I dreamt of only an empty, bleak darkness. It was as if my brain had completely shut down, and my consciousness no longer existed.

That is until a beam of light shone directly in front of my eyes. It slowly grew larger and brighter as I found myself drawn toward the mysterious yet warm light.

Am I dead? Am I on my way to the next life?

“Rayden?”

The voice that called my name was soft–nearly indistinguishable. It sounded kind… concerned… familiar…

Drayek? I couldn’t speak his name aloud, but I could feel my mind reaching out to him eagerly. Is that you?

“Rayden?”

The voice was louder this time, and the light filling my entire vision grew even stronger. I could feel my arms lift outside of my dream-like state as I reached toward what I felt sure was a better place.

“Rayden!”

Large hands grasped my shoulders and shook me awake. My eyes flew open, and I gasped in shock as I was suddenly surrounded by white walls and many hanging orbs of light that blinded me.

“Drayek!” I cried out, throwing myself into a sitting position and trying to escape the tight covers of the immaculately clean bed I found myself in.

The same strong hands from before pushed me back down until I hit the soft pillow that already had an indent from my head. How long had I been out?

“You need to keep resting, Rayden. You were in a lot of pain, and the doctors are still trying to figure out what happened.”

I could barely see. Everything around me was overwhelmingly bright and much too white. I squinted my eyes into slits against the budding headache. I could feel it in my neck and my shoulders, and of course, I could feel a throbbing pain radiating through my entire skull. But even through my discomfort, I could still count the beds on either side of me and another line of a dozen or so matching beds that bordered the opposite wall.

All but one of the beds were empty, in addition to mine. The occupant of the other bed was sound asleep, releasing the loudest rumbling snore I’d ever heard. And I’d lived with Drayek…. A man whose snores could rattle the foundations of a small building.

“What is this place?”

I waited for Dex to answer but was met with only an eerie silence. Yes, I’d had many moments where Codex wouldn’t respond or would pause for long periods, but this silence somehow felt… empty.

I glanced up at the looming figure sitting next to me, his hands still holding me down on the soft mattress. Slowly, the man’s image blurred into focus, and I could clearly see the ridiculous helmet that I was becoming increasingly annoyed by.

“Nic?” I croaked out, no longer trying to fight against his hold on me.

It took me a second, but I soon realized that it hadn’t been Drayek calling out to me in my dream-like state. It had been Nic trying to wake me up.

Nic relaxed his hands and pulled his arms into his lap, letting me be for the moment. “You gave us quite a scare, boy. You were out for hours.”

My heart skipped a beat as a realization struck me. I’d been out for hours, as Nic said. I hadn’t solved my assigned clues for my Mastering Group Combat Class, and I must have missed the meeting time with Cinthara. Just another reason she could tack onto her growing list for hating me.

“What time is it?”

“Late,” Nic said. “Well past midnight.”

I groaned. I was definitely not going to finish my schoolwork or meet with Cinthara tonight.

“What happened?” I rubbed shaky hands over my face and attempted to run fingers through my tangled mess of curls.

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Nic leaned forward, and I could barely hear his whisper through his head covering, “The doctors don’t know what happened to you. They’re wondering if something awry went with your newly inserted neural implant, but I have a better guess.”

His helmet bobbed back and forth, and I guessed the movement came from him looking to make sure no unwanted ears could hear our conversation.

He drew in even closer, “Something similar happened to me when I arrived here. It was years ago, but you and I… Well, we’re more or less very similar.”

I tried to swallow, but the dryness in my throat made it impossible. I desperately searched for some water to ease the burning in my throat. Nic seemed to know what I was looking for and procured a short glass of clear water from a short table at my left that I hadn’t noticed yet.

I slowly sat up, ignoring the uncomfortable rush of blood to my head, and eagerly pulled the glass from his hand and swallowed down most of the water before Nic took it away with a click of his tongue.

“You really shouldn’t overdo it,” he said, setting the glass back down. “Don’t do anything too fast. Including water consumption.”

I smacked my lips and settled my head back down on the pillow. “So, you know what’s happening to me?” Though I felt much better after some water, my voice still came out hoarse.

“We can’t really talk about it here, but yes, I think I do.”

“Ah, you’re awake!”

Nic straightened in his chair as the newcomer skipped over to us. I turned my eyes to the pretty young woman. I cleared my throat as she approached and made one more desperate attempt to smooth out the mess of my hair. Nic chuckled at me as he folded his arms but otherwise remained silent.

The young woman, maybe in her mid-20s, pulled a gray stool to the right side of my bed. She smoothed down her long, white robe that hung over her jumpsuit, then sat next to where I lay. Her robe covered the color on her sleeves, so I couldn’t tell if she was a student, teacher, or something else. Maybe a doctor like that man who had inserted my neural implant? She procured a tablet she’d had tucked under her arm and set it on her lap with a slender stylus poised in one hand to start writing on the screen.

“I’m Doctor Halestrom. It’s nice to officially meet you, Rayden.”

The doctor giggled melodiously, and I could only muster a goofy smile in return.

“You were unconscious when you first arrived at the infirmary,” she continued. “How are you feeling?”

“Infirmary?” I glanced around again, expecting one of Dex’s information dumps to fill my brain with images and definitions, but nothing happened.

“I heard you were new here. An infirmary is a place dedicated to aiding the sick and injured. I’m just one of many doctors who work shifts here.” Doctor Halestrom tilted her head to the side as she smiled, making her long, straight locks fall over her right shoulder in a cascade of gold. “Now, may I ask again how you’re feeling?”

“I have a headache.”

She scribbled something onto her glowing screen with her stylus. “How severe would you say this headache is? Slightly uncomfortable? So intense you can’t focus?”

“Uh…” I squeezed my eyes shut against the painful lights dangling all around me. “Maybe something in between the two?”

More scribbling. “Can you move your body without difficulty?”

I wiggled my arms and legs. Though a bit stiff, most likely from having been unconscious for a while, they felt like they functioned normally.

“Yeah. I can move.”

The doctor grinned. “That is great news. Well, all of your tests and scans turned out fine.”

I didn’t even want to ask what these “tests” and “scans” were, even without Dex to explain them to me. I just wanted to get out of there, and the fact that my tests and scans “turned out fine” made it sound like I might get my wish.

Doctor Halestrom patted a friendly hand on my shoulder. “You most likely had an adverse reaction to your neural implant. Sometimes, the insertion of a foreign object can make your body react poorly, but any symptoms you may experience from the implant should resolve themselves quickly.”

“How quickly?” I said.

“I would give it a week. But feel free to come by again if you’re experiencing any pain or discomfort. I’d be happy to check on you again.”

I nodded but felt unsatisfied with her answers. I could only hope that Nic knew exactly what was wrong with me and also knew why Dex wasn’t working right.

Doctor Halestrom tapped away with fast fingers on her tablet. “I see no reason not to let you go. I’ll send you out with some pain medication to help with that headache, all right?”

“Thank you,” I said as the doctor offered me another pretty smile, then she stepped away to retrieve my medicine.

I gently turned my head to face Nic once the doctor was out of earshot. “I’d really like to hear your theory now–about what just happened to me.”

Nic nodded slightly–almost imperceptible with his helmet on. “I will. But let’s wait until we’re definitely alone.”

Doctor Halestrom returned within five minutes, a large yellow bottle in her hand. I couldn’t recall whatever she’d called the medicine, even if I tried to recall the name for the rest of my life. After instructing me to take one of the giant capsules within the container every six hours as needed, the doctor disappeared once again to an unseen room.

Nic held the medicine for me, and I allowed him to help me out of bed. The sudden breeze that traveled up my legs and other sensitive areas made me look down at myself.

“Where are my clothes?” My face went warm as I thought of Doctor Halestrom seeing me in nothing but this short, blue nightgown.

“They’re folded at the end of your bed.” Nic grabbed my neatly folded jumpsuit and handed it to me. “There’s a changing room in the back.”

I hesitantly took the jumpsuit from Nic. “How’d I get into… this thing?” I said, referring to the uncomely nightgown. “Did the doctor…?”

Nic only chuckled and directed me away to go change. I felt grateful, for once, that I couldn’t see whatever expression he was making at me.