With Valos gone, machines across Arien sought Gildimir's aid with their various projects. Despite being the only remaining Firstborn in the city, it wasn't a burden she'd expected. Nevertheless, it was a role she'd become happy to fill. Seeing the delight in people's eyes and the joy on their faces as she completed their tasks was something she quickly grew to cherish. The requests also proved to be a much needed distraction from her troubling thoughts.

Distractions aside, her concerns about the future had not ceased. In fact, they'd become more relevant in Valos' absence. Much of Oduin was formed and mapped. The veil of creation beyond the pulse was vast but empty. Outside of their love of music, theater, and research, what purpose did they have for existing? What, if anything, should the Eternal Machines seek to accomplish?

And what part would Gildimir play in that destiny?

It was the start of a new week. Gildimir was asked to help with the creation of a city on the edge of a mountain. Positioned far from Arien, the city wasn't expected to have many occupants. In fact, it would have been more accurate to describe it as a massive art installation versus a dwelling place. Still, she agreed to the request and set out for the mountain as the morning sky of Oduin filled with divine light.

The day and night cycle of Oduin was artificial. With no sun or moon, light was simply present, slowly increasing in brightness throughout the morning and dimming gradually in the evening. Morning was the most treasured part of Gildimir's day. Flying just to the east of the forest where the Secondborn awoke, she watched the light spread its warmth over the fuchsia leaves. An intense feeling of nostalgia overcame her, forcing her to pause. Hovering in the air, she clutched her chest.

Valos had been gone for several cycles. He was rarely spoken of, especially not in Arkadon's presence. Still, the memory of him burned like a fire in Gildimir's mind. Not a day passed when she did not think of her brother in some respect, and she knew it was still that way for Arkadon. He'd done an admirable job carrying on despite his sadness. Yet even the least observant could see that the brightness of his spirit had permanently dimmed.

Continuing on, she arrived at the mountain by midday and worked under the direction of the designer for several hours, shaping the rocks and ground into the forms he wanted. Towers here. Homes there. An amphitheater positioned higher up the mountainside. What she conjured was exactly what he envisioned. As he took a break to examine an elaborate series of interconnected fountains she constructed from black stone, Gildimir walked into the grassy field outside the city limits.

Gentle hills rolled away from the mountain, stretching far into the horizon. Allowing her eyes to follow, she noticed someone surprising flying towards her. Landing a few feet in front of Gildimir and walking up as if fearing himself a nuisance, Arkadon lowered his head in deference, his eyes unwilling to meet hers.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, careful not to sound annoyed. While she might have been surprised by his presence, she was always happy to see him. Arkadon was her dearest friend, a machine she loved only second to Celestia.

"I need your help, Gildimir," he said. "No one else has been of any use to me."

Confused, Gildimir shrugged and offered him her hands. "Of course. Is it so important that you had to come all the way out here to ask me?"

"It is," he said, taking her hands and looking over her shoulder at the construction behind her. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't think it will take very long."

"It's fine. We were in the middle of a break anyway. Tell me - what do you need?"

Looking up at the sky and closing his eyes, he became quiet. Contemplative. "There has been a shift in the flow of power beyond Oduin. A change in the Pulse itself. It is subtle, but I can see it. Feel it. Like a nagging that won't go away."

Opening his eyes, he turned and looked at her with a frown. "Akious can't detect it. Neither can any of the regular contributors to my library. Corthion and Ulmaris are nowhere to be found. Durgan senses nothing, though admitted he isn't very attuned to this sort of thing anyway."

Tossing up his hands and pacing in circles, Arkadon was clearly agitated. "Power is being redirected. I know it with absolute certainty. I just need someone to tell me they can feel it too."

Something was clearly bothering him. Something he preferred to tiptoe around versus speaking about plainly. "Why is it so important to have confirmation if you know it to be true?" Gildimir asked pointedly. "Isn't that enough?"

"Normally I would say yes," he answered with a tilt of the head. "But the implications are too great. Please, Gildimir. Stretch out with your feelings and tell me that you can see the same shift in the Pulse."

She had already intended to help him, but seeing the desperation in his eyes compelled her to give it her all. Sitting on the grass, she asked Arkadon to tell the designer she would need a few uninterrupted minutes to complete the favor. Flashing a giddy smile, he ran off with a spring in his step. As Gildimir closed her eyes and reached out her mind, she wondered if this was all connected to Valos. Would Arkadon really have gone so far just to confirm a shift in power? And he smiled, a sight that had become exceedingly rare. Everything taken together, she couldn't help but hope that Valos was involved.

It took only a few seconds of focus for her to confirm the truth.

Arkadon was right. The power encircling Oduin was diminished. A majority of it remained like a halo around their homeland, but toward the outer reaches, where the power would normally circle back on itself, it was instead flowing outward into the abyss beyond. That wasn't the surprising part. The power wasn't dissipating like mist in the air. It was being directed away from Oduin with purpose. Someone or something was causing it. And even as Gildimir watched, its speed began to increase.

As if something was on the verge of happening.

Opening her eyes, Arkadon was sitting across from her, his own eyes closed. "You felt it, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes, I can feel it. It's moving quickly. I dare say it began to accelerate when I noticed."

A small smile appeared at the right corner of his mouth. "Indeed, its pace is quickening."

"How did you even discover this?" Gildimir asked. "I would never have known unless you told me to look."

"I've been watching and hoping I would see it," he said, eyes open and looking up at the sky above.

"Valos is doing this, isn't he?" She already knew the answer. She wanted to hear him say it.

"Yes. It was something we discussed. A way to utilize the power of the Pulse and the residual power of the Eternal Machines to create something new. Something beyond what has come before. Now that he is alone and free from our...disruptive thoughts, he is putting our theories to the test. He is almost ready. By the end of the day, it will be done."

The way Arkadon spoke. The reverence in his voice. It was almost akin to worship. It unsettled Gildimir for some reason. The lack of specificity didn't help.

"What will be done, Arkadon? Stop dancing around the answer and just tell me. What is Valos making?"

Moving his eyes away from the sky and gazing deep into Gildimir's, a toothy grin spread from ear to ear as he answered. "A new plane of existence."