Hermes nodded. "I never dreamed that I would see it for myself," he said. "Not like this. It's so different from looking up at the night sky." It felt almost like he could reach out and touch them, though he knew that to be a foolish notion; even like this, and even had this been reality rather than a dream, they would still be impossibly far away. So far that blazing suns were rendered naught but tiny glimmers of light in the darkness.

He turned his attention from the stars to his companion as he continued, giving a polite nod of apology and greeting. "Forgive me; I neglected to introduce myself. I am Hermes, Chief Overseer of Elpis. And you?"