The world around me was blurry. Everything felt off, but right at the same time.

  Around me chairs and tables began to become clear. I was laughing, though I couldn’t remember at what. I knew I was happy though.

  Slowly, the world seemed to come into better focus. People who had just been blobs sharpened, though I couldn’t tell them apart. I was in a large room filled with metal tables bolted to the floors. The chairs were locked to the floor somehow too, but I knew I could move them if I really wanted to. I didn’t want to, though. I was with friends.

  Friends? I was confused, but as I looked, they came into view. A small man with curly black hair. He was built like a rail and had gotten several modifications to make himself appear pretty. A few subdermal implants to mimic whatever makeup style he wanted. Usually something to draw attention to his eyes, where he’d gone with a prismatic iris to cover the ocular implants. I’d know, I was the one who’d designed them.

  I didn’t catch what he’d said, but the woman across from me shook her head at his antics. She was rather plain by comparison. Auburn hair tucked back into a serviceable bun. Coffee stains on her lab coat which meant she hadn’t cleaned it in a while. Bags under her eyes made her look tired, but the sparkle in her eyes showed a lively and intelligent person.

  My mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear what was being said, but the man rolled his eyes and the woman just snorted into her coffee, nearly spilling it.

  The world seemed to shift as I moved to a monitor, typing at a floating keyboard. Graphs and gauges flashed through my vision as I worked, none of the words making any sense.

  Is this a dream? I said, pausing in my actions. The screen kept moving as if nothing had changed. I stood up and stepped back, moving around. Weird… I looked down at myself.

  I was taller. Much taller, though something told me that wasn’t always true. My hands were larger than before, and reaching up I could feel stubble. Am I… Alexei?

  Everything else was indistinct, but myself and the screen I’d been working at. Though even as I looked down, things shifted. My clothes were in constant flux, even occasionally changing to the rags I’d been found in. My body flickered in and out, changing between old and new.

  I took a deep breath, and focused. My body solidified, and I was myself again. The one from the dream, anyway. I want to be like this… even if it’s not real.

  With that taken care of, I sat back down and began to try interacting with the screen. This was obviously important to me, but I didn’t know the first thing about it. I tried to just… give control back to the dream, but the damage was done. I was left floundering.

  I got up again and wandered out into the hall. Everything was made of metal, and painted in shades of slate grey with colorful stripes leading away. I came to a stop next to what looked like a guide, but none of the words made any sense, some even twisting to merge with each other. Getting no where, I picked a color and followed.

  I’d decided on the dark blue, for no reason I could determine.

  As I walked, the world blurred until I was before a door. There was laughter and joy coming from it. My heart felt light as I approached, but there was something in the back. A sense of sadness. Loneliness.

  The door opened, and I stepped in.

  I was standing next to some kind of machine with the woman from before. Her hair was better kept, and she was dressed in a new lab coat. And I was holding her.

  We held each other as she sobbed into my chest. “I just can’t do this anymore…” Her muffled words came from my chest, as I stroked her hair.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked, leaning my chin against the top of her head, not ready to let go.

  “Yes.” She said, with more conviction than I’d have expected from someone who looked like her. Who are you?

  I didn’t have time to examine things more, as the world seemed to blur. The mood somber as I stood at her side and a step behind. Before us were three people, their faces blurry and their voices distorted.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” She said, her decision made. “I’ve already trained a replacement.”

  Raised and muffled voices. I stepped forward without thinking, words coming to me. “It’s her decision. I’ve already performed the necessary changes.”

  Silence, even from the woman beside me.

  The world seemed to flash past again. I felt my body changing, growing older. Then it was suddenly like new again. Except, the woman I’d seen. She just continued to grow older, until…

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  A hand rested on my shoulder. “It’s what she wanted.”

  I turned, the pretty boy from earlier. I nodded, and he put his arms around me. We hugged, and I couldn’t help be stare at the body of the woman. Old and frail.

  And gone.

  My eyes felt wet, but I didn’t wipe them, holding the man tighter. “Alex, you knew from the start that some of us weren’t suited for stuff like this. Give it a century. Maybe two.”

  He moved away far enough to look up at me, “You’ll be fine.”

  “I know.” I heard myself respond.

  The world blurred again, and I saw her again. I was confused, because this felt like we’d kept going forward. I felt… angry, but I didn’t know why.

  The world blurred again, and I was holding her in my arms, and she was crying. I didn’t know what to do. The scene changed again and I saw her lying in her bed, not moving. It changed again, and she was talking to the other man from before, laughing like nothing happened.

  Similar scenes kept flashing by, until finally.

  My fist connected with the man. He fell back and landed against the console behind him. I couldn’t control myself anymore, and I just kept hitting him. I think I killed him.

  It hadn’t helped.

  I saw him again, he was irritated, but not angry. Again things changed.

  She showed me notes, entries into a diary. Entries that told her things she didn’t remember. That talked about her decisions.

  The next one didn’t have the diary. I’d asked.

  And then I was holding her, both of us crying. Something terrible was about to happen, and I couldn’t control the dream anymore. I felt my hands go to her neck. With a flex, I snapped her neck. She looked grateful.

  I was anger.

  I felt my knuckles break against a head covered in a helmet. The helmet crumpled.

  I ripped something that sparked and sprayed burning fluids along my arms in half.

  I was punching something more durable this time. I’d mounted them and was raining blows down on a man with a meticulously kept goatee, eyes a bright blue that emitted a faint glow. He was trying to hold me off, but he couldn’t.

  “WHERE IS HE?!” I shouted in rage, my vision narrowed, only seeing the man’s face.

  Then a sharp pain. I coughed, blood spraying onto the bruised face of my victim. My head turned, and I saw the pretty man, his hand on a spike. I could feel cold spreading from it into me.

  “I’m sorry.” Was the last thing I heard.

  I woke up as I was flung across the room. I crashed into something hard and lay on the floor motionless. I reached back for the spike, but it wasn’t there. I looked at my hands and they seemed to change before my eyes, going back to the dainty hands I’d first known. I was confused, and my head hurt.

  So did my knuckles.

  I turned them over and saw that they were cracked and bloody. I looked around and as the dream fully lifted, I was back in Danielle’s room. Back in the body of a girl who’d died.

  And standing over someone on the ground was Porter, looking at me like I was a dangerous animal, his sword raised and pointed at me, ready to be used.

  Grimoire was knelt on the ground next to what I realized was a maid. She wasn’t moving, and I heard shouting, but wasn’t able to make anything out. It was all too confusing.

  Grimoire tipped a bottle into the girl’s mouth, making sure she drank it all. Her face was ruined, but I saw bruises fading and the blood stop. “I got a recovery potion into her, but she needs a healer.”

  “Go.” Porter ordered, and Grimoire picked her up and left, moving faster than I could follow with my eyes.

  Porter didn’t lower his weapon, “Danielle, are you there?”

  I nodded slowly, and winced. My head felt like a nail was being hammered behind my eyes. Phantom and real pains plagued me, though I focused on my knuckles. I cast my heal spell and hissed as the skin mended.

  Porter lowered his sword, but notably didn’t put it away. “Why’d you attack Lucielle?”

  “Who?” I asked, still confused.

  “The maid who came to check on you.” He sounded angry, but his face softened when I just looked at him, confused. “You… don’t remember attacking her.” A statement, instead of a question.

  “No. I just remember…” I focused, and the dream was already fading. Faint impressions lingered, but even those were starting to disappear.

  “You were dreaming…” Porter said, his body relaxing as he realized. His gaze took on a look of pity, and he sheathed his sword. “We should have expected something like this…”

  “Like what?” I asked, moving so I was in a more comfortable position, leaning back against the wall I’d apparently been thrown into from across the room. Which was impressive, considering how far away from it I’d been.

  He started moving towards me, grabbing a chair and sitting before me, “Something awful happened to you, Danielle. You may not remember it, but I don’t think it’s as gone as you think…”

  My mouth opened, then closed. Does he think this is about the attack? “I… don’t know if it’s the same thing…”

  Porter didn’t believe me, and I didn’t need Assessment to figure that out. Even if an update popped up in the corner of my vision. “Danielle…” He took a deep breath and let it out. “I think you need to talk to someone about it.”

  I looked down at my hands and bloodied nightgown, “Maybe you’re right…”

  He smiled and nodded, “I’ll set something up with Geraldine.” He started to get up.

  “Wait.” I said, causing him to pause. “Can I… talk with Toren instead?”

  He furrowed his brow, and looked towards the door. “Are you sure? He’s pretty busy…”

  I thought about it. He’s the only one who knows something is up. “I’m sure.”

  Porter sighed, “Alright, I’ll see when he’s available.” He headed out of the room and closed the door behind him.

  I leaned back against the wall and let out a deep sigh. Looking towards a window, it was just starting to get light out. “This is going to be another long day… isn’t it?”