Dreams of Sleep Without Dreams

Darkness.

Deep and heavy, smooth. Can I touch it? Maybe if I just reach.

No. The black isn't here. It's forever away. There is nothing to touch.

Light. I can see things. Shapes. The-everything starts to break apart into ideas.

Blinding.

Flash.

"Find that tank, now, or we are dead!"

Someone is yelling. Black. A talking shadow.

"I'm trying, it's not coming, I dunno, I dunno!!"

That was me. Was that me?

"S'okay, star, just let it come. S'no fighting it."

That voice. So small.

"Ahr heh-heh.. they're comin'."

Why isn't that one scared?

Explosion, metal flying at me. I push it aside.

I.. what?

Huge, lumbering toward me, toward everyone. One comes for me. Swing, I block. Swing, I duck.

Swing.

I pull, down, and squeeze. Everything stops.

And it comes.

Flick.

Flick.

Flick.  flick.   flick.

The information is gone. But it was everything. All that could be seen.

Now, the battlefield. Frozen.

The creature is still. Silver. Mirrored. A shard?

I push. Break a valve, move a pipe, punch another, shove someone aside.

Moving without stepping. Be there, am there. Be there, am there now.

Shift, lock, brace, couple, unload, reinforce, flash, place.

Everything moves again, slowly, the battle winds up to nor-

The tank under the flooring explodes. It bursts mostly sideways, u=1/(6pi*nr).

The battle is raised at 2.78m/s**2. Mostly linear.

Pipe one swings to meet legs of opponent one, disabled.

Pipe seven fires, travels 12.1m. Meets opponent two, center chest. Removed from field.

Move at 2.34s, 5.5m, SW. Mark. Pipe travels through previous co-ord, next collision, Ringy. Strike of 3.98m/s**2. Acceptable.

Metal safety regulation plating, thrown, vector 3.021,3.001,6.289. Mark. Rotation matches y-origin of wall.

Window created by plating.

Scenario complete, 98.5% accuracy. Escape secured.

The shadow bellows an order.

Flash.

Ben wakes, screaming. He clutches himself, stares out the window.

Ben wakes, crying. Holding his gut, face hot with fever.

Ben wakes, silent. Face white, eyes large with primal fear.

Ben wakes, rips the covers off, rushes from the room.

Ben wakes, instantly flashes away with an odd curl of silver light.

Ben wakes, prone on his desk, homework and computer strewn about.

Ben wakes, and screams.

Ben wakes. And laughs, calm.

Gray wakes. The dreams, buried in dreams, fill his mind. Until it screams and flares. And flashes.

Gray screams. Symbols cover his body, warp, bite, scar and then vanish. Then they are gone, no sign of them, fur and skin untouched.

Gray clutches at himself. An odd movement draws his gaze out the window. The sky is filled with the tendrils and mass of an almighty-massive round shape. Symbology dances in the heavens, large as gods.

Gray wakes, screaming. He clutches himself, stares out the window.