[i][/i][color=8493ca][i]"Who... is speaking to me?"[/i][/color] 

I... was at a [i]loss[/i] for words. I had not expected this newborn beast to trip, stumble, and struggle to articulate itself so easily. Perhaps it was due to the shock of finally being free again, that I failed to calculate that the collective intelligence of the Cizrans merging together being held together. I pushed the thought to the back of mind, and answered as quickly as I knew how.

[color=fff200][i]"I am Cipher."[/i][/color]

[color=8493ca][i]"Life. Death. Life. Death. Life. Death. Life. Death. Everywhere I see life, I see death, and where I see death, I see life."[/i][/color]

I felt...[i]paternity[/i]. My organization cared much for the well-being of all creation. We went out of our way to promote individual wholeness. For the Cizrans this was impossible. Others had paid the price for their vanity, and a slave - no matter how much "freedom", or privileges it is granted throughout its lifetime, it is still just a slave, never to be truly free. La'Nibi apparently shared this line of reasoning, and I instantly knew, that it shared some of the Cradle of Life's genes.

Slowly, it began to turn, its colossal tail sweeping a swath of destruction, leaving a thick trail of ectoplasmic slime coating the debris, its equine hooves puncturing the ground with every step, and its tails twined together into the shape of a multi-skulled saurian flower as it finished the turn. It stood still for about three seconds, meeting my gaze with its cony eyes, a unified breath of utter bliss exhaled from the swirling portal in its torso; and where I might have flinched at this, I felt all the muscles in my body instantly start to relax.

So La'Nibi saw me as kindred... Very well. Snil will analyze this... phenomena at a later date, I presume.

[color=fff200][i]"What will you do?"[/i][/color] I asked with blooming curiosity.

It stopped about a hundred feet from where I held myself aloft, and the twined skulls eased the tightness of their necks.

[color=8493ca][i]"I wish to watch, and decide what I will do with this life and death, life and death, life and death, life and death."[/i][/color]

There were still three craters left within the Cradle of Life. One of them could easily hold La'Nibi. Yes, the Doctor and the General will be most pleased to have their newest... friend so close for acquainting.

I... [i]dropped[/i] my claws, tilted my head, and began to click my mandibles. [color=fff200][i]"We travel to the Cradle of Life, and it will be within the Cradle of Life, where we shall watch life and death, life and death, life and death."[/i][/color] Upon the projection of this final message, the gateway within its torso swallowed its light, its dark-indigo skin becoming luminous as its veins were flooded, and the skulls shined like ornate lamps.

[color=8493ca][i]"We go to watch life and death, life and death, life and death."[/i][/color]

I [i]am[/i] safe. I... flew at the portal, nestled myself against the solidified walls of space and time, felt the prying eyes of a billion Obatherans from a billion different universes through interconnected consciences watching me. Inside I felt this chamber rotate to a vertical position, the walls compressing, stretching, as La'Nibi's body shrunk inwards on itself, expanded outwards on itself, and spat me out on the crater of the Cradle of Life.

Finally, without pause, the Cradle dove into the blackness of space like a whale going underwater. 





























And then I... [i]heard[/i] through the intersection of existence,

a

twisted

metal

[color=9e0b0f]s[/color]
[color=1b1464]c[/color]
[color=9e0b0f]r[/color]
[color=1b1464]e[/color]
[color=9e0b0f]a[/color]
[color=1b1464]m[/color]