The Space Spikes inside the Moon Gate were still expanding.
The first White Vessel did not step through.
She insisted on waiting for the conditions for her return.
Some thought this was hesitation.
Others proposed again that, since she was unwilling to take responsibility, the Five Nations' sealing teams should handle it by force.
The Recorder from the Land of Rivers did not rush her.
He drew each permission the gatekeeper mark could currently confirm on a wooden board.
Enter.
Close one Space Spike.
Return.
Of the first three options, only enter had lit up.
The Vessel pointed to the third.
"This one isn't there."
The gatekeeper mark seemed to hear her.
Twelve rings rearranged themselves.
It could not guarantee that whoever entered would return intact.
But once the closure request was completed, it could preserve a narrow path that allowed only the same consciousness to pass.
The narrow path recognized neither nationality nor the body's origin.
It needed a marker that could continuously point to the same consciousness.
The ancient authority used names.
The Vessel had no name.
The representatives of the Five Nations each proposed temporary designations.
Someone suggested continuing to use Carrier One.
Someone proposed numbering her according to the waters where she had been found.
Another wanted to register her in their country's script.
The Recorder did not present these choices to the Vessel.
Designations made management easier, but they would make her return permission dependent on whoever registered her.
What the gatekeeper mark needed was a self-reference the same consciousness could confirm repeatedly, not an external file number.
The records at sea had always called her the White Vessel or the one whose name remained unconfirmed.
These were all descriptions others had written for convenience.
They could not serve as her own return marker.
The