"Yes." James responded to Astra's question, his countenance expressing no discerning emotion as he continued to look at Astra. "I'd like to ask if you would be fine with conducting another ritual. This time, it'll be supervised by a Rank 2 Dreamweaver or a Minister."
"Surely there is a latent risk in doing that, no?" Astra asked, her dry gaze watching the night sky.
"You're right. Which is why I'm asking if you're fine with it. Of course, you can try to conduct the ritual at any time convenient to you." James replied.
"Though, considering what you said, you would probably want to conduct it when you gain a better understanding of yourself and your abnormality."
"When that happens, to ensure the maximal chances of success, a highly experienced Celestial will oversee the ritual."
"What if it fails then?" Astra asked. Her tone was still dry, and her body language reflected her apparent nonchalant attitude.
"If that time comes, that time comes," James replied.
Astra gave a soft chuckle as she proceeded to get herself up from the foggy ground.
Dusting herself off, stood up as she made eye contact with both James and Sonar. Sonar didn't flinch, instead he only narrowed his eyes.
"In any case," James adjusted his glasses. "Your capabilities have proven itself. Even if you never become a Celestial, you can still qualify as a Rank 3 Dreamer, since your physical prowess is akin to an Ember."
Astra smiled faintly.
"What about the other things relating to the Dreamlanders that aren't about Ethereon?"
James widened his eyes slightly as he turned his head to look at Sonar, who also had a somewhat shocked expression. They both read between the lines and concluded that Astra didn't want to talk about supernatural matters.
This was natural for someone who had gone through a relatively traumatic experience, after all.
Understanding this, Sonar composed himself as he nodded hesitantly at James.
He later snapped his left wrist. Like waves crashing onto the sea, a grey mass of nanotechnology flooded from the inside of his sleeves to the palm of his hand. It formed into a metal rectangular object about half the size of Sonar's arm.
It opened like a glasses case, revealing a technological interior. Streaks of violet light pulsed calmly around three distinct objects.
The first one was a holographic phone. The second one was rectangular shaded glasses, and the third one was a holographic monocle.
Astra looked down on the objects with a faint smile, her mind thoughtless, her face unreadable. She didn't show any traces of excitement—or any emotion, for that matter.
"Each of these items have been configured to your needs and wants. For example, your government issued identification as a Dreamlander and a citizen of Morpheus, your bank account and statements, your status as a Protector, insurances, pay, your room number in the facility, and so on. I could be forgetting things, so you can check it yourself." Sonar said while staring at the three items.
"You can configure and design them to your liking. You can also only choose one or two, and we can reset the items that you haven't chosen."
"I choose all three." Astra smiled faintly at Sonar.
"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "Awesome." Like magic, the three items floated from the case and hovered near Astra's chest. Later, the case closed.
"Dreamer Leo didn't mention it," James interjected. "But the map of the facility should also be on the interfaces—you can explore it on your own time. Not only that, you'll have news about the Dreamlanders, free internet and your progress as a Dreamer on the three items. You will also have the ability to get emails and send emails along with other contacts, but that is a feature exclusively for the phone."
"What about things like clothes, or my living space? What about missions? Do I still have to do training?" Astra asked as she turned her head towards James.
"Your living space is on the map of the facility. It is highlighted, so you can't miss it. As for everything regarding your living space—like your uniform, supplies, furniture, power and so on, all of them are provided for you. Though, you still have to go out and pay for food, further clothing, and other things that you may like. You can also design your living space to your liking." James explained.
"As for missions, they will be uploaded to your user interface on the items. You'll be notified in advance."
"As for training, you will still have to go through a mandatory six month physical and mental training class along with a course in subjects like history, math, politics, science and languages. However, you don't have to go through the entire six months if you prove to be exceptional by learning everything that is required before the six months are over."
"Lastly, for your regular job work, your office is also highlighted on the map of the facility. This is basic stuff; it's mostly just cyberwork. On average you may have to do this about fifteen hours a week. Sorry if that's a little too many hours…" James gave a sigh as he finished explaining everything he needed to explain.
"Fifteen hours a week…too many hours? Are you serious?" Astra finally had her first thought after a few minutes of silence. Her eyebrows had creased slightly out of incredulity.
"Anywho, if there are any further questions, you can always contact me or one of our group members on the user interface."
"With that being said," James later lifted his right arm up, inviting Astra to a handshake. "Welcome to the Dreamlanders, Dreamer Sera."
Returning back to her normal expression with a faint smile, Astra took the invitation and shook his hand.
"Thank you."
"Phew." Sonar gave an almost exaggerated breath of relief. "I'm going back to bed, Captain. I haven't even had breakfast yet. Praise the God of Dreams and 'His' Demigoddess for preventing the worse." Making the case collapse back into the fluid grey mass that was behind his sleeves, he put his hands into his pockets as he walked soundlessly towards the elevator.
James watched Sonar leave as Astra grabbed the hovering shaded glasses. She put them on her face as lines of violet digital text appeared, showing her all sorts of information. Astra identified this information accordingly—it was her personal information, her identification, her status as a Dreamlander and as a Protector, the amount of money in her account, etc.
It looked similar to the HUD of a MMORPG game, with the map of the facility appearing on the right side of her vision.
"This is just augmented reality, isn't it? Hehe, it's almost like I'm in a video game…" Astra chuckled inwardly as she allowed her head to move in certain directions, getting used to her new sight.
Then, with a thought, she had maneuvered the interface to the map of the facility. It looked almost like a complex, intricate maze with all sorts of attractions and stops labeled; such as entertainment centers, food courts, clothing stores, mechanical stores, training grounds, and so on. The entire thing seemed less like a facility and more like a mega-mall.
Nonetheless, Astra maneuvered the map so that it showed her current location and the location of her living space, which was her room.
Satisfied, she took the glasses off and did the same thing with the holographic monocle and phone—which was getting used to the interfaces. She noted that all three items had very similar interfaces, so it didn't take much time for her to get used to them. Especially since everything James had said that would be on the interface, was on the interface.
Putting the items inside of her pocket, she began to walk towards the elevator.
At a certain distance behind her, James was taking care of the artifacts, placing them in a pinkish-purple translucent bubble of Ethereon. He did this silently, his eyes appearing as if he was in deep thought.
Astra turned her head back for a second and saw this sight. She was somewhat captivated by the artificial night sky, but also disturbed by the scenes that took place just a few moments prior.
She continued walking towards the elevator, leaving James to clean up the ritual room.
…
About a minute later, a translucent violet barrier slid open, allowing Astra entry into her living space. She walked out from the elevator into a hallway that was lined with technological streaks of violet light, leading into the living room.
The living room was quite spacious. It was a sunken living room that had a low-profile, modular sofa surrounding it. It stared at the extremely thin flat screen TV that took up about half of the entire wall. There were holographic projections of the starlit sky in the corners of the room, giving the space a dreamy, celestial ambiance. Connected to the living room was a crescent shaped balcony that was separated through holographic barriers. There was nothing on the balcony yet—only a surface made of a crystalline alloy and a railing made of programmable surface glass.
Next to the living room was the kitchen and dining room. It looked like an ordinary dining area, however the Dreamscape lighting and vibe exuded by the furniture, items and technology gave the area an ethereal feel.
Taking in the atmosphere for a second, Astra took a deep breath as she continued to explore the apartment.
She stumbled upon the study as a barrier slid open to allow her entry. It was a hexagonal room with a central floating desk that displayed dynamic data interfaces similar to that of the monocle, glasses and phone. Surrounding the floating desk was a virtual library that projected many scientific archives, Ethereon knowledge, and other forms of knowledge not available on the internet.
Continuing to explore, she approached and entered the bathroom. It was similar to the bathroom at the Department of Immigration, just less spacious. It still had a lot of interesting functions like AI-regulated temperature, biometric scanners imbued in the mirror, and a holographic health monitor that projected near the sink.
Finally, she left the bathroom and headed down the hall to her bedroom.
It was a tranquil dome-shaped sanctuary, where the ceiling simulated the scenery of her desires. The bed was suspended by magnetic levitation. Behind the bed were picture windows that could've had its size adjusted by the desires of the user. It was at its full size, showing the beautiful scenery of Luna bathed in blue sunlight.
Near the bed was her desk that had a laptop, and near the desk were drawers that had Lunan-style clothes. On the side of the room was a closet that had her Dreamlander uniform—which was a black, buttoned and long sleeved shirt with black pants. There was the symbol of a violet crescent moon on the breast of the shirt.
Astra stood silent for a minute as she examined the room closely.
"I'm glad I don't have to pay for all of this. And still, none of my income is taxed, despite me being an official citizen. I guess that's the benefits of being in a dangerous supernatural organization for a major country." She muttered to herself in a soft tone.
She later placed her monocle and glasses on the desk as she held out her phone. It was currently 6:52 AM, a Friday morning.
She examined it one more time. She looked at her bank balance, which was about 1000 Veylars. She looked at her progress as a Dreamlander and a Protector, which naturally had no progress. There was nothing available regarding classes, missions, and training yet. She didn't look at the contacts regarding her group.
After doing this, she turned off her phone and placed it near the monocle and glasses.
Without a thought, she went to the bathroom. She took off her clothes and went inside of the tub, intentionally making the atmosphere a dark, foggy ambiance. She wanted to make the atmosphere that of the night sky, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
A few minutes later, aside from her head, Astra's entire body was submerged in the water. Her blonde wet hair had covered a good portion of her face as her golden eyes blankly stared at the fog above her.
In that moment, her mind flashbacks to memories of her being praised.
Not just at the banquet, but at any sort of public event. No—regarding anything in general.
Whether it was her simply appearing at places like school or work, or her taking a walk to clear her head, or her simply explaining her love for science and the things beyond it to other people…
All of it had solicited praise that centered around her appearance or intelligence. She was considered someone special—someone different.
But it was that same sort of praise that produced talks of her strangeness. Whenever she was praised, her 'weird' attributes were talked about just as abundantly. It didn't matter if it was from her appearance or her intelligence.
All of it was superficial.
"On this Earth, nothing has changed, huh…" Astra thought as the scenes she experienced on this Earth flew through her head like a starship flying through the cosmos. It was particularly the scenes of her being called special and the scenes of her abnormality being mentioned that stuck with her.
Normally, in moments like these, she would look at the night sky. To search for a genuine connection in the heavens when there wasn't one on earth.
But for the first time, she had felt doubtful about doing that.
"After all, how can one properly search for something when they haven't even found themselves first?" She later added inwardly.
After about half an hour of contemplating, she got up from the hot tub, faint steam coating her dark-skinned body. As she styled her hair into a bun and put on her pajamas she got from the drawers, she felt a huge wave of drowsiness wash through her body.
After she was done with cleaning herself in the bathroom, she quickly but sluggishly headed her way over to her bedroom.
"I wonder if I'll become a Celestial in my dreams…like in those novels…" Astra blurted a random thought out loud as she collapsed onto her bed, her mind instantly drifting off to sleep.
…
Astra slowly opened her eyes as the once bright scenery of her room had turned dark. Faint colors of violet and dark blue had invaded her room, giving it a strangely ambient atmosphere.
It was now night, but Astra was used to sleeping through the day after sleepless nights.
She rubbed her eyes as she slowly got up. She sighed in disappointment, as she thought she had felt the exact same; in her mind this indicated that she didn't become a Celestial.
Astra didn't let this affect her. Standing on her own two feet, she went over to the picture windows and closed them. This made the entire room go dark, so she turned on the blue LED lights that were throughout the apartment with a thought.
Feeling hungry, she decided to go outside of the room to head to the dining area. While doing so, her body was swaying lightly, as if she hadn't gotten used to the grogginess.
While heading to the dining area, her peripherals caught the lighting of the city of Luna.
She turned her head in the direction of the balcony.
Resisting her urge to eat for a moment, she walked in the direction of the balcony. With a thought, she lifted the violet barrier as the grandeur of the city of Luna invaded her eyes.
It was beautiful, like always, even though it couldn't have been compared to the night sky.
Towering dark blue skyscrapers that were lined with various screens had been spread across the city like trees in a forest. Flying cars were moving in neon violet roads at various heights. There were many floating structures that operated as buildings, shops and other attractions—each one having screens that dawned advertisements and videos.
Walking further up, she casted her gaze downwards, her hands holding on to the railings of the balcony.
Below were even more buildings but were accompanied by large trees that had little violet fireflies that illuminated the dark islands. There were some glowing fountains with many people drinking from its waters. Below had the surge of technology contrasted with the cacophony and amalgamation of life.
After a few seconds of looking, she jumped up as she landed on the railing of the balcony using a newfound balance.
She stood up, admiring the scenery. Admiring the works of humanity. Admiring the essence of Ethereon that made this possible.
"I can't allow Ethereon to corrupt me or my principles. By doing that I have to understand myself…"
"By doing that I have to understand Ethereon. What is it exactly?"
Unlike the first time looking at a similar sight, she didn't feel a rush of excitement. Instead, she felt a strange tranquility in her head that prevented her mind from racing. It was like a motionless ocean.
Nevertheless, she still allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts as she drowned in this ethereal ambience. A strange calmness oozed through her.
"Yes, Ethereon is all about self-awareness and controlling your spirit. Understanding yourself and finding yourself are keys in manipulating this supernatural energy source. That's what I understand it to be." She said, her voice soft.
"My failure was merely evidence of my desire to touch something when I didn't even have hands. In a way, I was too greedy."
"So, I don't feel sad or guilty despite failing. I don't feel like I've let anyone down, despite the heavy responsibility that rests on my shoulders." She said, distinct from her usual thinking process.
"I don't blame the Demigoddess for making me fail, either. Well, that's if she did." She continued, as if she was managing her current calm emotions.
"With every failure, there is an opportunity for learning. With every fall, there exists an avenue found at the depths that brings about success."
"Heh, isn't that one of the driving factors of a scientist? Of a physicist?"
Astra chuckles as she begins to sit down on the railing, her eyes continuing to stare at the scenery.
"I happened to overlook my principles as a physicist ever since I knew about the Demigoddess. I got too caught up in the fantastical nature of this world and the idea that I had a connection with it."
"I'm starting to understand more and more what Kayla's words mean." Astra's lips slowly began to curl up into a smile.
She giggled once more.
"As the saying goes, magic is just science that we don't understand yet. Ethereon is something I didn't understand. It is certainly something I don't have a full grasp of yet. But who says I can't approach it like it's a science?"
A soft, sincere smile appeared on Astra's face.
"This is the one thing I do understand about myself."
"After all, I am a scientist—a strange, peculiar scientist."
Ting!
A blue holographic screen instantly appeared in front of Astra. It looked horrifyingly similar to the screen that first appeared when Astra and the other humans were transported to this Earth.
It was also perfectly timed, as if the 'sender' was listening in on her.
Her mouth and eyes widened as she read the contents of the screen.
The unbearably, glistening, white words were in English, and it read:
Congratulations!
The first seal has been broken.