1 - Inside Veda
There dozens of lights, streaming past at high speed, following straight glowing lines and making sharp turns as they raced off to some unseen location. They were white, or blue, or red, or some other bright color. The colors seemed to mean something, as certain colors, if one paid enough attention, went to certain locations, following lines of matching colors. The background glowed with a dimmer light and there was a constant hum of data and energy. The background could be blue or red. That was determined by how urgent a situation might be. Brighter, more intense traveling lights moved faster, as if they were a higher priority.
There were images, plastered on hexagonal tiles, some with many tiles in almost a mosaic, and some on single tiles, floating about. They followed similar lines to the dots of light, sometimes accompanied by a dot, as they traveled along. Images of battle, of day-to-day life, of important meetings in large companies or various governments, of stock prices, of news reports, of military drills, of industry, of the environment, of energy supplies... all were accompanied by a low din of conversation in so many different languages.
In the center of it all, wearing a loose white tunic cinched with a blue belt over soft greyish blue pants, was Tieria. What he wore was nothing like what he normally wore around the dome, but, for anyone familiar with Regene or Ribbons from before would recognize it. He was floating, but so was the newcomer who now watched, and seemed to be asleep. His eyes were closed, his body relaxed, but many of the glowing lines with their traveling dots of lights led to him.