Experiment 02: The Biotic Reversal

Runi stood in the center of what used to be his sanctuary, now a hollowed-out shell of cedar and dust. The transition through the light-leak perimeter had become easier, but the physical attic felt strangely thin compared to the high-contrast vibrancy of the Astral Keep. While the permanent bridge allowed his material belongings to reside in the Deep Astral without fading, the reverse path remained a mystery governed by the Law of One-Way Permeability.

He looked down at the floorboards where the gnarled, thorny wooden frame had once merged with the house. To his astonishment, the wood was not dead. Tiny, translucent shoots of astral flora were curling out from the cracks in the floor, pulsing with the same teal-blue internal light that had once characterized Astaro’s egg. This was organic matter from the astral plane, yet it had not dissolved into mist upon re-entry. It was thriving in the material world, anchored by a biological resonance he hadn't yet named.

The Failure of Dead Matter

Eager to test the limits of this discovery, Runi reached back through the shimmering vortex of Astral Nebula and grasped the 19th-century brass maritime chronometer. He had watched it function perfectly on the indigo stone altar of the Keep, its gears ticking in Conceptual Moments.

"If the moss can stay, then the machine should follow," Runi whispered, his voice echoing in the empty attic.

However, as the brass instrument crossed the threshold, the dual-realm frequency began to reject it. The heavy, polished brass began to flicker, turning into a varying shade of charcoal gray before losing its mass and molecular structure entirely. Within seconds, the chronometer—a masterpiece of physical mechanics—shattered into a shower of cerulean sparks and vanished.

The Biotic Exception

Runi realized then that the Impingement Field created by Astaro's birth was selective. He returned to the Keep and found a small astral flicker-wing—a delicate, moth-like creature of the upper realm—resting on a jagged obsidian spire. He gently coaxed the creature onto his finger and stepped back into the material attic.

The result was instantaneous and profound. The flicker-wing did not dissolve. It maintained its shimmering sheath of astral light, its wings fluttering against the heavy, oxygen-rich air of the physical world. The creature was a living bridge, just like Astaro.

Conclusions and Data Analysis

The experiment confirmed a radical new law of Dimensional Transference:

Physical Dominance: Inanimate physical objects can exist in the Astral Keep indefinitely, supported by the dragon's feedback loop.

The Biotic Reversal: Only organic, living matter can transition from the astral realm to the physical world. Inanimate astral substances, like the indigo stardust, remain bound to the Deep Astral and cannot survive the density of material reality.
Runi looked at the shimmering flicker-wing in his attic and realized the Permanent Gateway was more than a door for artifacts. It was a path for a new kind of mythical power to take root in the world, one living breath at a time.

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