Because they had discussed it beforehand in a dream, Abner was already waiting in the basement. When Edwina appeared on the Teleportation Altar, he went to greet her with a smile, and they exchanged a few pleasantries.
Outside academic discussions, Vice Admiral Iceberg was not a woman of many words. She merely nodded, then reflected on what she had just experienced and said:
"So that's what Spirit World Traversal feels like...
"Those overlapping blocks of color were like abstract oil paintings. Human concepts such as up, down, left, and right meant nothing there. Anyone who tried to navigate by them would inevitably get lost... I'd wondered why the Teleportation Altar was necessary. Now I see that without it, I would have lost my way in the Spirit World and never found the 'exit.'
"How does true Spirit World Traversal determine its destination?"
Unfortunately, Abner could not answer her. His Pure White Eye seemed unusually slow at analyzing anything related to the Spirit World and could not grasp its underlying principles. Otherwise, he would have tried to learn Travel long ago instead of developing this costly, complicated Secret Art with Edwina.
Edwina had not expected an answer. Their conversations in dreams over the past several days had given each of them some understanding of the other's strengths. After thinking for a while, Vice Admiral Iceberg set the question aside and toured Abner's newly completed workshop.
Earlier that morning, Xio had bought a steam engine through MI9's internal channels and prayed to Mr. Fool to sacrifice it to him. Mr. Fool had not responded until noon, however, so Abner had installed the power unit only a short while ago.
After making a circuit of the workshop, a rare trace of envy appeared in Edwina's spring-clear eyes. "The workshop is very well designed...