Dreams are often better than reality, yet Lucian found solace even in nightmares. Every second, every moment, every breath that did not require conscious effort was a blessing. Lucian’s muscle atrophy had begun long ago. No food, no gravity, no freedom of movement. The small shuttle in which he orbited somewhere around Mars had provisions for a maximum of 30 days. Through further rationing and injecting drugs that briefly plunged him into a delightful dreamless sleep, he stretched those provisions almost three times as long.
Apart from that, it wasn’t as if things were better elsewhere. After ~~the incident~~, Mars was barren and lifeless. Only two or three cities remained inhabited and on the verge of collapse. The collection stations were overcrowded, and with no means of ventilation, disease spread like wildfire across the Earth. Lucian had decided to steal the shuttle. He had to leave his best friend behind. What was friendship in the face of death if not a burden?
Nonetheless, Lucian kept returning to the airlock that separated him from the infinity of space, his hand hovering over the button, lost in thought about those final moments together.
Recently, Lucian had been plagued by particularly dark nightmares. Nightmares that left him gasping for breath and screaming in fear. Something was calling for him. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw an old shipyard, waiting and dead. In its current state, it resembled more of a graveyard.
After his food ran out and the water filter stopped working, Lucian had toyed more than ever with the idea of releasing all the air, all the dreams, and himself altogether into the vacuum of space.
When he closed his eyes, hoping that his last dream, wouldn’t be a nightmare. In his mind, he was at the spaceship graveyard once more.
Uncontrollably, his body initiated the shuttle’s engines. If he weren’t unconscious, he would have been surprised that they worked after all the time.
[[Open your eyes]]When Lucian opened his eyes, he hadn’t moved; he was still at the shipyard, but it was no longer a dream. The shipyard was enormous, with an unfinished spaceship the size of a battleship in the hangar.
In the distance, Phobos could be seen, or at least Lucian, barely conscious, assumed it was Phobos.
The engines of his shuttle had been out of commission for a while, and now he was drifting steadily toward the hangar. But before he could see more of the shipyard, Lucian blacked out.
Lucian woke up in a small hall. There were several items scattered around, which he could only vaguely discern. They appeared to be mainly sleeping places and a few clothes. Lucian recalled someone speaking to him, offering him food and a place to sleep. Nothing more was needed, and even if Lucian had been fully conscious, he wasn’t foolish enough to decline the offer.
Besides Lucian, five others were working there. There were few robots, which was probably a good thing because two robots could have done the work of all six of them. There were a handful of smaller units that attached hull plates to the ship from the outside, so they didn’t have to go out into space themselves.
Lucian suspected that in the areas where they had no access, more robots were working because they kept hearing dull sounds, presumably of metal. It was like a constant eerie symphony that merged with the background. Maybe Robots that handled the storage of raw materials. The others, however, evaded Lucian’s questions about it, and so he had to come to terms with his assumption.
The shipyard, which seemed to have been nothing more than a graveyard, had become more alive since Lucian’s arrival. What Lucian didn’t know was that it was indeed dead in the time of his dreams, in the truest sense of the word. But that was not a reality worth thinking about.
The work mainly consisted of carrying hull plates from the storage room to the spaceship. When Lucian touched them, he could feel the cold, rough texture of the metal, almost as if it were alive and resisting his touch. The smell of the shipyard hung in his nostrils – a blend of metallic tang and the faint, haunting aroma of old engine oil. It was omnipresent as if the air itself had a ghostly presence.
Sometimes they had to prepare the interior, but it mostly remained empty. That’s why none of them liked to walk through the spaceship alone. It was an unreal place that threatened to consume anyone who dared to enter it.
[[continue|One night]]Despite sharing their daily lives, Lucian only slowly opened up to the others. Everyone only cared about their own business. A silent agreement that Lucian certainly appreciated, although it made settling in a bit more difficult. However, the longer he was at the shipyard, the more he missed his friend. Like in a time that seemed to be ~~in~~finitely long ago.
One night, everyone in the lounge awoke startled by a scream, followed by the sound of heavy, descending metal doors of the airlock. After looking around, Lucian could only count five people instead of six. Calista, whom Lucian had barely noticed until now, struggled desperately to pry the door open and would probably not have stopped had ~~(bg:white)[we]~~ she not forced her to. She tried to ~~(bg:white)[resist]~~, but they all knew that all their (bg:white)[~~efforts~~] were too late and would only make the (bg:white)[~~Master~~] angry.
A profound feeling of finality settled in. The mechanisms of the airlock creaked and protested like ancient giants, awakened from their sleep until they closed with one last, determined thud. The ensuing silence was only interrupted by the soft hiss of the equalising air pressure, a reminder that this gate to the emptiness of space was now securely closed.
[[continue|In the days following]]In the days following ~~the (bg:white)[in]cident~~ accident that they all silently accepted and tried to forget, the robots no longer worked. The ship rested, giving the shipyard an atmosphere of death. Now they had to deal with processing the metals for the ship, which was a much more demanding job. Calista was grateful not to have lost her composure. Lucian tried to see the positive side; at least it supported his hypothesis about the ~~noises~~ in the ~~(bg:white)[forbidden]~~ areas.
The(bg:white)[~~ Master~~], who had never really shown himself before, now appeared sweaty from the forbidden corridors more and more often. He seemed to be a frail old man and aged a year with each passing day. Perhaps Lucian had only imagined it. After all, he had barely seen him before, probably the best view he would have had when he first met the man when he arrived at the shipyard. Only with Lys had Lucian discussed it. Lucian didn't know much about her, but more than the others. Her full name was Lysandra, but everyone called her Lys. She was together with Ari and considered the leader of the group because she was the oldest.
He told her how he couldn't remember anything that happened before the station. And how someone had talked to him who he didn't recognise. Lys said it was the Master, as everyone here called him.
Lucian wasn't the only one who noticed that something was ~~amiss~~ with the Master and the station.
Time here seemed to flow ~~differently~~ normally. In one yea(bg:white)[~~r they had all aged about seven years.~~]
In addition to these unusual events, Lucian's dreams returned. Since he started working at the shipyard, he hadn't dreamed any more. He had told himself that after all the hallucinations, dreams and nightmares, he had suppressed or even lost the ability to dream. But now he was haunted by a face he no longer recognised.
[[continue|The atmosphere]]The atmosphere in the hall was tense. When the lights dimmed to herald the artificial night, a palpable unease settled over everyone. On one of the many nights that Lucian found particularly difficult to endure, he and the others were awakened by a noise. Ari looked around and let out a muffled scream that startled everyone who hadn't already woken up due to the noise itself. This time, the doors opened, and Ari wasted little time finding out how long it take for the others to go.
Lucian needed a moment to realise why Ari was running so energetically. After he looked at the other bewildered faces, he ran after Ari, and the others followed suit. Lucian saw Ari in shock outside the door. In the narrow corridor, Lysandra ~~(bg:white)[hung from a rope]~~ and (bg:white)[~~twitched~~]. Obviously, her (bg:white)[~~suicide~~] attempt had failed. A knife swung through the air and cut the (bg:white)[~~rope~~]. Lys fell to the ground, hands desperately clutching her throat, gasping for air. Ari knelt, confused and in tears. Normally, Ari was the only one who managed to smile somehow. Always calm and cheerful. A bit too cheerful, Lucian usually thought. Seeing them so upset now was unusual for everyone.
The knife belonged to the Master, who now, with a serious look that overrode his frailty almost to the point of unrecognizability, stared at the group.
(align:"==><==")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")+(text-style:"italic","underline","expand")[''I'' and only ''I'' decide who dies here —
Is that clear?]
(bg:white)+(text-colour:white)[And then I will her charmèd eye release -]
(bg:white)+(text-color:white)[[From monster's view]]Ari looked around and let out a muffled scream that startled everyone who hadn't already woken up due to the noise itself. But they layed all back down when Lys, who had probably just knocked something over, returned. After all, nothing truly disturbing ever happened in the shipyard. That was clear to everyone after that night.
After a few weeks of hard work, the five, exhausted from their work, returned to the hall. In the usually empty sleeping place, there was now a pale person lying there, so still that anyone could have considered them dead. They were awakened from their slumber by the doors opening from a deep sleep. The person introduced themselves as Phelia.
In the days that followed, Lucian concluded that the work was probably designed for six people because since Phelia arrived, everything seemed to be going much smoother. The robots were working again, and the ship that had not been progressing lately was finished in no time.
The Master seemed very pleased with this fact, and Lucian speculated that it was this fact that breathed new life into the Master.
At the same time, the Master was now also stressed, which he shared by saying that the buyer, whom he cryptically referred to as (text-style:"smear","expand")[Herrovox], would be coming soon. Everything had to be ready.
[[And nothing awful ever happend]]Lys divided them into three groups for this. Calista and ~~(bg:white)[Luna]~~ checked the cockpit, while Lys controlled the weapon systems jointly with Ari. Lucian, on the other hand, was to check the rest of the interior with Phelia. It was the first time that Lucian spent more time with Phelia. The corridors of the spaceship were bathed in a dull light glow. The colours reminded him of a ship that had sunk in an ocean and was now consuming itself. To Lucian's surprise, Phelia didn't seem as uncomfortable in the endless blue as the others. It seemed that Phelia was adapting to this environment.
Lucian and Phelia walked cautiously through the corridors, their steps echoing in the silent passageways. In the corridors, they checked that all walls were properly secured. Then they were to attend to the storage room. They entered the room, which was still mostly empty except for two larger containers. Everything was in order.
Next, they were to check the hangar. As they walked through the adjoining door, Phelia turned to Lucian. Until now, they had exchanged hardly a word. Their communication consisted of nodding when everything was okay.
But now, Phelia asked Lucian what would happen to them when the ship was finished. Lucian didn't know what to answer. He didn't even know what he wished for. After all, one person had already (bg:white)[~~died~~] mysteriously in the shipyard, and ~~Lys~~ couldn't (bg:white)[~~commit suicid.~~]
After all, they got food,'' and nothing awful ever happened.''
»I don't know.« Lucian replied. Lucian and Phelia looked at each other for a moment. Then Phelia lowered their head and turned away. Only now did Lucian notice the broken watch on Phelia's wrist.
[[continue|In his chamber]]In his chamber, the Master stared at his chessboard. The six pawns moved cautiously through this world, which would have appeared as a mere alternation between black and white to anyone else. For him and his pieces, it was so much more. As he looked at the board, he muttered cryptic words. Suddenly, the Master paused. His gaze tore itself away from the board, and he fell silent altogether. He felt a cold draft brushing against him.
(align:"<==")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX==")[''I am on my way to my new ship. It's ready, isn't it?''
(text-style:"underline")[The final checks are being conducted. Everything is as desired.]
''Is it? I don't wish for complications.''
(text-style:"underline")[My pawns are mine.
None can die, none can escape under my watch!]
''And don't forget who made this possible.
I don't wish to be disappointed.''
]
One of the pawns stood in the corridor on the way to the hall. The knob that was supposed to represent its head was turned outside the chessboard.
(bg:white)[There's a divinity that shapes our ends.]
[[Watch]]Phelia revealed to Lucian that the watch was a gift. But when they had come to the shipyard, it must have unfortunately broken. The watch had a black leather-like band that stood out against their pale skin. The first hole was already worn out, and it seemed that it was a bit too big for Phelia. The watch itself was white with a rust-coloured accent.
They completed all the tests. Phelia needed a moment. Lucian left the gates to the hangar open and waited in the corridor when he heard a familiar voice calling for help. Suddenly, an indescribable feeling of self-confidence filled him. Lucian looked around. Down the hallway was the lounge, and to his left was the hangar. To his right was one of the doors to the forbidden corridors. He turned towards the door, which then opened. Behind the door was an empty room, and as he turned around, he saw the others on their way to the hall. Among them was Lucian.
When Lucian returned from the final check before the buyer arrived, he heard a familiar voice calling for help. Suddenly, he felt an indescribable sense of self-confidence. Lucian stood in the corridor to the hall. Next to him was one of the doors to the forbidden corridors. He turned to the door, which then opened. Behind the door was an empty room. When he turned around, he saw the others making their way to the hall. Among them was ~~(bg:white)+(text-color:white)[[Lucian]]~~(text-colour:red)[?]Lucian ran to the door, which closed in front of him and locked him in. He called for help until he realised that if the Master couldn't find him here, he couldn't. He heard the echo of his words travelling through his body. For a moment, it seemed as if he could see himself, running to the closed door.
~~(bg:white)[Reality]~~ seemed to ~~(bg:white)[bend]~~.
~~(bg:white)[Reality]~~ seemed to ~~bend~~.
~~Reality~~ seemed to ~~bend~~. Lucian was in a room crowded with a swarm of double and triple faces. They repeated like a pattern.
~~A pattern in which Lucian threatened to drown.~~
[[Were these just hallucinations?]]#''(align:"=><=")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[Hallucination]''
(b4r:"dashed")+(b4r-colour:(hsl:300,0.8039,0.5,0.9))+(align:"==><==")+(box:"===XXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[[ »Hallucination, from the Latin alucinatio, 'daydream'. It is the perception of stimuli through any of the senses for which there is no demonstrable external stimulus.«|Hallucination]]
Lucian squeezed through the crowd of people to the shuttles. When he entered the airlock, he felt someone holding him back. With all his strength, Lucian resisted. The airlock closed, and through the small window, Lucian saw
~~(bg:white)[Aureli]~~a~~(bg:white)[n]~~
~~(bg:white)[Aurelian
Aurelian]~~
~~(bg:white)[AurelianA]~~ur~~(bg:white)[elian Aurelian Aurelian Aur]~~e~~(bg:white)[lian Aurelian Aure]~~li~~(bg:white)[an Aurelian Aurelianaurelian]~~A~~(bg:white)[urelia]~~n
[[Aurelian]]Lucian hit the window and tried to turn the shuttle somehow, but after the start sequence was initiated, and the engines fired once, he was already outside the shipyard's gravitational field and in orbit around Mars. He counted the rations and slumped down.
In the vastness of space, haunted by memories of a past life, he began to dream. His hand hovered over the button, and his thoughts in the dream were with the familiar face of Aurelian and a graveyard.
In the distance, Phobos could be seen.Lucian recognised the soulless spirits, seemingly tormented by their own presence. He recognised (bg:white)[~~Cassian~~] and Calista, (bg:white)[~~Luna~~] and Lysandra, Phelia, Ari and also (bg:white)[~~Aurelian~~]. Lucian tried to breathe, but with every second, every moment, every (bg:white)[~~attempt to breathe~~], there were more.
Lucian squeezed through the crowd of people to the shuttles. When he entered the airlock, the cold hand of the Master turned Lucian around.
(text-style:"underline")+(align:"=><=")+(box:"=XXXXXXXX=")[YOU are not allowed to leave yet I need YOU and I don't want to die, and I don't have to die yet but if YOU leave now the pact won't apply
DO YOU THINK I WILL JUST LET YOU GO?
YOU are mistaken I think I'll get YOUR little friend next and YOU will kill him for me I have another favour with my Acquaintance and I'll arrange for YOU to be the one who accidentally presses the button and sucks (bg:white)[~~Aurelian~~] into space YOU can't do anything, just as YOU can't escape now]
(align:"=><=")+(box:"=XXXXXXXX=")[[YOU]]
<div class="attention-banner">
<strong>Hey listen:</strong> This story touches on sensitive topics at some points, including suizide.
If this isn't something you're up for right now, please look after yourself and click away if needed.
[[Start|The Dreams You Give]]
<a href="/home/">Go Back</a>
</div>