Dreamworms Book 1: The Advent of Dreamtech by Isaac Petrov (drm ebook reader TXT) 📕

or Goah knows, perhaps they have all teleported somewhere else, too far away to see in this naked permascape.

“I am not to provide more information than that required for your instruction,” Qoh says. “Which begins now.” She lifts an arm again and six beds appear in two neat rows of three, each separated from the next by about twenty feet. They are all identical, like taken out of a whimsical fairy tale—tidy and cozy.

“There are three steps to the Path of Light. Like my master Rew, it is my ambition to be the instructor of the first human able to Walk them. The first step is named Piercing. For many apprentices the hardest of the three, since it requires a considerable amount of raw talent. I do believe you all possess such level of talent. Your halos are strong.”

“What’s a halo?” Edda asks.

“Not relevant, Redeemed van Dolah. You shall focus your attention to Piercing.”

“Wow, you know all our names?”

“I do.” Qoh gestures at the beds. “Do each take a sarc.”

“You mean the beds, yeah?” Edda asks.

“Indeed, I do, Redeemed van Dolah.”

“What are they for?” she asks as they each approach a bed. Ximena can feel her energy, her eagerness to learn; this is what she does, this is what she is. “I never had the chance to use a bed in my own lessons,” she chuckles and sits on it tentatively. The mattress feels comfortable but firm, better than her own, Ximena thinks. “I’m a teacher too,” she says proudly. “A Juf, you know?”

“I do.” Qoh turns her white eyes to the other students. “A master piercer must learn to push through the wake barrier at will. Do lie down.”

“What’s the wake barrier?” Edda asks as she and the rest let their heads fall on the soft pillows.

“The wake barrier separates each dream from the next. After each dream, comes the wake. After each wake, comes the dream.”

They all nod. Simple enough so far, Ximena thinks. Probably Edda’s thought, because for Ximena it sounds too… techy.

“A master piercer can take her mind and her memories through the wake barrier.”

“Recall,” Mark whispers to Ximena.

“What?”

“In dreamtech it’s called Recall. To remember your dreams.”

“Oh, that’s what that’s about?” Ximena asks. Qoh keeps explaining to her pupils the nature of the wake barrier, but Ximena finds it way too boring, especially compared to Mark’s private lessons.

“Well, it’s also the opposite, which is way harder, let me tell you that. Once you’re asleep and dreaming, ha! Not easy to remember what happened before, while awake.”

“Oh, I see. But I can right now! I was home, Abuelo came to, er… Well, I can remember.”

“Yeah, it’s not the same. This is a permascape, the Dreamnet. Millions of melded minds. It’s…” he frowns, like he is trying to find the right word,“… different. But in a normal dream, whoa!” He chuckles. “Six fucking months. Oh, excuse me.”

“It’s okay,” Ximena says with a smile, and returns her attention to Qoh.

“A master piercer,” the mare is saying, “so acquires the capacity to remain bound to the worlds, be it dream or wake.” Ximena doesn’t understand a word. “And yet, carrying yourself through the wake barrier is but the least challenging part to master. There is also…”

“Diving,” Mark says with a snort. “Yeah, that was a tough nut to crack.”

“… Diving,” Qoh says in her slow patient voice. “The dream dive is a mind ability that, in contrast with the coming steps of the Path of Light, you must initiate from the wake. It gives the Dream Walker the ability to dive into a dream by one’s own volition.”

Ximena leans towards Mark. “What in Goah’s Name is she talking about?”

“Ignore all that fancy dreamtech speech. Diving is to fall asleep at will. And dream.”

Ximena gives him a smile of appreciation. “You are good at this.”

“And at some other things, if I’m given the chance.”

Ximena laughs out loud, attracting the curious gaze of their neighboring students. She clears her throat and returns her attention to Qoh and her human apprentices.

“I shall teach you the necessary techniques of mind focus and relaxation,” the mare is saying, “and you shall practice them continuously for our two allotted sessions. If your talent is adequate, and your motivation strong, you may be able to accomplish your goal.”

May be able, Ximena hears Edda’s thought, and feels a rush of apprehension.

“Do shut your eyes and ready yourself for dreaming,” Qoh says.

“But we’re in a dream already,” Pieter says from his bed, leaning on his elbow. “Can we even fall asleep here?”

“This is indeed a dream, Elder Ledeboer, thus it is neither possible to fall asleep nor to dream. But this is also a permascape, a melding of minds. Thus, a malleable approximation of the wake. I shall tune and stimulate your minds at each step of the process as to simulate the challenges that a master piercer must learn to overcome.”

A simulation. Edda draws a deep breath. Whatever.

Ximena can feel her jitters. Edda has always had problems falling asleep. And relaxing is not quite her forte, to put it mildly.

“Do shut your eyes, and picture a door,” Qoh says.

The class begins.

Fourteen

Fear and Hatred

A mare materializes next to the two rows of beds. “Walker Qoh,” she says. “Do report.”

It’s Rew. Ximena recognizes her voice instantly.

“Yes, master.” Qoh extends her arms at the humans, all six seemingly sleeping faceup on the beds. “My human apprentices are showing unusual talent to carry their minds intact through the wake barrier.”

“Their halos are strong.”

“Indeed, they are—they all accomplished a high degree of memory recollection on their first try. I do admit, I initially held doubts about whether lesser alien minds were even capable of—”

“Do never voice such doubts in front of Overseer Yog.”

“I acknowledge, master.”

“Do proceed. Have your assigned humans shown a similar talent to dive?”

“They have indeed, master. So far as the simulation can determine. All except Redeemed Van Dolah.”

Rew turns her white eyes at Edda. She is lying on her bed, eyes shut, expression distended. Her