and the flatline aligned the nose of kuang's sting with the center of the dark below. and dove. case's sensory input warped with their velocity. his mouth filled with an aching taste of blue. his eyes were eggs of unstable crystal, vibrating with a frequency whose name was rain and the sounds of trains, suddenly sprouting a humming forest of hair - fine spines. the spines split, bisected, split again, exponential growth under the dome of the tessier - ashpool ice. 