Unfamiliar place names had long since become par for the course, and since he didn't seem to be expecting Egypt to ring a bell with her, Raine passed it over for now. The other concepts he raised were much more interesting. "Every universe's iteration would of course appear differently," she said, warming to the idea. "With some recognizable key concepts more or less constant between? Everyone I've had the chance to talk to about it has something that at least resembles mana, it seems, whether it's called chi or eleth or anything else. If there's more than just that, if universes share a common base structure--"

That train of thought was rapidly discarded as soon as she lit on the next, enthusiasm outpacing the speed of her words. "And a soul implies some form of awareness, however limited-- though it's more likely mortal awareness that's limited. Take Asti, after all: we know he is there, and that he's sentient, but we're simply not equipped to communicate with him on the same level. And the difference between him and an entire universe would nearly have to be orders of magnitude greater. If there is that awareness--" She stopped there, not quite sure of the implied 'then,' certain only that this was an idea she wanted to pursue. "I'm getting ahead of myself," she said finally. "What have you observed in that vein so far?"