Hyperion Cantos | Dan Simmons - The

The Hegemony believed the Shrike was a weapon left by the TechnoCore. The Ousters believed it was the final evolution of the human soul. Both were fragments of a larger lie.

Ouster, it said. Not with sound. With the shape of pain yet to come. Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos

“And you?” I asked. “What is your story?” The Hegemony believed the Shrike was a weapon

The Shrike opened its chest. Within, where a heart should be, there was no mechanism, no organ, no crystal. There was a door . A farcaster portal, but wrong—not linking two points in space, but two points in narrative . where a heart should be