Albel nodded curtly. "It is true. She has been with me -- us, on Crystallis -- for a year. We don't know how it works exactly..." He chewed his lip, not sure what else to say. Being here felt strange. Even when he left his planet, there was a better explanation -- a strange metal beast that could fly him there. Then there were the 4D creators, gods.

But these portals... soulless, coincidental existence with no significance, no meaning. They just were. That ambiguity was uncomfortable.

"Since we've obviously traveled to the past here, at least for us... we can't be discovered. The two of them meeting could destroy your world."