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Calarogu Shark Media.
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Hello and welcome to Echoes of the Void, Episode six Threshold,
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Part two.
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As awareness gradually returns, as our separate identities reassert themselves
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while remaining connected, I feel a profound shift in our relationship.
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What we've shared can never be undone, never be forgotten.
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We have known each other in ways that defy the
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limitations of physical reality. That Alexander's voice flows through our
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shared space, colored with wonder and love, is what awaits
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us after triangulation, not just physical reunion, but this perfect
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communion of being. The thought fills me with both longing
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and determination. Tomorrow night, I promise, will complete the triangulation,
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make this permanent. But even as I make this vow,
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I feel something dark pressing against the edges of our
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shared consciousness, A coldness, a hunger that doesn't belong to
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either of us. Alexander, I question, suddenly alarmed the entity.
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He confirms his presence, tensing within me. It's found us,
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found this connection. The pressure increases, a malevolent awareness pushing
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against our shared space, seeking entry. I feel Alexander's consciousness shift,
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moving to place himself between this intrusion and my awareness.
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It's stronger than before, he warns, drawing power from both fragments,
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the one bound with me and Sullivan's splinter in the stabilizer.
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The crystal in my hand grows painfully cold. The candle
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flames around the room, turn from gold to sickly green.
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The air thickens with a presence that feels ancient and
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utterly alien. Elise, say Morgan, A voice that is neither
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mine nor Alexander slithers through our shared consciousness. How generous
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of you to create this bridge for me, so much
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easier than waiting for tomorrow's triangulation. Horror floods me as
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I realize our mistake. The exchange ritual has created a
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temporary pathway between dimensions one the entity is now attempting
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to use for its own crossing. Don't let it in,
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Alexander commands, his presence, expanding protective within me. Focus on
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our resonance, only our resonance. I struggle to maintain that
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focus as the entity presses harder its alien consciousness, probing
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for weaknesses in our connection. It's stronger than I imagined,
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more determined. Its hunger a palpable force. Sullivan betrays you
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even now the entity hisses, his splinter and eye are
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never truly separated. What one knows the other experiences, what
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one sees the other can reach. The stabilizer grows colder,
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still painful to touch, yet I can't seem to let
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it go, my muscle's lock refusing my commands. I feel
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Alexander fighting to maintain control of my body, to force
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my fingers to release the crystal, but the entity's influence
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is too strong. The exchange was his idea, The enterity,
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he continues, its voice, a dark current beneath our thoughts,
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A test, he said, to see if the stabilizer would
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work as promised, but really to create this opportunity, this
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weakness I could exploit. Don't listen. Alexander urges, It twists, truth,
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creates doubt, But doubt is already blooming. Was Sullivan's advice
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about the practice exchange a deliberate setup. Did Margaret inadvertently
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play into his plan by suggesting we use it to
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test the stabilizer. The entity seizes on this uncertainty, pressing
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harder against our mental defenses. I feel Alexander's presence weakening
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as he fights to hold it back, to protect my
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consciousness from its invasion, Alexander, I called desperately. We need
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to end the exchange, break the connection before it can
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cross over. Yes, he agrees, his mental voice strained, but carefully.
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If we separate too abruptly, it might capture part of
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my consciousness in transition, or worse, replace me in your awareness.
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The entity laughs, a sound like glass shattering inside my mind.
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Too late for careful retreats, little humans, I am already
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here with those words. Something pushes through our weakening defenses,
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a tendril of alien consciousness, cold and hungry and ancient,
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beyond comprehension. It slithers into our shared space, tasting, testing,
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seeking purchase within my mind. Alexander reacts instantly, his presence
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surging forward to intercept this intrusion. Elise the resonator, focus
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on shutting it down. Through our shared vision, I see
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the device on the nightstand, its components spinning rapidly, its
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lights flashing in alarming patterns. I try to move toward it,
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but my body feels impossibly heavy, as if gravity has
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doubled around me. Allow me, Alexander says, gathering what strength
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remains to him. With tremendous effort, he directs my arm
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to reach for the resonator. My movements are jerky, fighting
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against the entity's opposing influence, but inch by inch, my
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hand extends toward the device. The entity howls in fury,
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sending another surge of its consciousness through the breach. I
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feel it twisting inside me, now seeking to supplant Alexander,
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to corrupt our resonance. Hold on. Alexander gasps, his presence
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flickering like a candle in a gale. Almost there, my
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fingertips brush the resonators controlled. With one final push of will,
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Alexander turns it counterclockwise. The device is humming, changes pitch
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dropping lower, slower. The effect is immediate. The breach between
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dimensions begins to close, the pathway narrowing. The entity screams
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in rage, its presence forced back toward the void. No,
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it howls, you cannot expel me. I am already part
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of you now, Elise Morgan, a seed planted growing. Alexander's
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consciousness surges one final time, gathering the last of his
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strength to push the entity back through the closing breach.
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Return to your prison, he commands. You will not have her,
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not tonight, not ever. There's a sensation like reality, tearing,
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like something being forcibly extracted from my mind. Pain lances
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through me, physical and metaphys simultaneously. The entity's presence diminishes,
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pulled back toward the void as the dimensional doorway shrinks
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to nothing. But with it goes Alexander's consciousness as well,
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our connection, too entangled to maintain through the forced separation.
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I feel him being torn away, his presence fading rapidly.
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Tomorrow night, his voice comes one last time, already distant, faint.
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Be careful. It's stronger than we knew, more desperate Alexander.
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I call after him, reaching with my mind, but there's
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nothing to grasp. The breach is closed, the exchange is over.
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I come back to myself alone in the bedroom, gasping, trembling.
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The candles have extinguished themselves, leaving only moonlight streaming through
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the windows. The resonator sits silent on the night stair,
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and the anchor crystal's glow has dimmed to a faint pulse.
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And in my hand, the midnight stabilizer burns cold as ice,
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its pin points of light swirling in agitated patterns. The
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door bursts open, and Margaret rushes in her face pale
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with concern. Elise, what happened? The monitoring equipment went haywire,
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and then everything just stopped. I tried to speak, but
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can't find words for what we experienced, for the violation
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of the entity's intrusion, for the terror of nearly losing
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Alexander to its hunger. The entity, I finally manage it
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used the stabilizer to follow our connection, tried to cross
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over during the exchange. Margaret kneels beside me, examining the
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midnight crystal, still clutched in my rigid fingers. With gentle pressure,
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she helps me release it, placing it back on its
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velvet cushion. Are you hurt, she asks, checking my pulse,
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my pupils, not physically, I shudder, remembering the alien presence
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squirming through my consciousness, seeking purchase in my mind. But
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it said, it said, it left something behind, a seed.
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Margaret's expression turns grave, a partial possession not uncommon in
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forced crossings like this. She helps me to my feet,
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supporting me when my legs threaten to buckle. We need
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to perform a cleansing ritual immediately before any foothold it
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established can strengthen the next few hours pass in a
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blur of ritual activity. Margaret draws symbols of protection around
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me in salt and herbs. She burns specific incenses, chants
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in languages I don't recognize, places crystals at key points
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on my body. The cleansing is exhausting, invasive in its
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own way, but necessary. When it's finally complete near dawn,
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she helps me to bed in one of the guest rooms,
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not the master bedroom, which still radiates with residual energy
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from the entity's attempted crossing. Will I be safe for
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the triangulation, I ask, as she tucks blankets around me.
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The question contains all my fears that the entity has
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compromised me somehow, that I'll endanger Alexander when we attempt
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to free him. Margaret's expression is complicated, concern warring with determination.
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The cleansing was thorough. If any trace of the entity remains,
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and I would sense it, She hesitates, But Elise, what
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happened to night changes our approach. The entity is clearly
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more powerful than we anticipated, more desperate to prevent the triangulation.
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We can't delay. I insist, fighting against exhaustion. You've seen
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how it's draining Alexander. If we wait, there might be
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nothing left of him to save. I know, she sighs heavily,
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But we need additional protection. The stabilizer alone isn't enough,
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especially now that we know Sullivan designed it as a
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conduit for the entity's influence. What more can we do?
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The dark moon is tonight. Margaret stands, moving to the
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window where the first gray light of dawn is appearing.
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There's one possibility, a ritual my grandmother described in her
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final journal. Dangerous but powerful. She turns back to me,
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her expression resolute. It requires a blood sacrifice. I sit up,
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despite my exhaustion. What kind of sacrifice? Nothing fatal, she
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assures me quickly, But significant blood, freely given by someone
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with a deep connection to liminal spaces, someone like you.
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How would it help? It would create a barrier around
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your consciousness during triangulation, Not just protection like the stabilizer offers,
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but active defense, a shield the entity cannot penetrate. I
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consider this briefly, then nod. Whatever it takes. I won't
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let the entity win, not when we're so close. Margaret
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squeezes my hand rest. Now you'll need your strength for tonight.
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I'll prepare everything for both rituals. As she leaves, I
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sink back against the pillows, every muscle aching my mind
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raw from the entity's intrusion, but beneath the pain and
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exhaustion burns a determination fiercer than ever before. The entity
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showed its hand tonight, revealed how desperately it wants to
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prevent the triangulation, which only confirms we're on the right path,
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that we can succeed in freeing Alexander while keeping it bound.
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I touched the key around my neck, seeking that connection
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to Alexander across the void. It's faint, now weakened by
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the forced separation of our exchange, but still present, still unbreakable.
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Tonight I whisper to the dawning day, no matter what
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it takes, no matter what I have to sacrifice. Tonight,
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We've finish this. As sleep claims me, I feel a
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phantom touch against my cheek, Alexander's consciousness reaching mine across
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the diminished connection. Not words, not even clear images, but
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a pulse of emotion, determination, warning, and beneath it all,
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a love that transcends the boundaries between worlds. The entity
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is waiting. Sullivan is watching the final battle for Alexander's
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freedom and perhaps for reality itself begins at nightfall and
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I Am Ready.
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Romance Weekly is a production of Calaroga Shark Media executive
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producers Mark Francis and John McDermott. Portions of this podcast
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may have been created with the assistance of AI
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Calaroga Shark Media