“Brother!” A light voice suddenly yelled. A little girl with long, light braids and wearing a white dress entered in a rush into a large room. The room in question was a massive library. It had several holographic bookshelves and AR interfaces. The little girl continued walking, passing through several of the bookshelves until she arrived at a little private study with vintage furniture that made quite the contrast against all the high-tech consoles. There, sitting on one blue velvet couch, was a little boy. He was reading from a tablet; he had short, light blonde, curly hair.

“Brother!” The little girl yelled at the boy. “Let’s go; today is the day we attune to our conduits.”

“Aura,” the boy said. “You know the librarian will get mad if we make too much noise.”

Aura looked at her brother incredulous. “So?” She asked him. “She must understand that we are only children. Plus, Sebas, we need to get moving; Dad is making that face.

Sebastian looked at his little sister; he knew exactly what she was saying. Their father tended to make a certain face whenever he was starting to lose his patience.

“Relax, little sis.” A young man appeared behind her. “I’ll handle Dad.”

“Jacob, aren’t you afraid of Dad?” Aura asked her big brother.

“Na,” Jacob said. “Even if he punishes me, he is never around to make sure I follow the punishment,” he added with a smile.

Even though Jacob's support was reassuring, Sebastian didn’t want to risk it, so he closed the table as fast as he could and got down from the couch. Aura didn’t miss the opportunity and grabbed her brother's hand and started to pull him alongside her.

“Let’s hope Dad isn’t too mad,” Aura said. “You knew that today was an important day; why didn’t you pay more attention?”

Sebastian was used to Aura acting like this; since they were little, they had been told that she was born first, so she had taken the role of the older sister seriously. It wasn’t weird for her to grab him and start pulling him around and lecturing him; in her mind, the seconds she was born before Sebastian made her the de facto authority on most things between them. It was a sight that had become all too common around the Alaric Mansion; when they got out of the library, they found their grandfather Gerald waiting for them.

“Oh, children, are you two ready?” Gerald asked them with a warm smile on his face.

“Yes,” Aura and Sebastian answer at the same time, almost as if it had been rehearsed.

Gerald nodded and started walking. “Ok, in this way, let’s remember the basics of the conduits.” He told the two little kids.

“Yes, sir.” Again, both children answered at the same time.

“Good,” Gerald said. “Sebastian, what’s Amrita?”

“Amrita is the primal essence of creation. It’s the source of everything and connects our world, liminal spaces, and other worlds,” Sebastian answered.

“Good,” Gerald said. “Aura, tell me about liminal spaces.”

“Liminalities are the “in-between” that exist at the unnoticed; they are where reality fractures, where urban decay, technological overlays, and metaphysical echoes converge, creating zones that blend the mundane with the extraordinary. These spaces distort perception, amplify emotions, and blur the boundaries between physical, digital, and metaphysical realms. Often unnoticed or misunderstood, liminalities are shaped by the environment, human emotions, and residual energy from divine or technological forces, serving as gateways to deeper truths or hidden dangers in the cyberpunk world.” Aura said it like she was reciting a textbook by memory.

“Correct again,” Gerald said. As they walked, Sebastian and Aura couldn’t stop to marvel at the mansion.

The Alaric Mansion was, in reality, a penthouse at the apex of one of the city’s tallest skyscrapers in sector Zenith, the heart of luxury of Photos; it spanned several interconnected floors. At the center was a lush open-air garden, encircled by living spaces, featuring exotic flora and fauna from across the artificial continent and beyond. The exterior of the penthouse includes a massive glass dome that houses the garden, allowing natural light during the day and casting a neon glow at night. The penthouse walls are reinforced with seamless black marble and chrome plating, illuminated by soft lines of programmable LED lighting.

Both kids had grown up in that mansion since they were quite young, but they had been forbidden from ever going into the garden alone; that was until today.

“Alright, now, what are conduits?” Gerald asked.

“It’s the connection between Amrita and Anima, which is the strength of our soul and the domain of the divine that is overseen by the Gods,” Sebastian answered.

“Good, what types of conduits are there?” Gerald suddenly asked.

“Crystalline Relics, ancient relics infused with the essence of the divine,” Aura said.

“Synthetic conduits that have been artificially made by humans, but those are quite unstable,” Sebastian answered.

“Living entities, which are symbiotic beings born of Amrita, some are conscious and some are not; usually the biggest risk with those is that the living entity can take over the host in a moment of weakness.” Aura was the one answering this time.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Lastly, there are Soul Wards; they are marks etched into the soul that manifests in the flesh or cybernetics. The soul of the host can be fractured. by them, Aura said.

“Excellent,” Gerald said as he guided them to the garden. “Now the idea is that in this garden we will open a liminality; each one of you will go in separate moments, find your conduit, attune with it, and come back, understood?”

Both children nodded. At the center of the garden, Abigail, Arthur, Clara, and Celine were already waiting.

“Ok, now let me open the liminality,” Gerald said. “Who’s going first?”

“Me, of course,” Aura said. “I’m the older one. I’m the first one to go in.”

“Alright, let’s begin,” Gerald said. Then he tapped the ground three times. At first, nothing changed, but slowly, everything started to feel… off. Aura could feel a chill run down her spine. She started shaking, but she wouldn’t allow Sebastian to see her scared. She turned to look around, trying to see where to go.

“Remember Aura,” Arthur said with a stern voice. “The less you want to go somewhere, the more it’s the correct place.”

Aura continued looking around when she identified a plant that gave way to a little hidden path. She entered the path, and while the rest of her family stayed behind waiting for her, she turned one last time to take a look at her family and saw her brother Sebastian, standing there. He smiled at her and winked at her, a small gesture that reassured her a lot. She continued walking until the plants behind her started to fade, covering everything behind her. She felt alone; she continued walking until the fauna around her started to grow. The more she walked, the more things started to look strange; she started to be able to see herself in the fauna, as if she was being reflected, but that was not possible. She continued walking for what felt like forever until she reached a large silver tree with lavender leaves. The tree trunk of the tree was so silver that it looked like a mirror, and in that mirror, Aura found herself. The “she” in the mirror was staring right back at her.

“So, Aura.” The mirror Aura spoke. “What brings you here?”

Aura remained silent.

“Aaaaaaa,” Mirror Aurora said. “You are acting as the perfect little girl of the family? You know you are already a failure; where Sebastian studies, you play and cause a ruckus at the slightest form of discipline.

“We are children; we are not supposed to be well-behaved all the time,” Aura responded.

“Ohhhhhh, reaaaaalllllyyyyyy.” Mirror Aura answered with a mocking smirk on her face. “Where did you hear that? Because according to everybody, neither Jacob nor Sebastian ever behaved like that. Wait. Maybe you are right; you are just a child, and you’ll stay a child for a long time while your brothers grow without you, leaving you behind. Ugh, such a waste; Sebastian is going to surpass you because you want to behave like a child; he is going to leave us; he will be sitting with the adults soon enough, and you’ll be… all. Al. One”

“No, he won’t!” Aura screamed. “He is our brother; he won’t leave us; he will come with us.”

“Why would he? You’ve already seen Grandpa asking him more things and interacting more with him. What would keep him by your side?” Mirror Aura responded. “Not even your parents want to be with you; in eight years neither of them has spent a whole week with you; he will just leave you like your parents.”

“He won’t,” Aura muttered. “...”

“He won’t.”

“He already doesn’t do much with you now; how do you think things will go? He doesn’t like you now. Mirror Aura said in a mocking tone.

Aura fell to the ground and started to shake; she had been told that the trials to attune with a conduit were harsh and were designed to touch on their most profound fears, fears that even she wouldn’t know she had. But this felt worse than she had expected. She had never really wanted to acknowledge that Sebastian was the person she loved the most; after all, whenever everyone else left, her brother was there for her; he encouraged her and accompanied her when no one else did. She didn’t want her brother to leave her.

And… If she thought about it… She knew that her brother would not leave her… He was her unconditional support and company… And he liked being there for her... She remembered that one time when their parents had to leave early on their birthdays… She started to cry, hidden from everyone, but her brother found her, brought a piece of cake and sang Happy Birthday to her… She knew her brother wouldn't leave her, and she… She wouldn’t either.

Aura stood up; she started to walk past Mirror Aura. “Oh, So now we are in denial… Stop being such a naive little girl.

“That won’t fix anything.”

“So you are running away from your problems now.”

“What a disappointment!”

“Pathetic”

“M…”

“Fine.”

“Crash and burn little one.”

“For I”

“Azraelis, The Artifice of Precision”

“Precise you as my ideal Holder”

“Now attune with me, Aura,” Azraelis said while appearing in front of Aura.

Azraelis was an immense mechanical bird; the material from which it was made was sleek and glamorous, polished in such exquisite precision that when Azraelis shined, the soft, soft lavender lights shone, and it appeared that Azraelis was covered in different sigils and runes. And, to top it off, Azraelis's silver body appeared covered by crystals. Azraelis, after appearing in front of Aura with a swift movement of her wing, made a final Aura appear; this aura had silvery skin along with lavender hair. Besides her was her brother, and behind them were their parents. She and her brother each had the hand of one parent on their shoulders, and the most important part for Aura was the fact that all of them were laughing; they were happy.

And… The problem was… That image was the perfect image that Aura wanted… The image that Aura craved… The image that had never in her short 8 years of life ever happened.

Aura knew that what Azeraelis was asking was for Aura to destroy the image of perfection her little heart so desperately wanted, but it was either destroying that same perfect image or staying here with nothing at all. She knew what she wanted to choose but also knew what she had to choose. Aura wondered if that’s what it was like to grow up; was it choosing between playing a little more or going to bed so she wouldn’t get in trouble… She really wanted to play more… But… The other option was the one they had to choose… And so… She chose to go to sleep.

The result was the image crumbling as she walked right through it. She then found herself back at the fawn, walking through the little path. She found herself finally going off the little path and almost falling to the ground, but, fortunately, the one that had always been there was, of course, there too this time. Sebastian grabbed his sister and made sure she was ok; she seemed to be tired out of her mind. She finally let out a breath of relief.

“Excellent, a Living Entity conduit,” Gerald was the first one to speak. “Welcome back, Aura, now you can rest. Sebastian, get ready; you are next.”

“Yes, grandfather,” Sebastian answered. After putting his sister down, he walked over to the center of the clearing, If his sister had ended up like that, he was honestly worried about how he would do in that same situation.