Her mind was buzzing with the implications. Grace went back to the 48th floor, and spent a few hours trying to rest. “I am aware of them through specialized cells which translate the radiation received.” “How do you perceive everything outside you. Once I do remember, then I am in contact again, I can feel them, speak through them, and I can feel when they are used, yes.” It is difficult to make my memory remember them. “Can you tell when somebody uses the lift?” Can we go on talking later today, in the afternoon?” oh, never mind.” Grace was having trouble moving her fingers after such a long time signaling. “Why not? I suppose it might seem a long time to an entity as ephemeral as you, but I have only woken up now. “I have lived for about thirty thousand rotations.” There was a very long pause, so long that Grace thought Arcan had left her alone again. That’s eighty orbits of Coriolis about Sacras. I suppose the average would be about eighty. “No, we live between fifty and a hundred years. I may not be able to extend that promise forever.” It is too soon, there is too much to understand.

“Do you want me to tell them? Perhaps I must. “Perhaps I wasn’t then, not as you know it.” “They did not know you were alive,” she said. Its viscosity properties, its ability to flow freely uphill and other unique properties had been put to full utilization by the Sellites. Orthogel was used in almost every aspect of life on Valhai. “No, neither do I.” Grace closed her eyes, and felt a little nauseated. Why would they kill the donor apprentices?” It is too late.” The lift flickered in colour. But the new ones have air, and the old ones are all decayed. Now I would have tried to do something to help them. not aware enough then to see what they were doing.” Arcan tried to explain. yes, I see, they took all of the air out of the bubbles, and the apprentices died, and you did nothing.” “So when you got cross about the apprentices. I move those parts towards any danger, withdraw the parts of me which are alive away from the danger.” “But how come they never detected that you are alive?”Īrcan made her fingers tingle again.

Valhai by Gillian Andrews