I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about the ongoing attack, trying to make sense of it. If anything, this place reminded me of a bomb shelter more than a normal fortress, with how thick the walls were and the (seemingly redundant) bunkers built inside it - which must mean the danger we were in was truly great. This wasn't just an animal attack...

Worry over what was happening to Jaws gradually started to dominate my thoughts. Being a baby, forced into a passive existence, had never been more torturous. I kept trying to come up with something that I could do to help, or at least find out if Dad was ok.

One of my first thoughts was to try and communicate, even though my mastery of the language was sub-par. I knew at least a few words, and I could conceivably string together a very simple sentence or two... but what could that accomplish? Even if I made them think I was a prophet-baby from the future, or whatever, it wouldn't help us get out of this room, and might just freak everyone out for no reason.

Plus... there were potential long-term consequences of that plan that seemed... not so good.

I went through a whole host of ideas, ranging from 'not-useful-right-now' to 'downright-silly', and as the hours passed my mind started wandering before suddenly coming up with a crazy idea:

Astral projection. As in, having your soul leave your body, and seeing things that you normally couldn’t see.

I had already experienced the soul-cloud thing back in… what was it called again… the waiting space where I had met the Celestial. Whatever that place was, I figured that if I had done it once, maybe... just maybe… it might work again. So I began trying to visualize my soul leaving my body, teleporting to different locations, or even sitting up and climbing out of my chest. I didn’t have much success at first, so I started trying different things.

Eventually, I tried to recall what soul-cloud-me had felt like; not having eyes, yet being able to see; without lungs, but not needing to breathe; legless and sessile, yet being able to move just by wanting to - the sensation of moving around without actually moving.

Suddenly I felt... something...

Yet it wasn't enough. It felt like I was trying to roll a boulder uphill, but I lacked the ability to do anything but lean on it - pushing it was out of the question. As if I was lacking... energy, maybe, or a power source.

The Celestial's book! It was powerful and mysterious, and I figured 'power' might be exactly what I needed right then.

I tried again, this time focusing on the sensation of the soul-cloud - existing, floating untouched by gravity, nebulous and free - while starting to meditate on the book, with its impossibly complex fractal patterns stretching to infinity... And then I felt... something... again...

And this time it was enough.

I could no longer hear or see, but I could… perceive things around me. It was all darkness, yet the lack of light did nothing to hamper my understanding of where I was - inside my own body. I could sense my own heart beating... but not just that, I could sense its exact shape as it rhythmically expanded and contracted, sending blood flowing through my veins while my lungs worked to diffuse oxygen and my digestive system... and...and...and...

It was overwhelming, and I felt myself losing focus as I snapped back into my body with a gasp.

I opened my eyes and saw Mom look over at me, so I did my best to reassure her with a smile. The last thing I wanted was for her to disturb me as I tried to meditate. It had freaked her out the few times it had happened in the past, and while I had always gotten her calmed down again after I woke up, I wasn't sure if she was buying the whole 'I'm just a super deep sleeper' act.

Closing my eyes, I pretended to go back to sleep as I reviewed what had just occurred. It had worked, but it hadn't been exactly like I remembered - which made sense, when I thought about it, since I had a body this time. I vaguely remembered the Celestial mentioning that a body provides power to the soul, or something along those lines, and it seemed logical that my soul would be contained inside my body somehow. I wondered if it had mass and occupied a cavity in my chest somewhere, or if it was just a diffuse, insubstantial energy pattern of some kind.

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And on top of everything else, there had been... something... vying for part of my attention - as if a single sensation combined a flashing indicator light seen out of the corner of your eye, and a familiar presence standing next to you in an otherwise empty room.

After clearing my mind and performing simple breathing exercises, I decided to try again. This time I relied on my months of 'don't think about the book' practice to keep my focus away from the internal workings of my body.

It worked again, feeling even smoother than last time. My mind felt clear, my focus strong, and since I wasn't as distracted the 'presence indicator' was even more noticeable. As soon as I turned my attention to it I was flooded with an overwhelming stream of…. Mark!

Then a series of blurry mental images, which gradually became clearer and clearer… Mark had sent me thought-mail pictures of a bunch of women, all quite different; one had metallic silver skin, another had fluffy fur like a rabbit, and the third had lizard scales (like my skin, but shaded grey instead of green).

…. And it carried on like that for a while. I was absolutely flabbergasted. The final message was:

I felt like such a fool, and I didn’t even know how to explain myself to Mark. It took me an emergency to figure it out, where he had just experimented, messing around until he figured out something amazing. I didn’t even know what to say, but I knew that my time was limited because I still had to see if I could use this to find my dad.

That’s always been one of the biggest differences between me and my buddy Mark. I guess I kind of just assume things and carry on, where he constantly tests limits and tries crazy stuff. For example, if a sign said keep off the grass, I would assume there is a good reason and 'keep off' – Mark would be just as likely to follow my example, or randomly decide to jump over the fence to see what happened.

It had gotten him into trouble a few times, but also lead to some interesting experiences, ideas, and career paths - he had taught himself to program just by experimenting and playing around. I, on the other hand, had gone to university and learned how to code as part of my schooling.

Maybe you could say that I help keep him grounded, and he helps keep me innovative.

I felt guilty as heck as I quickly thought about what to send him. I had just assumed the Celestial had taken away the link (and for good reason, because he freaking said he would) so I moved on, not even considering that it was an option. And there Mark was, maybe forgetting that we were told the soul-link would be taken away, or maybe just messing around and discovering it by accident.

I figured he wouldn’t get mad at me, but that just made me feel worse, so I just sent a simple message. I didn't know if he would get it right away, but I assumed that he would have to meditate in order to find out that I had finally replied.

And then I got back to my original task; finding Jaws.