woke. | II

danny

"Wait, you're saying that this place makes a new body for us? Then what if our bodies on earth die? Can we still return?" I asked.

"Your world is not capable of sustaining such an occurrence."

"Why the hell not?"

"It is as the sky is blue and the air we breathe to live."

"So now, you've split yourselves into two. You guys, who want to continue with the system and those Kywait fellas that want to speed things up and instead of letting midland do its job, wants to do it for them?" Alex clarified.

"Kyhait." I heard Hady correct under her breath.

"Yes. We will not defile the agreement of our ancestors."

"What happens if we die here?" I asked.

"If you die here, you die. Part of your soul is tethered to this world from the day you were born. Could you imagine living on earth with only half your essence?"

The words chill me. To be told that you could perish in what feels like a dream, is mildly horrifying.

"Why do the Kyhait want to kill us?" Hady asked.

"They would rather see you dead, than on our side. Kyhait mean successors. They intend to liberate this world from its original agreement with your kind. We take what is meant to be ours, they want all of you."

The other everlings which has gathered around the one that's speaking nodded their heads and hissed their disapproval.

"It is not right, what they are doing." One said.

"Disrupting nature." The other added. "Disregarding the rules."

Finally the one called Muraedin spoke, "We have decided to help you find your brother. But you will help us in return... You will campaign for us back on earth, spread the word about eversleep, tell the chosen ones not to fear or fight the eversleep. Encourage them to come to us. But be warned, as you aid our side, there will be those waiting to thwart you too."

"Which is to say? Kyhait has humans working for them as well?" Hady asked.

"That is correct. Now while you are here, we'll teach you to hunt those treacherous defectors!"

As if on cue, an everling stepped towards each of us, leaving none behind Muraedin. The one in front of me bowed and said in a gentle voice, "I am Hoayin and I will guide you."

"I don't mean to seem rude, but are you a female too?"

It dipped its head as it drew a tiny cassette from its folds and said, "Yes, I am." She held up the cassette and I could see the little metal bits attached to a transparent vial the size of half my little finger. "These are bullets."

I took the cassette from her and studied it, "These are bullets?"

"Yes, they contain a special fluid. One shot of this, and the target becomes pliant. We are then able to re-educate them."

She must have misunderstood the horror on my face, because she quickly added, "We do not believe in wasting lives. Every single one is precious."

"So you brainwash them?" I ask in a whisper.

"Would you prefer death?"

Yes. But I couldn't let my disgust show. We needed to find Dana and Cam. We needed these delusional beings to help us.

"So what's wrong with us? Why did midland pick us?" I asked her instead.

"It is never known," She said gently, "Would you like to enter a society knowing what you could have become in another world? Now, this is how you use the bullet."

In her hands was a semi-transparent contraption, which explained why we never noticed if they were armed. Now that I knew how it looked like, I could see it on every everling, extending from the back of their hands to their forearms. I took it from her and tried to fit my right hand into it, but the thing seemed to have a mind of its own.

It jumped to life abruptly and melded itself to me, creeping up the length of my arm. Soon after, I heard a little shout of shock from Hady. I looked at the other two and saw Alex marvelling at it.

"Now that is has bonded with you, grip a bullet in the palm of your hand and it will absorb it." Hoayin said as she pressed a bullet into my hand. I saw the bullet melting into the gear and travelling to a muzzle behind my middle knuckle. The muzzle shifted slightly to accommodate it and I peered into it, flexing my fingers.

"No!" The everling screamed and quicker than I could see, she pushed my arm towards the ground and I heard a muted thud as the bullet hit the ground. I could even feel the gentle tremors as it penetrated the soil.

"Are you okay?" Hady asked, running towards me swiftly.

"Well... At least now we know how it works..." I said shakily. I took a couple of deep breaths and saw Alex laughing, "You were this close to shooting yourself in the eye, Danny."

"Ha-ha, very funny." I saw, but I couldn't help one side of my mouth from quirking into a half smile.

"You humans are very strange..." Muraedin said before adding, "Nuthran is our best fighter and he will train you for this world when you return. The device cannot be brought back to earth, for it has been bonded to your body here. Now, dawn is approaching."

The one that explained eversleep to us while the rest were conferring with each other approached us.

"Wait," Hady said hesitantly, "I-I have a few questions if you don't mind."

The everlings looked on, seemingly expectant.

"The world, our world, is terrified of eversleep. If the reason for their departure from our world is so noble, why haven't anyone tried to pacify the masses... Oh, the Kywait humans." She looked at Muraedin for confirmation and the everling gave a little nod of acknowledgement.

"But surely they could slip in something or two, rather than leave the rest of us in fear of what's going to happen. If most of the recruits have joined willingly, with a-" Hady paused, "How is it new recruits join? Do they get another version of the cure?"

"With our numbers spread so thin now, we can't find every single potential but the failsafe is that they do not become aware until... They meet an everling."

The pause in her voice sounded like a concealed truth, but Hady wasn't done. "So, they were aware, then? When they made the choice to join you?"

"We were aware before we met you," Alex piped up in a quiet tone, eyes shining with determination. "I don't think... I like your lies."