"Hold fast!" Bellowed a voice as he and his comrades lay surrounded, wielding his flames of blue whilst glancing about at them all. Silhouettes of his friends, faces he could barely make out but was unable to see anything else other than shape. Each wielded weapons or magic, each faced off the enemy which encircled them.

Turning to their foe, he only saw darkness.

Encroaching.

Swatting away with bursts of shadow.

Threatening to overtake them all.

"Never give in..." he whispered to himself, gazing down into his flames, "Never give in!" He exclaimed, raising his hands forth and sending a bellowing blaze into the dark.

In unison, all his allies attacked as well. Magic of many kinds rushing into the black as two of them rushed ahead, one wielding a long weapon and the other two short ones, their forms changed and grew as they bashed into the shadows.

But he would not let them push alone, charging forth himself as strange energy surrounded him, he charged in from between their giant forms and into the black himself. Planting his empowered fist into it, he watched as the darkness briefly retreated.

Only to rush in stronger than before.

He could only watch, as it engulfed his arm, tendrils flowing about his body and slowly devouring him.

Pulling away, he turned to his allies, as their world was splattered in black.

He could only watch...

As the darkness covered them too, taking them away one by one.

One of them reached out, and he grasped his hand, clenching tightly to hold on.

As he met this shadow's gaze, he barely made out a grin, as he suddenly let go and turned to the darkness which had been pulling them apart. Striking hard with his weapon, yet still, it engulfed him too.

A wicked cackle filled his ears as he slowly sank into the black ooze.

"Struggle for me, child, but you can never escape fate."

Then, she woke up.

Alison woke with a start, breathing in quick terrified breaths, but slowly came to a calming halt as she stared up at her ceiling.

"Another nightmare, a different dream...What does it all mean?" She asked herself, rising out of her bed as the lights to her room turned on automatically.

Glancing around, Alison sighed, her mind immediately taking her to the same thing it took her to every morning and night.

Standing up and allowing the mechanical arms to undress her, she walked through her smoothly circular room riddled with gadgets and tools, over to a small metal black table that stood on its own away from the rest of the mess.

Over the table lay a sphere of glass, containing a small pedestal that flickered and flashed with small lights and lay filled with visible wiring and circuits. On top of the pedestal, was a rather old looking piece of tattered cloth, neatly folded.

"On that forsaken day...it all began. His death, that...thing's appearance, the nightmares and...You, the most important piece to my puzzle." She mused to herself, laying her palm over the glass, she gazed deeply into the cloth.

As she did, her vision blurred and wavered, simply looking filled her with nausea forcing her to look away. "And today it starts." She then said, walking away from the table and towards a large screen. Flicking her hand, the screen turned on. "Today, I put that puzzle together."

----------------------------------------

Kyle woke with a start, trembling and dripping in sweat, he groaned at the memory. "Ah...again." He mused, having had the same nightmare of that one incident ever since it happened. "Two years, two years and you won't go away." He grumbled, shaking himself out of it then, he rose out of his bed and began taking off his clothes. "Lights!" He shouted, and his room lit up on command, as he struggled his way to the bathroom, battling to take off his pants.

"Water, cold." He said, and the shower came alive, sprinkling cold water upon his dark brown hair.

"AR screen one." He then said as he washed off the sweat. A dim light then appeared before him, quickly growing into a hovering screen of no physical substance. A holographic monitor, per say.

"Join chat room, Apoc Fuckery, channel, General." He said, and the screen flashed into the UI of a Voip program, listing users within the chat room on the right and the list of channels to the left, with a text chat system in the middle.

The sound of cheers filled his bathroom as he joined the voice channel, finding himself right in between a heated debate.

"That suit he's wearin, fuck it's ugly." Said a user named Birse.

"You'd look great in it, if it fits with your fat buddah ass" Responded Soren.

"I’d damn sure fit in it, you on the other hand? Probably fall off your little ass." Birse snapped back with a chuckle.

"HAH, GOTEM!" said another user, SkillShot69.

"Yo, Kyll!" Exclaimed the fourth, Deathchilled.

"Hey boys, good morning to me and good night to ya all." Kyle replied as he took hold of a sponge and began running soap over it.

"Got your set yet?" The last user in the channel, Silvaragon, asked.

"Sure did, had it come in yesterday night, Ma brought it in while I was asleep. Woke me up to tell me but, I guess I collapsed back in." Kyle added.

 "Man, those mail-bots are creepy shits I tell you what, wouldn't let one in at night even if it meant getting life savin meds!" Skill exclaimed.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

The sound of a shotgun being loaded then played out as another user joined the chat, "Senpai in da house, how're my favourite scrubs?" SlySpy announced to his arrival.

"Watchin the stream, GAO is up today." Soren replied.

"Oh shit, it's today isn't it?" Sly laughed, having forgotten.

"Oi senpai, God requires more fodder. Soren's too cheap a brand to keep the fire going!" Birse said.

"Huh?" Sly hummed in confusion.

"Buddah is salty." Soren explained.

"Bitch what?" Birse asked.

"Er, yeah. Steppin away from that." Sly chuckled.

"As you do that, you gonna be on for launch boyo? These muricans not getting access till an hour later, see ya at the starting area?" Kyle asked.

"Uhh, yeah about that, my shit little district ain't getting access till an hour after-" Sly begrudgingly said before being cut off.

"Babe in the room! Woot woot!" Skill called out.

"Son of a bit-Don't speak over me damnit." Sly snapped back.

"What chu talking about? Now I know Soren's a skinny little bitch but no need to-" Birse began saying.

"Oh fuck you." Soren replied.

"Hasn't been a babe in here for ages man." Death added.

"Well yeah, Birse chased them all off!" Sly also added with a laugh.

"Nah, he talkin about the stream, you all tuned in yet?" Birse replied, "And didn't kohai say he gonna step away?"

"Senpai!" Sly corrected.

"Yes? You called?" Birse chuckled and said.

Finished with rinsing himself off, Kyle stepped out of the shower. "Shit yeah, I'ma tune in, talk to you all later. Gotta go down to eat too. Disconnect from General." He called out and the chatroom dissipated, dressing himself up with simple clothes, "Open bookmarks, Dream Stream, log in." He then said as he struggled his way out of his room putting pants back on.

Rushing down the stairs and into the kitchen, Kyle found no one, but a plate of burgers waiting for him.

A holographic sticky note before it, 'Sorry, work. Dad'll be late, he said don't wait on him.'

Waving the note away, Kyle barely read it before sitting down and diving into the food.

The screen had followed him all the way, loading up as the word 'Connecting' flashed in and out until...

"Welcome to your stream of dreams! Here to update your cerebral cortex about the latest news on DVR!" Exclaimed the announcer as the stream began, pausing immediately as an ad began playing joyful music and overly colorful game animations.

"Son of-!" Kyle swore, pulling away from his meal to swat the ad away, continuing the stream.

"With us today we have the COO, chief operating officer of Lucid and Co! Professor Conrad Ivanov!" The announcer introduced, as half the screen lit up to show the professor in a fancy office, wearing an odd rainbow business suit. Dark skin and gelled back silver hair, a man that would stand out no matter what.

"Joining him will be head developer at ComicGamePlay entertainment Kanye J Dewford!" The announcer then said, as the other half of the screen now flashed alight. Dewford sat surrounded by chaos, as his employees rushed from side to side of his screen whilst he stared directly into it.

"Woah Kanye, quite the rush going on over there?" Conrad mused.

Wearing a simple button-up grey shirt, Kanye was a rather scruffy looking middle-aged man with a fully bald head which badly reflected off the room's unplanned lighting.

"Hah, yes sir, we're always on the move here." Kanye anxiously replied.

Gaining himself an awkward chuckle from Conrad, as the stream went awkwardly silent then.

"Ugh, mom, why you do this?" Kyle grumbled, tapping the bar at the bottom of the stream and skipping ahead.

"Ladies, Gentlemen and possible evil sentient AIs, your host for today’s show! Amy Dean!" it was announced and out of thin air amidst the two screens appeared the hostess, sitting over nothingness. A rather young woman with long light brown hair and bright custard eyes. "Well let's get to it shall we? Professor Conrad! Mister Dewford, thank you for tuning in with us this morning!" Amy regarded the two.

Both nodding in greeting, "My pleasure Amy," Conrad began to say, "Here to answer any questions you and your viewers have for us today. The NDA being over with, you'll be seeing more content from our partnered creators popping up soon too."

"Well well, I'll take you up on that offer! Here let's see what our viewers wish to ask most!" Amy exclaimed, seemingly waving through a list before her, "Ah, at the top we immediately have..." Turning first to Kanye, "Mister Dewford, tell us, how has it been for a rather new development company such as yours to create this grand step in gaming and scientific history?"

"Oh let me tell you Amy, it hasn't been easy." Kanye chuckled, "But with Lucid and Co funding us and aiding in our growth as a team, it's been made reality."

"It is our CEO's pleasure mister Dewford." Conrad added.

"And I thank you both, Conrad, it is a shame miss Alison could not join us." Kanye mused.

At the sound of that name, Kyle paused his eating as a headache began to build up...

"That name..."

"Ah, always the busy body, our CEO sees herself more of our chief scientist than anything else." Conrad added with a chuckle.

"That does lead to one of my own questions Professor, how does it feel to have been overtaken in your own field of study by someone so much younger? Also losing ownership of the company and study group you yourself birthed to that same person?" Amy then asked.

"Oof, take it easy Ma, you killed the man." Kyle chuckled, grabbing at his forehead as it pulsed with mild pain.

"Ahh...haha, yes it was quite the shock at first. But over the years, I've only seen the brilliance in that mind of hers, albeit she is a bit...single-minded at times. She's lead us further than I've ever dreamed of coming, even took kindly to my own personal wish of creating a game with our technology." Conrad answered.

Groaning as the headache faded, "I don't remember...Heh." Kyle mused, waving the screen away and with it the stream. He leaned back into his chair, his food half-eaten, episodes like this made him lose all his appetite. "Just another thing I don't remember, it's fine." He told himself, throwing the food into the bin and setting the plate aside, he stood up and walked back up to his room.

Entering through the open door, his gaze befell the sealed up crate of grey laying in the corner. Walking up to it, he placed his palm over and pressed down lightly. To his touch, the crate closed upon itself, leaving only the bottom and what lay within.

A tub-like machine with greenish slime within, a set of smooth clothing on the tub's side, and a device upon it all with the word 'Tutorial' on it. Off to the side and on the ground was also a helmet with pipes and wiring all condensed into a see-through tube, taking into the tub and slime.

Taking his clothes off and setting them onto his desk where a grey glove riddled with buttons and odd lights lay, Kyle gazed at it briefly before turning to the stack of clothing. Setting the device aside, he began putting on the glistening skin-tight black suit.

Kyle kneeled down and picked up the helmet, gazing into the visor, he took a deep breath.

----------------------------------------

Alison turned the stream off as she stood fully suited up, all but the helmet which still lay on the tub's side.

She walked over to that one table once more, a cable in her left hand with its other end connected to the tub's side, she plugged it into the container atop the table. "Here's to hoping those idiots put it all together as I instructed." She sighed, "I really didn't have a choice in using that damn game as a cover-up for my research..." Grumbling, she walked back over to the tub and grasped the helmet.

"I wonder what they will all think, once they find my room empty, my device used and with this helmet and these empty clothes laying inside. Probably won't care much, their game will work, that's all they care about. It'll only be one instance, only I'll go missing, then they'll go through my altered device and realize what I did." She spoke to herself, opening the helmet's visor and putting it on, she waited as the suit suddenly came alive and grew up to connect with the helmet.

"They'll realize what I accomplished, but never how." She glanced at the contained piece of black cloth, "Or will they? I don't know, that thing might continue disappearing once I use its...strange energy."

Returning to the tub, "It's now or never, or I'll never find out." She mused, taking her first step into the tub, Alison laid herself down into the slime, letting it fully engulf her.

She sank down into it, and the tub began closing around her, sealing her inside.

Alison took in a deep breath, finding that everything around her seemed to be working as expected, "Dream, Online." she said.

And her vision blurred, but before it did...she watched through the see-through tub's glass...

She watched the table shudder.

The glass shatter.

And the cloth float out of it, glowing a bright blue as it unraveled, then dissipated into sparks of black which surged down into the pedestal...

Down the table...

Down the cable, and into her surroundings.

Alison's world then...went black.