To Be A Leader

Chapter 23: When We're Together

My mind is fuzzy, disoriented. I'm walking but I don't know where my destination is.

Where am I?

I look around, but it seems like I can't focus on anything in particular. As soon as I look away from something, I forget it. I rub my temples and close my eyes, still moving, and when I open them, I can see a bit more clearly.

I'm in some sort of factory, on a gangplank high above the ground. I don't want to know how high, so I don't look down. There's no sound. Even my steps feel like they've been muted somehow.

Something's not right.

"Hello?" I call out, but get no reply. My voice sounds like it's underwater. I reach up towards my face, and my fingers meet my headset, but when I turn it on all I'm met with is muffled static. "Hello? Sam?"

Nothing.

My confusion grows as I continue walking, not seeming to go anywhere. It's as if every step I take makes this gangplank longer. I've been in the middle of it ever since I started walking.

And yet I keep walking.

How did I get here, wherever this is? I don't remember coming here, or entering the building. All I remember is getting ready to go to bed last night and-

Oh. Oh, now it all makes sense.

"I'm dreaming," I say, before running my hands through my hair. I spin, taking another look around. "Now whether this dream is just a dream or something with meaning is something I still don't-"

When I'm facing forward again, I find that I'm not alone, and the machines below are no longer quiet.

"-know," I whisper, and my chest constricts when I see Sam, Amelia and Jaime walking ahead of me, the ground rumbling from the loud machinery. Sam peers over the gangplank, and his face twists up in discomfort.

"Wow, that is a long way down."

"You're not going to fall, Sam," Jaime says, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course. I mean, but like, well, it is a long way down." His brown eyes focus on me. "Look, Five. What is that, like, twenty floors of steel manufacturing machinery? I mean, if you fell down there, you'd be... ooh, squished!"

I pale, my shoulders scrunching up to my ears as I look down at the workings below. Sam cringes, realizing his mistake before placing a hand on my shoulder and pulling me away from the edge.

"Yeah, maybe don't look down there. How does anyone manage to work here?"

Amelia answers, something about robots. I don't really listen, my gaze too focused on Sam. Why is he here? I know Sam is perfectly capable of keeping himself safe on missions, but I want to know why. This has to be extremely important for Sam to have volunteered to come, and that means it's equally as dangerous. I find new questions coming to mind with each passing second, but I know how these visions work. I know no question I have will be answered.

My thoughts are cut off when everything stops and the building becomes as quiet as it was when I was alone just minutes ago. Sam looks at each of us with a mix of confusion and fear.

"Uh, guys, is it just me or has all the machinery suddenly stopped?"

"Power cut?" Jaime guesses with a shrug, but then Amelia looks over the gangplank and tsks.

"No such luck. Look down. Floor after floor of little orange-eyed robots, all looking at us."

"So when you said this place is run by robots..."