He laughed. "Is that how you show appreciation, beloved Mé?" the governor asked. "You bow?"

Lights dancing in her eyes, Mé drew nearer. "I feel I owe you an apology. I do not know how to interact with someone from the fifth dimension."

Governor Mala's countenance turned, if possible, even kinder and more luminous, and he took her hands into his. "Come, dear Mé, recognize the clarity within yourself and know that you are well beyond the dimension you think you're in."

"Am I?" she asked.

"How else would you have reached the City of Depths Unseen?"

His eyes were soft, brown lights, his expression serene.

Mé smiled. "If I am more than I think I am, why haven't I known it all along?"

The governor's lips curved into a merry smile. "Live in the moment and accept your growth, one experience at a time."

She felt she wanted to embrace him, while part of her wanted to explore the Gardens and play in the streams; her planet Alteor returned to her mind, always sunny, always serene, with giant forests and grassy hills, with lakes so deep it seemed they had no bottom, only side-platforms visible through waters crystal-clear.

Placing his hand upon her shoulder, he invited her to hug him, which she did, and it reminded her of embracing her grandfather, Aathas, one of the most renown explorers on Alteor, whose stories of worlds afar, peculiar and wondrous all in their own ways, had made her enrol in the Alteorian University and from there she had been recommended into the Architect's Temple.

Alas! she thought. What's with all these memories? Then she spoke aloud, "I've been having these images ever since I saw this city."

"What images?" He let go of the embrace, but they were still holding hands.

"Pictures of my home," she answered, and drew a breath in – glanced at the sky –"of my planet Alteor."

He watched and waited.

"There seems to be a strong connection between this place and that." A tear at the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry. I'm a bit overwhelmed, I think."

"That is only natural," he replied, "for you see, all places are really one place. Linearly or on the whole, all that is, is – and fragmented only in appearance. What have you recalled?"

"Different episodes, mostly from before I left; and it seems that I've become connected, on a feeling level, to... a part of me that never actually left it." She was searching his eyes. "Does that make sense?"

Governor Mala smiled. "Of course it does. All places are one place. All connections are within the same fabric. The source within is the source in all. Planets are a part in a system, systems form galaxies, which form All-That-Is, multidimensionality included. And yet a universe is not separate from M'alala or from Alteor"–he paused for a moment; "Is it clear what I mean when I say that all places are one place?"

"All-That-Is," she murmured.

"Fragmented in appearance," he continued, "but in reality not so. One sees from one dimension what is available to the senses therein, yet now that you've moved into another, the rigidity of the fixed structures that have been known to you has become more malleable, is being moulded at the pace you're most comfortable with, and thus you are able to experience closeness to a world you're not currently physically in."

"My home planet."

He nodded. "And this closeness, you carry within."

"I've brought it with me."

"Everywhere you go, for you see, all places are one place, and you're inseparable from that which you are."

She was pondering. "I carry my home within."

He extended his arms, pointing at the blue sky. "Within which you are."

"A fraction of an Atom called Alteor on an Atom called M'alala," she mused.

Governor Mala heard the words with the merriest of smiles. "My dear Mé!" he exclaimed. "Indeed, we are brothers, and you do understand. That's what we are: parts of the whole, and the whole consists of Atom within Atom, with all their seemingly-fragmented pieces, they themselves apparently not the same – a dweller on a planet in a system in a galaxy in a cluster in a supercluster and so on in a universe inside Wholeness Itself – Atom within Atom, existence within Existence and all the connections therein."

"That's wonderful!" she said and sighed, although the smile had remained on her face; she nodded. "It reminds me of the eagerness and drive that have taken me away from Alteor in the first place."

"The spirit of the young," governor Mala replied. "The adventurous Mé."

She lowered her eyes, jubilant, but aware of the smallness of the fragment that was herself. Then gazing up, "My colleagues are still out there."

Governor Mala turned and glanced at the sky. "We each have our journeys."

"I wonder why they have not followed me. Do you know?" She turned to look at him.

"The answer came before the question, dear Mé," he replied. "We each have our journeys. This," he explained, "is the Test of M'alala, or the Higher Becoming Into Self. Whosoever enters Íma, the High Bridge into All, the crater, enters a multifaceted Doorway of dimensions, a fluid reality wherein one must find peace and balance of all aspects of oneself, so that one may gain clarity and choose one of the interior doorways that lead to a dimension or to an experience – and hardly afterwards can they complete their journeys and go back; however, not the same, for each and every one who takes this journey is fuller."

"A less fragmented self."

"And less fragmented from their surroundings, from the Atom they're in," he said.

"And more aware of the Wholeness that comprises all such Atoms."

"The Fabric of All Life consists of all life being expressed in the interconnectedness that keeps it together." Then glancing back up, "Your colleagues must find a way first to their own selves, out of their dominant, key traits, and lean in towards what balances them, so they may discover oneness within, which shall enable them to acknowledge the one all around. They're trapped until they no longer consider themselves trapped."

"Can I assist them somehow?" asked Mé.

"We must trust them."

The visit in the higher octave of reality had come to an end, and governor Mala led Mé back to the circular Welcome-way upon which she had first stepped upon her arrival. Another being of light brought a scroll in a lidless chest and by their side, a chalice, the latter made as if of bronze, yet they were all objects of material light, thought-forms with enough density as to be gifted to Mé. He, too, seemed joyful to be there, ready to hand their visitor the gifts.

The governor said, "Mé, beloved, you have successfully passed the Test of M'alala. You have, with an ease for which I congratulate you, reached the City of Depths Unseen and you have obliged me in being your host."

Mé joined in the laughter.

"Please accept these gifts on our behalf and know that you are always welcome to return."

With slightly trembling hands, she took them. "I am most honoured," she said, "and shall forever carry the joy of having been here. Thank you. I shall return."

The governor embraced her once again. "Farewell," he said.

Grabbing her arm, her other companion lifted her up in some kind of flight, yet her entire being felt sustained as if upon a surface and thus she needed not cling, nor did she feel the pressure of the air as they rocketed out through the city ceiling – in a blink of an eye through the depth of the crater – landing site in view – Seremna as if fully around – and momentarily Umbar, too – then they skewered through the white, gleaming hull – reached a corridor – touched the floor with their feet – and he let go.

"Thank you," she said.

"I am Ú'mor."

Gazing eye in eye, they smiled.

"I feel like I know you," said Mé.

A smile. "Maybe from within."

She held the gifts closer. "Thank you."

"I congratulate you."

Then as he was fading from sight, "Will I see you again?"

"As long as you're in M'alala, you can find me within."