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Eiko Takashima stood, eyes a glowing blue in the light of the hole leading into the space between worlds; the part of it that was chaotic and infinitely hot and infinitely dense and infinite power, the part that humans called 'de Sitter space'. She knew more about it that almost anyone now, four centuries of life and study had given her insights that few could imagine.

She knew that beyond it were universe where entities lived, intelligences cool and vast and without emotions or logic as most beings understood them. Once, a group of them had tried to invade the cluster of worlds she had claimed as her own, not as dictator or ruler or god, but as protector. They had fled, screaming in fear, as she had used weapons they did not understand and drove them back to their home.

But in this cluster, as always, there were those who wanted power, and didn't care what it would cost them or anyone else. They would reach out to that part of the multiverse for it, and they would offer up anything, and those things would think that perhaps, they could find a way around their fear with their new tool.

Standing before the hole was one of those tools. It had once been human; now, its hair had become a writhing mass of cilia; its eyes had multiplied to look like a dozen. The fingers had more joints that they should have, and the legs bent in strange ways.

But it had tried to bring in one of its masters, the things that whispered in the dark side of the multiverse - the part that those who travelled universes shuddered to consider - and someone that Eiko had known many years before had died. But she could not forget, could never forget, anyone she'd ever called a friend. And for these two crimes, she had no pity. Any pity for people like this puppet had died centuries before.

And yet, it had the temerity, the gall, the sheer presumption to beg, talking about how bad things had been, ending with, "Doctor Takashima! I beg you! Pity me!"

Eiko narrowed her eyes and said to it, "Fear me."

It seemed shocked; so many people felt sorry for it when you talked about how bad it had been.

"Tell this to your masters -- when they punish you, when they stretch you on the Lattice of Burning Worlds or through the Array of Broken Stars... I am still here."

"But you...?! You're one... woman!" it ululated.

Her eyes blazed, a halo of energy forming around her. "No, not a woman! Not a human being. I am far more than you could comprehend. I am the Protector of the Nexus. The Walker of the Great Machine. I am the Technologist! The Shield Against the Greater Horrors! I am Kiu Sigelas Mondojn; Sealer of Worlds! And sometimes... only sometimes, I. Am. Your. Worst. Nightmare." She paused for a moment, then her voice was softer. "I am the Gadget Queen, and I take care of my friends."

With a gesture, unimaginable force slammed into the thing, shoving it into the tear and away. It sealed soundlessly, leaving Eiko alone on the place she'd named the Farthest Shore, the part of Nexus-space closest to the Realms of Madness. With another breath, she gestured again, and a portal appeared to take her home.