”And with that, she turned and left, slamming the door behind her.*She was back, if slightly late, for my talk on Friday, the last day of the confer...nce. I managed to corner her at morning tea afterwards.“Sorry about last night,” I said.She just shrugged in response. She avoided eye contact, and still wore that blank expression, which seemed devastatingly sad to me when contrasted with her usual state.“So, where did you go?” I asked.“Well, there’s this club in town which I had planned to visit. " I didn't think he was serious because guys, especially the straight ones, always seemed to say the gayest things."Fuck, that's not on the books anymore. You can suck away fairy." Oh you know I would Mark but Dickens demands my attention."Mark looked over, sweaty and panting, slouching low in his chair. "Seriously though, I just want a blow job. Isn't that what you do?"I thought for a second. Mark really was serious. I wasn't exactly leading the greatest sex life since moving to a tiny. The office is closed, Sirinna!"Sirinna swallowed and let out a ragged sigh. She tried hard not to panic herself. "A-All right, Amanda, please, calm down. We knew this was going to happen. We..."Amanda shook her head, her eyes blurred with tears. "You don't understand, Sirinna. I snuck a peek at the place where they're going to do it. They're selling us to the Urisi!"Sirinna gave Amanda a stricken look, her own eyes shimmering. She drew Amanda into a tight hug. "Oh gods..." This is like a. Everywhere you look matter seethes and burns in coalescing fury, knotted proto-stars coil and ignite in glowing nebulae, planets form in myriad accretion disks, and the overwhelming vastness of the universe is laid before your wings. Creation and death surround you, purpose not yet fathomed claws for your voice. And now you are winging at impossible speeds toward unimaginable worlds, and as you race above molten landscapes, as you dive through primordial seascapes you are crushed under the.