As the weeks went by, nothing seemed to change in my days darkening with an unwanted level of doom. Obsession to the Altiri kept hammering away at by brain from all angles. The continued chain of lucid nightmares did not help me one bit. Even though the third and fourth one became harder to remember, the same thing basically happened the entire time. I would wake up in the same artic zone I had before, fully conscious and aware of what was going on. Not too long after, Shadow Face would show up and kill me again.

It was tough remembering if she ever really got me or not, since she never aimed for my neck or my head. But I knew her frozen sword did cut through me more than once. Because of those dreams, I spent much of my time awake recycling the same fear that something important and dangerous was about to happen to me in the real world. But I waited and waited, repeating this cycle of insanity until I felt I had enough.

I woke to my new surroundings, mesmerized but not surprised by the fast arrays of a freezing world. As soon as I realized I was having the same dream for the fifth time in a row, I cursed my luck again, trying to get used to the cold and preparing myself to run away from that maniac.

Two minutes is all it took for her to show up again. Her face was always concealed by that energy shadow. But ever since the third dream, I noticed that each time I saw her the next time, the height of that shadow would shrink slightly, revealed her upper neck, and going up more the next time the dream came around again. And she seemed to retain the memories as I did each time I came here. By now, the shadow still covering her face was now pulled up just enough to reveal her lips. At first, I thought the blue coloration to that part of her mouth was just makeup or lipstick, but her lips were colored deeper than just the skin level. It seemed more like a natural color for her, as if she were somehow starved for oxygen.

Of course, I didn't have any time to study her strong body. All I could do instead was run away from her in a panic, always failing since she could run up to speeds that were humanly impossible. But I didn't stop running regardless. I managed to get some amount of a head start this time, putting some good distance between myself and her. Even though I was becoming more certain that it was okay for me to die in my own lucid dream, I still didn't want to embrace the feeling of her saber cutting through my flesh like confetti. So I used my own fear to my advantage, being the only thing capable of motivating me to run for as long as I possibly could.

I could still feel her coming for me again. I tried running even faster, but my desperation was made in sacrifice for safety. Before I knew it, my foot slipped against the small hill of snow in front of me, as I took the tumble down to the freezing yet soft floor below me. I struggled to get myself back up, but the trip itself blasted away all hope I had left of outrunning her, thus I convinced myself that it just wasn't worth it anymore. She's going to catch up to me no matter what and cut me down!

What's the use if I fight anymore or not? To hell with all of this! I stood up, turning around to face the direction my enemy would be coming from. I knew I couldn't fight her. But if she wants to kill me so badly, I'll make her face a defenseless kid to go through with it. I'm through giving into her games. To hell with this place and this dream! I don't care what keeps causing me to come back here, but all of this can rot for all I care!

"This dream is the beginning of something incredible. It is a part of me. It is a part of you. Our fates are intertwined."

"Who said that?!" I panicked and turned around, expecting my foe to be standing right over me. But there was nobody nearby. It was her voice again, that I was sure of... But every time I hear it, it sounds like her words are literally passing right into my mind, but they're not my own thoughts at all. How can she echo her words through my brain like that? Is it another one of her superpowers?

Wincing in realization to what I should have known, I quickly turned around again peering over the small incline of the snow bank I left behind me, and sure enough, the mysterious woman was standing there. Though she was still about forty meters from me, even that distance was enough of a danger for me. Still, it really drove the mystery for how she could stand so far from me and sound so close at the same time. But I wasn't to deviate from what I decided on earlier. If she wants to play the villain every time, then so be it! "You again!" I chanted aggressively, stopping her advance. "You think this is fun? You get some kind of kick out of killing me? Answer me you damn Altiri! Tell me why you keep trying to cut me down!" I have no right to raise my voice to someone this powerful, but I'm going to die again anyway.

"My primary objective is not to eliminate you. My presence and past demonstrations have revealed to you most of what I am capable of." She stood there still in the snow, revealing to me her higher purpose. "My combat skills have impressed you, no?"

Even from forty meters away, this only got stranger by the minute. But she finally stopped moving. Maybe she really is interested in talking. Even if it buys me a few minutes, I'd rather have some than none. I still heard and felt her voice through my ears, but this time I could see for certain that her mouth was not moving at all as she spoke. But really, all this time she was only testing her combat skills? What kind of fool does she think I am? This lady must be crazy or something!

"I can assure you, my level of sanity is well within any normal deviation Reed. Crazy is something I am not."

She heard that?! What the hell? She's not echoing her voice with some insane power; she's reading my own thoughts! No, maybe it's something else. Still, how else could she hear me when I'm not even speaking right now?

"We are speaking to each other right now. Nobody ever said that vocal projection was ever the only form of communication... How does my voice feel, as it's projected inside your mind?" While asking that question, the warrior shifted the frozen sword in her hand, not to threaten me, only to adjust it.

I was right! She can hear my thoughts... I held my head in frustration, trying to get over how bad this has gotten. If she could hear my thoughts like this, how much of a chance did I ever stand in the first place? I can't get a read on this woman. But even so... "Keep out of my head! That's going too far!" I wasn't sure if screaming back at her in my own thoughts would reach her that way, but it was worth a shot. Instead of waiting for her to reply to my demand, I decided I better just tell her in person from my own voice. "I don't know what you are, but you will speak to me normally! No more of that weird mind reading business, at least until this dream ends." I'd rather be hacked to pieces than to have her invade my own private sanctuary of thoughts.

A few seconds passed in the silence, causing me to quietly panic again. The woman in front of me began taking steps towards me, very slow, very threatening footsteps. I wanted to back away in response, but upon realizing that I was the one who just pissed her off, her menacing presence before me locked every nerve in my body. I couldn't move. I was too afraid to breathe!

She's coming at me so slowly, her sword unabridged and her stance so certain. She's going to kill me right here, isn't she? What do I do? What can I do? "Ugh!" Standing still shaking, letting out a pathetic whimper, it was all I could do in the moment building to my demise! Another wave of seconds passed, until she was finally standing only two meters away, face to no-face. I braced myself for the end, waiting and watching her every move.

However, the woman didn't raise her sword to me. She tried a different setting than what we were used to. With simply the will of her desire, she activated another instance of the energy shadow's full disintegration. Instead of removing another inch of the shadow, the entire force field blocking her appearance speckled away until there was finally nothing left, surprising me and alluring my eyes at the same time.

Instead of coming under attack, my enemy released the shadow field to her face, causing it to vanish entirely. And because of that, every facial feature she had was fully revealed to me. Some amount of her suit seemed to wire into the back of her head like special veins, but her whole face was naked of any other accessories. Being this close to her now, I could tell that the coloration in her lips was in fact natural and not a glossy finish of lipstick. The hair covering her head complemented her more easily by the color of her pale skin.

I didn't notice it before since her hands were a small part of her body, but her actual skin behind the suit was such a pale white color, the kind that screamed unnatural for anyone gazing upon her. It reminded me of what a vampire from the movies may actually look like. And outside of her shoulder, her top right hand was also branded with the same symbol of the Altiri.

The woman slightly opened her mouth, revealing her perfectly straight pearly whites in front of me, as well as the same pale coloration behind her tongue. But her eyes were the most mesmerizing of all. Her natural eye color was that of a powerful cyan glow with dark pupils. But more incredibly than that, they were slightly glowing with a bit of extra light, as if she had some way to light up her own corneas with some special power. I could see a reflection of myself, the sky, and the stars from within her eyes, so crystal clear and free of any speck of dust.

In all, I've never seen a person quite like her before. For someone with unnatural powers, I expected far worse. But her face carried with her a certain beauty, as well as a resemblance to that of an actual human person. And even though this was just a dream, I've never been able to see somebody so clearly with such defined detail before. It felt like I had somehow put on a pair of glasses to see the world over again in ultra HD mode.

Following the reveal of her identity to me, she asked the next ultimate question. "Do you know who I am by chance?" Wondering why I had such a hard time looking away from her, she considered the possibility that I might already understand who she is.

I felt slightly startled by her sudden speech. Her voice didn't sound angry like I was expecting it to be, and this time, she obliged my request by speaking through her tongue instead of her mind. Despite how on edge I was, I realized that there may have been a bigger point to her question. She just revealed her face to me, but did she do it for her sake, or mine? "Wh— Who are you?"

With a sharp breath of air, she kept her right arm relaxed while trying to deliver me the information I needed to understand. She kept her eyes locked on to me to deliver her poetic words. "I am the key that started it all. I am your host, and you are our conduit. All you must know, through me, through you, is already here."

Sighing in disappointment, I shook my head, blaming myself for thinking it would be that easy. "I don't have time for riddles. Don't ask the question if you don't plan to answer." Does she really think I was going to take part in some elaborate puzzle? Really? Why can't this just be a little more sane? I guess I can't complain too much considering that I'm still somehow alive. On a bigger note, I can't begin to understand why my mind would bother to dream all of this up.

Returning what logic she could onto me, the woman slightly raised her right hand and drifted closer to the truth, one I could see. "You are mistaken. The physical you is asleep in the real world, but your consciousness is currently in a special state. This is more than some random lucid dream."

Unable to hide the shock in my eyes, I winced back a little. The phrases she was using seemed too suspect to be consistent with a dream. The physical me? The real world? She even used the term lucid dream. No, something is wrong here. I know I'm really asleep. I know that I'm really dreaming. But that's something only I should know. A fabrication of somebody else within this dream should not be as self-aware of it as I... Or maybe she is no fabrication at all. Just who are you anyway?

"In a normal dream," she continued, "time would slow down and accelerate again in cycles, matching the four stages of sleeping brainwaves. But right now, though time is slightly accelerated here, it is not in flux. So waiting for this dream to end is unnecessary to pull answers from within. You really have all the time in the world out here."

"I do?" What in blazes is she talking about? First she knows that I'm lucid dreaming, then understand that she isn't the same as me, and now she somehow knows about dream acceleration or whatever she keeps saying... This is just too much. "How is it you are aware of this?"

Has he learned nothing of his condition? "You already know the answer to that, within yourself."

"I told you I don't have time for riddles."

"Incorrect assessment," she retorted in a monotone emotionless voice. "You have exactly one hour before you awaken in the real world again."

There she goes talking about the real world again! Whoever this chick is seems to be fully aware that none of this is real. So what does that make her? "How can you possibly know that? What exactly are you?" I was finally asking the correct question. What, not who. She might seem like a real person, but neither a real person nor a simulated NPC could figure out that this is all part of my own dream.

"I am a conscious part of the signal living inside of you. I am not merely a person, but I was born from her desire to exist here, to engage in co-sentience. And thus, I have access to your entire subconscious matrix."

She was using quite a few words that I did not know, but much of her news began to terrify me inside. Somehow, I knew that whatever she was saying was of genuine intent, not deceit. The only bit to her statement I did catch was that she was a signal? Living inside of me? What signal is she speaking of? Playing dumber than I really was, I tried to attempt more information. "The hell are you babbling on about?" I was as annoyed as I wanted to sound, considering that she wanted to avoid being direct with her words. But sadly, I only made it worse for myself.

"Psionic cortex and signature have already been confirmed." She pointed to me, trying to explain that which I should have been aware of by now. "The signal beats with our hearts, dances with our thoughts, merging our personalities even when we are apart. You are almost ready, but your preparation is still incomplete. Will you accept this?"

After staring at her cluelessly for a few seconds, I just sighed and gave up on trying to learn what this was all about. "You know what? I'll just take your word for it." If I'm going to be dragged along this mental maze without an explanation, so be it. "One hour huh?" Though I didn't tell her, I began counting in the background of my mind. I'm curious to see how accurate that prediction could be. If I really do wake up close enough to that exact countdown timer, a fact that my sleeping subconscious mind could not possibly discern from the real world while I'm trapped in here, then I'll start to believe her.

The woman just nodded, acknowledged that I was okay with not understanding everything at once... But then, she got all quiet on me. Holding her blade calmly and pointed to the ground, I wasn't shaking anymore. Even if she could kill me or still wanted to, I wasn't going to try fighting against this anymore. Wherever this insanity leads me, I'd rather just stick around for the ride and find out than run away in fear like before. Still, this created a very awkward moment of silence that I wasn't comfortable with, so I did my best to say something, no matter how dumb. "So... You're not trying to kill me anymore. That's cool..." Just by saying so, maybe I will ensure she has no further motivation to try. And if I am wrong, maybe she can give me some explanation for why she did in the first place.

"There is no further need to transfer the data from my blade to your skin. I've already made my point."

Made her point? What was there to prove that she didn't already know? "What point would—" stopping myself short, I realized that any question I ask her is only going to be answered in the form of some weird riddle or words I don't understand. "You know what? Never mind." I folded my arms having been wound up, but I didn't want to argue about anything anymore. As strange as this was, having confirmed I was in a dream didn't make me any happier. Because of this, I felt more alone that I have ever been before in my whole life.

When all is said and done, at least this place and this moment is more interesting than my actual life. It's even so incredibly detailed, with things I can notice here that I cannot back home. That's why I'm so sad to realize it, why I feel so alone. I have nobody to hang out with or talk to anymore back in the real world. But in here, in this place, weird things can happen, things which have only begun to blow my mind. My eyes drifted to the reflective blade she held in her hand. The sword wasn't even made of a metallic substance, but rather a crystal one. It looked so real even with me standing before it in a dream, something I would never get to see up close in my personal life. "It's such a cool sword..." Realizing my mistake, I covered my mouth trying to hold my own words in, but it was too late. I didn't mean to say it out loud, reminding this girl of her original mission to cut me up like a pork chop.

Reacting on my words, the woman flipped the blade with her wrist, holding the handle tighter and lifting the saber to point straight upwards. The new angle allowed the light from above to shine off of it, reflecting its surroundings like an imperfect sky-blue mirror. My eyes followed the blade, so she bent her knees somewhat and spun the sword once more, causing the edge of it to land two inches away from my face. Performing her trick once, she held her pose with a gleeful grin on her face.

As for me, I was lucky I had no need to use the restroom, because if I did, I'm sure I would have gone right here in this spot. The sharp curved edge of her blade was twirled once with her expert skills, and stopped so short of my face that I could see its fine point right between my eyes. The powerful metal noise that came of her slash through the air echoed around us. And if I weren't so terrified to die, I would have thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

Beyond a simple demonstration, the warrior let out some of her sadistic enjoyment in seeing me about to separate my ghost from my body. "You want a closer look?"

I nodded quickly, holding my hands up as high as I could in a state of surrender. Once I was finally able to breathe again, I took a step back, as did she, proving her intension was not to cut me.

"Dangerous isn't it?"

You don't say! "Oh come on!" I snapped, letting go of every restraint I had in my respects. "Put that thing away before you actually hurt someone!"

Her smile faded quickly, realizing that I was somehow not impressed with her fine sword skills. She held the blade safely away from me, shifting the handle in her hand to expose an extra mechanism to herself. "If you insist."

I waited for her to do as I asked, but my curiosity peaked once I saw more of the sword handle. The hilt of the blade looked to be custom made out of some strange plastic with a couple of buttons below her thumb. The girl hit the tiny switch on the hilt, causing the entire blade itself to quickly shrink down inside of the handle itself with such a speed that it created a cool retraction noise. Then she put the hilt behind her, attaching it to her side with some kind of clip around her waist. She wasn't showing it off for my sake based on her current expression, but was that normal for her somehow? "Did that sword just shrink into a hilt?"

Her eyes lit up, a joyous expression reborn with the idea. "While you are here, want to meet my sisters?"

"Sisters?" She totally ignored my last question. But because of what she just said, I began to imagine a more horrifying possibility. "You mean there are more of you?" If one Altiri warrior was this scary, I wonder what her family would be like. I can really meet them? Right here and now?

"Of course silly! Come on," she chanted while turning around halfway ready to run. "I'll show you the way!"

"Wha—" What is this? Why is she suddenly acting so happy and excited? She even used the word silly. First she has no emotions and now a personality shift? I wish I could keep up with whatever the hell was going on. "Wait up!" Seeing no choice but to follow her around, I took off in a half-sprint, trying to keep up with her.

The woman greatly lowered her pace upon realizing that I could only move so quickly. But during our time getting over to wherever she was leading me, I didn't actually imagine that this vast looking world actually had anything else in it besides this snowy field or other people. The jog over to the location wasn't quick either. It took up about forty more minutes of our time just to get close enough to her destination. On the way, I wondered to myself in a hypothetical manner what the boundary is for this world. If I were allowed to explore the boundary limits of my own lucid dream for as long as I needed to, would there even be a boundary? How far could I walk before reaching some kind of invisible wall or void? And if there was no limit, what does that say about myself and this kind of dream in the first place?

Of course, once I got up this next hill standing beside my killer who I was beginning to trust a little more, all of my previous thoughts about this place exploded on the spot. The landscape did not change much other than the steep decline to get to a larger open snow bank. But in the center of that spot sat one of the largest vehicles I have ever seen in all my life. The shape of that monstrosity of the metal device towered over three hundred meters high, and it was shaped more like a resting right-triangle than anything else. It certainly stood out among everything else, though the structure itself was obvious built by someone's hands, with glowing electronics and a large curved windshield at the top level to see out of. "What the heck is that thing?!" Unable to control my excitement, my entire voice cracked halfway through my outburst. My eyes widened to study that this thing was for real, and that this girl was pointing to it again as if this was something normal for her.

"That's the horse I rode in on." She sounded so happy to be back here again, happy to be showing me this part of her life.

But I was still freaking out about it, unable to remain calm against the massive superstructure before me. "It's a freaking space ship!" I shoved my arms out in front of me, talking with my mouth and my body as if I were ripping my own hair out. Showing me this of all things? I know it isn't real, but seeing one up close like this was too impossible to be! Wait! I shut myself up, forcing my body to relax a little as soon as I realized something. It took me a moment, but the shape and design of this space ship felt incredibly familiar somehow. And then before I knew it, memories from before began to flash into my head in rapid succession. I've seen this ship's shape and design pattern before. It's a class FS starship, one of the capital ships of the Altiri military defense fleet... But where am I remembering that from?

Of course! I recalled seeing many flying ships like these through outer space, in those other dreams I had of the Altiri. Several months ago, I was having dreams related to them, to their entire civilization... But I think I must have forgotten about some of it. Still, I was able to remember that this really is an Altiri starship, one that should be combat capable. But never mind all of that. "What's it doing here?!"

"I don't understand your surprise." Sensing my shock of this sight, she tried to get a feel for my thoughts, but it was harder for her than before.

"Whatever," I croaked. Seems I can really outdo myself today. "I understand that this is a lucid dream and all, but the things I'm able to come up with and keep track of are pretty amazing. That's why I was so surprised, in case you were wondering. I'd never see something like this in the real world."

Taking an impatient step forward, the woman waved for me to follow her. "Come on! My sisters are inside waiting to meet you."

"Hey! Hold up!" My words didn't stop her, so I had no choice but to stay close and follow her inside of her own ship. Not only was I getting to see an Altiri ship up close and personal, but I would be allowed to see the whole interior too! I also caught onto what she just said earlier. She said that her sisters were inside the ship. And that can only mean one thing. The Altiri; they really are from a galaxy not of our own. They're aliens, from a civilization that humans are not familiar with. As dangerous as I know them to be, this particular one seems to be warming up to the idea of not killing me. But I didn't hold out as much hope for the rest of them.

She already had the loading ramp down, walking herself inside and leading me in with her. From there, we made our way into what was supposed to be one of many cargo storage blocks. When the both of us went inside, I was blown away by how huge and vast the open space was of the cargo bay. The internal lighting of the ship was pretty impressive too, providing plenty of visible light for both of us to see every corner of this place without a single visible bulb. The metal around me was so thick and cold to the touch, yet so dark and mysterious. I quickly got the impression that whatever materials were composing this ship were not the normal kinds of metals and glass that could be available on Earth. "This is one huge ship!"

But further into the cargo bay, several people about as tall as the woman beside me started making their presence known, coming out of some corners and vacant passageways winding through this place. They all began to reveal themselves to us at once.

"That's right," she said aloud. "We can all come out now."

When all of the sisters got close to us, I could make out their fine detail in the light, amazed by what I was seeing now. There were ten of them in total, not including the crazy one beside me. The insane prospect that she had ten sisters was mind blowing enough, but what threw me even more was both their differences and similarities. They didn't look like they were exactly the same people, not that it was a bad thing. But they were defiantly Altiri women. Each of them had the triangle mark on their shoulders and their hands, brands that appeared to be a lot deeper than just ink. Most of them had varying ranges of brown hair, but one of them had a slight reddish color to their hair, another had more of a grey tint, and one of them had pure white hair that matched the brightness of her white suit perfectly and beautifully.

The reason I mentioned their hair and face first was because all of their eyes were the exact same color and intensity. Their cyan eyes were even glowing slightly the same way the first one was. Only three of them were short in height enough to easily notice, but most were about as tall as Shadow Face here... Speaking of which, I don't know a single one of their names. But before I could ask someone that, amidst the sisters all waving at me with smile, I asked, "Are all of them really your sisters? There's so many of them."

"Yep," she turned around with her hands on her hips. "All of us are the same. All of us are warriors of ice."

"You mean Altiri," I corrected without thinking. But soon enough, the bigger concern hit be with force of a brick, forcing the bigger questions out of me. "But why? Why all of this? Why here?" I wasn't upset anymore for not understanding, I was only concerned for myself and everything else. Nothing made sense anymore. I can't figure this out on my own. "First you try to kill me, then you talk to me in riddles, mess around inside my head, and now all of this? I don't understand what I'm here for!" I squinted my eyes, my mind ready to burst from the input of data all around me.

With a more satisfied and serene smile than before, the woman put her hand on my shoulder, creating a crazy sensation of seeing each other through our own eyes. "The truth. You are here for the truth, Reed. There is no need to fret. You will eventually become one of us."

I will? This still doesn't make any sense. I'm not an Altiri, so how can I possibly be considered one of them? Is she speaking in riddles again?

"I want to show you even more. But for now, we must part ways. You are about to awaken from this place. There are only ten seconds to go."

What?! Oh crap! I forgot to keep track of the time! Has an hour already gone by? No, wait. She can't possibly know when I will wake back up. Even for something this amazing, nobody has that much power. But they all seem to think they have that power. They aren't the same kind of people in a normal dream set to run on some kind of script. I've never in my life met a sentient fake person before, let alone eleven of them at once. It's time to get to the bottom of this. "Explain to me how you think you know that. Just who are you people exactly? Are you from the real world too?" Maybe it's possible for people to invade the dream states of others.

But before I could get a straight answer from any of them, a terrible crushing feeling of exhaustion and lightheadedness slammed me all at once. I felt the sensation of wanting to fall asleep amplified 100 times over in an instant, and though I fought against it, all of my vision dimmed around me quickly, until there was nothing left but pure darkness. I was sure to fall to the ground at this rate. I could tell I was really losing consciousness as it felt like I was falling deep underwater... And then nothingness equated to all I knew.

I woke up again in my room, right on cue to what that manic of a person told me. Remembering it all put a heavy mental load on me, but trying to contemplate the reasons why I was having that messed up lucid dream was even worse. I was both excited and torn at the same time. That dream really did provide me with detail that I would never see again in the real world. But I was just as well upset for having it in the first place. Why? Why would my brain bother putting me in a lucid dream if the dream controls itself? Why must I suffer like this? That place was so incredible that I want to go back there again. But all that really does is prove to me how pathetic my real life is. What's the point of being part of a dream that isn't real? It has no meaning! It doesn't help me accomplish anything in the end!