The Science of Closed-Eyed Dimensional Crossing

Ceila slapped the symbol that represented 'enter' on her holographic keyboard interface. Her story was complete. Twelve thousand words that took one month. The story was perfect; she was sure of it. The epic ending had finally coalesced in the way she had hoped it would. She had done her final edit and checked the manuscript to perfection. She swiped her smallest finger in the air (a habit she had developed) to launch the document off of her holographic interface's desktop and into the outgoing email portal. It had already been pre-linked to Visions of Tomorrows' Tomorrow Magazine's submission system. She knew this would be the story that she would finally crack the market with.

She made another swipe with the smallest finger on her other hand (the rest of the habit) and watched contently as the holographic interface faded away with a pleasant blue glow. She undressed, made her bed, put away the rest of the dishes and then excitedly launched herself into bed from four feet away. She checked her messages by tapping on her ear. There was another text from Ivan. It was thoughtful and intense, as usual. She thought about a lot of things she could say in response, but ended up saying nothing.

Why do I do this to him? she worried. He probably thinks I don't give a la shi.

She hadn't said anything to him in a month. She had met him unexpectedly at a party. There was nothing wrong with him, he was actually perfect in a lot of ways. He was handsome and unique, and yet, she found herself leaving him with nothing but the void again. She was about to get sad, when suddenly she remembered the pleasant glow of her holographic interface. She could never get truly sad the night after completing a story. She closed her brown-green eyes, laid on her back and allowed the gods of sleep to pleasantly embrace her. Tomorrow would be the next day of the rest of her life.

#

Ceila woke up to her neighbor doing very loud and incomprehensible things again. She had never seen the person, and yet they always seemed to be rapidly going about some mysterious task.

Never mind, she thought.

Nothing could ruin this day. She debated if she should have synth-breakfast and synth-coffee (she could afford much better, but preferred it), before checking her incoming e-mail. After some deliberation, she decided to savor the anticipation and eat first. She got about halfway through telepathically brewing the coffee (with the aid of implants) before she gave into intense eagerness. She swiped open the holographic interface and blasted straight to her incoming email. One single message sat glowing at the top of her inbox. She tensed herself in excitement and swiped with the smallest finger on her left hand and began to read.

Thank you for submitting your story "Fragments of the Time Warriors" for consideration. Your story was well received, but due to a high volume of submissions, your story does not meet our needs at this time. Thanks, and have a great day.

Sincerely,

Visions of Science Fantasy Magazine.

"WHAT THE TA MA DE!" Ceila cursed and exploded, rattling the walls of her expensive, floating apartment.

"WHAT THE TA MA DE!" she cursed again.

She collapsed in defeat and began to cry in frustration. She put her hands on her head and knelt weeping in front of the interface's glow. Her half-filled cup of synth-coffee spilled and slowly ran away on the floor, towards a low-hanging window. She cried a little longer, before deciding to double check the entire e-mail out of desperation.

"Thank you … blah, blah, blah … volume of submissions … blah, blah … have a great day … blah, blah blah! Sincerely Visions of Fantasy Mag -

"Whaaat the diyu?!" Ceila said out loud.

She read the end of the email again.

Visions of Science Fantasy Magazine, it read, plain as day.

"Did I submit to the wrong magazine …?" she worried.

"That's not possible!"

She read the entire e-mail one more time. There it was …

Visions of Science Fantasy Magazine.

What the hell is science fantasy? she pondered, watching the coffee slowly pool and then drain out the window. It flowed downwards into the heavy, flying car traffic of morning. Ceila's morbid disappointment was slowly morphing into genuine intrigue. She went to the link to Visions of Tomorrow's Tomorrow Magazine . There it was again.

Visions of Science Fantasy Magazine.

Okay, she thought.

She did a search for the original magazine on the Musk-Net Planet-Link search engine. It took a long time, as it always did, mostly because she was stealing internet access from a server meant for outer-Earth stations and the moon. Finally, the results came up.

No Results, it read.

The image of a pixilated, cartoonish Elon Musk face did more to make her feel mocked than it did to represent an easy-to-use search engine.

A Kafkaesque tinge began to creep down her spine, flowing all the way to her feet.

How could there not be a single result? she worried.

"What the ta ma de!?"

She was about to investigate further; on how it was even possible for the magazine she had been submitting to, ravenously, for the last three years, could suddenly not exist, when her living room's A.I. chimed in to further the sense of isolation.

"YOU ARE SWEARING IN CHINESE AGAIN!" it informed her.

"TA MA DE YOU!" she yelled.

"YOU AGREED TO NOT DO THAT!" it continued in its generic, factory setting voice pattern. "IT'S ON YOUR DAILY GOALS LIST!"

"I didn't even agree to that! A.I. temporary deactivation!" she yelled, not turning away from the holographic interface. "Three hours shut down!"

"THIS SETTING HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED!" it replied.

"WHICH SETTING HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED?!" she yelled back.

"THE SETTING, USED TO DEACTIVATE SETTINGS, HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED!"

"WHAT ON EARTH!" Ceila yelled back. "THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE."

There was no response.

Ceila took a moment to use some breathing techniques that she learned at college on Phobos and tried to regain her composure. She was going to continue her investigation, but got distracted by a text from Ivan, marked URGENT. She got distracted from that too, as she realized she would be late for work if she didn't leave immediately. Still stunned and confused, Ceila quickly put on her bank uniform and launched out her apartment door.

#

The fifteen-minute flight to work on the hover-bus did little to soothe her. Adding to her sense of dread was the complete lack of familiar faces on the bus. There was no Mrs. Eneferson, her casual, fifty-year-old friend, who grew synth-plants (and secretly dabbled in synth-animals). The cute guy who always tried to check out her butt, by dropping whatever was in his hand, was gone too. Even Mickey, her sixteen-year-old, high-school student friend, who was very kind and compassionate, but also very addicted to Mindfade (a drug that had been running rampant in the last year), was strangely absent.

The bus driver, clad in his retro bus driver attire, lifted upwards to pull the lever that lowered the hover bus. This was Ceila's stop. She crept out of the bus so cautiously it was comedic. She forgot to say thanks to the driver (as she usually did), as she slowly walked down the three steps that connected the bus to the automated sidewalks. She looked back and noticed the driver was a man she had never seen before. The automated sidewalk began to move her along as she stared back. Ceila started to feel like she was slowly and unavoidably careening into something she could not escape. It was a short trip to Sol System Financial, the massive, interplanetary bank she worked at.

#

Ceila quietly made her way into the building, scanned in, flew through the hallways and retreated to her office. It was as she had left it the previous night.

"PSHWWW!" she said out loud, leaning back in her chair.

She stared up at the ceiling. She checked the slowly, but surely, encroaching water damage and noticed it had expanded a little more overnight.

"What the diyu is going on!" she exclaimed out loud.

She began to calculate her next course of action. The logical choice was to check for Visions of Tomorrow's Tomorrow Magazine on her work-issue holographic computer interface. The search engine provided by the bank was much more comprehensive and wide reaching. She fastidiously went to the engine and dialed in the magazine's name.

"No results," it read.

"What the la shi!" she said.

She put a frustrated hand on the right side of her head and leaned into the computer, squinting her eyes at the vacant words. Suddenly there was a knock on her office door. The polite yet authoritative knock, which was also intended to convey lightheartedness, made it clear it was one of her bosses, Jack.

"Jennifer," he said, as he pushed the door open slowly. "I noticed a couple problems with your numbers last weekend. Have you upgraded your holo-computer in the last week?"

"You just called me the wrong name," she replied.

"I just called you Jennifer … Jennifer," Jack said, looking at her with a mystified look. "I can't say I really get the joke here."

Ceila looked back at Jack with an equally mystified look. She was about to inquire further (subtly) about the incorrect name, but something inside began to take hold of her. Whatever mystery she had become wrapped up in, at this point, it might have been smarter to just go along with it. She already had the sensation that she was sailing against the wind by trying to control whatever was happening to her. A strange, but liberating excitement started to brew. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach. She decided to switch modes of investigation.

"Just teasing, Jack," she replied. "I thought I'd try to pull a fast one on you."

"Indeed …" Jack replied, looking more like her boss.

Jack's glasses were automatically sliding down his nose, the way they did when he became more serious.

"I forgot to upgrade last week Jack," said Ceila. "Classic Jennifer. I'll link up the holo-interface with the companies' main server. I'm sure the A.I. will be able to take if from there. I'll run the numbers again by the end of the day."

"That's what I like to see!" said Jack.

He pushed his glasses back up between his eyes.

"You have a future here at Sol System Financial, Jennifer," Jack said. "Keep up the good work, Jennifer."

That was an odd way to say that, Ceila thought.

"Thanks, Jack!" she replied.

Jack forgot to close the door all the way as he departed. Ceila was about to stand up and correct it, but forgot to, as the intense desire to investigate returned. The feeling of excitement and mystery grew even stronger. She did a massive series of search engine investigations by illegally linking the company's search engine to an unknown server. It was something Ivan had told her about when she met him.

Besides Visions of Tomorrow's Tomorrow Magazine turning into Visions of Science Fantasy Magazine , and her name being Jennifer, she also found out that New York City was now called Central City.

What the diyu is going on? she said to herself, leaning deep into the holographic interface.

The entire sky-bus system had different routes; it was only a coincidence that she managed to get to work on time. Further investigation revealed that most of the restaurants in the city had different names, were in different locations, or had ceased to exist entirely. The integrated school she had attended for fifteen years had been replaced with a Mars-themed taco bar. The entire city of New York (or 'Central City' ,she reminded herself) was one main city, with no boroughs.

A wider investigation revealed that these phenomena were completely global. Some of the countries around the world had different names and some borders had become completely altered beyond recognition. It didn't stop there. The planets of the Sol System had the same names; but a quick investigation revealed that the cities there had changed dramatically as well. To add insult to injury, the Moon was no longer the wild west she had learned about (and been so fascinated by) growing up, but was now owned by someone name "Rocco Fresno."

Ceila's terror and amazement had become equally proportionate. Luckily, lunch break had come.

#

Ceila sat alone at one of the cheap, nano-bot prefabricated booths of Charley's Space Burger, which she had previously known as a nice retro-café called Nick's. She ate her cheeseburger slowly, looking around at the patrons who were filling the restaurant to the brim. Not a single one of them had any idea what was happening. She ate her cheeseburger halfway before she got another text to the brain from Ivan.

Here he goes again, she thought. I guess I'll just ignore another one of your romantic gestures …

She tapped on her temple to read the text.

"YOU ARE IN THE WRONG DIMENSION!" it read. "TIME TO RUN!"

Answers were coming. She took a moment to mentally compile a response. It had to be something that would instigate an immediate and thorough explanation as to what exactly was happening.

"What?" She replied.

"I'm not the person you think I am," Ivan began to explain. "You woke up in an alternate dimension today and you are in immediate danger!"

"I did what?!" Ceila replied, chewing her burger unconsciously and gazing at the oblivious patrons of the restaurant. "Explain what the diyu is going on, immediately!"

"If I take the time to do that you will die," Ivan responded urgently. "Left turn, now!"

"Turn left?" Ceila said out loud, the contents of her space burger falling out of her mouth.

The reason for the instructions became immediately apparent. A man with extremely overly developed muscles appeared out of nowhere. He had materialized in front of her so quickly that it was scary. His body seemed to be outfitted with biologically integrated nano-technology that Ceila had only heard theorized. It was immediately obvious how incredibly strong he was. She did a quick and deft left turn out of the booth. The man's fist slammed down like a sledgehammer, completely annihilating the table and her space burger.

The patrons in the bar all reacted with shock and fear, except for one pre-teen boy standing in the corner, who seemed to be thrilled by what was happening. Ceila began to run with animal instinct out of Charley's Space Burger. She looked behind, quick enough to see the assailant vanish into thin air. The rest of the restaurant reacted with more panic and disbelief. People started fleeing in every direction.

Ceila exploded around the corner and on to the busy, alternate dimensional Central City streets. She texted Ivan rapidly as she ran.

"What in the name of god is happening right now?!" she messaged.

"You are being targeted by beings that believe they regulate inter-dimensional travel, who ironically, just violated about two hundred dimensional travel codes."

"What the diyu did that man just do?!" She asked.

"RIGHT TURN!!" Ivan replied.

Ceila didn't even think this time. She turned the hardest and blindest right turn she had ever done. She ended up careening over a stack of cardboard boxes a homeless person had been living in. She went flying down what seemed like half a city block. Everything was starting to feel like a bad dream. She hit the ground hard and then turned around swiftly, crawling backwards in a lizard-like fashion.

She gazed up to see the brutal assailant materialize out of nowhere again. He appeared to be arming some sort of device with his hand, but wasn't holding anything. The homeless person (whose afternoon nap had been so unexpectedly interrupted) began to launch into a fit, and started striking the man with a large wad of rolled up newspapers. The man turned around ominously, let out a sort of soulless smile and then touched the person.

They immediately dissolved into a molecular, particle wisp before disappearing altogether. This was all Ceila could take, this was the limit. She gazed up at the setting sun of a different dimension and screamed a primal scream into the sky.

"WHAT THE TA MA DE!"

The assailant gazed down at Ceila with a terrible look of malice. There was an emptiness and cruelness to the man that was deeper than she had ever seen. He began to reach for his hand again, about to do the same thing to her. Ceila couldn't help but think of all the bad dreams she had ever had. They always resulted in her waking up just before the nightmare had become total. The assailant began to reach out to touch her. In moments she would disappear into nothingness; what lay beyond that, she didn't know. The pinging sound of an incoming text chimed.

"WAKEY WAKEY," Ivan texted.

#

Ceila could hear herself scream the way she did when she woke up from nightmares. She was still covering her eyes when she entered another dimension altogether.

"You are safe now," Ivan said. "Take a look."

Ceila unmasked her face and found herself sitting in what was most likely a space ship. The pleasant and wonderful glow of near-Earth space was the exact opposite of the terror she had just experienced.

"Sorry," Ivan said, looking very handsome and comforting. "We were trying to get to you before that happened, but hey! You made it through all the same!"

"Where … the … diyu … am I?" Ceila asked.

"Take a look," said Ivan.

She stood up and began to take in the surroundings. Whatever space ship she was on was very streamlined and sterile, but it had a certain elegance to it, the kind of ship she had only read about. Once she became fully cognizant, she began to talk.

"This looks like one of the pre-war, inter-lunar transports that pirates use now."

"Incredible!" said a voice from across the room. "Except for the pirate part. It's actually ours, we just made it appear like it's fromyour reality."

"I told you she was smart," Ivan said. "She's the perfect candidate."

"We will see," said the voice from across the room.

Ceila did some more observing, walked across the empty metal floor, and then sat down in a chair. She laid her head in her hands, trying to calm her heart rate and breathe normally. She was in shock.

"Was that whole thing a dream?" she asked Ivan. "Who are you? I thought you were some huoji I gave my number to at a party. Did I just wake up from a dream? Was my whole life a dream?"

The person from across the room began laughing to themselves.

"Good luck explaining that one, Ivan," the person said.

"Good luck explaining what?" Ceila demanded.

"Every dimension can be experienced as a dream," Ivan began to explain. "So, technically you did. That's what we do. We are The Dream Masters."

"The Dream Masters?" Ceila asked.

"She's going to have a negative reaction," said the mysterious person.

"I'm not going to have a negative reaction!" Ceila said.

"We'll see," said Ivan.

"What do you think we are?" Ivan asked, with eager eyes.

"Well …" Ceila began to say.

She leaned back in the sterile metal chair, and then turned around to take in the expanse of near-Earth outer space. The Moon had come into close view, and the craters from celestial objects pummeling it over billions of years were starkly visible.

"I'm assuming you are a collection of individuals who can travel between dimensions using lucid dreaming. That's absolutely mind-blowing."

"That's how we began," said the figure from across the room. "In the dimension we originated in, which is quite different from yours, our science has taken a profoundly different course."

Ivan began to look very excited as the mysterious figure talked.

"Some seven hundred years ago the science of, well, what you just called 'lucid dreaming' began to take hold," said the person. "It was originally called 'sleep walking,' among the originators. Once it had been well established, some two hundred years afterwards, it was called 'The Science of Closed-Eyed Dimensional Crossing.' "

"And that is who the two of you are?" Ceila asked.

"As advanced as the space ships and technology of your dimension are," Ivan said "you have only just scratched the surface of what we can do in terms of inter-dimensional travel."

"What can you do, then?" Ceila asked, still trying to regain her breath.

"As the science of our dimension now stands," the mysterious figure explained. "We are in contact with at least 4,000 parallel dimensions, 32,000 lower ones and several higher dimensions."

"You are in contact with higher dimensions?" Ceila asked.

"In the sense that a child straight from the womb might try to comprehend it's new world."

"It's incredibly profound and exciting!" Ivan added.

"So why am I here?" Ceila asked. "Why did I wake up in a different dimension today? Why was that man trying to erase me!?"

Ivan looked over at the mysterious man, looking for his approval, gained it, and then looked back at Ceila.

"You impressed us, is what happened," Ivan explained. "About a month ago when we met. It was quite the amazing coincidence."

"Was it then?" The mysterious figure asked.

"I dreamed my way into your dimension, that night, when we met at the party," said Ivan.

"You dreamed your way in?" Ceila asked.

"Your dimension is considered frontier territory for us," said Ivan. "It's on the very edge of most of the dream maps The Closed-Eye Society has charted."

"The Closed-Eye Society is the most recent incarnation of your dimension's dream science?" Ceila asked.

"Exactly!" said Ivan. "And we are The Dream Masters who work for the Society."

"What was the coincidence?" Ceila asked. "Why am I so important suddenly?"

"Go ahead and explain the whole thing, Ivan," said the mysterious person.

"I'm sorry," said Ceila, pointing towards the mysterious figure. "Is this your boss?"

"He is a very experienced dreamer," Ivan said.

"Explain us, Ivan," said the man.

Ivan began to explain. "I started actively dreaming the fringes of your dimension a couple months ago. It was very exciting for me, to branch out into a new dimension; it's the first time I've been allowed to do so."

"How do you dream yourself into a different dimension?" Ceila asked. "Wouldn't you need a body to physically exist there?"

"All beings have bodies in most dimensions," said the mysterious figure. "The trick is to link up with it, that is where the dreaming comes into play. It's an advanced method of linking your consciousness with any dimension you exist in."

"Which dimension are we in now?" Ceila asked.

"We are in a special dimension where one of The Closed-Eye Societies' bases is kept," Ivan explained. "It's the base the two of us have been put in charge of. It's one of the most distant bases we have. Just let me explain, please."

"Go ahead," said Ceila.

"I began investigating your dimension further and further," said Ivan. "The scientific developments of your Earth were amazingly different to me. I spent several weeks just walking around, pretending to be no one, as I filed reports back to the Society. That's when I became aware of you."

"You were investigating the parties of my dimension?"

"No, hah!" Ivan said. "I just wanted to go to a party … that was the beauty of it."

"He was slacking off," said the mysterious figure.

"And?" said Ceila, raising an eyebrow.

"I felt like I was being led to you for a reason," said Ivan. "There is a word for it among The Closed-Eye Society; it's called 'nan-danth.' It means, 'loosening of all cosmic factors.' The more I talked to you that night, the more obvious it became that you had found a solution to a problem that has been tormenting the Society. It's not something you might be fully conscious of, but we are sure of it now."

"What isit?!" Ceila asked.

"It's your story," said the mysterious figure, "that you titled "Fragments of the Time Warriors." You found a solution for dealing with a group of nefarious fiends—who believe themselves regulators of all dimensions—that has become increasingly antagonistic towards us. That terrifying man you encountered at the burger restaurant is a member of them. A particularly heinous example, at that."

"You said they were a dimension-regulating agency?"

"They most likely were," said Ivan. "long ago, but they've completely lost sight of that."

"My speculative fiction story has a solution to your problem?" Ceila asked, looking back out the ship's window at the vivid Moon as it floated across the cosmos. "What could that possibly be?"

"This would actually work the best if we just showed you," said the mysterious figure.

"What do we do?" Ceila asked.

"I told you she has what it takes!" Ivan said.

The mysterious figure slowly stood up. His face emerged from the darkness it had been concealed by. He was wearing a densely dark, black robe that hung to the floor. As he approached Ceila, it became evident that he was very old, perhaps older than two hundred years. And yet he looked very youthful as well. He explained that his name was simply "Aleph".

"Aleph is a dream himself," Ivan said. "It's not something easily understood."

"You are a dream yourself?" Ceila asked Aleph

"Yes," said Aleph "It was a long, long time ago that I dreamed far away from my roots in physical reality. I exist everywhere now."

"What is that like?" Ceila asked, watching the glow of the Moon again.

"It's simply accepting a truth that has always been there," Aleph said. "We were all the universe's grand dream in the first place."

"Why don't we show her the rest of the base?" Ivan asked. "Maybe she will understand better."

"She already understands," said Aleph

Ceila started to think about her apartment, in what she could now only classify as "her dimension." Wherever that was located now, or what that meant, was a mystery. She worried about her job for a moment, but decided the only thing she could do now was move forwards. This new reality was as exciting as it was terrifying. Now she knew, that being awake and being asleep were the same thing. There was no escape, for better or worse. A new day had come … maybe a new life.

#

The rest of the space ship was as pleasantly sterile and streamlined as the room they had started in. Ivan and Aleph explained that this vessel was known as the Badnaran, and that it was one of thousands across many dimensions. The Closed-Eye Society was a group that was strictly regulated, but also independent among its countless members. It would take Ceila a long time to grasp how different The Closed-Eye Society was from the organizations of her Earth.

"We began to encounter these dimension-regulating fiends some thirty years ago," Ivan explained. "They travel dimensions too, but their aim and methods are completely corrupt. It's possible they were once good, but wherever out there in the limitless cosmos they started from, they have become cosmic fiends now."

They reached the heart of the Badnaran, which housed its piloting module and an advanced map of countless layers of dimensions. The map was a dark blue holographic projection that took up most of the center of the room. It reminded Ceila of the astronomy maps she had seen growing up, but even more elaborate and entrancing.

"What is that?" Ceila asked, pointing with her right pinky towards the map.

"Badnaran!" Ivan began to say.

"Yes!" Replied the ship.

The Badnaran's voice seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, giving the impression that they were within it. It sounded something like Ceila imagined a whale would sound like if it could speak human language.

"Show us the full expanse of the map!" Ivan announced.

The dark blue map expanded and filled up the entire piloting module. Aleph walked up to the map and started to point to the very edge of it.

"This is where we are right now," Aleph explained. "Not our location in the physical space of this dimension, but relative to all dimensions we are aware of."

"I always had this vague feeling I was living in a back-water dimension," Ceila joked, noticing her original dimension's location relative to everything else.

"It's all relative to where you started from," Ivan said.

"No, it's not," said Aleph

Aleph pointed his finger to a place that was on the very edge of the map. "This is where they are from."

"What are theyexactly?" Ceila asked.

"We've concluded that they are an organization that is controlled by evil gods," Ivan began to explain. "And they seem to be expanding their influence rapidly."

"What is an evilgod?" Ceila asked. "I wasn't sure there were gods."

"Well, there are," said Ivan.

"The man that tried to erase you," said Aleph "is under their employ … as are countless others. They must come from a dimension, possibly an entire universe, that has degenerated to the point of annihilation. Hence … something as terrible as their gods becoming evil."

"What do they want?" Ceila asked.

"We just don't know," said Aleph "But their influence is growing rapidly, and they have become a serious threat to us."

"Our home world is a very peaceful place," said Ivan. "We are located in what we call 'Dimension Original One,' on the planet Tavaress."

"What could I possibly have figured out in my story?" Ceila asked.

"In the last section of "Fragments of the Time Warriors," said Ivan, "the main character, Benedict, has to use a series of dramatic teleportation jumps in order to escape an impending catastrophe. In your story, he has to do battle with a being known as 'the Asarian.' "

"That's the best part of the story," Ceila said.

"Indeed," replied Aleph "It was quite the read."

"This is the point where you, mostly unconsciously," said Ivan, "figured out how to deal with our evil god problem."

"I think I'm getting it now …" Ceila said.

"I told you she was exceptional," said Ivan.

"Benedict defeated the Asarian by realizing the Asarian wasn't invincible," said Ceila. "Because the universe was restraining him! The Asarian was originally a god in my story … this is blowing my mind."

"I figured it would," said Ivan. "That's what we came to realize. These evil gods aren't really gods anymore; that's what you helped us understand. They've become something else. Something strange and terrible."

"Because no being is above the universe itself," said Ceila. "Even a god."

"Exactly!" said Aleph

Ceila looked out from the window of the piloting module. The view from the front of the ship gave way to a vision of the Earth. She had never seen it like this. It looked so fragile, just spinning around slowly, forever. She began to feel very quiet.

"So, what do we do next?" Ceila asked.

"You're not going to ask us to take you home?" said Aleph "What about your bank job and your fancy flying apartment. You're not concerned with getting back to your original dimension?"

"I'm fine …" Ceila said, still feeling very quiet. "I'm ready. Show me what comes next."

She looked at the Earth again. As it slowly rotated, the continent of Asia came into view. She didn't know what dimension she was in now, exactly, but the entire continent was lit up with massive layers of cities that jutted out into space. She wasn't sure—deep down—if she was truly ready for 'what came next,' but she had meant what she said.

"Excellent," said Aleph "We will move to the next step, then."

#

The ways in which the Closed-Eye Society utilized dreams to cross dimensions were countless. Seven hundred years down this scientific path had truly made them Dream Masters. This would be Ceila's introduction to the process. Ivan and Aleph planned to show her the most basic, original art of Sleep Walking. They were both in agreement that it was the best way to do it, based on current circumstances.

Ivan and Aleph showed her to the 'Dream Room' part of the Badnaran. It was a simple room, sterile and efficient like the rest of the ship. There were three beds there, each with a pillow, but no blankets. Ivan and Aleph instructed Ceila to lay down and then start "thinking of sleep." They gave her a special tea to drink, which would enable her to quickly fall asleep and enter the dream world in a lucid state.

"This really works this way?" Ceila asked, finishing the tea.

It tasted the way jasmine incense smelled.

"It really works this way," said Aleph

They all drank the tea, laid in their respective beds and then closed their eyes.

"How will I know where to go once I start dreaming?" Ceila asked.

"Don't worry," Ivan said, with eyes closed and both hands resting comfortably over his heart. "We are both experts, and we will find you quickly. This is your initiation into The Closed-Eye Society, and a test."

"And then we will show you how to really dream!" said Aleph

#

The effects of the tea were as advertised. Ceila had fallen asleep, lucidly, and faster than she knew possible. Entering the dream world was simply a matter of closing her eyes and then opening them again. She had dabbled with lucid dreaming a bit, back when she went to college on Phobos; but this was something of a completely different order. It only took a brief minute to figure out where she was and what was happening.

Ceila found herself sitting in a row of desks. The precise alignment of five desks by four desks made it crystal clear she was back in her high school classroom. In Interplanetary Ethics class, to be exact. The year was 2254. Ceila started to think about reliving the joys and sorrows of senior year; but, something inside her knew that this meant failing the test.

I shouldn't get distracted," she thought.

There were a variety of pressing questions on her mind. If dreaming was simply linking up with alternate dimensions, then was all of this, including the people in the class, completely real? Did this imply that in another dimension, she was still seventeen years old? What if she did something bad? What if she killed someone?

The feeling that she was being tested persisted, and she knew she had to move forwards. Mrs. Beronomous was handing back last week's homework. The girl in front of Ceila handed back Celia's graded paper.

"B+" it read.

Slayed it! Ceila thought.

There was a special note beneath the grade.

Don't get sucked into the looseness of dreams. Perceive the truth from within the illusion; everything else is a mirage.

P.S. You can do better than B+.

Okay! Ceila thought.

She walked up to Mrs. Beronomous' desk, returned the homework for some reason, and then proceeded to make an excuse about having to go to the bathroom. Mrs. B. had already transformed into the bus driver from her usual morning commute.

"Don't forget your evening return pass!" said the bus driver.

Outside the classroom, Ceila found herself sitting in a baby carriage, gazing up at what she assumed her mother looked like when she was seventeen. She felt a deep sense of comfort as she gazed up at this loving figure. Ceila started to think about love. Not the sentimentality of love, but love in its purest form. She began to think about her mother without notions, but only as another being she was intrinsically linked with. A deep comfort started to crawl into her flesh. She thought about staying here, forever, closing her eyes, and letting her life play out again, from the very beginning. A jogger—in very unusual clothing for the time period—cruised by briskly, and announced something as he passed.

"The seductions of the dream world are all illusion!" he yelled. "Continue forwards, do not get absorbed!"

Ceila was beginning to realize the dream world was the most dangerous frontier of all. The moment she checked what her body looked like, she realized she had already been partially absorbed. Having a tiny, infant body would not do at all. She looked up to the loving face of her young mother again, only to find she had changed into something else. It was the man in the employ of the evil gods. The dramatic change from loving mother to dangerous assailant was an extreme contrast. He began to reach into the stroller, most likely to end her life.

"WHO ARE YOU, EXACTLY?!" Ceila insisted.

She looked down at her body again, and saw that she looked something like her usual self, except shrunken down to the size of an infant.

"Do you even know what you are doing?!" she asked him.

Her rational question did nothing to deter the assailant. His hand was quickly reaching for her and she feared what would happen next.

Think fast, Ceila! she thought. Perceive the truth from within the illusion!

She thought about the looseness of the dream world, and considered a thousand different ideas of how to escape the situation, but within the heat of her panic and desperation, she came up with this:

"FORM A HAWK!" she yelled.

Ceila flapped her wings steadily as she rapidly ascended into the sky of the dream world. She turned her avian head back sharply, and saw that she was quickly escaping the assailant. She was safe, for now.

#

Ivan and Aleph both sat back in Chesterfield wingback armchairs. They were completely aware of where Ceila was and how she was doing.

"She is confronting her own psyche now," Ivan said. "I told you she had the right stuff."

"It's always like that," said Aleph "That is the initiation, and there is no way around it."

"Yes," said Ivan. "One must confront themselves, and exit the door of the psyche, to begin to master the dream world."

"It's always been like that," said Aleph

"This brings me back to my initiation," said Ivan. "I remember when I first exited the door of the psyche."

"Are you sure you truly have?" Aleph asked.

"Hadn't … thought about that …" Ivan said.

"Are you sure she can get past that man on her own?" Ivan said.

"You are the one who said she is exceptional," said Aleph "Let's see what she does!"

#

The view of the dream world looked fascinating. Ceila gazed down all around with her bird head. The landscape was unable to be perceived directly, and it shifted and warped the more closely she tried to look at it.

What the diyu do I do now!? she thought. I'm stuck in bird-form!

She could hear Ivan's voice.

"Okay!" he said. "You should be able to normalize now. And then engage the dream realms in a concrete and fluid manner. That's step one in terms of navigation."

"I don't know," said Ceila. "I might just keep flying like this …"

"No!" said Ivan.

"It's pretty nice … I could just keep flying like this forever … maybe find part of a tree that looks good … find a couple of worms, even a nice loose branch!"

"No!" said Ivan. "The last thing you want to do is forget everything else and believe you are a bird, living in the normal world for a whole, uh, bird … life."

A's voice rang out all around Ceila, as if he himself was built into the fabric of the dream world. He spoke very clearly and calmly.

"Ceila," he said. "You need to resist the false comfort of just accepting the dream world. That's an endless sea of illusions. Simply engage the world around you with a focused mind."

"Okay …" she said, gazing down at her wings. "I'm gonna' land!"

"Do better than land!" said Aleph "Take control!"

Ceila thought long and hard about the definition of 'taking control.' She started to think about her whole life, and, at which moment she felt the most in control and focused. The memory that was most immediate popped into her mind. She had somehow forgotten about it.

It was the time her boyfriend in college (on Phobos) had overdosed on an older version of Mindfade. She had to carry him down the street while talking on the phone with the emergency service. The living conditions on Phobos were especially bad at the time, and the emergency services were considered some of the worst in the Solar system. He made it through with just minutes to spare.

Ceila, although much more collected and aware of where she was and what she was doing, found herself in a version of that same stretch of city streets she had walked down as her boyfriend laid dying in her arms. The entire scene ran in shades of dark grey and white, like old movies from three hundred years ago she had read about. Cars drove by steadily, but no one was driving them. They weren't self-automated either. They simply drove themselves, like they were possessed by ghosts, eternally cruising through this bizarre world. She couldn't help but think this was a lower dimension.

"You are almost there!" said Ivan.

"Am I still in danger?" Ceila asked. "I feel more focused, but still lost. What do I do now?!"

"Look down at your hands," said Ivan.

Ceila looked down at her hands. She had forgotten how unusually small they were.

"Now focus!" said Ivan. "Focus on your hands being as real as they have looked in the realest moments of your life. Truly understand it, and then make this the only thing you care about!"

"This is really how the science of your world works?" Ceila asked, looking at the meridians and birth lines on her hands.

"This is how it started!" Aleph said, laughing. "You're never done with the basics!"

Ceila continued to gaze down at her hands, they came into focus in a special and exciting way.

"I think I have it!" she said, surprising herself with an eccentric laugh.

This is real, she thought. I get it. I'm real.

#

Ceila found herself sitting in a Chesterfield wingback armchair. The room she was in was completely different from the rest of the dream world she had experienced. It seemed more real. It was like she had gone from 2D to 3D. Ivan and Aleph were sitting across from her, smiling at her from their respective chairs.

"What kind of chairs are these?" Ceila asked. "These are jin de."

"Funny you should ask that," said Aleph

"Chairs like these pop up all over the dream realms," Ivan explained. "Particularly in places where your mind has gained a lucid command of where you are. It's quite fascinating actually. Many archetypal things seem to manifest on their own, for ex—"

"Let's keep moving forwards," Aleph interrupted. "You did a pretty good job. I'd give you a B-plusgrade."

"The hawk move was inspired," Ivan said.

"That man came back," said Ceila. "And he caught me when I was in the form of a baby."

"A most perplexing situation," said Aleph

"You are not afraid of him?" Ceila asked Aleph "I've never met anyone so terrifying."

"It takes a lot to scare me," Aleph explained. "I've been around for a very long time."

"How could that man be so soulless?" Ceila asked Ivan and Aleph

"Like we said," Ivan said. "He is in the employ of what are most likely evil gods. As profound as it is, it's likely their entire reality is on the verge of destruction, such that the rulers of their dimension have become completely corrupt. Only the worst kind of beings would do the bidding of evil gods."

"Or the most oblivious," Aleph added.

"There is really no way to guess what he is, or what he used to be," Aleph continued. "Not to mention there could be limitless beings like him. We are simply doing the best we can."

"In the last thirty years …" Ivan said, "our contact with them has been to about the degree you have experienced. They have been accosting members of the Closed-Eye Society in just about every dimension we have access to. The problem has seriously intensified in the last several years."

"As you've found out," Ivan continued. "They are immediately aggressive and don't even bother to explain who they are, what they want, or why they are there."

"Not to mention," said Aleph, "the technology they possess is terrifying. We don't even know what they are using."

"It seems like very advanced nano-tech," Ceila observed.

"Maybe …" said Aleph "Or something of a different order altogether. Their dimension is probably more different than the difference between yours and ours."

"So what do we do next?" Ceila asked.

Ivan and Aleph gave each other a knowing look, laughed a bit, and then both turned to face her.

"Well," said Aleph "We are both very impressed with your almost immediate acceptance of your situation; and your enthusiasm is commendable."

"I knew I was right all along!" Ivan said.

"Yes Ivan, you are sure to get that big promotion you've been working on."

Ivan looked embarrassed and then looked down at his hands.

"What are we doing then? Ceila asked.

"We want you to take some downtime," Ivan said. "It's good for you psychologically. Critical, actually."

"I'm ready!" Ceila protested.

"People have gone insane doing things at the rate you are doing them," said Ivan. "You need a break."

"No!" she protested again. "I'm free now! I can take this!"

"You can't!" said Aleph "No one can. Being part of the Closed-Eye Society is a long and scientific process. You need to go through extensive training, just like everyone else."

"It's for the best in the long run," said Ivan. "I promise."

"We will send you back to your original dimension," Aleph explained. "So please resume your life as you normally would. And we will contact you again at the appropriate time."

"Look huojis!" Ceila started to yell. "I am ready for this! I can—"

Aleph leaned back in his Chesterfield wingback chair, smiled a knowing smile and then waved his hand. The last thing Ceila saw was the usually blurriness before she woke up from a dream.

#

Ceila found herself in her bed, laying on her back as she usually did. Her A.I. chimed in with its pre-set alarm.

"YOU'VE BEEN SLEEPING FOR THREE DAYS!" it said in its factory setting voice. "YOU MUST WAKE UP!"

Ceila sat up in her bed, looked at the holographic clock display on her wall, and realized she had woken up at the usual time. She had to be at work in one hour.

"A.I. temporary deactivation," she said, rubbing her eyes as she became more lucid.

She climbed out of bed.

"THE SETTING USED TO DEACTIVATE SETTINGS HAS BEEN DE—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah …" she protested.

She stood up and realized she was still wearing the same underwear she had on three days ago. She started to telepathically brew her synth-coffee and synth-breakfast.

Why do I even eat this stuff? she thought.

She turned on the interface and began to check her email as usual. Apart from a bunch of spam messages (advertising vacations to various planets and moons), and a scam selling 'gamma ray insurance', she had just one real message. It was from Visions of Tomorrow's Tomorrow Magazine.

What the diyu, she thought.

She opened the email.

Your story 'Fragments of the Time Warriors' was a big hit here at the magazine! We had a very high volume of submissions this month; and after a lot of deliberation, we have decided we will publish your story—pending revision. One of our staff will contact you soon by phone!

Sincerely,

Rocco Fresno.

Okay, Ceila thought.

Besides the chief editor of the magazine changing, everything appeared about the same. Ceila laughed to herself a bit. Her story being published almost seemed inconsequential compared to what she had experienced the previous day.

Could use the money, however, she thought.

Was it really just one whole day? she worried.

"YOU'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR THREE DAYS!" her A.I. added.

"Ta ma de you!" Ceila said.

Ceila continued to go about her usual daily routines, all the while waiting for Ivan and Aleph to contact her again. Being aware of the vast dimensional structure of the universe had deeply changed her perspective on the world around her, it's people and herself. And yet, somehow, a certain monotony overcame her. An entire week went by with no contact from Ivan or Aleph, as well as no sense of experiencing other dimensions. A strange and terrible feeling began to creep into Ceila.

This feeling was vague and amorphous at first, but steadily began to crawl further into her psyche. As the days went by, she began to worry that everything that happened to her wasn't real: a dream in the traditional sense. She even began to worry she had developed a mental disorder. She searched the Musk-Net Planet-Link for mental disorders associated with prolonged dreams and sleeping for multiple days. Every day that went by without contact from Ivan or Aleph made her doubt what had happened a little more.

Am I losing touch with reality? she worried as she got dressed for work.

The more time went by, the foggier things seemed to get. It was a week to the day when she got a very unusual and unexpected invitation at Sol System Financial. She was sitting in her office, illegally searching the internet for clues and hints from different dimensions. Jack knocked on her door in a manner intended to represent an unexpected announcement.

"You are not gonna' believe this!" he said.

"Yes, Jack!" She replied, closing the illegal search engine quickly.

Jack still looked amazed as he pushed his glasses up to his eyes. "You've been invited up to the central office to speak with the planetary VP! The senior partners have taken an interest in you!"

Ceila had to inquire further. "The VP of this branch—of the entire planet—of Sol System Financial, wants me to talk with him?"

"I couldn't believe it either!" Jack said. "You are going to get to ride the space elevator!"

"Did they say what they wanted?" Ceila asked.

"They did not! But the order came directly from the VP himself! You better gather up your stuff and head there immediately. I've been ordered to use my clearance to get you on the elevator. I've only ridden it once myself. The view is simply amazing! You are going to have a great time, Kaitlin."

#

The space elevator in question was a massive elevator that was situated at the center of Sol System Financials' New York Headquarters. It was one of seven on the entire planet Earth. They were each located at Sol System Financials' main branches around the world. They reached all the way up to the Moon, and any one of them could be used to reach the lunar basin when they were properly aligned, based on the rotational location of the planet. Sol System Financials' headquarters on the Moon governed their branches throughout the Solar system.

. Something inside her felt like she was heading into an inevitable destination again. The terrible doubt that had overcome her about Ivan and Aleph had reached a boiling point.

Was it really a dream? she worried. Is this what's real?

The space elevator crested over the exosphere. . Ceila saw the vast glow of outer space merge and expand over the earth. Looking straight up, she could see the Moon's pale glow set against the dense, dark, star populated universe. The stars were infinite.

Crazy week I've been having, she thought.

The elevator finally reached the entrance to Sol System Financials' headquarters. It looked very different than Ceila had imagined it would. It was a dense, black ziggurat with glowing yellow windows, which climbed the building all the way to it's very top. The ziggurat sloped towards its middle point, merging into one sharp, dark point that rose over the surface of the lunar basin. The sun could be seen directly behind it, causing the ziggurat to cast an ominous black shadow. The very top of it contained what looked like a single, massive room. This must have been the VP's office.

The space elevator landed, and the module she had been in automatically lifted off into the lunar basin with four blasts of steam. It lowered itself on it's own.

What the diyu? she thought. This place wasn't what I imagined at all.

She was taken to the main lobby by an automated tread. The number of people in the lobby was incredibly small. There was a receptionist sitting behind a very large desk, that Ceila guessed was made out of (what looked like) meteorite. The receptionist was so far away Ceila felt like she was looking through a fish's eye. The carpet was a very dark red that reminded her of a long series of dreams she had when she was seventeen. The receptionist simply pointed toward the internal elevator of the ziggurat without looking up. This person didn't seem to have a concrete form, and looked more like a blur, or a person drawn by an abstract artist. Ceila walked across the seemingly endless hall and boarded.

The elevator looked more advanced than any technology she had ever seen. It wasn't linked to the tube that carried it, nor did it appear to have any electronic or hovering technology. It simply moved on its own. The ride to the top of the ziggurat seemed endless and incredibly fast at the same time. Ceila exited and then slowly walked down another long hall to the planetary VP's office.

#

The VP was sitting in a Chesterfield wingback chair that somehow seemed to be the opposite of Ivan's and Aleph's.

"Hello Ceila," the planetary VP said.

The VP of Sol System Financial looked nothing like what she expected. He had pure, long white hair. The front of his hair formed a long, thick zig-zag strand that hung over his face. He was wearing a black suit that was only one piece. It had a V-shaped curve that went across his chest and three large buttons adorning it.

"You uh … requested me?" Ceila asked very nervously.

The atmosphere in his office was very different from the rest of the ziggurat. She started to feel like she was in the dream realms again.

"Indeed," he replied. "You've been causing a lot of trouble with your little sleep-walking friends. They have become a serious threat to our reality."

Ceila immediately realized what was happening.

"So … I've come to offer you a little deal, Solarion resident."

"What the diyu is a Solarion resident?"

"That's our name for your universe," he said. "That's what people in our universe call your universe."

Whether this person had always been the planetary VP of Sol System Financial, or the rules of the dream realms had already taken effect (or both), Ceila wasn't sure. What was immediately clear, was that this was one of the evil gods Ivan and Aleph had told her about. She started to tremble.

"Your universe has become our universe … or rather, it will be soon. So, I think you would do well to become one of us before it's too late. We are all granting you an exceptional opportunity, Ceila."

"You know you are the bad guy here, right?" Ceila stated.

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard that nonsense."

"You've been trying to destroy the Closed-Eye Society," Ceila said. "They are good and you are bad."

"Maybe from a mortal point of view," he said. "Think about it."

"I already know the truth," Ceila said.

"There is no way you could ever stand up to me," said the VP.

His eyes narrowed, and he began to peer deeply into her.

"Do you have a name?" she asked.

"I've had countless names …"

"You sent a man to kill me!"

"Our apologizes; we've had to … outsource … various aspects of what we do, in our plan to harmonize our universe with yours. Some of our employees have a renegade attitude. We didn't intend for it to get that extreme."

"I think you mean conquer our universe," Ceila said. "Your plan smells like la shi."

"Interesting language you are speaking there. Anyway, I can promise you, your friends from the Closed-Eye Society won't be coming to save you. I am a god, and there is no way you can stand up to me. My mind simply exists on a plane much higher than yours, profoundly higher, and I can easily dominate you."

Ceila started to understand everything Ivan and Aleph had been telling her. She started thinking about "Fragments of the Time Warriors" and Benedict's final confrontation with
'the Asarian.'

"Ta ma de you!" she said.

"Anyway," continued the god, standing up from his Chesterfield wingback chair, "in a thousand years, our dying universe, Tennariandasias, will become fully merged with yours, allowing us to live on forever. Those in your universe, who comply, will be allowed to continue on. We'd like you to set an example. Completely reject the Closed-Eye Society and become an ambassador for us."

"Why the diyu is everyone so interested in me lately!?" Ceila said.

. Ceila looked down at her hands. She started feel a tingle of boldness. The possibilities of what this being could do to her seemed terrifying, and yet, she had already begun to feel the possibilities of the dream world.

"You really think you are a god?" Ceila asked.

"It is a sin to even ask me that," he replied.

"Let's put that theory to the test!" Ceila said.

"I can—"

Ceila thought long and hard about where she wanted to be. She wanted to go somewhere deep within the dream realms, where the rules would be different, more in her favor, and she could find something to use to her advantage.

"My mind is already enveloped around yours," said the god. "I know you can already feel the fear. Isn't it terrible?"

Ceila tried hard to pick a location, something entirely new and foreign. But, due to her inexperience, and the pressure of contending with a god, she was forced to come up with an immediate response. She found herself back on Phobos, and back in college. It must have been freshman year (whatever that meant in the dream world), as she was still wearing the shirt of a band she had just seen on Mars.

"There is nowhere you can go!" said the evil god. "Your mind is my mind; you are my absolute prisoner."

Ceila planned to evade this being for as long as she could, and then hold out for Ivan and Aleph to come to her rescue. The plan felt loosely stitched together and the situation was incredibly dire.

"Your friends don't even know where you are! How do you know they don't think you're dead?"

The next series of events would be very challenging to describe, even for the person experiencing it themselves. An attempt at explanation would be that Ceila experienced her entire college career, starting with freshman year, play out incredibly fast. Everything blurred like a time-lapse photo of a speeding race car. Only the moments that were most lucid and pertinent in her mind stood still. She felt and experienced everything she had those four years. It almost seemed like she was really back on Phobos.

She started feeling like she was truly back in college, living out her four years, but, with the presence of an evil god lingering in her mind. It was beautiful and terrible at the same time. She started talking with her first boyfriend Kyle again. He was from a farming family that lived on a meteorite that orbited Jupiter. She started to get excited about all the possibilities Reliving all the beautiful moments and the bad ones too, even the mundane ones, would be worth it.

"I could stay with Kyle! We could never break up! And then we could get mar—"

"CEILA!" A voice yelled.

The person's voice seemed to be coming from every direction. The comfortable feeling of sinking deeper into the dream world was suddenly done away with.

"DO NOT GET ABSORBED!"

It was Ivan, he was back.

Ceila sprung up from her dorm room bed. It was like waking up from a dream into another dream.

"Ivan!" she yelled.

"We are sorry!" Aleph said. "We met with serious interference after we left you in your original dimension. But we have found you all the same! And we managed to dispatch that terrible fiend, too!"

"I figured out how to beat him!" Ivan said. "And we figured out what kind of technology he was using, too!"

"Yes, nice work Ivan," said Aleph "Your promotion is on the way."

"One of the evil gods found me!" Ceila yelled. "I'm in serious danger!"

"We know!" said Ivan.

"Indeed, I have!" said an ominous voice.

He sounded even more villainous.

"Stay focused, Ceila!" said Aleph "We are pinpointing your location!"

Ceila's illusion of being back in her college days came to a sudden and much needed end. The lucidity inspired by Ivan and Aleph's return gave her exactly what she needed. She looked down at her hands again, looking for that special and unmistakable feeling. She thought about a lot of places she could be, but, having learned from very recent, past experience, tried to think of something more inspired.

"There is no way you can escape me," the evil god said. "I could destroy you with a thought, or make you go insane, immediately, it's simply that I haven't done it yet. I'm giving you a chance."

"Is that the case?!" Ceila asked.

After a couple more intense seconds, Ceila finally arrived on a destination. She was amazed to find that it worked. There were two reasons she was so amazed. The first reason was that the place she wanted to go was somewhere she had never been herself (as far as she knew). The second was that it was two hundred years in the past. The year 2023 to be exact.

She found herself floating in the sky, hovering above ancient New York City in a sort of incorporeal form.

"The cars drive on the ground!" she observed. "This is incredible!"

"Ceila!" Aleph said. "You are in more control now, but don't get too ambitious. You are still in serious danger. We are doing everything we can to protect you. Please just hold on!"

"This is your last chance, Ceila," said the evil god. "Completely reject your silly Dream Master friends, or be destroyed."

"I think I see where she is now!" Ivan said.

"I am a god!" The evil god protested.

"Then show yourself!" Ceila demanded.

Ceila focused on being somewhere safe, somewhere inside of ancient New York where she might have a level playing field. She was about to come up with an idea, when suddenly she felt a terrible sensation begin to completely sink into her. It was like a headache, but a thousand times worse. It was a level of pain she had never felt.

"Do not resist me!" said the evil god. "I can make this infinitely worse. There's no limit to it. It is time to give up."

Ceila really did start to think about giving up. There was no describing the pain. She had already found a new definition of suffering in these short few seconds; and yet, something inside of her told her she couldn't surrender.

"Are you really ready for hell?" asked the evil god. "This is it. This will be the end!"

"Ta ma de you!" said Ceila. "FORM OF A CITY!"

There is really no way to explain what Ceila experienced next. Only a formal summary could begin to describe it. Her dream body expanded to the point where she herself became New York City, year 2023. She became all its buildings, streets, cars and people. She turned into the darkened alleyways and the towering skyscrapers. She was the citizens, the air, the pollution, the loud voices, the abandoned warehouses, the stray animals, the creaking steps of old buildings and the glow of streetlights. Whatever could be seen, felt, feared, loved, tasted and thought in ancient New York City, that was what she was. She was everywhere and nowhere at once.

"What in the name of god did she just do?" Ivan asked.

Aleph started laughing.

"Completely brilliant!" Aleph said.

"Guys …" said Ceila, her voice coming from every corner of ancient New York. "I am feeling a little … uh … strange right now. I don't know how long I can do this for."

"Just hold on Ceila!" Aleph said. "We are almost there!"

Ceila had turned the tables, if only for a moment. The evil god, starting to experience what sounded like desperation, was forced to take on a more solid form.

"Very clever, Solarion resident!" he said, yelling into the air and addressing the entire city Ceila had become. "It's time for you to show yourself. Enough of this game!"

"No way!" she said, feeling, internally, the shifting gears of an entire cities' existence. It was beginning to be sunrise within her.

"Let's not be ridiculous now!" he said. "I cannot be defied!"

"I wonder how ridiculous things can actually get?!" Ceila said. "What if I changed this whole city to ten thousand years from now? Could you keep up with me then?"

"Show yourself!" he demanded.

"Have it your way!" Ceila replied.

Ceila began to imagine ancient New York City evolving at an exceptional rate. Time sped up considerably. This metropolitan evolution would be much different from the history of her dimension. She focused the entire city's development around mocking the evil god. Posters and flyers were handed out with his image on it, calling him all sorts of names in Chinese. This was just the start.

"What on earth is this!" he protested.

The evil god was now enveloped in a city that only existed to mock him. Not just in words, but in its very form and essence. Entire school curriculums and college degrees were based solely on his derision. The very fabric of their language began to form around his degradation. It became so natural, no one questioned it.

"You must stop this game!"

The very fabric of the city expanded and warped as Ceila continued to mock the evil god. One hundred years of history went by, until every street corner, alleyway, restaurant, person and animal became solely devoted to this cause. The evil god found himself unchained in time and space in the most ironic way. He felt himself accosted by a degradation that went far beyond the rules of the physical universe.

"Ceila, we found you!" said Ivan. "You wouldn't believe what dimension you are in now!"

"We are seconds away!" said Aleph

"Do you feel eternal now?" Ceila asked the god. "You don't think you can die?"

"I commend your imagination, Solarion resident," he said. "But this is an elaborate distraction at best. Simply the illusions of dreams. Nothing more."

"I think it's more than that," Ceila said.

Aleph and Ivan immediately materialized around her. Ivan seemed to fade in, as if he was teleporting, while Aleph simply formed from the matter that was all around them.

"Let's take him on together!" Ivan said.

"Stay focused on this reality you've created, Ceila," said Aleph

Aleph took the lead, and the three of them immediately surrounded the evil god. The reality Ceila had created became unfrozen in time, and she herself stopped being a part of it. She was in normal physical form, within the dream world.

"The Dream Masters then!?" said the evil god.

Ivan began to talk.

"You are guilty of countless crimes against universal dimensional code and conduct procedures. Under the authority of the Closed-Eye Society, the Nine Layers of Dimensions, and Planet Tavaress, you are under arrest."

"He is too dangerous to be alive," said Aleph solemnly. "Let's take him out!"

Ivan gave Aleph a surprised look.

"Are you sure?" Ivan asked.

"You can't touch me!" the evil god said.

They were standing on a basketball court now. The court looked ancient and had long blades of grass sprouting up through it's cracked surface. Broken chains hung from rusted hoops.

"Hmm …" said Aleph. "What if we dragged you into a black hole, then? Are you sure you know what those are all about, entirely? Would you be invincible then?"

"Well …" replied the evil god. "I … uh …"

"Or we could just trap you in the dream world forever," Ivan suggested. "We'd just have to sever your roots to physical reality. Shouldn't be impossible."

"I'm starting to feel like anything is possible!" Ceila said.

"Let's not … uh …" said the evil god.

"Let's not what?" Aleph asked.

"Let's not get any crazy ideas," said the evil god.

"No?" Said Ceila. "Why not?"

"Might as well!" said Ivan.

The evil god was starting to look less invincible by the second.

"You might as well beg for mercy at this point!" Ceila stated.

"HA! Beg?!" he protested. "I've lived a thousand lives and seen events both ultra-atomic and ultra-galactic. I can read your every thought! I can control you and make you—"

"Fuck you, fascist!" said Ceila, swiping her right pinky in the air. "Form of a … uh … um … of … A DOLLAR!"

The god (once thought eternal and indestructible) physical form quickly morphed into a one dollar, Sol System credit. The limited edition, 2220, President Falco note, to be exact, which was Ceila's favorite.

"Oh … no …" said Aleph, putting a hand on his head.

Ivan fell over laughing.

"Hahahaha!"

Aleph looked completely perplexed as what to say and do, and then stared down at the ground at the unit of currency. He started to laugh too.

"Why on earth did you choose that, Ceila?" Aleph asked.

"I needed a dollar!" Ceila explained, quickly picking up the note and gingerly putting it into her pocket.

"You will not be spending that!" said Aleph

The task was done. Ivan and Aleph, with the help of their new recruit, had done something many in the Closed-Eye Society thought was impossible. Aleph had hoped that defeating the evil god would have been done in a manner that was more easily repeatable and reproducible (something his superiors had insisted on), but the task was done nonetheless.

They made a quick exit from the dream realms and returned to the Badnaran , having accomplished their mission. It took several days to decompress the events that had happened. The three of them roamed the ship, taking lots of time to observe near-Earth outer space, until they finally managed to calm down and put things in perspective. They felt an exceptional sense of accomplishment.

After that, they took some down time on the Badnaran, and even took a night to celebrate their success. Aleph reported back to his superior officers, using his very advanced skills as a dream master to travel back to the dimension the Closed-Eye Society and planet Tavaress were located on.

Ivan stuck around on the Badnaran and continued to instruct Ceila in the art of Closed-Eye Dimensional Crossing. Her aptitude was strong, and they were both confident she would one day be a powerful Dream Master herself. Ceila began training, with an emphasis on her original ability to change the form of herself and other things.

In terms of confronting the 'gods' of the alternate universe (and the fiends they employed) the battle had truly just begun. There was still a universe-sized mystery as to how powerful their reach truly was. What was known now, was that there was hope.

Aleph took the President Falco Edition Sol System Credit (that now contained the soul of the evil god) with him. He would bring it back to his superiors at the Closed-Eye Society. There it would be studied, and, ideally, they would find a way to reproduce the results. Aleph now felt confident it could be done.

After some time, Ivan instructed Ceila to return to her original dimension. For the time being (and with instruction from the Closed Eye Society), it was decided she would operate as a novice Dream Master in her original dimension, with continued contact and training from Ivan, aboard the Badnaran .

#

Ceila walked into her apartment, not knowing how long it had truly been since she had been there.

How long is one day in the dream world? she worried.

She looked around her expensive, floating apartment. It looked both foreign and familiar. Foreign in the sense, that she now knew this was no longer just a place she lived, but part of a vast network of dimensions that she could dream. She wondered if she even needed to lay her head down on her pillow anymore. She came up with an idea that might provide a solution.

"A.I.!" she said. "Tell me something concrete! Tell me something to assure me I know where I am. So I can feel safe and mundane, and not worry. So that I know who I am, and what I am, exactly. Make it all seem so easy and clear! Make all the corners of the universe feel perfectly rounded, so that there is nothing left to be afraid of."

"THIS SETTING HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED."

THE END

Bio: I am currently an unpublished writer (aside from a self-published novella). I am a self-employed writer, musician and graphic artist. I also do a Buddhist spiritual practice. I am currently 34 (I'll be 35 in December) years old.

E-mail: Po Ivey

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