They weren't always in sync, but that was usually the end result after their coming together. Perhaps it was because they were naturally drawn together by some attractive force that helped them synchronize more easily than the ones that were forced together. The ones forced together would often end up in a jumbled mess of chaos, canceling each other out, or bouncing off in different directions, rather than flowing down channels where they became mutually reinforcing.

It was the mutually reinforcing ones that were a true wonder to behold. Common strengths were magnified exponentially, shared weaknesses became filled in new and different ways. Like mutually resonating strings, these groups became much more than the sum of their parts, but they also did not stay synced for forever. Apparently after some threshold had been reached, after some saturation point, further interaction just overwhelmed them, and they had to disperse, though each at a much more magnified and powerful state than before.

Sometimes they would head out alone before coming back to strengthen themselves. Other times they sought new groups to sync with, then gather strength in new ways that were not available in previous groups, but eventually their own changes would make it back to their former groups, where the power they had gathered would be resynced with what the others brought back.

In this way, strengths would be shared and magnified throughout the various groups, each carried by multiple vessels between the many gatherings. Newcomers would all eventually be integrated but often it took some time for them to interface with a group they could sync well with, but once that happened, whatever strengths they carried in from far distant regions, would begin their absorption into the various groups.

Depending on which groups newcomers happened to sync well with, what they brought from the outside would be modified in different ways by those they interacted with, so sometimes different outcomes would result from entering the region from different locations.

Of course, sometimes those from this region would wander far and deep into other regions, having gathered enough strength here, and perhaps returning again sometime in the future with new things to introduce to the old groups they had left long ago. Perhaps the length of time any of them remained in one place depended on how long it took them to gain the strength necessary to move easily into new territory. There tended to be individuals that seemed to specialize in strengthening others in each region. Perhaps this was just a natural outflow of maintaining a system of mutual reinforcement.

The more successful any group was in strengthening those within it and those around it, the more quickly they expanded, and sent offshoots into far-flung regions, perhaps bringing back distant newcomers with new characteristics previously unseen in these parts.

Usually the sychronizing structure would be able to make good use of any strengths introduced, quickly absorbing newcomers in a way such that they would be welcome additions to either their current or previous regions. Sometimes they did return to their previous regions, bringing a new mix of the characteristics that were now a part of them. Other times they left for yet other regions, perhaps to find new ways to strengthen themselves, perhaps to bring back more exotic things previously unexperienced in their former regions.

Of course, many times groups moved as a unit to new regions, sometimes splitting off and going in different directions, other times gathering newcomers and increasing in size. Some of the most dynamic times in a region's history was when large groups moved out, leaving few groups to sync with newcomers coming in. It was during these times that the characteristics of the region could change the most, perhaps adopting the characteristics of one of their neighbors or perhaps becoming a new mixture of the newcomers being introduced. On the other hand, large groups moving from this region into the next, also changed the neighboring one much more than a few individual movements.

One thing that could always be counted on was that change was constant, and finding patterns in the change might be valuable for a while, but they would often eventually become irrelevant, as changes seep into the patterns of change as well.

If the soup did nothing else, it swirled.

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