There is something special about the number sixteen. For one thing, it was Preservation’s sign to humankind. Preservation knew, before he imprisoned Ruin, that he wouldn’t be able to communicate with humankind once he diminished himself. So he left clues—clues that couldn’t be altered by Ruin. Clues that related to the fundamental laws of the universe. The number was meant to be proof that something unnatural was happening, and that there was help to be found. It may have taken us long to figure this out, but when we eventually did understand the clue—late though it was—it provided a
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