I look up.
The ceiling of the chamber is gone. The sky is visible above us. The geometric clouds are swirling directly overhead. The lightning is descending in thick ropes of white fire.
It is not attacking.
It is connecting.
The ropes of lightning strike the basin.
The impact does not knock us down. It lifts us.
My feet leave the surface of the liquid stone. I am hovering. Kade is hovering. We are suspended in the center of the storm's eye.
"The interface is opening," Lilith shouts. She is backing toward the stairs. "You must accept the consciousness! Do not reject it!"
"I accept it!" I scream.
The words are torn from me by the wind.
The light intensifies. It becomes blinding. I close my eyes, but I can still see it. It is inside my eyelids.
I feel the earth's mind touch mine.
