I've been reading the Prophecy and Change story "Chiaroscuro" by Geoffrey Thorne over the past few days and thought I would gauge opinions about it here. It was neat to have Ezri involved in a previous mission of Jadzia's, although I couldn't quite grasp exactly what would happen to the two devices were activated.
I remember that I enjoyed that one, although like you I did find some of the stuff with the device a little confusing. I don't really remember any details though.
I certainly enjoyed it, although the content's a bit ambitious for a short story. A mechanism for rebooting the universe? That really needs to be a novel, I think! It was a good character piece for Dax, by which I mean the conjoined being in its entirety, not just Ezri Dax. A rather unique and imaginative way to play around in the joined Trill psyche. Certainly memorable. And some of the little scenes were quite striking. The Starfleet officer, Romulan and Cardassian playing cards for knowledge, power and survival respectively (I think), only for Ezri to kick it over. It's also notable for being the first apperance of the Seleneans.
should have been a novel. the idea was, basically, the creators of the device were attempting to ensure the reboot of the universe once it winds down. ACTIVATING the device prematurely would have erased the universe in order to reboot to the next one. Sort of like the GENESIS DEVICE on a universal scale.