In less than a second, the colorful sphere, with a pattern like no other, collapses into a frozen, unblinking eye.
Time stops.
I cannot move ... no one can move.
I observe the frozen looks of astonishment on the faces of my children and their companions. I observe the frozen smile of Christina, who looks straight at me, her face a picture of serenity. I observe the frozen wings of the fairy-tale princess.
The timeless void suspends even private exchanges of thought and feeling.
Our silence is complete.
My silence is complete: I am a pure witness.
Looking through the eye of eternity, I ponder my place, my presence, my promise, my purpose, my progress.
I think about my place in the world, in a world where I can allow myself to be, have, do, or become whatever I will or desire.
I contemplate my presence in a world divided, where nothing is ever what it seems and where everything is exactly as it seems.
I recall my promise to serve those who would keep alive the essence of humanity before I consider my purpose in a future without this essence.
I ponder my progress as a caretaker on a path that would take away what remains of our humanity with relentless advances in technology.
And then I remember those who had chosen to die long ago as their technology overtook their humanity, perpetuating their memories by digital means but relinquishing their own subjective sense of continuity in the process.
