Light appeared inside the crystal — not ordinary light, but the light of ancient stars, which had the specific quality of light that had traveled an enormous distance and carried in its composition evidence of everything it had passed through. The stars inside the crystal rearranged themselves in the moment of his approach, as though his presence changed what configuration was appropriate.
"Successor detected." The voice came from inside the crystal without coming from inside the crystal — it occupied the chamber without having a source in the chamber, the way the resonance from a bell occupies a room. "Compatibility." A pause in which the pause itself seemed to be doing something. "Accepted."
The chamber trembled in the specific way of things that have been still for a long time and are remembering how to move.
