Sebastian followed the path. He walked for what felt like miles, though distance was an entirely relative concept in this space. He bypassed massive, towering pillars of archived data representing fully assimilated worlds. He stepped over the dark, corrupted patches of servers that had already been digested by the Void.
Finally, the illuminated pathway ended.
Hovering just above the surface of the data sea, encased in a protective bubble of soft blue light, was a single, intricate file folder. It looked like a rotating, holographic globe.
It was Earth.
Sebastian's breath caught in his throat. He stared at the blue and green sphere. It looked small. It looked incredibly fragile compared to the towering monuments of the older servers. But it was completely free of the dark, purple smog of the Juncture. The golden barrier he had established was holding perfectly, wrapping around the planet like a protective blanket.
He reached out and gently tapped the holographic globe.
