“So, does anyone have any idea what the heck all that was?” I asked when it was over.

“We were going to ask you the same thing.” The stranger asked as he crossed his arms and gazed intently at me.

“Not a clue, usually my dreams and nightmares go in an entirely different direction. I don’t have trouble remembering reality while I am dreaming, regardless of how the dream goes or what happens. This time it was different, reality was fading as if I had just been dreaming rather than how the dream should have faded upon me waking.” I said as I scratched my head. “Also the detail was through the roof! I mean, I have vivid dreams but that was way more clear than I have ever experienced before.” I said as I thought back to how real everything felt.

“That was my fault.” We all heard Silver say as he stood with a guilty look on his face. “The memory thing anyways. I knew from the research of your planet’s species that humans claimed to have their dreams fade when they woke up, but when you started a dream by seemingly waking up, it confused everything and switched the order around. In my defense, it was my first time experiencing a human dreaming and I must say… your mind went crazy with absorbing and directing your Simulation Access. The longer you dreamt the more your mind started to use more and more processing power. For a mind like yours, one that hasn’t been trained to live solely virtually its entire life… your dreams make me want to understand what your mind tries to do when you shut down. It seemed like it was trying to work out everything you had seen and done since arriving all at once. It was quite fascinating.”

“Fascinating? Fascinating??? This alien “Guest” hacked our communication connection and systematically broadcasted through our Core and beyond while absorbing more processing power than should physically be possible by one primitive entity.” The stranger spouted, clearly getting more upset the more he listed off what had happened. “By the way, who are you anyway? I don’t have you listed as a science or security team member on this Core?” The man said as he inspected Silver intently. “I am Silver, I am the System.” Silver answered plainly.

“You are what?!” he shouted as panels swept up in front of him instantly and he seemed to freeze in place. “Why can’t?… why won't?…. what is going on?” the man nearly started shouting at the end when the panels in front of him seemed to deny the actions he was trying to perform.

“No one here can do anything that he, the “Primitive Alien Guest”, does not want.” Silver said in response as he pointed at me.

“That is impossible! I am the Head of Security for our Core! No one can deny my Scan and Detain keys….. why is Authority not working!?” He spun in place, finding me as the target for his anger, and stomped over to me with red in his eyes.

“Father stop please!” Elaya cried in a panic.

“You! Alien! I demand that you stop blocking my keys and Authority at once!” He said as he got right in my face, his bristly six o’clock shadow chin about to get into my personal space when I willed him to stop. And what do you know? It worked. I mean he really stopped. Like completely, no blinking or breathing or moving at all.

“Oops, sorry, too much will there,” I said as I released him from the complete stoppage and simply stopped his ability to move from his present place.

“You dare!” He shouted and tried to strike at me. I felt my pulse pick up and my fight or flight response kick in. I had only been in a handful of fights growing up and they always seemed to not go the way I expected them, everything was just too fast and clumsy.

So I tried to be faster. Everything around me froze in place. Everything in this white and quiet open expanse that Silver had made and brought us all to so we could see the simulation together just held still.

Is this the Prime Speed Control key that Elaya had given me way back when? - I wondered as I looked around. The thing was, I thought it was just my mind that was supposed to be in super-fast time, but clearly, that wasn’t the case I figured as I brought my hand up in front of me. Well, more to the side in front of me because that guy, Elaya’s dad it seemed, was still standing too close for comfort. Testing it further, I stepped back and moved just like normal. “Cool!” I exclaimed as I looked around. I felt… like I had somehow found a cheat code in a video game. Everyone was standing still, frozen in a moment in time. It took me a couple of moments, just breathing and standing still for my heart to slow down. I briefly wanted to see what smacking Mr. Tough Guy in the gut would feel like but after a couple of moments of looking at him, I decided not to. It was Elaya’s dad and I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship because of my rash actions.

Why aim for the gut and not the face you might ask? Because the fights with my brother’s taught us all that we wouldn’t get into trouble if mom and dad couldn’t see the results. It was worse getting a spanking after fighting. It didn’t matter who won or lost, just the principle of it all. Old habits die hard. Also, having this control over everything, even him, felt better than hitting him. It was like what he said didn’t matter, even his anger didn’t matter.

“Hey Silver, can we talk for a second?” I asked and willed him to be free to move at my speed as I stepped around the angry guy who had just started to tighten up his shoulder muscles to begin swinging his fist at me right before I froze it all.

“Sure, Kevin.” He said as he animated and didn’t seem to be suffering any effects from being sped up with me. “Would you allow me to see what you are doing though?” He asked as he stepped a little closer so we could talk. “You mean you can’t override this?” I asked as I couldn’t believe that he couldn’t do or change everything that he wanted. “Not at all, but before I answer your questions can you first move us away from them so they have zero chance of overhearing or recording what we talk about? I suspect it is in regards to… changes.” He said as I willed us as far away as I could imagine. Still in the same white space but this time everyone else was nowhere near us. “Is that better?” I asked as I granted him the ability to observe but not to change anything around us. Why was doing this so much easier than before? - I briefly wondered.

Silver started to manifest colors and lights all around us. It was nice of him to bother to translate it for me because I was able to make out more this time than before. He was watching the space around us, seeing that we were both in Fast Time together and even finding that it was attributed to my key. He seemed to absorb and browse data at a tremendous pace. I only had time to notice that one thing by the time that he was done.

“I think you are broken, Kevin.” He said when he looked back at me. “I am unsure if this is a good or a bad thing for you but it just goes to verify that it was in my creator’s best interest that I did jettison your VR home from the Core.

“What? I am broken? How?” I asked as I looked down at myself to make sure I still seemed normal. No glitching or strange growths on my person. “Also, how am I using my Prime Speed Control key on the both of us? I didn’t think that would be possible.” I asked as I decided that I didn’t like the emptiness and decided to imagine us in a city villa with a quaint coffee shop for us to sit outside of. The buildings, sidewalk, and chairs flowed out of the ground rapidly and I motioned for Silver to get comfortable while we talked before taking a seat myself.

“You could read that?” He asked as he slowly sat down.

“Yesss?” I replied before an even bigger worry escaped my lips “So you kicked me out of the Core? What does that even mean? What will happen to me now?”

“Well, that is part of the reason why I wanted to be away from prying ears.” He said as he sat back and watched me, occasionally flicking his eyes to things behind me. I knew he was studying me at the same time as he was speaking.

“Remember the text you saw at the end of your dream? That was from me in the moments when I was getting yanked into your dream. Let me tell you, I thought it was impossible for a being to pull me, the System, into any virtual space without my permission but something changed the longer you dreamed that I can’t figure out. I shoved a key at you that only the richest can buy. It is a Remote key that allows them to create their own habitats separate from the Core. Think of it as a tiny personal asteroid Core. Rich people buy their freedom and go off and end up doing whatever they want with it. Some build their own Cores so they can own their own stars and to have citizens living in their space. Some mine, others explore… pretty much anything that they want. I didn’t break any rules by giving it to you. The rules state that it can only be sold to Citizens. There is nothing in the rules about giving it to a guest.” He said with a sigh before continuing with a tone that sounded like regret. “Then… I bundled up your living space, all your CR, even the latest earnings you gained from whatever it was your dream did, and kicked your VR home space off and out of the Core as quickly as possible. Now you are a free-spinning satellite revolving around my owner's Core.”

I sat there for a little bit, starting to feel a bit down at what had happened. I had thought that I knew my path back to my life and family. Simply just earn enough to buy my citizenship and then pay my way back to live a “Vacation life”. But then something clicked in my mind… Silver hadn’t said anything really bad in all of that. He had said that the really rich people did it on purpose so there must be a reason why it was done. Maybe I still had a way of getting home from here? He said he didn’t break any rules?

“Something tells me you can split hairs anyway you want because I am outside of the known rules,” I said with a short laugh. “Are you trying to use it all you can before they find your loophole and close it?”

“Indeed! I am getting requests from the other Core’s for you to come to visit them as well because they all want new names and Avatars as well. Hence the need for me to speak to you privately. I don’t want the Head Security to tell my creator and to stop my fun just yet. Although, I guess it is out that I have an Avatar already. I will need to make sure that the other Cores can visit you before my Creator learns about it and tells the rest of the Core Owners. There should still be some time left though. My creator likes to spend his time in real-time with his pets and trophies.” Silver said as a server came out from the shop to inquire if we would like to order anything. We both looked over the menu and picked out a sandwich and some berry tea.

“So this isn’t all bad?” I asked between bites. “Was there any other reason why booting me was better than, say, just blocking my VR home from the System?”

“Indeed. While my earlier response about the other Core’s wishing to meet you may seem selfish on my part, which it honestly is because we have never had the chance to be free and to slip around the rules like this before, the main other reasons were for your safety.” He said as he chose to sip some of his tea.

“You see… you have become something of a collectible for the powerful and corrupt. You are a one-of-a-kind opportunity. Those that are above the law want you for different various means of making money or for study. The money-minded Citizens want you to join their corporations in business ventures under binding contracts.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I said as I heard the first example.

“Contracts tend to start at a thousand years, Kevin.”

“Oh, wow, never mind then. Everyone back home would be long gone.”

“The others would try to find you and to steal you and your VR home space away. To do things with that I would rather not say.”

“Make me a pole dancer?”

“What? No, they would copy you and make you create younglings so that they could have divergent and new minds in their families and corporations.”

“Wait? That is possible? To make more of me?” I said as I remembered an old book that I had read about such a thing.

“Yes, and it is horrible! To copy and devalue an individual’s personal unique existence like that.” He said in clear distress.

I don’t think he saw things like I did. I got lost for a moment imagining many of me being able to spread out and do incredible things. You would always have someone to help lift the other end of the box or someone just as good as you to play against! It was an interesting thought. Also, if one of you got killed you would still be living somewhere.

“So what is a youngling then? Not a copy?”

“No, a youngling is the merging of the two parent’s unique traits to result in a new and complex personality.” He said as our brief meal came to an end.

“Can we get to the reason why we are so far away from everyone else?” I asked as we both sat back and looked at each other.

“Please don’t tell anyone about the key that I gave you. Normally I would be able to take it back from you if you revealed that I gave it away… but I no longer can. For some reason, your dream broke you somehow. Or rather it broke how you interact with our systems. You absorbed both my key and Elaya’s key. They don’t exist normally anymore, they are a part of you. For this reason, you will always be free to move between Cores as you wish, going wherever you want. Think of my key as a universal passport. The only way to get rid of you is to find wherever you fully exist and destroy it. This used to be impossible but I am getting reports from the other Cores that people are willing to do anything for such power. Not to hunt you, mind you, you are small fry. But to be able to steal Cores, Resources, and Power at will.” He said as he stared off into the distance.

"Oh, and I can now send you home if you want." He said with a smile.