The transition from the crystalline chamber of collective consciousness back to singular awareness felt like diving through layers of reality, each one more substantial than the last. Lio's consciousness compressed, folding inward until he once again existed as a single point of awareness inhabiting a single form.
He stood in a garden that defied every law of nature he had ever encountered.
Emerald light filtered through leaves that seemed carved from precious stones, casting dancing shadows that moved independently of their sources. The trees themselves appeared to be living sculptures, their bark gleaming with an inner radiance that pulsed in rhythm with something deeper than heartbeat. Flowers bloomed in impossible colors—hues that his enhanced perception could process but normal human vision would have rejected as hallucination.
The air itself hummed with power.