The people I love most? My wives and children, of course.

  Although saying that is… questionable.

  Both they and I have already known the love of the Sekvens — infinitely greater, pure, inevitable. Just thinking about them is enough for my mind to surrender, surrounded by affection. One single thought… and I already belong.

  Since I am not one of them, I had to learn to separate Sekvens love from human love. Only then can I say, with some conviction, that the people I love most are my wives and children. At least… that is what I want to believe.

  But what truly matters is the love we have shared since the very first moment we saw each other.

  While I waited for Farol, I wondered how it would be to have a Sekvens wife. Never before had that idea crossed my mind. The happiness radiating from that room was so intense that it obscured any concern, any memory of why we were there.

  To avoid dissolving completely in that ecstasy, I turned my gaze away and wiped my face — inconvenient tears. I was not one to show my emotions.

  Then I noticed Farol, projected on a huge screen, watching the enchanted gazes directed at the Sekvens. And none, absolutely none, at him.

  “Ahem...” I cleared my throat, breaking the collective trance.

  Farol looked at me, surprised — someone there had not yet fully surrendered to their presence.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, William,” he said, before the others greeted him and the Sekvens smiled like an irresistible dawn.

  I bowed in respect. I did not need to smile — Xerantos did not smile with their lips. The human habit returned to the universe only when the Sekvens appeared.

  “I am here to officially welcome you,” Farol stated. “The Shoros will support your studies on Donna. And not only that: we, Xerantos, Sekvens, and the entire Known Universe, will support the person William.”

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  Those words warmed me. They would not support only the mission... but me.

  “You will receive a ship — the Jazzia — and an observer. You may call him AX. Their names usually involve too many letters and numbers for human use.” He smiled.

  I returned the smile. That gesture — so human — he made out of consideration for me.

  “Everyone here — including myself — will follow your process. From your learning of the language and customs we have identified on Donna to whatever you face on that planet. One day... or decades.”

  “Thank you. I feel safe... and loved.”

  In fact, I felt safer hearing those words from him. Although I knew that decisions came from the Sekvens. From them, I could only see love — of course, an error of mine, clearly a human mistake.

  The meeting went on a bit longer, until Yoko came to me.

  Rescued at the brink of death, Yoko had once been a Unido — like Milena before ascending as Sekvens — and lived on Earth hundreds of years before they reclaimed the planet. Her eyes had the shine of the Sekvens. A disarming shine.

  She raised her hand toward my face.

  Auxer — always by my side — moved instantly, as if to block a fatal strike. I felt her hands hold me just as Yoko finally touched me.

  It lasted only two seconds.

  For everyone else, that was all.

  For me... it lasted years. Decades.

  The universe expanded inside my body at an impossible speed. A rush of emotions so dense and sweet that I would drown if it continued for a moment longer. It was the most powerful drug ever conceived — love capable of destroying the body only to rebuild it in ecstasy.

  I felt my heart falter.

  I felt my life slip away... embraced by light and tenderness.

  When the touch ended, I was still there — without blinking — staring at Yoko's sublime smile as she stepped back. My soul begged for more, even when my legs failed and only Auxer kept me standing.

  Her heavy breathing revealed she was not only supporting my body — she was there to keep me from dying while absorbing part of what they called love.

  I regained some balance and turned to find in Auxer's face a radiant aura of contentment.

  “We want to kiss you,” Yoko said, “so that you receive a tiny fraction of our love. For that, we must get you used to it slowly.”

  A shiver ran through my entire body.

  If that was not even a fraction... then death would be inevitable when they kissed me.

  And yet... I longed for it.

  The two months that followed were exhausting and extraordinary.

  I focused on the human language, as there were signs that the Seliums understood it.

  And with each touch from a Sekvens... I died a little.

  And I was reborn in full ecstasy.

  The last time, I managed to remain standing without Auxer's support.

  A victory.

  Or... surrender.

  On my last day aboard the Shoros, amid anxiety and preparations — only I seemed to feel that way — I was struck by overwhelming fear.

  Not fear of the unknown planet ahead.

  But the absolute terror of being apart from the Sekvens.

  We departed shortly before dawn, heading to the region of Donna where we would land. The planet that would seal my destiny.