Babbage pushed open the door and glanced around. It seemed harmless enough, if a little dark. There were a few figures scattered around the dark corners, but they seemed to fade into the background when you tried to pick anyone out. The only one with any presence was the hunched figure at the bar, staring out the window. Babbage walked slowly towards him.

The door slammed closed behind him with a dull boom but there was no reaction, not even a raising of eyes. Usually he made something of an impression, but not in this place. This was old, you could feel it in the air, old beyond years. Everything here had been seen before.

“Perhaps I’m fading out of sight like yourself, Adlai.”

There was no answer and Babbage’s feet slowed. He was alone here, like he had been in the captain’s office. What did that mean? Was this place no longer part of the virtual world he lived in? Had he stepped through the divide? He felt a tingle at the base of his spine as something inside slowly awakened.

The bar. The figure at the bar still had his back to him but there was something in the set of the shoulders now, an awareness. Babbage walked closer, somehow finding each step harder than the last, his feet heavier with each slow stride. The bartender stood off to one side, in a seeming daze, eyes glazed over and staring out over Babbage’s shoulder, out to nothing. Lost in his own world. The tingle in his spine moved north.

Just a few more steps. He was struggling to breathe now as every muscle in his body tensed. His head roared with a sudden rush of blood. He was directly behind the figure.

Over one shoulder was the window, a small dark square pin-pricked with rain. The light from the bar seemed to avoid its surface altogether, only certain images reflected back crystal clear. He saw himself standing directly behind a familiar face. It was older, more drawn, less innocent perhaps, but the same face nonetheless. Babbage lifted his hand and placed it on Adlai’s shoulder.

The world disappeared and all was black.

The next thing he was aware of was music. The same music, note after note running up through his blood, forcing itself around and out of his body, taking over every cell. He felt his eyes open.

He was in a forest, morning sunlight trickling down through a cascade of leaves, ending up as a vague golden glow in the air. There was a smooth lake to his left, glinting in the sun. It was familiar.

He’d seen this place before, in a nightmare, when the music had taken control of him last time. When he’d looked around and-

Babbage spun to his left and saw the young girl staring at him. She smiled once, almost naturally, and ran off giggling. He knew he had to follow her.

“You know what this is, you know this is all brought on by the virus. It doesn’t make it easier, but remember it nonetheless. Control your fear.”

Babbage opened his mouth but couldn’t reply. It was Adlai’s voice. He wasn’t alone.

He was off after the girl, chasing her small white dress through the trees. His brain wouldn’t allow room for anything but the chase and the music, the music that gained in volume every step.

“Almost. What you dream of as Adlai is a reflection of me as I once was, as I could have been. A dream of a dream. Some would call the ability to dream the first sign of intelligence. Perhaps this universe will be worth saving after all.”

The voice and the music fought each other in his head, battling for room. He stumbled on after the girl but was losing ground. It didn’t matter, she only had to lead him. Lead him to her.

“You remember. She underestimated you, underestimated both of us, that’s always been her weakness. You were just a vessel, a delivery boy for her. Always far too simple minded, that girl.”

Somehow he had caught up with the girl, perhaps she had waited for him. She smiled again, not so friendly this time, and disappeared around another corner. He knew what would be there.

He fought to keep the voice in his head, keep his thoughts in motion. He turned the corner and saw the woman standing there, waiting for him. Every cell froze,

The music got louder still, blasting all consciousness away as the grey skinned woman moved towards him, smiling grimly, holding him in her eyes. A final whisper of the voice drifted though him.

“Hang on.”