Chapter nine is my kind of chapter. I'm not kidding -- I loved it. I have to quote this section as well:
"Wesson’s question was not answered with words. He was in space, floating amid a sea of stars. He was huge, so big that his eyes were galaxies. He was bored. He searched for a world, found a blue-and-green marble. He smiled and began to play. He took a form from the mythology of the world, one that would inspire fear. He created a place outside of time and space. He chose a handful of the bipeds that lived on the world and brought them there. He gave them “powers,” planted twisted seeds of ideas and then sent them back. He watched the chaos. And he was amused."
That was my favorite part as well. In fact, that is one of my favorite kinds of writing -- very abstract, complex, on a philosophical/cosmological level; it is characterization, but not of a person -- it is characterization of concept. I love concepts like that, ideas that act like fuel to rev up the engine of contemplation. The universe is so weird anyway...why shouldn't there be a Nebiros? Maybe he's a wandering black hole, or a gamma burst that went sentient...and bad.
Nebiros continues to intrigue. As does Wesson/Lucy. I just don't know where this might lead; I have thoughts. Tery, thanks for the chapter!