The dream dissolved into fragments as I gasped awake, the ebbia flowers' scent grounding me back in the present. My heart raced, my skin slick with sweat. It was always the same. Always that day.
Seven years, and still, I couldn't escape it.
But as pushed the dream away I was grateful that the sleeping pills had yet to fully affect me otherwise it would not have been so easy for me to wake up.
Blinking in the darkness that enveloped my room on Ohina I waited for my eyes not to be clouded by the dream so I could discern my surroundings. I lifted myself from the bed the thin blanket clinging to the lower part of my body as if it wanted to keep me there. I pushed it off wanting to escape even if for a little while. If I laid back down the sleep would creep up to me and the nightmare will find me again. After all tonight I only saw half of it so far, the sad and confusing part. The painful part was yet to come.
No, no matter how rattled I was because of the nightmares, I deserved them for my part in the events and for leading my best friend to his doom.
Letting my heart to settle into its normal rhythm I looked around the room while sitting up on the edge of the bed, the clean sheets a smooth, cool surface under my sweaty palms.
The darkness in the room though incomplete was welcoming enveloping everything it touched in a thick blanket of shadows. Here and there I could make out the outlines of familiar furniture pieces.
An ornate but delicate desk holding a disorganized variety of objects was placed next to the tall window on the opposite wall.
Silvery light coming through the see-through curtains at the window illuminated a portion of the room in a soft glow blending with the darkness before it reached me.
Ohina no longer had a natural moon. But now, they were building one—an artificial satellite meant to restore some aesthetic echo of what was lost long ago. It wasn't finished yet. From the surface, it looked like a fractured pearl caught in orbit.
There were also lamps used to dispel some of the darkness at night. One such lamp was placed near my window casting long, soft shadows across the wooden floor and shelves.
On the other wall there were some nice dark wooden shelves which held an assortment of books and data crystals placed neatly in labeled transparent cases left behind by the previous owner, Illogenna, the daughter of the man who decided to save me.
The floor was light wood and had purple, shaggy rug on top which now, in the dead of night, looked dark gray.
I stood up and walked slowly towards the window the feeling of the long threads of the rug like soft grass beneath my bare feet. At the blurry boundary between dark and light I stopped asking myself in silence for the millionth of time in the last six years if I deserved to step into the light. Some would say no. They will say that I deserve to be locked up, never to be heard from again and I could not argue against them, yet some, like the man who decided to save me, would disagree.
The day we met, seven years ago, he told me that I had an affinity for the psyclite therefore people will try to use me or kill me. He asked me if I wanted to live and my answer was affirmative. So he brought me here, to his house, his family, where I lived for the last six years hidden away.
I was still puzzled by the fact that Eiblierin Crorzzia decided to take me in so to speak. For all intents and purposes I should have been in prison right now but I was not. Some might say that I was on house arrest since I was not allowed to set foot outside the property without supervision but the confinement did not feel oppressive.
Hesitantly, I stepped into the light and walked all the way to the cold, crystal clear window embraced by translucent curtains, creating an enchanted opening into the garden beyond that invited in the gentile and warm breeze of the night.
The garden was Illogenna's mother's favorite place. It was night now so everything was muted, reduced to shades of gray and elaborate shapes and forms. Some of the plants were not even visible, like the sunflowers. They were not tall and proud like the sunflowers on Earth. The plant native to this planet resembled the geranium with a behavior that was more reminiscent to that displayed by the mimosa in its timidity. It will rise itself towards the sun each morning but if a shade came over it it will bend itself until it touched the ground and it will close its flowers until the shadow passed. Now, during the night it will lay on the soil, its flowers closed until the sun will touch it again making it rise.
There was also an ebbia flower tree near the main entrance of the house. It was old, huge and gnarled but it stood proud like guardian over the property. From my window I could only see a twisted branch that was reaching the roof edge like a hand that wanted both to support the constructions and to adorn it with its gorgeous white flowers.
Each time without fail the old tree will start flowering in spring until the end of summer. Sometimes, Illogenna will make ebbia flower cake which I came to associate with my new home.
The charm containing a small diamond encased in psyclite caught a ray of light and gleamed. As I raised my left arm to look at it the charm caressed softly my wrist just above my pulse. It was adorned with the intricate glyph of the Crorzzia family, the gilded accents coiling around the small precious stone.
The charm was from Illogenna who took it off from her own custom made bracelet and gifted it to me to help me with my mental shields since I was sensitive to the psyclite.
The psyclite combined with the diamond helped me focus and with its help I could see the photons but I still could not move them around properly. It was not much compared to what the natives Ohinan could do but it was a lot more compared to what I could do before I came to Ohina.
Illogenna could manipulate the plants like her mother, lady Shalphielle. She would amass photons into her bracelet that now contained only six charms sice one of them was given to me and then she will direct these photons inside a plant using a synchronized wave burst which was created by controlling the modified gamma waves. The waves produced by the Ohinans were a lot stronger and more precise since they evolved surrounded by the psyclite which could modify the brain waves in time.
She will link the charged photons that were amassed inside the diamonds in her bracelet by using a specific pattern which was called soul wave sculpting. This process was also used for etching patterns into her personal charm bracelet. These pattens were unique for each individual and when a specific spell was cast the precious stones will move along these patterns until the particles inside were spent and the spell ended. Then the particles that were released from the game stones will return again into them at the will of their wielder where they will recharge.
In Illogena's case these particles were photons which were absorbed by the diamonds and then were charged with her energy which was transfered to them through the psyclite. When she wanted to cast a spell she will release the photons with a a wave burst and form cocoons around the water molecules from within the plant. Using small, consecutive burst of telekinesis she would follow the veins of a plant and slowly move the water molecules that were encased inside cocoons of light until the water inside will resemble a string of interconnected beads. Once this process was finished she would move the beads inside the plant to determine how the branches should twist or in what direction they should grow. When she was satisfied with the result of her modeling she would release the water which will return to its normal flowing state.
The diamond on my hand gleamed again in the moonlight. When not used the psyclite jeweleries worn by the Ohinans will charge the particles inside the gems that were adorned with. The more control one had over their power the more gems there were embedded in the jewelery piece of their choice.
I had trouble controlling my own powers so one stone was enough for me at this stage. If one lost control they could experience ill effects ranging form mild to severe. For example I could loose control of the photons I was trying to manipulate and I could go blind. Or in case of Illogenna's brother who could produce fire by charging the photons with energy and changing their nature into fire particles, he could burn himself.
As I stood in the soft light of the moon the night wind brought with it the sweet scent of the ebbia flowers that caressed my senses and made me aware of how tired I really was. Thoughts and focus were naturally drawn towards the pillowed bed in the room. Therefore, after taking one last look at starlight kissed garden I returned to bed, set myself into a comfortable position and closed my eyes letting the ebbia flower shooting aroma to lull me back to sleep.
*********************************************************************************************************
The dream world sucked me again into the familiar scene that was the cabin from the Pinnacle with its functional and sterile atmosphere. The older me took a look around. My mother presence was gone, most of her things were packed so what the dream showed me was the continuation from before.
Turning around I watched as the door slid open and my younger self entered the room. Right then the computer bleeped as a message from mother who was now back on Earth just arrived.
The younger me placed her backpack on the nearby chair and opened the message that read:
"My sweet,
How was your day? Today, I finally feel like myself again. I guess my body acclimated itself with the new schedule that includes working at the biology lab during the day and going to classes in the evening. Speaking of the evening, Tovash asked me to go to dinner with him tonight and I accepted so I will not be able to talk to you today. Let's see how this goes…
We will speak tomorrow evening.
Take care,
Mom"
I watched her simile while reading the message glad to see that mother managed to find a balance between working and having a nice time with a person who seemed to really care about her.
The reply she gave was as succinct as possible.
"Hi, Mom,
I am glad you are doing fine. Go have fun with Tovash. I cannot wait to hear how it went.
We will talk tomorrow.
Take care."
She had just hit send command for the message when a buzzing sound came from the door.
"Open." she commanded the room AI as she pivoted the chair towards the door.
The door opened letting in the young Zinon. He looked both excited and guarded at the same time as he entered the room.
"I managed to procure the psyonic visor; for a couple of days at least it is yours to play with. Also, I met my father on my way here." He added with a large grin.
"Let me guess he told you that his request has been approved."
"Yes. We will be going down to Ohina tomorrow, on the city Disk."
"The Hellyonar, I thought that we will be going on the on the Oceanic Disk, the Heimelas, where the university complex is located."
"I am glad that we do not, because this way we do not have to find a way of transportation in order to reach the section of the pylon. We can walk."
My younger self gave him a week smile as she took the psionic visor from his hands. She took a deep steadying breath and my older dream-self flew itself into the younger body merging together.
Again we are looking at the dream world through the same pair of eyes. The visor looked a bit bulky but it was light in my hands, its silvery colored surface cool against my sweaty skin. For a brief moment I felt a slight buzzing sensation on my fingers.
"Let's do the experiment and register the results to cover for the use of visor. Just do not try to make me place an extremely unreasonable order." Laatook said grinning as he took a seat on the minimalist sofa in the room.
"Maybe, we should try to establish a range of requests then so as not to go totally over board." I told my friend.
"You are too cautious my friend but, I think we can make a compromise for the research purposes. We should establish an unreasonable request for this research as a control limit. Although, I also wanted to give you time to adjust to the visor until the time will come for you to actually use it as we planned."
My friend's last sentence pulled my mind into a sudden halt.
<
A firm grip on my arm drew me back from my introspection and I blinked as the face of my friend filled my vision, his own four dark eyes focused on me intently.
"Are you all right? You seemed lost for a moment." He searched my face while his words rang in the air emphasizing the waves of masked concern that were flowing around him.
My body tensed as I became acutely aware of his proximity
"You're not worried about what we are planning to do, are you? How can you be so calm, Laatook?"
"Well, what can I say is a matter of perspective, with my four eyes I can almost see past your obsession with being cautious, my dear partner in crime. But, to put your mind at ease, which limit should we establish?" The Zinon said winking at me.
He always had this ability to ease my tension while also trying to push me gently outside my comfort zone.
"We should be careful not to surpass the buffer of the micro-storage nodes in the ship. It is true that they are quantum resource points but if we place an extremely large order in the Matrix Waver someone might take notice and I do not know if we have time to file all the reports in order to explain that this was an experiment in order to exemplify how the psyclite visor could be use unethically during a transaction." I looked at my friend pensively.
"You are right. We do not have the necessary time to get entangled into a lengthly explanation, but I also want you to train more with the visor."
"Let's start with something small, like a psyonic warm-up exercise, please?" I replied, a ghost of a smile playing on my lips.
"Hmm, how about me ordering some of that insufferable Earth food. Then we will go from there." He said grinning.
Nodding I lifted the visor and placed it in front of my eyes. The psyclite clamps activated and fixated themselves on my temples and around my forehead like a hand with six digits.
So, hunger. I knew how hunger felt. One of the basic needs of any living being. First, I pictured the lethargy that came together with emptiness settling at the bottom of your stomach and from there flooding your system and senses with the need to consume.
Focusing on the Zinon I took a look at his brain waves as seen through the visor analyzing their unique pattern as they ebbed and rose. Concentrating I synchronized my own brainwaves and connected with his mind. I searched within a feeling of need which was not hard given his strong desire to steel the metal that seemed to motivate each waking moment of its existence for the last few days since he had decided that this was the path he was going to follow.
A little sliver of that need was the base for modeling a fake feeling of hunger. I took it and started transforming it inside his mind. When the sensation of emptiness started to take root I mirrored this ghost emotion in his brain with the sensation of hunger that I nurtured in my own mind and then sent the latter towards him.
His pupils dilated for a second then his nostrils flared as he took a deep breath. For a second, I wanted to be able to take a deep breath myself and be able to exhale. But, I had to maintain my concentration and continue projecting.
The Zinonians came from a planet that was farther away from the its parent star than Earth. It was a cold place and its inhabitants chose to live inside a series of caves that connected the massive mountain ranges that represented the main environmental feature of their home. Their food reflected that as well consisting mainly of various creatures that also leaved in the cave system.
The nurtured need was only the base for my task. I needed to make him order something. When I met Laatook we sort of bonded during a meal when we both eat sushi so planting the need to order sushi was the safest bet in this case.
"Umm, I feel a sudden urge for sushi…" he said as he stood up and approached the ordering terminal inbedded in the wall of the cabin.
The terminal had no tangible controls. It was a metallic surface with intricate, psyclite designs that run along its entire surface in a fractal-like patterns.
"Six sushi rolls with raw salmon." The Zinon ordered.
The psyclite vibrated at the vocal command, the patterns becoming brighter as the circuits inside came to life as well registering the order and sending it to the quantum resources nodes in the ship. Soon after a holographic 3D representation of a plate with sushi rolls appeared on the ordering board.
"Add three sushi rolls with pickled vegetables and soy sauce." My friend amended the order.
A 3D representation of a small container with a dark liquid appeared next to the plate together with three additional sushi rolls.
"Finish." The Zinon concluded and turned around flashing me a wide grin which exposed two rows of white sharp teeth.
As soon as my friend issued the last command a flurry of shimmering fractal patterns begin to dance on the surface of the ordering terminal combining and waving themselves together into delicate and ephemeral textures that started to gain solid form as organic and inorganic particles called forth by my friend command from their storage space inside the quantum nodes started to align and stabilize in the web of energy. generated by the psyclite circuits.
In the span of few seconds six sushi rolls appeared neatly arranged on a minimalist white rectangular plate.
"Come on, that was easy, you know very well what I like." He said picking up the sushi plate.
"In order to manipulate someone you start with the most basic needs and you mold these according to that person more specific and complex desires." I answered giving him a sideways grin of my own. "You cannot deny that I made you order sushi."
"You might be right. We will stick to something simple it leaves less room for mistakes. So, in order to distract the guards you will invoke only simple feelings in them like mild discomfort." He said walking back to me plate in hand.
His voice had become soft and he chose his words very carefully as he gently put the sushi plate on the table as if he was afraid that even a slight noise would startle me, yet I could not help but wince. He was dancing around the term "pain". It was simple relay, you wanted to incapacitate someone than you made them feel pain, that would force most people to shift their perspective towards themselves and their survival.
I knew what pain felt like…a nervous spark that could be morphed into a glowing seed that, when planted and nurtured could grow into wines that coiled around one's mind targeting the pain receptors like a madden carnivorous plant that hunted the neural impulses twisting them until the person that was the target was left in agony, or until the emphatic attack stopped.
It felt horribly wrong. I opened my mouth to voice my objections but Laatook cut me off before I could utter a single sound.
"Relax, we will not do anything lasting to them. It will be only some mild symptoms of malaise in order to keep them distracted for a short time until we can sneak into the pylon, a few minutes at most. Beside, it is worth it." His voice became cold and resolute as the words left his lips.
"But we will be hurting people. I will…" my voice came out sharp, disbelief etched across my face. I folded my arms, but by doing so I noticed the slight tremor in my fingers so I griped my arms tight in order to ground myself.
It was the first time when I confronted my friend about something and I could already feel how week my attempt was only by looking as his resolute face.
"Listen to me," he said, his voice low and urgent. "This isn't just some reckless gamble. It's a chance to change everything for my family. For me." His voice gained a wariness I now recognized as desperation.
"By stealing? From the Ohinans? This isn't some harmless prank, Laatuuk. If we're caught…"
"We won't be caught," he interrupted coming even closer and leaning forward. His four eyes locked on mine, intense and unyielding. "You said you trusted me."
"I do. But…"
"No buts. You don't understand what it's like for us. If my father loses his position, we are done. Back to Ziona. Back to…" His voice cracked, and he looked away, fists clenching. "Back to…nothing."
I studied him, searching his face for hesitation. There was none. Only resolve.
"Laatuuk… I…" the words refused to link together as if the hesitation cling to them enveloping each one of them like a cocoon that stopped any coherent argument from taking shape.
"I need you. You're the only one I can trust. Please."
I did not get a chance to reply as the wall parallel to us lit up as an ethereal dark-gray screen came into being on one of my cabin walls. An image begin to coalesce on the insubstantial display. Someone was making an emergency call to my room. To our surprise it was Laatuuk mother.
"Laatook…" her four eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at us and only then I realized just how close my Zinon friend and I were.
I took a step back glad for the exo-scheloton support which prevented me from stumbling around or even falling because mentally I felt drained and imagined my muscles would have felt too weak to sustain me without the added help of the psyclite encasement.
"Mother…" his voice was dripping with annoyance as he stepped away from me turning to face his mother fully and slightly lowering his head in a gesture of defiance by Zinon standards.
"Please come home tonight, it is way past dinner. Your father and I will appreciate if you would dine with us." Her voice was tense but she made no mention otherwise about the fact that her son decided to start the conversation by presenting her a full view of his antlers. In fact her gaze was fixed on me this whole time which made me fidget on the spot.
"I will be there in a few minutes mother." My friend replied and I noticed that he was clutching the dark pendant he always wore.
"Very well, your father and I will be waiting." She finished her eyes never leaving mine as the screen went dark only to dissipate into nothingness a few heartbeats later.
"I have to go, I will wait for you tomorrow near the maintenance shaft no. 21 on the hydroponic deck." His tone was clipped as he moved briskly towards the door.
"What for?" I directed my question towards his retreating back.
"Training…" he replied going out the door.
A sharp exhale escaped my young self lips as she was left alone in the room. I broke free of her control riding her shuddering breath and became again the Observer.
The smell of the forgotten sushi on the table permeated the air in the room becoming heavy and repugnant with each breath my younger self took. She hated the smell of fish, it made her think of death and she could not shake this feeling that this endeavor was doomed. But in spite of everything she will do anything to help her friend.
He just told her that he needed her, his eyes full of desperation bordering madness. She will be there for him. Mind set on the goal she exhaled carefully fingering the small Ebbia flower charm that now hang from a thin silver chain around her neck.
My older self insubstantial form floated near the table, I could still remembered the smell of fish that my younger self felt. It made me feel dirty. This disgusted feeling cling to me like shroud, seeping into me and lodging itself in my sleepy mind. The dream started to loose consistency becoming an incoherent blur of alarms, shouting, and the sound of something shattering. My heart pounded, the metallic tang now mixed with the coppery taste of fear and self-loathing.
*********************************************************************************************************
I woke up with a start, gasping, the cacophony of the nightmare slowly dieing down as the the scent of ebbia flowers pulled me back to the present.
Sitting up I reached for the journal on the nightstand my hand brushing the delicate psyclite decorations on its cover, the faint vibration an welcoming feeling against my skin.
Finding a comfortable position I opened the journal, ethereal pages taking shape as a response to my action.
<
<> I told myself, my voice barely above a whisper, , trembled even in my thoughts.
<> The thoughts interjected now laced with a tone that eerily resembled Illogenna's.
These words I exchanged with myself pressed like iron shackles inside my mind, locking my thoughts in a cycle I couldn't escape, as I stared back at the blank page in front of me.
I brushed my fingers against the unsubstantial page trancing a labyrinth of patterns each line imbued with different facets of self-loathing, doubt and pain. Doubt was a meandering string interrupted by knots at uneven intervals, self-loathing was like a path of dewy blades of grass, heavy with emotion, always on the verge of becoming a sweeping wave and pain, a snarl of spiked vines, wild and biting like brier. All flew from my mind and into the pages of the journal melting into it, becoming part of it.
Closing the diary I rested my head against the headboard staring into darkness and wondering again what was the point in pouring my feelings into this journal. Tomorrow, I will analyze them again with Illlogenna, a process that started years ago, with no end in sight. I may now feel drained, numb, but by tomorrow the guilt will sprout again.
Illogenna would want me to put some kind of distance between myself and these memories turned nightmares. This was the whole point of creating two versions of myself in the dream world, to find a way to detach myself from all of it. But these memories ran so deep, they clung to my psyche like stubborn roots. For years now, the process had remained stalled, as if frozen in place.
The death of my friend was at least in part my responsibility as it was the entire chain of events that lead to it. If I had stopped him he would have been alive right now. Stuck on Zonia, perhaps. But alive. And being stuck on a planet was infinitely better than being dead.
Now I was the one who was stuck—on Ohina. This house, which had come to feel like home, was also a cage. I was not allowed to leave. Not really.
Reluctantly placing the diary back on the night stand I sighted loudly and lied down again. If I cannot sleep Illogenna will notice in the morning and she will be upset.
And the last thing I wanted was to upset her.
She'd become something like an older sister to me—if sisters were made of silk and iron. She had this way of seeming delicate, with her long red hair and luminous green eyes, as if she belonged in one of the old paintings. But she was grounded, responsible, always calm in the face of things I could barely hold together.
Illogenna had a kind of quiet authority about her. She never raised her voice, never forced advice. She simply saw me. And she stayed.
I often wondered why she cared so much, in fact, since that accursed day, seven years ago, I kept wondering why everyone in this family cared for me in their own way. I was an alien, one who had committed a crime, yet everyone in this house made me feel safe.
I pulled the covers up to my chest, fingers brushing the edge of the charm she had given me, the small psyclite-and-diamond pendant from her own bracelet. She said it would help me stabilize my mental focus. I think, deep down, it was also her way of keeping me anchored to something gentle.
She wasn't the only one who'd tried. Her mother, Lady Shalphielle, had welcomed me with the kind of quiet grace that didn't demand gratitude.
Her father, more reserved and almost severe, simply acknowledged my presence and said nothing more. But I could not deny his kindness. I owed him everything. Still, sometimes I imagined him as an old dragon—distant, inscrutable, hoarding strange curiosities. I was one of them now. A living oddity with an affinity for psyclite. A valuable curiosity. So he had stepped in—before anyone else could.
For now, the old dragon protected me.
And then there was Illogenna's brother... radiant and dangerous in equal measure. A storm barely contained beneath the surface—like fire under glass. He carried himself with purpose, sharp and efficient, his intensity drawing a line between himself and everyone else, especially me.
I hadn't seen much of him lately, and I wasn't sure if that was by design. There had been a moment, early on, when I thought I glimpsed something - recognition, maybe, or empathy—but whatever it was had vanished almost instantly, burned away by a wall of heat that made me feel like I'd stepped somewhere I shouldn't have.
They all lived under the same roof, and yet each had their own orbit. I was still learning how to fit into the rhythm of this strange constellation.
This house, this family... it wasn't mine. But sometimes, when the nightmares faded and the silence held, I let myself pretend that maybe it could be. Just for a while.
The comforting scent of ebbia flowers lingered like a lullaby, and for the first time in hours, my mind quieted drowsiness creeping in. The sleeping pills were starting to take effect.
*********************************************************************************************************
When the dream reclaimed me, it brought me back to the Pinnacle, to the very moment Laatuuk's plan solidified. This time, I was in the hydroponic deck. Rows of lush greenery filled the space, the plants thriving under artificial sunlight.
I hovered near my younger-self as she stood beside Laatuuk facing the opening of a maintenance shaft.
She was nervous judging by the way she fidgeted on the the spot and how her fingers traced some of the psyclite wires of the exoskeleton that encased her legs. She released a shuddering breath and with the next inhaled breath I was absorbed into her becoming one.
Looking over my friend I noticed the subtle paleness of his skin and the way his ears hung close to his head.
"You are tired…" I started well aware I was stating the obvious but finding myself at a loss on how to approach this. My friend was so determined to do this that whatever I was going to say it will fall on deaf ears.
"I am…", to my surprise he did not deny it, "but I promise you that after we do this I will rest." He added giving me a side-ways smile.
To humor him, I found myself nodding my reluctant acceptance.
"The maintenance shaft will be our training ground," he said, pointing to a schematic on his holo-pad.
The air in the maintenance shaft was earthy and damp. A dim, flickering light panel cast uneven shadows along the walls, making the already claustrophobic space feel even narrower.
"Take this", he said placing a small rectangular device in my hands, "it is meant to mimic a small part of the outside security psyonic network that envelops the pylon."
As soon as I touched its opaque surface a familiar tingling run across my fingers.
"How did you managed to create this?" I asked while he turned around and started climbing into the shaft.
"I borrowed my mom's jewelry." He answered curtly as he disappeared into the shaft.
"You, did what?!" I felt my eyes widen as my voice rose echoing sharply in the confined space.
"We need something that can mimic, at least in part, the conditions we will meet on the ground a few days from now. This is the best I could come up with in such a short time. Study the prototype I gave you until I can place the other three inside the shaft."
I sighted and sat down on the floor next to the climbing kit putting the psyonic visor on and activating it. As I turned the psyclite device on its opaque surface lost its consistency in front of my visor covered eyes. Gone was the silvery opaque surface with the two alien glyphs inscribed into it. In its place I could see a labyrinth of circuits that came to life like a spiderweb pulsating with its own energy.
The energy pulse felt familiar as if I was looking at an echo. I realized then that Laatook constructed this device based on the structure of the psyonic visor and the more I studied it the more it looked like a hack panel.
"Ok, I can see the inside of the device you gave me."
"I know, try to follow the circuits paths with your mind as fast as you can. The one you have is not connected to anything for now. I am connecting these other ones to the alarm system."
"The alarm system?!!" I yelped as thoughts of being discovered by the ship security personnel crossed my mind.
"Relax, the systems running through this particular shaft are cut off from the ship ever since that little flood caused by humidity sensors malfunctioning affected this part of the hydroponic deck last month." His descending voice rang from inside the shaft.
In a few minutes he was down again standing next to me.
Casting a look upwards I caught glimpse of my friend's outstretched hand as a short tremor passed through it. My friend was exhausted, no doubt he barely slept since this crazy idea formed into his head.
"The device you held is a small EMP generator. It does not do anything now. It simply exists. If mounted near any living circuit will mimic the pulse of energy from that circuit."
"A chameleon device that would not be possible if it were not made of psyclite."
"Yes, this is why I had to "borrow" my mom's jewelry. Inside the device there is a pattern of circuits that you will have to activate in order to start the device."
"I saw the DNA like structure inside." I nodded.
"That is one," he patted me on the head as he bent down to take the device from me, "once it is activated the device will emit a EMP pulse which will disrupt the security grid surrounding the pylon."
"Listen, Laatook, this is brilliant, if you can construct something like this in such a shot time why do you not…" I said softly handing him the device.
"Do not, just… do not," he cut me off before I could finish.
He turned around and proceed to place the device at the base of the shaft connecting it to the control panel on the wall.
Taking off my psyonic visor I watched him work rapidity and efficiently mounting up the unassuming silvery device and securing its psyclite clamps on the shaft surface.
"There, now it is connected." He said turning to me with a proud grin.
Raising from the floor I stood next to him lowering the visor over my eyes the circuits coming into focus once more. If they were steadily pulsating before now they looked like blood vessels through which the flow of energy passed uninterrupted. Suddenly, a stray realization hit me, the ship can be considered alive in its own way. The AI is its personality and the psyclite circuits are its circulatory system.
"Focus," the voice of my friend drew me out of my inner musings, "you have to control the flow of energy inside the psyclite circuits in order to stop it from interacting with the control panel to set off the alarm."
"I know, I think I got it for the first device." I told him as the energy particles inside the psyclite construct moved according to my will entering the designated circuits which came to life pulsating steady in a new rythm.
"I can see that," my friend said squeezing my shoulder, "let's see how you handle the other two devices while climbing."
I pushed the psyonic visor up and took a look at the psyclite EMP emitter. One of the glyph was glowing with a faint iridescent light. A cue the device was working.
"You'll use this now," Laatuuk said, nudging the harness toward me with his foot. "The real climb won't come with a ladder. You need to learn how your body moves while you're tethered."
"It's light," I noted, slipping on the harness. "Almost too light."
"You'll feel the weight when you're ten meters up and sweating through the gloves," he replied, tightening a strap on his own equipment.
The harness was a sleek frame of interwoven chetrium fibers, responsive to thought and pressure. It wrapped securely around my waist and thighs. A thin, gray lifeline uncoiled from the back of the harness, its smart-polymer strands humming faintly with stored tension.
Laatuuk handed me a pair of grip-gloves—soft, flexible material lined with micro-adhesive chetrium mesh.
"These will help with vertical surfaces, especially once we get to the pylon. There will be no ladder there. Get used to them."
The stabilizer boots clicked softly as I stepped, their low-torque magnetic soles activating briefly on the floor. A small wrist module lit up, monitoring vitals, grip status, and line tension. The setup wasn't built for comfort. It was built for survival.
Once satisfied with my gear, Laatuuk checked his own harness and moved past me into the shaft. I followed, only to be stopped by his voice.
"Keep your footing light," he instructed, his voice echoing softly in the confined space. "The weight sensors are sensitive. If you stomp around like that, you'll set off every alarm."
"You just had to enable the motion sensors as well…" I mumbled dejectedly.
"I am sure the security net of the pylon is more complex than the circuits that I came up with but if we train under a more demanding external circumstances it might give us an edge." He answered me in a measured tone.
"Really? I must admit that your argument is endearing but it does not make much sense. How do are we supposed to handle a complex security network when we are handling closed circuits?" I asked my friend hoping that the problem that I was raising will make him see the difficulty of what he wanted to do and discourage him from proceeding further.
"We do not need to tackle the entire security network of the pylon. We only need to disable some points in it temporarily so we can pass."
"You are looking at this like it is an actual wire fence." I mused.
"Exactly. You create the fissure. I deploy a device. We climb while the gap holds. Then find the next spot." He confirmed.
"Oh, so we will use these three small devices in the heist. They are EMP generators. But you said you will only build one."
"That was the initial plan but after studying all that we know about the pylon I decided that we need three of them in order for this to work. I have to compensate for how complex the security net actually is." He added and I could practically sense him winking at me.
"You make it sound so simple."
"A solution does not have to be complex to work. It just has to be efficient… and it is." He finished with conviction.
The psycite exoskeleton was sending additional impulses to my muscles in order to compensate for the effort I was making while climbing after my friend. It made me feel like a small army of ants was marching on my legs so I stopped for a moment to allow the unwelcome, yet familiar sensation to pass.
I placed my left hand over the small Ebbia flower pendant at my neck a took a deep breath.
"Are you sure it will work?"
"Yes, if you can manipulate the energy inside the psyclite with your mind in a short interval that I designed and under the added pressure of the motion sensors than it will work. It is similar to the way you are manipulating the impulses your psyclite exoskeleton sends to your muscles."
I frowned skeptically at my friend's words. I had sixteen years at my disposal to become familiar with my exoskeleton. I was also familiar to the psyclite visor and I could work with these devices that my friend made, since they were following the same principles… but I could not guarantee that I could influence the security grid on Ohina in the same way.
"Stay calm, doe." My friend's teasing voice floated down towards me.
"I'm trying," I muttered, gripping the worn rungs of the ladder as I pulled herself up. The gloves hissed softly as they detached and re-gripped. Sweat slicked my palms, making each step more precarious. "But climbing up while playing match circuits in your mind is not exactly easy."
"The climbing gear will be harder to use without the ladder." He paused above me, glancing down. His claws tapped against the rung as he adjusted his grip. "If this makes you nervous, you're not ready."
"I'm not nervous," I shot back, my tone sharper than intended. "I just… don't want to fall."
The psyclite exoskeleton that I was wearing helped with movement but it will not prevent me from falling. It helped stabilize my movements, sending corrective impulses to my muscles with each step, but it didn't eliminate the risk. I was still tethered to a secondary line that hummed faintly when taut—emergency tension control only
"Falling is the least of your concerns. Look." He pointed to a small console embedded in the wall. "If you don't activate the psyclite device within twenty seconds, it doesn't matter if you fall or not. The alarms will take care of the rest."
I frowned, narrowing my eyes at the console. "That's easy for you to say. You've done this a hundred times."
"And that's why I'm here to make sure you don't mess up," he replied with a smirk. He pointed out to the small device mounted to the wall, its psyclite surface gliming faintly in the flickering light. "Activate the primary circuit first. Then the secondary one. Clock starts now."
My thoughts morphed into insubstantial fingers touching the psyclite circuits quickly and manipulating the energy inside them, amassing it into a well-defined pattern but apparently I was not quick enough. The faint whir of an alarm filled the shaft as Laatuuk triggered a simulation fail.
"And you're caught in the act," he said flatly. "Congratulations."
"You're insufferable," I muttered, glaring up at him as he climbed higher. "I'll get it next time."
"You'd better. There won't be a next time if you fail the real thing."
"So, we wait until we are on the surface and then we will sneak off to the main pylon. We go in take a sample and return to our group." I asked Laatuuk while waiting for him to reset the timer for our next try.
"Hopefully we will be able to do that before the lab presentation is finished and someone notices our absence." He said without looking at me.
"Have you thought how will we smuggle the psyclite sample out of the planet once we have it?" I asked, my voice low in order to prevent it from reverberating against the tight enclosure of the maintenance shaft and distracting my already exhausted friend.
"You will be the one carrying it. Your exoskeleton is made from psyclite so it is the best cover for a tiny psyclite sample." He said, his voice tinged with weariness despite his best effort.
My heart started to race at the prospect of me passing through the checkpoints with the psyclite sample on my person.
"There, all set. Let's do this again." My friend voice pulled me back to the task at hand.
My younger-self exhaled slowly and my older self took form beside her. I watched as my younger-self was climbing steadily, the exoskeleton gliming faintly as she went higher onto the ladder while I just floated in the same spot. A dream ghost. It was only fitting I suppose, dreaming of the dead, while I felt like I also died seven years ago together with my friend who was now present in my nightmares.
Watching as my younger-self paused near another psyclite device I glided passed her to cast a look at my friend. He was exactly as I remembered him, tall, lean and with an impressive set of intricate antlers adorning his head. At least my memory of him remained as accurate as the day I lost him as it should be.
Along side my friend I watched my younger-self trying to manipulate the flow of energy inside the psyclite device with her mind, deep cresses appearing between her eyebrows.
It was so long ago when the task of moving energy particles with my mind appeared so taxing.
Before long, however, a sharp cry of joy reverberated against the metallic encasing of the maintenance shaft and I was once again absorbed into my younger-self body as she drew in a sharp intake of damp air. I tried to resist the pull but the elation that my younger-self felt swept over me like a wave binding me to her with invisible ties vibrating with the inebriating feeling of success that made my soul break.
As I merged with my younger-self I felt her pride and confidence permeate everything and for a moment I understood my own resolve to see this through back then. I trusted my friend and I trusted my own psyonic abilities so this mad idea was beginning to look feasible.
"I did it, Laatuuk, I did it. I redirected the energy flow and thus activated the EMP generator." I told my friend.
Laatuuk stretched, rolling his shoulders with a satisfied sigh. "Not bad. We're getting better at this."
I exhaled, shaking off the tension from the session. "Yeah, though that last circuit sequence nearly threw me off."
Before we could discuss further, a sharp chime echoed through the chamber. The room's ambient lighting shifted slightly, signaling an incoming transmission. Laatuuk glanced at the small communication device secured on his wrist, and his expression tensed the moment he saw the identifier.
"That's my mother," he muttered. There was something between resignation and amusement in his tone.
Hooking one arm around one of the ladder rungs to keep his balance he extended his left arm to the side accepting the call with a curt voice command.
A large projection of his mother's face materialized before him, although due to the confining nature of the shaft we were in it was a bit distorted and corner of the light panel above was clipping through her forehead. Her eyes swept over Laatuuk.
"Laatuuk," she began, her voice carrying the kind of authority that left little room for argument. "You and your friend are coming to dinner. Immediately."
He hesitated, shooting a quick glance my way before offering a carefully measured response. "We are not finished—"
"Then you'll need to eat," his mother interrupted smoothly. "No excuses. You're both expected. Be here soon."
With that, the transmission ended just as quickly as it had begun.
I let out a short breath, unable to suppress a smirk. "I take it we don't have a choice?"
Laatuuk shook his head, starting to unfasten the claps of the device closest to him. "Nope. And trust me, it's easier not to argue. Let's take these devices with us and go."
The atmosphere lost its tension as my friend's voice turned from serious and determined to amused and my younger-self exhaled feeling lighter for some reason like some of the burden of uncertainty was lifted form her shoulders.
Riding that false sentiment of hope I separated myself from her becoming again the observer rather than the actor.
Watching them—my younger self and my friend, joking about dinner and packing gear like it was just another day—I felt a familiar ache. An ache for the past to which I clung with desperation as the dream world started to unravel little by little. The tendrils of grief crept upon me through the cracks into the dream world as it began losing its color becoming dull and eventually fading.
*********************************************************************************************************
When the dream world took shape again I was in Laatuuk family's quarters. Not two constructs this time, only one, my young self. The tension was so thick in this memory turned dream that I simply could not maintain the two versions of myself separate.
For seven years in a row this part of the nightmare unfolded the same way. No variation, no control just a vivid scene paying inside my mind, stuck like a barbed arrow in my sub-consciousness.
The room had the stillness of a held breath. I sat on the edge of a chair, my hands folded neatly in my lap, my gaze wandered, tracing the intricate patterns displayed on the walls of Laatuuk's family cabin. I could feel the weight of the conversation, unspoken yet vibrating in the air.
"You're distracted again, Laatuuk." His mother's tone was soft but firm, her four eyes narrowing slightly as she set down the steaming cup she had been holding and rising to her feet. "Your father and I worry about you." she continued after a pause.
Her presence was composed yet commanding. Lady Qu'kti—elegant and steady, with voice and gesture honed by years of diplomacy within the family and beyond. She was the emotional axis of the household, the one who held balance when the others pulled in different directions.
"There's nothing to worry about," he replied, too quickly. His claws tapped against the edge of the table in a sharp, rhythmic pattern. "I have everything under control." Her son countered.
"Control? You barely sleep. You leave at odd hours, you spend more time with her than with us." his father interjected gesturing towards me, his tone more curious than accusatory.
"It's not what you think," I said quickly, my voice measured, though my heart raced. "We're colleagues. We've been… working on a project together." My voice sounded unsure in my own ears and my hand flew to the Ebbia flower pendant.
"A project that could change everything," my friend added, his voice rising slightly. He caught himself and exhaled slowly, smoothing his tone. "It's important to me. To us."
Laatuuk's mother set a dish in the center of the table, steam rising as she placed it down with practiced care. "Eat," she said, mandibles twitching slightly, a sign of pride and expectation. "A full stomach gives strength to the mind."
"Laatuuk, we don't need miracles. We need you to be safe. Whatever this is, don't let it cost you more than you can give." His father interjected as he passed me by to stand next to his son.
"It won't," Laatuuk said, avoiding his gaze. He turned to me, offering a small, strained smile. "You should eat something. My mother's cooking is… unparalleled."
I nodded as I reached for a serving, taking a modest portion. I couldn't shake the feeling that Laatuuk's parents saw right through us, but whether it was suspicion or genuine concern, I couldn't tell.
Laatuuk sat next to me, his shoulders still tense despite the comforting atmosphere. His father took his seat at the head of the table, his gaze sweeping over us with quiet scrutiny.
His mother turned her gaze toward my friend. "You've been away too much, Laatuuk." There was no anger in her voice, only a quiet observation, tinged with worry. "You come home only to leave again."
Laatuuk's mandibles shifted in the way I'd come to recognize as restraint. "I'm doing what I must."
His father exhaled, a deep, clicking sound. "There is always a choice."
The words hung between them, heavier than the meal before us. I kept my head down, focusing on my food, though I could feel the weight of their conversation pressing against my ribs.
"We make our own futures," his mother added, her eyes lingering on him before shifting to me. "And those we surround ourselves with—" she placed a serving onto my plate, an offering, an inclusion—"shape them as well."
I nodded in thanks, though I wasn't sure if the tightness in my throat was gratitude or discomfort.
Laatuuk barely touched his food, his fingers idly tracing the rim of his plate. I knew his mind was elsewhere—on the mission, on the risks, on the line he was about to cross.
His father finally spoke again, slow and measured. "Whatever you are planning, I hope you understand what you stand to lose."
Laatuuk met his father's gaze, but he said nothing.
The meal continued, conversation shifting to lighter topics—his studies, a cousin's recent bonding ceremony—but the underlying tension never fully dissipated.
And I couldn't shake the feeling that this was the last time they would all be together like this.
I closed my eyes as the sadness grew, consuming my dream self from the inside until nothing remained—only feelings, thoughts, and the bare sense of self. The warmth of the quarters vanished. No ship, no bickering, no presence.
Only darkness.
The scene ended abruptly, like someone had flipped a switch. No warning. No transition. Just... nothing.
Alone in that void, I struggled to wake. But the guilt clung to me like silk—light, invisible, impossible to tear. The pill-induced sleep held me fast. No matter how hard I pushed, I couldn't break through.