Courage

by Angela B. Macala-Guajardo

  “In addition, experimentations with other sessions have led to the discovery that using a hypnotist really ups the quality of the whole Dreamwalker experience. Our clients don’t involuntarily wake up as often, their dreams last longer, have richer detail, and they feel more empowered while dreaming. A local hypnotist had a session with Aerigo earlier tonight.”

  Two rectangular windows appeared onscreen, a large one on top of a smaller one. The smaller one read, “Sleeper Not Ready” and the bigger one displayed three sliding rows of sleep wave patterns, all labeled.

  “Half the time the client dreams omnisciently and it’s like watching a disjointed film. That’s what we’re hoping for tonight.”

  The top window blinked, and the smaller one read, “Sleeper Ready.”

  “Okay, it’s about four in the morning and Aerigo has begun a stage of REM sleep long enough for the Dreamwalker to intrude upon.” Dr. Prye lowered his voice. “Let’s see if we can make some magic. I’ll be going silent until the dream has gone on for about a minute.”

  There was silence and darkness for ten seconds before the first image appeared on the monitor.

  A running shower head faced the screen, its steaming water falling just below the bottom of the screen. The stainless steel was sharply defined and bright. The rest of the image was blurry.

  A turkey sub on a plastic tray replaced the shower. The meal filled up almost the entire screen, each folded slice of meat looking moist, and the golden brown bun looking soft with a crispy exterior.

  A smiling woman appeared in place of the sandwich. Her rosy lips moved but no sound came out. The screen bobbed, then steadied itself. The woman’s head turned and left one way, while the rest of her body headed in the opposite direction. The separated parts disappeared.

  A dreamed-up Dr. Prye sat on the sleep lab’s bed, getting hypnotized by a portly man in a black suit. Somewhere a clock ticked away.

  Children laughed.

  Tic, tic, tic...

  The resonant voice of a man said, “And now you will dream clearly.”

  The ticking stopped.

  The eye of the dream looked down at open hands, strong hands. Those hands made and unmade fists. The eye looked up and a hazy white ceiling flashed into view, and then drew closer. A gust of wind. Donai recognized Kismet’s starless night sky as it replaced the white ceiling. The sky rushed closer as well. The eye of the dream flew past the edge of the sky faster than any rocket Donai knew of, and then the screen went black again.

  “Aerigo, can you hear me?” Dr. Prye asked softly.

  A road consisting of two strips of dirt divided by tall grass materialized on the screen. A forest lay on the right and hazy darkness on the left. It was night. In a wagon sat a frightened woman hunched under her shawl. She clutched the reins to a horse and snuck a quick look at the eye of the dream. A huge scowling man stepped into view and towered over the screen. The stubble on his face and his dark eyes were his boldest features. The rest of him was blurred.

  “Aerigo?” Dr. Prye called.

  The scowling man spoke in a harsh voice that was loud enough to cause Donai to turn down the volume a bit. “Don’t you dare come back, you hear?” He sucked in his breath and cocked a fist.

  “Aerigo, it’s Dr. Prye,” the scientist called a little louder.

  The scowling man threw his punch, but the dream wiped him away right as the fist filled the entire screen. The fist disappeared like someone had pulled a sheet off a bed. Darkness followed, then moonlit fog.

  “Who’s there?” a frightened boy’s voice called out, echoing.

  “Dr. Prye, Aerigo. Do you remember?”

  “I recognize the name,” the boy’s voice replied. “But I don’t know who you are.”

  A grizzly bear loped through the fog and towards the eye of the dream. A small hand reached out and patted it on the head.

  “I’m a doctor. I’m here to help you.”

  “This is Firsos. He helps me. He’s the only one who’s not afraid of me, or mean.” The hand scratched the bear behind the ear and Firsos leaned into the scratching, eyes closed in content.

  “I’m not afraid of you, Aerigo. I want to be your friend and help you.”

  “Friend?” The boy said, the word echoing. Firsos licked the hand. “I’ve never had many friends.” Donai turned up the volume. The boy was soft spoken.

  “Will you help me get to know you? I’d like to be your friend.”

  The bear turned around and padded away. The eye of the dream hurriedly bobbed as it ran to catch up and walk beside Firsos. “Okay.” The fog gave way to modest moonlight and a cliff looking out over an ocean. The cliff had two waterfalls.

  “Where are we?”

  “Where are you?” the boy asked.

  “Wherever you are.”

  “My favorite cliff.” The bear and the eye of the dream stilled. The bear looked back a moment, then looked ahead. It slowly rose to its hind feet and at the same time vanished.

  “It’s beautiful. How did this particular cliff become so special?”

  “I just like it. I can forget about all the mean people while I’m here.”

  “Aha. A fitting sanctuary. Do you spend a lot of time here?”

  “I remember you, now.” The eye of the dream bobbed to the gait of running, and then a smooth forward motion as the edge of the cliff gave way to nothing but sparkling grey water a mile below. The waterfalls created mist on both sides of the dream eye. The ocean rapidly drew closer as whipping wind roared away. The ocean drew closer still as specks of rock jutted above the crashing waves. The mist blurred the eye of the dream. The ocean drew even closer. Individual waves rolling to shore became discernible. Hands wiped the eye of the dream, making the images clearer and sharper. The ocean was suddenly within a hundred yards of the boy’s outstretched hands.

  The boy splashed into the ocean, churning water replaced roaring wind, and the screen went mostly dark, getting broken up by bubbles rushing upward. The water calmed until it sounded like a stream flowing over a stony bed.

  “Aerigo, are you okay?”

  “Yes,” Aerigo’s deep, adult voice said. The eye of the dream saw nothing but dark water.

  “Good. Who were those people and the bear, Firsos, might I ask?”

  “Firsos was just an imaginary friend from my childhood. Those people were my parents.”

  “Oh. Did that really happen?”

  Aerigo was silent a moment. “Unfortunately. I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “Very well. Shall we begin the subconscious exploration of your powers then?”

  “Sir, I have paused the video,” Kennin said. “I wish to divulge a tidbit of information.”

  “What is it?” Donai sat up straight. He’d leaned towards the computer at some point.

  “Earlier in this entry, Aerigo expressed his extreme dislike of the power he has, and that he lacks full understanding of how it works. Aerigo agreed to being hooked up to the Dreamwalker in hopes of better understanding his power and how to control it. Dr. Prye was equally curious in the power’s workings, in addition to reasons that dip into part of Kismet’s muddied past with Neo-Joso.”

  “You keep bringing that up,” Donai said.

  “Yet you explicitly explained that you don’t have time to hear an explanation.”

  “I don’t right now,” he said unhappily. “Hopefully I will in the near future.”

  Skitt said, “Yeah, this missing piece of the puzzle is really starting to bug me.”

  “You and me both. Kennin, you may continue the video.”

  Aerigo’s adult hand rose into view, fingers spread. Several feet away, a reflection of him treading water appeared. He made an upwards motion with his arms, like a biceps curl rep, and the water raised him out of the stream. There was blackness wherever there wasn’t Aerigo or water. The water dropped back into the stream and hardened into a black, shiny surface that he stood on. A partial reflection surrounded his booted feet. He wore a white tunic shirt a
nd heavy black pants.

  “Remember, Aerigo, the point of this session is give us both some understanding of your unique powers.”

  “This is your last chance to change your mind,” Aerigo said. “I highly doubt you’ll like what you see.”

  “Like it or not, I’m driven by a desire to learn and understand. It’s not about liking my findings. Ready when you are.”

  Aerigo nodded, then sized up the mirror and took a deep breath.

  Thum-dum.

  The heartbeat was so loud that Donai shot a hand in the direction of the volume buttons and looked around the archives. No one paid them any heed, but he turned the volume back down anyway. His own heart was already pumping from the unexpected auditory attack.

  Aerigo slowly took a step towards the mirror, the eye of the dream staying put. The back of his clean-shaven head filled the screen, then drew closer to the mirror.

  Thum-dum.

  His reflection stood still as it watched Aerigo move one cautious step at a time. The reflection wore a serious gaze and had its arms poised at its sides, its skin growing darker with Aerigo’s every step.

  The reflection smiled.

  Thum-dum.

  Aerigo faltered. He stood frozen in mid-stride for a moment, before he forced himself to resume his advance. The reflection widened it smile. Aerigo kept moving. The eye of the dream shifted so it was watching both versions of Aerigo from an angle.

  Thum-dum.

  Holding his arms back, Aerigo touched the mirror with his forehead first and leaned forward. The mirror rippled like water as his reflection waited on the other side. The ripples emitted a high-pitched screech, like the sound of something sharp and metallic cutting glass. Aerigo’s moving body didn’t appear on the other side; whatever passed through ceased to exist. The mirror rippled in more places as Aerigo’s left knee and foot passed through, and the ripples bellowed a discord of screeches. His head and shoulders passed through, followed by his arms and whole left leg. The mirror vibrated with ripples and screamed hoarsely as his right leg crossed to the other side. And then there was only one Aerigo left.

  The grinning, dark figure hungrily stared at the eye of the dream through the ripples. The ripples flattened out and the metallic screeching ceased.

  Thum-dum.

  The dark Aerigo punched the mirror. Huge shards of glass fell and shattered into countless smaller fragments upon the black ground. The fragments melted and seeped into the blackness, disappearing.

  Aerigo took a couple of steps closer, but was halted by chains clasped to his ankles and wrists. They’d appeared so suddenly that he stumbled to one knee. Their appearance surprised Donai as well. It was as if someone had flipped a light switch and the chains had appeared. They were as thick as Aerigo’s wrists, and each link was as long as a hand.

  “Aerigo?” Dr. Prye said.

  “The one and only,” Aerigo said. He pushed himself to his feet. The jangling of the chains sounded deep and heavy. Donai doubted he could do any more than lie flat if they were chained to him.

  “What’s with the chains? Can you not break free?”

  “Someone thinks I’m dangeroussss,” Aerigo said, smiling again.

  “Who?”

  “The conscious half of myself, of course. Who else could do this to me?” He tugged at one of the arm chains.

  “Stupid question. I apologize.”

  “Better not be full of ‘em.” Aerigo took one of the arm chains in both hands and gave it a good yank. The metal jingled and nothing more. He scowled and let out a snarl.

  “How long have you been chained up like this?”

  “Not too long. This is my new prison, apparently. I’ve been freed only once so far.” He placed his hands farther down the chain, spread his feet a bit, then began tugging and yanking at every angle he could towards the eye of the dream.

  “What did you do during your moment of freedom?”

  Aerigo paused to turn and grin wickedly, his eyes flashing red. “Killing. Lots of killing. I am capable of awe-inspiring destruction. I’m like a bomb. Do you know what that is?”

  “Sadly yes.”

  Aerigo turned back to his chains and resumed his struggle. “Not sadly. My explosive release is the most freeing feeling you can ever experience. You can do so much with me. But unfortunately my freedom comes in short bursts. Just a handful of minutes--longer if you can control me better. But good luck with that. I want out as fast as I can.”

  “Why?”

  Aerigo paused in his struggle yet again and his shoulders rose and dropped with a great sigh. “Because... It’s. So. Freeing. You’re not an Aigis. You’ll never understand. Ask me better questions already.” He held out his arms and swelled into a giant. The eye of the dream backed away enough to compensate for Aerigo massive frame, and he gawked at the chains. They’d grown with him, each link big enough to loop around a car. He thrashed against the chains, flailing his arms and kicking quick and hard. He struggled like a wild beast trying to break free. He twisted and yanked his wrists, jerked his elbows, heaved his shoulders, and executed punches and kicks and rapid succession. Each motion grew more desperate as the heavy chains did nothing but sway and jingle. Aerigo started panting and soon stopped, hunched over with his arms dangling before him. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reverted to his normal size and the chains shrunk with him. He backed two steps away from the eye of the dream and roughly sat down.

  “That was an interesting display of power,” Dr. Prye said.

  The dark Aigis let out a sarcastic laugh. “That was nothing. You should see me when I’m free.”

  “Can’t you show me while still chained?”

  Aerigo crinkled his nose. “A dreamed-up version would insult the real me. Forget it.” He turned his back to the eye of the dream, chains jingling. A silence followed.

  “Mind telling me something about those chains?” Dr. Prye tentatively asked. “Usually anything is possible in a person’s dream, but you seem to have encountered an impossibility.”

  “Just end the session. I can’t free myself and teach you anything--not even for the sake of science.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because,” Aerigo said, glaring at the eye of the dream, “these damn chains are a manifestation of the other half of myself, keeping me safely locked away. He never stops guarding the keys to my freedom.” His eyes widened. “Unless...” He stood and backed away from the eye of the dream.

  “Where are you going?”

  Shadows crept over the chains and Aerigo’s limbs. “Nowhere,” he said, his eyes glowing red again.

  “Then what are you doing?”

  “Stealing the keys to my shackles,” he said mildly. The shadows enveloped him up to his chest. “This is a dream I’m in after all. Let’s see if I can... jumpstart things...” He fully receded into the blackness.

  “Aerigo, wait! Where are you going?”

  One red-glowing eye peered out. “Don’t worry. I’m not leaving.” The eye vanished. “I’m seeking... showing...” His voice trailed off and was replaced by the low rumble of what sounded like rolling thunder.

  “Oh, boy,” Dr. Prye said, an edge of panic in his voice. “I’ve never been scared during a Dreamwalker session before, but at least I think those chains answered my questions about his alpha waves.”

  The rumbling petered off and two crimson orbs winked to life. A giant bust of a man with short, curly black hair filled in around the eyes. An army of Elves in black clothing and wielding swords manifested below the chin. A dozen dragons bore into view above the head, wings spread, mouths open and glowing with the fire in their bellies. Below the Elves marched in a vast army clad in steel and scarlet, stomping over the bloody corpse of a woman. Suddenly, all the images launched themselves at the eye of the dream at once, like a volley of spears.

  The screen went black and an alarm not produced by the dream beeped away in some corner of Dr. Prye’s room. “Uh oh!” The blackness switched to the camera behind the sc
ientist, who jumped out of his chair and peered past the Dreamwalker’s monitor. “He’s very much awake, and I think he just broke every wire attached to him.” He looked down and typed a few things into the Dreamwalker, then hurried off-screen, the sound of a door closing behind him.

  The screen switched to the view from the security camera in the room Aerigo had been dreaming in. He sat on his heels, doubled over and completely naked, with his fingers digging into the sides of his head. His clothes lay in shreds around him, along with a wreath of snapped wires. Aerigo had doubled his height. He let out a cry of pain as another growth spurt hit him and doubled in size again. He pressed his fists in the floor, every muscle in his arm bulging, and the floor cracked. He clenched his teeth and groaned as a third growth spurt hit him. His glistening shoulder blades were no less than a foot away from the ceiling. He gasped for more air, then all the muscles in his arm and torso tensed up as yet another growth spurt closed the gap between his back and the ceiling.

  Aerigo flinched away from the ceiling and balefully eyed the camera as dust and pieces of the paneling fell. He reached back and grabbed the sheet from off the bed and wrapped it around his waist like a towel. He had only a few feet of space all around him. He twisted his giant body so he could lean against the wall, knocking over all sorts of equipment in the process, and the small of his back pushed the bed up against the wall. Still clutching the sheet in one hand, he closed his eyes worked on getting his breathing under control.

  The room’s door flung open and light poured in around a frazzled Dr. Prye. He skidded to a halt just inside the door, right in front of one of Aerigo’s enormous shins. “What on Kismet happened to you? Is this reversible?”

  Aerigo nodded. “Just let me... catch my breath.”

  “Are you going to be alright?”

  He nodded again and the screen went black.

  Fifteen minutes later...

  The screen faded in to Dr. Prye sitting in a computer chair in a small room with a desk, computer and bed. On the bed sat Aerigo, restored to his normal height and in plain scrubs. He sat with his elbows on his knees and head bowed. He mumbled an apology.