“Huh. This isn’t where I was… wasn’t I just..”

  “Hey! There’s something over there!”

  My head is spinning. What just happened?

  I was lying on the ground, staring up at a cloudy sky. The air felt heavy, familiar. My chest was heavy. Something wasn’t right.

  A group stood nearby, watching me with weird expressions. Their postures were tense, eyes sharp.

  Remy took a cautious step forward. “A person..?”

  Mim grabbed his shirt collar, yanking him back. “Careful. We don’t know what it is.”

  My heart pounded. “Huh… what?”

  I sat up quickly, scanning my surroundings. “…Where are we…?”

  None of them reacted the way I expected. No relief, no recognition. Instead, Nicholas narrowed his eyes, his excited gaze on me.

  “It speaks?!”

  My stomach dropped. A big wave of unease crawled up my spine.

  Nicholas…? No, this wasn’t right. His voice, his tone.. it felt different. That whole situation- Was it real?

  I pressed my palm to my forehead, dizzy. “…Am I dreaming? Or was I-”

  The wind howled through the trees, carrying a strange silence with it. No one answered.

  Something was very, very wrong.

  Nicholas took a step closer, eyes practically sparkling. “Incredible… A fully sentient, completely unique entity just appeared out of nowhere.” His voice dripped with excitement, but not the normal kind. The kind that made my skin crawl.

  I tensed. “Wh-what?”

  Nicholas leaned in, inspecting me like I was some kind of rare gemstone. Or worse-like I was a new test subject.

  I do not like where this is going, I don't know where I am and how I did get here.. Wasn't i just with mim, remy and liz.. Or was that just a long dream..

  “Just look at you!” he continued, completely ignoring my obvious discomfort and confusion. “The structure of your halo, your energy signature- absolutely fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  His grin widened. “ What are you? Where did you come from?”

  I swallowed hard. Buddy, I wish I knew.

  Before I could say anything, Nicholas interrupted, pulling something from his coat, a weird little device that looked suspiciously like it could poke, jab, or.. explode.

  I leaned away, “Uh… what’s that?”

  Nicholas practically vibrated with excitement. “Oh, just a harmless scanner! Standard procedure for something this… extraordinary.”

  He said that like I was an alien he just discovered in his backyard. Never expected him like this..

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  I held up my hands trying to block it. ” H-hey you should stop-” Nicholas froze, looking genuinely surprised; “You know my name!?”

  The others exchanged confused glances, clearly not following.

  “Uh…yeah..?”

  Mim, still slumped over the table, squinted at me. “ oh great, it knows our legal names too, it might call its alien friends and we will all die-”

  I stared at them. “Huh? What do you mean? I was somewhere else before this. A meeting room with you and remy. And now suddenly I’m-” I gestured around, “here.”

  Nicholas tilted his head. Then, with a casual shrug, he said, “Ah. Probably just a dream bleeding into your waking state.”

  I hesitated a little, “A dream?”

  Nicholas nodded, clearly distracted, tapping away at his scanner. “It happens. The brain sometimes carries over false memories right after waking up. A sudden shift in consciousness can make it feel real, but it’s usually nonsense. I wouldn’t think too hard about it.”

  Remy shrugged. “ probably, sounds like you just napped too hard, man.”

  I looked at them, baffled. They weren’t concerned at all. No “oh wow, how did you get here?” No “maybe we should look into this.” Just… shrugs.

  Am I going crazy? Or was I actually just dreaming all that..

  Nicholas, meanwhile, had completely moved on. He was already muttering about “rare biological markers” while playing with his scanner again.

  I wasn’t sure what was worse- the fact that no one believed me or the fact that I was starting to doubt myself.

  Mim sighed. “Nicho. He’s a guy, not a lab rat.”

  Nicholas scoffed. “That’s subjective.”

  Remy smacked a hand against his forehead. “Oh my god, do you even hear yourself?”

  The conversation buzzed around me, but my thoughts were stuck on something else.

  This isn’t right.

  I felt the wind, I heard the voices, I saw the faces, but it still felt wrong.

  ‘ i must've been dreaming the whole time..

  Nicholas and Mim were still arguing like an old married couple, with Remy standing in between them like an exhausted babysitter.

  “I’m just saying,” Nicholas huffed, waving his scanner, “if something like this, him, exists, then logically, we should document everything! For science!”

  Mim leaned over Remy’s shoulder. “Or maybe for mad science, you mean.”

  Nicholas gasped. “How dare you.”

  Remy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Nicholas, please, for once, act normal.”

  “I am normal. You people are just boring.”

  I sighed, finally pulling myself up from the ground, brushing off my clothes. “Uh… I’m still here, you know.”

  Nicholas immediately turned back to me, his eyes gleaming. “Right, right! Ignore these two-, tell me, what are you?”

  I blinked. Obviously I don't have an answer for that.

  Mim sighed. “- He’s just some weird guy, let’s move on.”

  Nicholas grumbled, but before he could protest, Remy clapped his hands. “Alright, we’ve wasted enough time. We should head back before someone starts questioning why we’re out here poking at strangers in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Poking would’ve been hypothetical,” Nicholas muttered under his breath.

  I didn’t like how he said that. The nicholas in my dream were more calm and sane sounding..

  Shoving the unsettling thoughts aside, I sighed. “Fine. Where exactly is ‘back’?”

  Mim stretched, cracking his back. “SJA base. You’re coming with us now, since we’re stuck with you.”

  Wow. So welcoming-

  I let them lead the way, my mind still lost. If that was just a dream… then why do I still feel like something’s off? That didn't seem like a dream.. It felt too realistic to be one..