The Queen of Matter’s enhanced hearing caught the mumbled question, and she responded with the enthusiasm of someone sharing useful information.

"Oh, Ma’am Living Order, he makes the time! Literally!" She gestured expansively, causing several of her floating books to scatter and reorganize. "If you don’t know, he uses the time dilation features of the Infiniverse as much as possible. Time dilation, parallel processing, simultaneous existence across multiple areas- he’s probably using something like that right now in... that building over there."

She pointed toward the Abode of the Early Creature in the distance, its impossible architecture catching light that didn’t exist to cast shadows that shouldn’t be there.

Sigrid’s eyes narrowed as she followed the gesture. "What do you mean?"

The Queen of Matter tilted her head with the particular angle of someone who thought the answer was obvious. "Well, Ma’am Living Order, Sir Osmont is in that Abode right now with your fellow Harem Members."

The words landed with the weight of revelation that Sigrid hadn’t been prepared for. Her eyes widened to dimensions that Order itself wouldn’t normally allow.

"What do you mean ’in the Abode’? Right now? Doing what?"

The Queen of Matter blinked again, this time with the slow confusion of someone realizing they might be having two different conversations.

She looked at Sigrid with an expression that suggested she was questioning whether THE Living Order understood basic concepts.

"Well, in the privacy of that Abode, I’m sure they’re not playing tag or anything like that." She paused, considering how to phrase this delicately, then gave up on delicacy entirely.

"One of Sir’s favorite hobbies is Dual Cultivation. The exchange of essences, the mingling of energies, the multiplication of advancement through intimate-"

...!

"Right now?!" Sigrid’s voice rose to frequencies that made nearby Sacred Herbs lean away. "Over there?! While our other bodies are delving in the Depths?!"

The Queen of Matter nodded with the patience of someone explaining water to fish. "Yes?" She turned her head sideways, studying Sigrid with genuine concern. "Ma’am Living Order, do I need to teach you about the birds and the bees? Well... that metaphor might not translate properly across existential levels. How shall I explain? When two or more beings of sufficient complexity decide to engage in recreational advancement through physical and spiritual union-"

Sigrid didn’t let her finish. Her face flushed with a combination of emotions that Order was having trouble categorizing...embarrassment, indignation, and something that might have been competitive interest.

She turned away from the Queen of Matter, her expression filling with determination that suggested decisions had been made.

"Osmont!"

HUUM!

Her voice rang across the Shore with authority that made reality itself stand at attention. The Sacred Totems resonated, the Tenders paused in their endless labor, and even the Marine Lifeforms in the Aquarium turned to see what had provoked THE Living Order.

Moments later, space folded in a way that suggested it had been politely asked to make an exception, and another body of Noah materialized. This one bore the same three Seed Glyphs, the same casual authority, but his expression was stern as his gaze fixed on the Queen of Matter.

She froze completely, her books stopping mid-orbit.

Had she done something wrong? Had she violated some protocol about discussing the Master’s romantic arrangements? Was she about to be educated by the Goad about proper discretion?

Ooh? The eyes of the Queen of Matter pulsed with possibilities!

But Noah’s attention shifted immediately to Sigrid, who stood before him with the particular posture of someone who had identified a problem and intended to solve it.

"It seems," she said, managing to sound both cute and annoyed simultaneously, like a cat that had discovered its favorite napping spot occupied, "that you need Order in your life. You are too chaotic!"

Noah raised his eyebrows with the particular amusement of someone who enjoyed where this was going. Without warning, he stepped forward and embraced her, his arms wrapping around her with possessive certainty that made space itself jealous.

"I thought I had you?" His voice carried that tyrannical confidence that made reality reorganize itself to accommodate his statements. "Are you not Order? My Order?"

The words should have been overwhelming.

The embrace should have been inescapable.

But Sigrid, THE Living Order who was still learning what that meant...managed to be both flustered and defiant.

She broke free from his embrace with movements that suggested Order had decided to be temporarily disorderly, grabbed his hand with authority, and began leading him toward the Abode.

"You need a different kind of Order!" she declared, her voice carrying the particular tone of someone who had decided something and would not be dissuaded. "You need to be set straight! Organized! Properly sequenced!"

WAA!

Noah’s clone shook his head with the exasperation. But he followed along without resistance, because sometimes the wisest action was inaction. Sometimes, surrender was its own form of victory.

Their figures disappeared into the Abode, passing through doors that existed in more states than open or closed!

What occurred within those walls would remain unknown to others, though the Abode itself seemed to pulse with satisfaction, as if it approved of whatever Order was about to impose.

Outside, the Queen of Matter released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her books resumed their orbits, though several seemed to be glowing with the excitement of new Fables being written.

"Another woman has fallen," she said to no one in particular, though her tone suggested this was less lamentation and more observation of natural law.

She pulled out a particularly large golden book from the collection orbiting her, its pages blank but eager to be filled.

Humming a tune of melody, she looked around the Early Veiled Shore with the eye of someone whose job was to observe and record.

The Shore bustled with activity that would have seemed impossible anywhere else. Tenders moved through the plots with mechanical grace, harvesting what had grown while planting seeds for future harvests.

Each movement was purposeful, each action contributing to the perpetual cycle of growth and collection that defined this place.

Each movement exerted effort as since it was under the gaze of the Infiniverse and The Early Creature, the Seed of the Principle of Perpetual Harvest shone here as well!