Alf woke so gradually he couldn’t tell where one nightmare ended and the next began. All he could tell for sure was that he was cold. And that the world was dark and completely, horrifyingly silent. He couldn’t hear anything. No insects, no wind, not even the steady whoosh of blood pumping through his veins. He tried to move, but his brain couldn’t remember how. He couldn’t feel his arms or legs or even his tongue. And he couldn’t breath.

A jolt of panic scattered his thoughts like ADD sheep. This was a nightmare. It had to be. It was the textbook definition of night terrors. He had to calm down and think his way back to rationality.

He tried to take a deep breath, and the panic clamped down even tighter. How was he supposed to calm down if he couldn’t count out his breaths? How was he supposed to do anything? Everything was completely beyond his control.

All he could do was grit his brain and wait for the terrors to end.

But then they got even worse.

A blinding rectangle of light appeared inside his head. He tried to ignore it, to look away, but even that was beyond his control.

And then the light resolved into words:

Friend Request: Jane, Player Rank 99,861

Accept | Reject

What the heck?

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He stared at the words. They didn’t make any sense. Why would he have night terrors about a video game? He never played video games. Didn’t have the patience for them. And he’d never met anyone named Jane—gamer or not.

He stared at the rectangle a few more eternities. If he chose one of the options, would the nightmare stop? And how was he supposed to choose without a keyboard? He couldn’t even move his eyes.

Accept, he subvocalized as loud as his brain could scream, and the rectangle faded away, leaving him once again in complete darkness.

But at least he had something to work on now. Where had that come from? He came up with hypothesis after hypothesis, each more ridiculous than the last. Hundreds of hypotheses. Maybe even thousands.

And then a new rectangle appeared:

Share Play: Jane, Player Rank 99,861, is allowing you to play her character.

Accept | Reject

Accept! Alf didn’t even have to think. Anything to escape the blackness. If he had to stay like this another minute—

The world crashed down on him like a tidal wave, leaving him dizzy and sputtering for breath. His heart pounded in his ears. He could feel the damp chill of morning. The ambient light was almost blinding. He squinted up into the canopy of branches, drinking in the interplay of light and shadow.

And then he noticed the weight on his chest. Blix was snuggled under his arm, radiating heat like a nuclear reactor.

“Blix…” He tapped her back, gently at first, but then, when she didn’t stir, he grabbed her arm and shook her. “Blix!”

“What?” She pushed away from him, leaving him suddenly bereft and cold. “This better be good.” She frowned down at him through a tangled curtain of honey-brown hair.

“I had the weirdest dream,” he said.

Her frown deepened.

“Seriously. I think it could have been connected with—” he motioned vaguely with his hands “—all of this. It was like this big friend request dialog. From someone named Jane. And then there was this—”

“Hello…” A flat voice sounded in his head. “I am Jane 1300316901458. I paid 10,000 fame for you. You will NOT let me down.”