Tori faded in and out of consciousness. Dimly, she sensed her friends guiding her to a bunk and strapping her in. They murmured in low, worried voices, and she struggled to catch even a few words. “Blood loss” and “shock” were the most worrying of these, but as soon as she latched onto them, the meanings, and indeed, the whole universe, slipped away, and she found herself floating in a field of stars.

A white light off in the distance shone more brightly than anything she had ever seen or imagined, consuming all darkness, and even the other stars.

What was that?

It was her last coherent thought for a long time.

When she returned for herself for real—just Tori, in a normal body, not Tori, a disembodies consciousness floating in the stars—she la...

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