~

"Are you talking about something called the Dot?"

Liam was stunned. ~ You know of the Dot? ~

"Yes. I don't know what it is, but Marilyn used me to grab it. I heard her mention it. I think it's true." The implications to Liam of what Sophie said were severe. Somewhere, a creature from the Cold had used the power of the Attractor to steal the Dot. This feat required a level of technology and understanding of the Multiverse that he had not thought possible. Liam silently redoubled his determination to investigate this creature. Depending on her motivations, this “computer,” whatever that was, could be a very great threat to all of existence.

~ Most interesting, Sophie. I have many questions to ponder, especially now. My most important role is to continue to inform you on the workings of the Multiverse. Let me continue. It is of vital importance that you understand the process that lets you move and communicate between worlds. You need not understand every nuance of the science, but the foundational why of the thing is important. Understanding this next lesson will help you understand why the Multiverse helped you reach me, and will reveal to you where we are going next. I hope, for your sake, to your father. ~ Liam gleamed softly in what Sophie had taken to indicate a small smile.

~ Imagine knowledge itself is a physical thing. It would have a series of layers inside of a structure, yes? The top layer is formed with information you just collected, like knowing me. Below is a layer formed by who you are: your memories. You grabbed Marilyn's name from this layer. Still further below resides the instinctual layer. The primitive layer. This one helps control your body, and it is a bit of a mystery. In each realm, the third layer, like the realm it springs from, differs from all the others. Between the instinctual layer and the layer of self, some possess to regulate retention, speech, communication and know what is important and what is not. It cleans things up. ~

"Are you always this complicated?"

~ Apologies. ~

"Stop apologizing. Is that layer what we call dreaming?"

~ Interesting. ~ The girl, while appearing not to care about his information actually was paying attention. ~ Yes. It is common for species to rest, but not all of them dream. In any event, by making a simple bridge of communication between the lower and deeper layers between individuals, two people can bypass language and communicate easily. I am sure as the Attractor, you can travel and move freely in the Multiverse, you can adapt to the laws in each world, and you can communicate on such a deep level. ~

"I don't really think I need to know this. Please, my father is sick."

~ I must not interfere, Sophie. Do as you please. Don't let my words distract you from your path. ~

"Don't worry about that part. I see you don't know me at all, yet."

In a fraction of a second, they resumed moving between worlds. The feeling of passing through curtains began anew. They were now going in a different direction; she felt it. Slowly, they reached their destination and finally stopped moving. All around Sophie was a diffuse purple color. It was less solid than smoke, and not exactly light. She had seen this place before.

"Do you know where this is?" asked Sophie.

It took Liam some time to adapt. He was visibly happy, his inner flashes of light hued purplish by the space around them. ~ The space, it is.... ~

"Big?"

~ No, it is colored. Is that Purple? ~

"I guess if you never left your world, you would know only the color brown. How sad."

~ I am fulfilled. Others spoke of color, we could only imagine the concept. ~

"Wait until you see my world, this is boring to me."

~ We call this world the Purple. It is a world that touches yours. You may be interested in knowing that its inhabitants are hostile, aside from one boy named Mall-ik and they have recently declared war on your world. ~ The pair was floating in this quantum world. In the distance was a deeper purple patch where the creatures lived. There were no rifts around.

"How can you be old and not have been here?" asked Sophie.

~ Only you can travel between worlds. Others rely on recreated images. At the moment, though, your mind empowers most of my functions. I'm being expanded, by proxy, through your own link to the Multiverse. This world is amazing. I can die happy now. This world has very little materiality; most of this place is made of waves. It will be difficult for you to understand this place. As I said, the creatures here are hostile. ~

"Can you do me a favor, can you avoid talking about dying, okay?"

~ What? ~

"You said you could die now. As a child, I have already seen my share of people who die. I don't like death. Stick around, okay?"

Liam was touched by the request. For her, he had to remain strong. He was her guide and teacher, ancient beyond words and as alien as the girl could imagine, but somehow he was overwhelmed by the situation. He was old, so old. For billions of years, the only thing which had kept him alive was his determination to get a glimpse of another world. In minutes, he had gone from being locked in the Deep and having to understand what had happened to the Nexus to talking to the Attractor herself. She was kind, mature, and intelligent. He was in the Purple, actually in the Purple, with the Attractor! His life had found its purpose. Now she was asking him to remain. He would see her home, to the Cold.

~ Yes. I apologize, my wish is to help you, Sophie. In my world, we have no children. We do not procreate. In exchange, we are immortal. I feel a very strong empathic bond to you, Sophie. Is this normal? ~

"Everyone feels that way toward me. I got used to it. At first I figured it was pity for my dad's condition, but now I think it's different, those Rho waves."

~ Your father, is he all right? ~

"No. He was attacked.”

~ Can I help? ~

"Maybe. I needed to enter his mind. He's lost his normal human senses, so I'm forced to visit him using a computer interface. Whatever attacked him seems to have made that impossible. I wonder why I'm back here again? Why me? What's the thing about the Attraction? Why would the Universe care about me? It's ridiculous."

~ We should speak more of the Attraction. Each time in our past, when we entered an Attraction, a single creature was given great power to fix things to the benefit of the Multiverse. ~

"Power?"

~ Yes. Attractors are very powerful, but not in terms of energy. I believe they are causes to consequence duality. ~

"You lost me again."

~ These are complex matters, Sophie, few truly understand them. Our theories are also only that: theories. ~

"What does that have to do with me?"

~ You have the power to do impossible things. Your power will grow as the attraction nears its apex. You will be able to act outside of logic, probability and science. I think that nothing you can conceive of, can will, is outside of your reach. ~

"Like saving my father?"

~ Correct, but with one limitation. The Multiverse's needs supersede yours. You cannot change something it does not want changed. ~

"The Universe wants my father to be sick?"

~ I wish I had all the answers. Since the Multiverse is large, we would imagine that the Attractors are equally large, energetic things, but they are precisely the opposite. Always small and vulnerable individuals. You are the Attraction. It is in the Cold; your unique world. What you need to do, and how you need to do it, is a complete mystery to you and I. You were chosen, not I. I fear that by telling you about the past Attractors, or by giving you my opinion, you may be misled into acting like I would. That would defeat the purpose. The past Attractions failed, at least in part, for that reason. They listened to others. ~

"Funny."

~ What? ~

"You don't know me. Everyone says I am stubborn and only do things my way. If the Multiverse wanted someone who could ignore others and their opinions, however good, that's me for sure."

~ I am happy to hear this. You truly are a gift. ~

"Don't start pampering me, Liam. I don't need that. Everyone is always nice to me. I need you to say the truth, always."

~ Why did you pick the name “Liam” for me? ~

"It's personal."

~ I'm sorry if I have pried. ~

Sophie felt like her newfound companion deserved more respect. She owed him an answer. "Liam is the name I wanted for my baby brother. My parents picked William."

~ You have a brother? ~

"He died before he was born."

~ I am so sorry. ~

"I don't know why I picked that name for you, maybe I shouldn't. But I like it."

~ I am truly honored. The Multiverse has extremely complex ways of expressing matters. What I know is that something in your world is twisting and hurting the Multiverse at its core. Whatever it is cannot be stopped by normal forces of reason. This thing is so important that unless it ends or changes, large parts of the Multiverse will end. Your task, I believe, is to correct this problem. You must use this power in a way that you alone can. ~

Sophie was not really concerned by the story. She cared little about the world, life, or even herself. Her only real concern was her dad. He was alive. Could he be the thing hurting the Multiverse? Doubtful. He was easy to stop, he was only one badly hurt, barely alive man. "Electoral," she said.

~ What? ~

"Forget it for now." She really liked Liam. What she just said could wait.

~ You said you have been here before? ~

"Yes, in a dream. What do you know of this place?"

~ The inhabitants are extremely hostile. A race called the Metils. They are to us extremely large creatures. From what they said, they are very small by your world's standards. The Metils live in hot zones, a patch of deeper purple. ~ He looked around and saw the patch. ~ There, that must be one of their cities. They are highly structured creatures. They love technology and war. They now claim that rifts between your world and this place are destroying them. They referred to a boy named Mall-Ik who claimed to have traveled between worlds. Were you there each time he did so? ~

"Is my father here?"

~ I do not know. It is doubtful, since this is not your world. Only the Attractor can shift worlds. ~

The light purple space around them began to change, warp, as if light was being diverted by a series of large mirrors. Invisible prisms were moving in all directions. Sophie felt like she was in a house of mirrors with moving walls. She began to hear explosions and all manner of noises, but she did not feel any different. By the look of things, they were standing in the middle of some type of battlefield being oblivious to the detonations around them.

"What is going on?"

~ As in my world, you, or rather we, appear to be incorporeal. We are beyond their reach. We are ghosts, observers if you wish. Obviously, they see us and are trying to destroy us. This situation is, once again, a technical impossibility. What a wonderful observational opportunity. ~ He seemed completely unperturbed that aliens were trying to kill them.

The ballet of explosions went on for several minutes. Soon, the creatures in the distance made of spinning rocks realized they were wasting their time and ended the attack. Instants later, a new type of weapon was used with the same lack of results.

~ Sophie, thank you so much. ~ Liam was at the moment the happiest creature in the Universe. For an old person, he sure was acting like a kid, thought Sophie. The Metils began their approach floating in this strange color sky. They reminded her of the firefly. As they came closer, she was able to distinguish their inner structures. These were little balls of rotating and spinning rocks, like complex clouds of dust gravitating as little planets with orbiting moons. Sophie had just seen two life-forms from two different worlds within minutes, not to mention her voyage to the Electoral Center and her eye-to-eye introduction to Marilyn. She was handling this situation very calmly, with her usual detachment.

"Stop!" ordered the approaching creature. The voice was decidedly rude.

"I'm not moving," she snapped back, with equal rudeness.

"Stay there!" barked a second Metil.

"I hate bullies," said the girl to the second creature.

She was neither scared nor intimidated, just calm but forceful. She decided to move to the side by a couple of feet just to show the creatures she could. With her mind, she willed it and they moved. Liam was impressed by the girl's reaction.

"I said don't move." As the creature talked, lights of multiple colors shone between two layers of orbiting rocks. Sophie moved again. The same creature spoke again, but this time with a softer tone. "Who are you?"

"Sophie. My turn to ask a question. Where is my father?"

There was a silence.

"We have no one here like you."

"Why am I here?"

"We do not know."

"Someone is holding me here?" Sophie spoke out loud to Liam.

Liam replied. ~ No one here has the power to hold or summon you. We are here because this is your path. You must see or do something in the Purple before we can depart. ~

"Who spoke?" the Metil asked, nervously. He'd heard Liam's voice but was unable to see his body. Sophie was tired of wasting time. She wanted to leave. She tried to concentrate on the image of her father, but this time nothing happened. Then she remembered Electoral's test. She focused on the white plush dog. She waited a moment, then opened her eyes. She was still facing the little floating rock creature.

"Liam, are you still here?"

~ Yes, why? ~

"Nothing."

"We know of the creature from the Cold named Sophie," said the Metil.

"How?"

"Is Sophie your name?" it ventured.

"Yes."

"You injured Mall-ik, one of us. He told us you followed him here and you talked to him. We have images."

"The firefly? I injured no one. Where is he?"

"He left to meet you. We believe he is in your world."

"Why am I here?" asked Sophie once more.

"We do not know," replied the Metil.

"Not you. I was asking my friend Liam." She now was calling Liam a friend.

"Who is this? Who are you talking to?" asked the Metil.

"A friend, from a place...."

~ "Don't!" ~ Liam tried to interrupt .

".... a place he calls the Lower."

Words exchanged quickly between the creatures. They knew of the Lower, of course. Moments after the Oldest had threatened this entire world with destruction, a creature from his world was physically present with the creature from the Cold named Sophie. Since their weapons did not work, they started to retreat.

"Wait!" said Sophie.

The creatures were no longer communicating. They were pulling out, moving as fast as they could away from them.

Sophie already liked Liam her new travel companion.