“Excuse me my good man, but is there a phone onboard? I need to contact someone,” asked the Major. The conductor nodded and led him off, down the aisle. They walked right past Todd, who was sitting on one of the benches, wheezing and trying very hard not to go insane.
His thought process went something like: I’m dreaming THEREFORE I can’t really die here BUT usually when I realize I’m dreaming I just wake up AND not only is this dream more vivid than any other I’ve ever had, but I feel awake right now PLUS I don’t have any sensation coming from my actual body.
“Hey.” Todd’s head jerked up to see Rebecca standing in front of him. “How you holding up?” she asked.
“Well, I’m either completely insane or just in a coma.” He reflected for a moment. “Look, this is my dream, right? Shouldn’t I be able to control it? Or better yet, stop it?”
“What are you asking me for?” said Rebecca. “I’m just a projection from your subconscious of that cute barista from the Starbucks on 5th. Technically, I don't know anymore than you do.”
“Then what about that president guy? He seemed to know what was going on.”
“Well, yeah, because he’s President of the Superego. He’s a Facet.” All that got was a blank stare from Todd. “Of your personality. And I’m just a projection. Y’see?” Todd continued staring blankly.
“All right,” said Hartswell, striding back down the car towards them. “It’s official. We’ve lost the Capital. The president made it out, but all Alliance forces are being relocated to the Citadel.”
“Okay,” said Todd. “And the guys attacking-“
“The Empire of Id.” Offered Rebecca.
“Yes, them. What happens if they win?”
“Well, that all depends on you, doesn’t it, lad?” said the major.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Before either of them could answer, the echo of an explosion reached the train, followed by a bright light erupting from down the tunnel. A growing rumble soon followed, which grew and grew until it finally shook the train loose of the rails. There was a massive sound of grinding steel and Todd was thrown up in the air as the entire train buckled. Finally, everything went dark.
When Todd came to, it was to Hartswell shaking him awake and making sure he was okay. The train was now a mess. A few emergency lights were on, with a few more flickering in a desperate attempt to survive. Rebecca was also staggering to her feet, and the conductor had somehow made his way into the car.
“We’re off the rails,” he said, staggering back towards them. “All passengers should make their way into the tunnel to find an emergency ex-“ Todd very nearly shrieked as a bunch of spindly, furry legs broke through a window, grabbed the conductor, and ripped him from the train.
“Move! Into the tunnel!” barked Hartswell, and Todd complied practically without even thinking about it, his body moving on autopilot. He got to his feet and made for the closest door, which was left half ajar after the impact. After he made it through the gap and plopped his feet down onto the cement floor of the tunnel, he immediately regretted his steadfast and unblinking obedience.
Past the pool of light emanating from the interior of the train, the tunnel was pitch black. This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the constant skittering noise that pervaded the darkness. The rustling sound of dozens of multi-legged things climbing around reached Todd’s ears and froze him in place. This was the one. The one that had shocked him back to consciousness on so many nights since he was a kid. The one he still couldn’t think about. Paralyzed, Todd could only stare in horror as one after another, batches of eyes began to light up
The piercing sound of a rifle firing next to Todd’s ears broke his paralysis. The monstrosities screeched and recoiled as Rebecca pumped burst after burst into the mass in front of them.
“Hartswell, grab Todd and get him to the tunnel entrance! I’ll keep them off you!”
“Right! Let’s go son, no sense in sticking around.” Todd nodded at Hartswell, and as he followed he turned to see how Rebecca was doing. A vision of what she was shooting at also entered his field of vision, and Todd instantly decided that Rebecca could probably handle…them.
A short way down the tunnel was a door under a red light. Rather than a sturdy maintenance door, it was a mahogany beauty such as you might find on the door of a Victorian mansion, but right now, the three of them weren’t too picky. With Rebecca’s rifle still hammering away a staccato rhythm, with the major offering spurts of accompaniment from his pistol, the three of them made their way to the door and inside. Rebecca was the last through, and after a final pull of the trigger, she slammed the door shut. A furious scrabbling could be heard from the other side, but the door seemed sturdy enough to hold.
“Dammit, those weren’t just projections,” wheezed Rebecca as the three of them caught their breath.
“Too right,” concurred the major. “If they’re able to deploy full-bore nightmares, then we’re in more dire straits than I first thought. We’ve got to move. They’re probably cutting a swathe right to the Citadel as we speak.” Hartswell moved down the small passage they were in, his back to the wall, then peeked around the corner. He motioned for Todd and Rebecca to follow.
“Hang on, I was unconscious,” said Todd as the two of them rounded the corner and came across a set of stairs. “Just back there, I lost consciousness in my dream and had to be woken up. What does that mean? Can-can I die here?”
“Only one way to find out,” replied Rebecca glumly. They climbed the stairs and found them to emerge directly onto a sidewalk. The spires and edifices of the Capital were nowhere to be seen, having been replaced with squat suburban houses. They were all gray and all repetitions of the same two models, stretching off in both directions to the horizon. A loud clunking noise sounded behind Todd, and he turned to find himself dwarfed by a stack of metal shelves stretching off far above him into the clouds, with pairs of each house sitting on each shelf, along with a lawn and shrubbery. Giant gears visible in the shelving units would turn and an entire shelf would be deposited onto a row of bare plots that reached infinity in either direction. Then the shelving unit would move backwards, exposing more bare plots ready for endless copies of the same two houses.
“Suburbia,” said Rebecca. “Damn it. We’re still way too far from the Citadel to make it on foot. Can we get transport?”
“Maybe,” said Hartswell. “If we can get in contact with some of the transports leaving the capital, they might be able to pick us up now.”
“Hey, I think I see some coming this way! Let’s flag ‘em down!” Rebecca and Hartswell turned to look where Todd was pointing. They looked at each other, then back at Todd.
“Todd, do you really think we seem the type to use gigantic winged beetles and flying pirate ships as transports?”
“What are you talking about?” Todd held a hand up to shield his eyes and squinted. “They aren’t- Oh.” Todd’s hand dropped to his side. “Shit.”
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