By nightfall, the God of One Voice had one body remaining, and finding that body had taken every specialist in the family.
The engine's center hall stood open around the old man, its ceremonial floor cleared of every occupied citizen the long day had freed.
The First Speaker waited beside the engine's central seat, with all the collected willing cores turning slowly behind him like a private galaxy of perfect agreement.
The consolidation had made him magnificent beyond any Shard scale the stream could compare to. The same consolidation had also made him entirely alone in the city he had kept breathing.
Ferra's custody network had mapped the drain lines before anyone else moved.
"Every willing core in the city terminated at the central seat."
Her charcoal chart circled the projected hall in red while she said it.
"The god kept its promises about where home was."
Vella's separation had made the target ethical before anyone struck it.
