“I must admit, this is somewhat troubling… Are you certain that the readings are correct?”

“Unmistakable. The Architect has confirmed their growth patterns on several separate occasions.”

“And you are confident that these… ‘lights’ that you speak of do pose a large scale threat to the American People?”

“From what I've been told, a ‘threat’ is an understatement, sir. In all of my years at the Bureau, we have never before observed a more disastrous calamity in our wake. The Great Lights have already proven themselves to be malicious by imprisoning our people. If they are able to break the barrier, they would bring something upon this world unlike anything we've ever seen. A power so dangerous that it would not only be capable of destroying the American People, but all of humanity.”

“Is that so…? And the Architect?”

“Still wishes to remain passive, sir.”

“Good god… We’re faced with something as grave as you say, and that girl still won’t play ball? That damn Architect… If only she could be more useful…”

“The Architect is the reason that we have any information regarding the Great Lights to begin with, sir. I understand the frustration, but she has been more than useful to our investigation.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Yeah... Useful in the sense that she tells the lambs that they’re being led to the slaughter… with no escape route. Do we have any leads?”

“As of right now, the information available is quite limited. All that can be verified is that the Great Lights hold an insurmountable amount of energy, far more potent than anything else we have observed within the Dream Realm thus far. We will investigate further and report back to you with more details as they arise.”

“Whatever it is they’re planning… We need intel as soon as possible.”

“I agree, in fact I would go so far to say I believe that it is absolutely vital. In light of this new information, how are we to proceed?”

“If this threat is as pertinent as you say, it appears there is only one thing we can do. I’ll contact the Bureau Director and have him speak with the leader of the CID. All other tasks our unit is responsible for will be delegated to them upon emergency request. For now, our unit will only be responsible for investigating the matter of the Great Lights further, as well as trying to find any other individuals who are capable of traversing through that realm.”

“Understood, sir.”

“And Agent Nelson.”

“Yes, sir?”

“We have no time to be playing around with this any longer. We have not the slightest clue what we are up against. I want you to inform the team to work as if their lives, and the lives of their families depend on it. We need all bodies in our unit working at full throttle, one-hundred percent. I’m sure you understand how serious I am.”

“Of course.”

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“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato