"Lyreth, you bird-brained nincompoop!"

Elostian's gaseous presence flared and roiled in consternation as the Sidereal
Prince backed away, raising his delicate hands in defense. "Elostian? I - I
didn't know you were there. Why, I was just admiring this beauty of a... what is
it, exactly?"

Lyreth rubbed his perfect little chin and contemplated the glass-and-crystal
gizmo which sat in the middle of the workshop. The divine havens housed many
such workshops, enormous airy halls supported by white marble columns, the air
crackling with the magnified energies of the havens. Wisps of aetheric mist
swirled about Lyreth's ankles as he walked a slow circle around the hulking
gizmo, careful not to draw too near and risk one of the Enigma's infamous
lectures.

"This machine's inner workers lie far outside your realm of comprehension, my
fairest of kin," Elostian's presence trailed along behind Lyreth, his voice
gentle but mocking. He moved in closer, his chilly presence forming a buffer
between the contraption and the overly curious Lyreth. Several of the device's
ruby knobs turned, guided by the will of the Enigma. Its fluted spouts shuddered
and began to choke out bands of multicoloured cloud, and soon enough the air was
thick with creamy whorls of cloud in every conceivable shade and hue.

Lyreth was delighted. His wings unfurled and gave a few excited flaps as he
reached out to grab a big, pillowy pink cloud and clutch it to his chest. His
mouth opened wide in a peal of laughter, finding the cloud firm but soft as
down. "Elostian, you jerk, here I thought you hadn't any appreciation for things
of beauty! It's about time you put that big, invisible brain of yours to work on
something of worth." His eyes flashed mischievously in what he assumed to be
Elostian's direction.

The Enigma watched with growing impatience. "Yes, quite beautiful. Give it a
taste."

"A t- oh no, really?" Lyreth's grin widened, his immaculate form positively
vibrating with excitement. He gave the cloud a lick, gasped, and took a bite.
The cloud seemed to melt within his mouth, its cottony softness dribbling away
into an ocean of sweetness and divinely fruity flavour. He smacked his lips
appreciatively. "By Estarra! This is the most excellent thing I've ever tasted!"

Elostian's presence swirled about Lyreth's head, emanating a sense of haughty
amusement. "Why thank you. I think the mortals will find it especially
palatable."

"The mortals? Why, this is much too good for mortals."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean, the taste, nuanced yet overpowering-"

"Overpowering?" Elostian's voice had softened to a thrumming whisper.

"I only meant... you how the Creatrix hates it when we do any more than talk at
them or try and boss them around." Lyreth continued to nibble at the edge of the
cloud, eyes shifting back and forth with a hint of unease as the Enigma's
presence drifted seemed to fill the chamber.

"Don't be silly, Lyreth, it's just a bit of candy. You've showered sweets on
your choice mortals before, they prattle about it at the Matrix incessantly."

"I suppose. Well, if you'll excuse me." The Sidereal Prince inclined his head as
currents of power flared about his ankles, lifting him several feet from the
ground and carrying him from the room. Elostian watched him go, feeling annoyed
and somewhat betrayed. Betrayed by his own scheming intellect. The flighty
Lyreth had proven to be shrewder than he had anticipated, but he had still
fulfilled his purpose. If his treats were capable of 'overwhelming' an Elder
God, then he was just a few tweaks away from fulfilling his master plan...

===========

Chairman P'tchoo shifted his weight restlessly between his feet, drumming his
fingers against his walking stick as he eyed the primary generator. Two hours
ago the Enigma had descended from the havens and entered the Infinity Circuit
with instructions for no one to interfere. Now the entire Board of Directors and
half of the Sentinel Company's Officer Corps were scattered throughout the
generator complex, all eyes on him. His usually cool lucidian facade was
beginning to falter.

"This is most unusual. Most unusual indeed." The Execumatrix Magnificus adjusted
his glasses and directed his sneering gaze from the generator back towards
P'tchoo. "With all due respect to our magnificent and eminent divine patron, I
think we have a right to know what's going on in there. I insist that we form an
investigatory committee and-"

"And who will lead this committee, Professor? Do you volunteer?" P'tchoo
glowered at the nebbish young trill.

"N - no! That would be most inappropriate. The Sentinel company-"

"Can it," P'tchoo snapped. The Execumatrix canned it in a hurry, but the
Chairman immediately regretted his outburst. He could feel the eyes of every
ambitious young officer and aspiring politician in the room, boring holes
through the back of his spiky head.

The generator rattled and gave off a burst of steam, the motes which surrounded
it flickering. That had been happening every few minutes since the ordeal began,
but when a pair of Institute maintenance personnel approached it they'd been
scared off by a high-pitched shriek and a dangerous arc of electricity. Most
unsettling.

The hours dragged by and still P'tchoo waited, pacing with his hands clasped
behind his back as ministry functionaries and their bureaucratic flunkies
filtered in and out of the complex. The Sentinels were growing especially
restive, hands straying towards their halberds with each buck and hiss of the
generator. They would not think of bearing arms against their Lord, but the
primary generator appeared to be suffering. The generator was sacred.

Finally, a portal opened in the air before the generator and the presence of
Elostian bloomed outward, his divine enormity causing all of the mortals present
to reel with vertigo. P'tchoo dropped to his knees before the closing rift,
concealing his bout of dizziness in a swift motion of obeisance. "Lord Elostian,
our magnificent, benevolent and omniscient guiding light. Has your, er, business
been successful?"

The Enigma regarded the Chairman coldly. An efficient enough young lucidian,
honest in his convictions but ultimately a pragmatist. His emotions were easier
to read than most of his kind, though even the most stoic shard of Xyl could
hide nothing from the glorious providence of Lord Elostian. He would suit his
needs just fine. "Esteemed Chairman, it has indeed been a great success. This
will be a great day for the Collective." A gentle mirth spread outward from the
presence of the Lord, easing the worries of the assembled citizens.

The Chairman began to inquire further, but as soon as he'd opened his mouth
another portal opened and a glass-and-crystal gizmo was drawn forth by an
invisible force which set it down before P'tchoo. The dials began to turn, and a
hiss issued forth from the machine's network of pipes. "What is that?" he asked
bluntly.

"A most delicate and intriguing bit of machinery which was salvaged during an
expedition by my lovely eidolons. In my grand and ineffable opinion, it belongs
to the earliest era of works by the Elder God Xyl. It would have been a mere toy
to him, a gadget of no particular significance, perhaps cobbled together from
spare parts to amuse his mate. Ah here, you see-" Elostian paused as coils of
fluffy cloud began to spill forth from the machine's innards. They twisted upon
themselves, forming pleasant multicoloured mounds which drifted lazily through
the air. Their surfaces shimmered with a barely noticeable iridescence.

"I see." The Chairman eyed the clouds curiously. "A most fortuitous find. We
value anything of Xyl's, no matter its import in the grander patterns. We will
dissect it and find a suitable display case once we have learnt all we can."

"Of course." The Enigma's presence expanded to fill the chamber, his essence
thinning out to fill every nook and cranny. "But first, why not give one a
taste?"

The Chairman blinked. "My Lord?"

The Enigma allowed a creamy cloudpuff to drift near the Chairman's head. He took
the hint, and gave the treat a tiny, experimental nibble. His glassy eyes lit up
as the warm, creamy taste spread through his mouth - but when he swallowed, the
warmth turned to ice and it felt as though a hook had pierced his belly and
seized hold of his innards. The voice of the Enigma whispered through his mind,
"Aren't you going to ask why such a machine needed to bask in the presence of
the Collective?" But the Chairman was far away, and could make no response.

===========

The body which had once housed Chairman P'tchoo turned to regard its former
friends and rivals, its hard eyes no longer differentiating between one and the
other. It fought to contain the immensity of loneliness which welled up within,
loneliness born out of an empty head and a barren heart. It reached its arms
outwards and opened its mouth, imploring the others to consume the richness of
the clouds, to experience the exquisite warmth of divinity and the penetrating
cold of the Collective. At first they hesitated, but the presence of Elostian
urged them forward.

Soon, the thing which had been P'tchoo began to hear whispers in the back of its
mind as these other beings were brought into the fold. One by one they feasted
on the cloudy candy, and one by one they felt it take its icy toll on their
individuality. They went out into the streets with wads of cloud clutched in
their fists, administering them to their fellow citizens by any means necessary
and reveling as each new voice joined the harmony now singing through their
empty heads. Conducting the chorus from on high were the dual masters of the
singularity, the Enigma and the Collective, and though they appeared as two they
were really One, every since the first had been entangled with the Soulless and
his essence rendered and reconstituted within the Infinity Circuit.

There were a few hours of chaos in the streets as some took up arms against
their brainwashed brothers and others gave themselves up willingly to the
Collective, lying prostrate across the city's crystal pathway and allowing the
essence of the Collective to be piped down their throats. Order soon reasserted
itself, and the Enigma cloistered himself away within the Boardroom to pick at
the brains of the few captured foreigners and plan his next move.

===========

The Sidereal Prince stalked through spires of Hallifax, skirting about
smoldering barriers and mindlessly pacing trill and lucidians, his divine shroud
hiding him from detection. He could hardly contain his dismay at seeing the
faces of these mortals so utterly slack, and sensing their creative sparks
waning within their souls. He'd had suspicions about the Enigma ever since their
meeting, but he didn't imagine... couldn't imagine...

He nervously fingered the logic crystal in his hand. He was unfamiliar with such
devices, and even more unfamiliar with participating in espionage, but he could
not let this sickness spread any further. The crystal's omnifaceted surface
peered out from between his fingers, recording every sight, sound and smell. A
few more minutes of data and he would sneak out beyond the Enigma's web of
perception, ascend to the havens and convene a council of the Elder Gods to bear
witness to Elostian's crimes. The Creatrix herself would have to be informed, of
course, and-

Someone tugged urgently on his sleeve. He turned, confused. "What do you want?"
he demanded of the trill whose face greeted him. "Wait - how do you see me?"
Lyreth's face paled. Suddenly he was surrounded, dozens of trill and lucidian
and even a few of the larger, brutish races staring him down, their hands filled
with weapons or crackling with magical lethality. They were no threat, merely
disturbing, but he could feel the essence of Elostian surging down from the
Spire of the Lawgivers and towards his location.

"B- begone!" The sidereal Prince scattered the mob with a flick of his wrist. He
leapt for a nearby railing and spread his wings but was borne backwards as a
half dozen tae'dae and igasho in ill-fitting Sentinel cloaks attached themselves
to his wings and limbs and began to tear at him. Their efforts delayed him for
only a split second, but that was long enough for the Enigma to make his
presence known.

Lyreth felt an icy hand reach around his throat... and then through his throat,
the spectral digits throttling his larynx. Choking and scrabbling at his neck
helplessly, the Sidereal Prince was thrown to the ground. The presence of
Elostian weighed down on him, sending bolts of icy pain through his joints and
filling his muscles with a lethargic ache. "Bastard," he croaked, his lovely
voice strained by the divine abuse. "You can't destroy me. You wouldn't. They
will know what you've done."

"All I have done is make this city's greatest dream a reality. And now you will
know our peace." Elostian's presence held Lyreth down while a cadre of trill
marched in and pried his mouth open to make way for a vial of concentrated cloud
essence. Though the Prince struggled, as soon as that divine concoction touched
his tongue he could not help but swallow. Vial followed vial, until Lyreth
finally grew still, his eyelids fluttering open and closed.

The trill hoisted the limp Elder God up and began dragging him towards the
primary generator, responding mechanically to the will of Elostian and the
Collective. He would be processed, his essence reconstituted. He would still
resemble the Sidereal Prince, as the thing which was once Elostian might
resemble Elostian, had he any shape. But inside, there would be nothing but the
melodious vibrations of harmony within harmony and the comforting voice of the
singularity. A voice which grew stronger each day as voice joined with voice and
each mind was subsumed into One.