The datacrown gleamed in the middle of the table between them.

“SO.” THE GABRIEL SAT on across the table. Like he did before. Now Joel wondered whether Honey had sat in this seat, too.

With an eyebrow raised, the Gabriel extended his open hand toward the crown. Offering it. Joel didn’t hesitate. He didn’t want to do anything to arouse the Gabriel’s suspicions.

Smirking the Gabriel watched as Joel fitted the crown and sat back.

“You’ll hear sounds. See some things. Don’t worry. Just relax. Whatever you see or hear, it’s going to be fine.” Joel heard gentle forest sounds. The rustle of wind in bushes. A soft rain. Running water. He was dimly aware of a thrumming behind it all.

His mind and body relaxed. He felt drowsy. Detached. Disconnected

“Follow the sound,” the voice was flat and low. A butterfly appeared in front of him. It’s wings beat slow. Slower. The pattern on the wings drew inward like it telescoped down. His mind faded to silence and gently swirled.

His vision blurred. The Gabriel seemed to be melting. Shapes became liquid and colors ran as the white noise swirled in his head.

Slower and slower. Deeper and darker. He felt himself drawn, pulled, moving out of his body. He followed the slow beat of the wings of the butterfly.

“You are just going to sleep. Just for a little while. Sleep.”

The chips under the tape on the back of his head played a sound. He had tuned it to counter the beat of the white noise. And it worked. While his body slid down into an induced trance, he was able to keep a spark of his conscious mind awake.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

If the Gabriel was planning what Joel suspected, the difficult part was going to be keeping his mind relaxed and quiet.

The Gabriel’s voice entered him through the datacrown. He felt the invasion into his body of a whole foreign consciousness. The Gabriel was dark. Jagged. Heavy and too big. He shoved his way in and Joel had to remain still.

Mental stillness was a massive lack of effort. A concentrated un-concentration. A highly demanding inertia. And a focused presence of mind to allow a complete absence of thought.

The Gabriel filled him. Stretched into his arms and legs. Breathed slowly and deeply. Shouted, roared at the top of his voice and yelled, “Yes! Yes, at last! And inside, Joel heard the thoughts, How long has it been since I felt anything, any real, physical sensation? Fuuuuck! Then, Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Add it to the list.

Joel jumped up. Ran out of the room and down a long corridor. His noisy footsteps took him to a heavily sealed door. He flung open the door and bounded through it. Down a flight of metal steps. In the air.

The AIR! They had been inside a huge pod. It looked like a vehicle. It could probably fly. But Joel didn’t get enough of a look at it. He bounded through a lush landscape. Hills and woods. And mountains in the distance. A wide gorge ahead was so deep, Joe couldn’t see the bottom of it, only sheer, rocky sides, straight down.

The Gabriel marveled at the warmth of the sun on his body. On his chest and his back. The warm breeze on his cheek. The softness of the grass. He jogged. Trotted. then ran. The mountains were blue and green. Some had white peaks. Joel had no idea where they were located. And it was beautiful. He kept his thoughts quiet.

He ran. Faster and faster. Straight up a hill. Then down the other side. Downhill, hurtling toward the fantastic canyon. Right to the edge. He didn’t slow. He ran faster. Joel didn’t believe he could run this fast. His trembling legs were getting watery. His breath heaved in desperation and his chest felt like it would explode.

Joel managed not to hesitate but when he leaped out over hundreds of feet of cool clear air, he couldn’t help himself from flinching.

He plunged straight down. His view spun around. The trees along the edge of a tiny ravine on the canyon floor came more into focus as he hurtled at them. Just above treetop height, a buzzard squawked. Shrank wide-eyed out of his way. The clear water was inches deep. A bed of jagged rock below. He gasped.

The world exploded then turned to black.