“Check it, dude. See what’s up.” He took another bite.

With shaky hands, I reached for my phone, hoping for something different, yet dreading it all the same. I unlocked it and checked the message.

Whomever you are, please open my door. Please.

“I…I don’t know what to make of this. This person is begging me to open their door, but I don’t know where they are. I can’t help.”

Kai wiped his hands on his pants and reached for my phone. I handed it to him and he scrutinized it. “It’s definitely the same person. I can’t tell you where they are, either. Whatever it is they’re doing, it’s far beyond my ability to penetrate.”

I sighed and sent a reply. If I knew where you were, I’d help. Who are you? Where are you? “I don’t know if there’s anything else to do, man.” A moment later, my phone buzzed again.

Please open my door. It’s so quiet here.

I sighed in annoyance. “They keep dodging my questions and just repeat the same shit over and over.”

Kai shook his head. “Probably someone just messing with you. I’d mark the sender as spam. That way you’re not blocking them, and you can always go back and read anything they send.” He stood and stretched.

“Sounds good.” I did as suggested and deleted the other texts. “Want me to send you anywhere in particular?”

“Over by Milo’s on Fourth?”

“I can do that.” I created a pair of doors to the back of the restaurant. “Thanks, Kai.”

He paused, his hand on the doorknob. “Don’t sweat it, man. It’s what we do, remember? See ya.” He walked through the door and once it closed behind him, I let them vanish.

Figuring it was past time to finish my daily routine, I opened two sets of doors to Japan, feeling the icicle stabbing through my brain. I didn’t bother timing myself, as I’d already opened a set of doors across literal dimensions, but I was pretty sure it was close to ten minutes. Once I felt my consciousness start to waver, I let the doors vanish. My head was pounding, and I rested for a few minutes before shifting my focus to the schooling I still had to complete. With a pounding headache, I started tapping away on my keyboard.

Two hours later, with my head pounding harder than before, I stopped. Checking the time, It was only eight, and I belatedly realized that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast at Wilhelm’s. Figuring dinner was in order, I grabbed my phone and opened a door to Wendy’s. It wasn’t the best for me, but it was filling.

Ten minutes later, with a triple combo in hand, I walked back into my room, and sat down to eat. I checked my phone, seeing a message from Anna.

Want to go back to Japan tomorrow night? We could do more this time?

I sent a reply in the affirmative and settled back to enjoy my dinner. Once that was done, I felt exhaustion finally taking hold, so I turned in for the night.

*********

I found myself in the stone room once more. Looking around, I saw a green stain on the stone by the door. Most likely from the fruit I’d eaten. I opened the door, seeing a dark sky with unfamiliar stars twinkling overhead. The gentle, pulsating glow of the grass lent the world an eerie visage, one that always awed me. Figuring I needed to explore this place as much as possible, I opened a door to the building I had attempted to enter last time I found myself here.

The door was still partially open, and my surroundings dark. None of the glowing grass grew here, so I made a small door leading to the outside of the stone building. Reaching in, I pulled a tuft of grass from the ground, noting that it pulsed faster and brighter once I ripped it from the earth. I held it above my head, letting it shine its meager light into the building. I saw what looked like several workbenches, each about chin high. Whatever used these must have been a towering behemoth of a creature.

Minding my steps, I made my way inside the building once more. The light from the grass seemed to be dimming, and I didn’t want to take any more, so I did a quick visual sweep of the building, seeing little more than the workbenches inside.

As I turned to leave, a shimmer caught my eye from the far reaches of the workshop. Curious, I turned toward it and walked on. Up on a workbench sat a metallic implement. Quickly, I looked for a stepstool, but found nothing. Shrugging, I created a doorway to the top of the workbench. Once there, I examined the tool more closely.

It looked like a simple metallic rod, about an inch and a half thick and nearly as tall as I was. It was textured in the middle, and unnaturally smooth at the ends. So smooth that the surface looked like glass poured over metal. When I picked it up, I was surprised by how light it felt - practically weightless. Curious, I wedged one end between my foot and the smooth surface of the table, leaning back slightly to test its flexibility. The rod bent just a little under the pressure, but as soon as I eased up, it returned to its perfectly straight form.

Nodding, I opened a door to the outside of the building, and stepped out, only to-

-wake with a start in my bed.

Once my heart had stopped pounding, I threw the covers back and sat on the edge of my bed. I certainly hoped this wouldn’t happen every time I slept. Scrubbing my face with my hands, I stood, searching for a towel. Once I had the towel in hand, I made my way to the bathroom to shower.

Upon my return, I dressed and made my bed, only to find the metal rod from my “dream” sitting in the middle of the bed, under the sheets. Retrieving it, I found it to be just as weightless as before.

Would this happen every time I went to that other place?

I shook my head and called William. He needed to see this.

“Jackson? Everything okay?”

“Yeah… Yeah, everything is okay, but there’s been another dream, and I brought something else back. I think you should see this.”

“Come to my office when you get here.”

“See you in a few.”

The line went dead, and I tucked my phone into his hiding spot, then opened a door to Wendy’s, then to the office behind Bethany’s counter. I knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later, I saw Bethany’s smiling face.

“And a good morning to you, Jackson! Ready to train some more?”

I nodded. “Yup. Just need to see William first. He told me to come to his office when I got here.”

“Okay, then. You know the way there.” She stepped back and I exited the office, and wrapped her in a hug.

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“Always good to see you, Bethany. I’ll be back in a few.”

“You too, Jackson.”

I walked over to William’s office and opened the door. He was just walking out of the back, towards his desk. “William? I think you’ll want to examine this.” I held out the metallic staff.

“A metal rod? You brought this from there?” I nodded as he took it. “It’s lighter than titanium or aluminum. Huh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this.” He ran his hands across the length of it. “It’s… slippery at the ends. Weird. It’s almost like… like an axle of some kind, impregnated with oil as a frictionless bearing. I wonder… Did you see anything else noteworthy in that place? Rails on the floor, an overhead crane system? Anything to denote its purpose?”

I shook my head as he handed me the staff back. “No. It was really dark, even with the glowing grass.” At his confused look, I added, “The grass in that place glows. Almost like it’s a living, thinking thing. When I ripped up some to use as a makeshift torch, it kind of freaked out. Started dimming after about ten minutes or so.” I shrugged.

“I see.” He rubbed his chin and crossed his arms. “Well, it looks like you have yourself a weapon there. How strong is it, do you think?”

“Strong enough that I can barely flex it. I can take it downstairs and find out.”

“Do that. Though I’d suggest against using it to train with. It’s far too light for that.”

I nodded. “That seems reasonable. I can’t wait to figure out what the hell that other place is.”

“You and me both. Get to training. I’ll see you later.” He took a seat at his desk and turned on his computer.

I headed downstairs and walked to my corner, where I found Jennifer and Anna. Jennifer was throwing Anna around easily, taking her attacking strength and energy and redirecting it elsewhere. After a few moments, they switched roles, and Anna began attempting to put what she had been shown into practice. It was a sad sight.

Sure, she was able to fend Jennifer off most times, but when she didn’t, she found herself mercilessly thrown to the mat by Jennifer’s terrifying strength.

“Again.”

Anna got up and shook her head to clear the cobwebs, then put herself into a ready stance. Jennifer advanced, and with a series of soft, lightning quick movements, Anna had thrown her to the mat.

“Very good, Anna. You’ve improved.” Jennifer stood and smiled. “Now, I believe it’s his turn.” She motioned with her head to me.

Anna stiffened and turned slowly. “H-hi, Jack. When did you get here?”

“Just a bit ago. Looked like you were doing pretty well there.”

A flush crept up her neck. “I guess so. Jennifer thinks I’m improving. Where’d you get that? What is it?”

I crossed the distance to her and gave her a quick hug. “Just a thing I found. Thought it might come in handy here.”

She nodded and pushed herself away from me. “I should get to the rest of my workout. Don’t die!” Grinning impishly, she jogged off, leaving me standing there confused.

“Hah?”

“Show me what you have there, Jackson,” Jennifer said from the mat.

I shook myself from my mental meanderings and faced her. “Just a staff I picked up. Thought it might be useful.”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” She reached into her pocket, withdrawing a small stone. A moment later, it lengthened into a staff.

This might suck.

“Okay. Let’s see what this thing can do.”

I kicked my shoes off and strode onto the mat. In just a moment, she had crossed the space and delivered an overhand strike at my face. Instinctively, I lifted the staff, angling it to redirect her strike to my left. She followed with a sweep at my knee, and I swung my staff at hers, hearing a dull clack. She leapt back and I pressed the attack, striking as quickly as I could at her, finding no openings in her stance. She easily parried my every movement, no matter how hard or quickly I attacked.

Feeling more than a little irritated, I tried something different. I leapt at her and flung my arm towards her, releasing my grip only enough to let the staff fly forwards an extra foot. The tip of my staff connected with her belly, and I heard her grunt in surprise. Not wanting to waste the momentum, I pulled back, and started a flurry of attacks, each one being once again, effortlessly parried by the much more skilled woman in front of me.

On and on we went, attacking and defending until I saw her staff disappear. I halted mid-swing, my staff a few inches from her shoulder. Panting, I stepped back, planting my staff on the ground.

“Hand it here. I need to see it.”

I handed her my staff, and watched as she inspected it. “Interesting. You say you just picked this up somewhere?” I nodded and she continued. “There’s nothing on it. No sweat, no scratches, no dents, nothing. Make a wooden door.”

Confused, I pulled a wooden door into existence behind her. I watched as she hefted the staff like a club, and swung with all her might. The staff connected with the door, erupting in a shower of splinters and fragments of wood. She inspected the staff again as I dissolved the door.

“Metal. Solid.”

I shook my head and pulled a steel door into existence in the same place, and she repeated the strike. A loud bang reverberated through the gym as the steel door dented deeply. In a flurry of strikes so fast that I couldn’t follow her movements, she repeatedly beat on the door. Deep rents and gouges began forming as she worked and I began to fear for my new staff.

After a few moments, she stopped, panting heavily. The door hung crazily from its hinges and I let it dissolve. Again, she inspected the staff and this time, she grinned. “You will use this when you’re done training under me, Jackson. It will serve you well. There’s no damage to your staff. It looks like it was made to endure this kind of abuse. Where did you say you found it?” She placed it on the weapon rack.

“That information needs to stay with me. For now, at least.”

She nodded. “I understand. Go through your katas, then help Zack with his work. He needs doors to hit.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I picked up a heavy staff, and started walking through my forms.

Almost two hours later, I placed the staff back in its place, then went off to find Zack. Thankfully, he wasn’t far away, dancing around a heavy bag, punching away. I leaned against the wall and watched him. He was pretty good, but I could see a few places where his enthusiasm tended to pull him into flamboyancy. After a few minutes, he noticed me.

“Hey. What’s up?” he panted.

“Want to hit a few doors?”

“Oh shit? Let’s do this!” He began to undo his gloves, and I could feel the air start to charge.

I pulled several metal doors into existence in an empty area of the gym. I held them intact while he threw lightning bolts at them. Eventually, he was able to hit them three times out of five. The misses tended to go either straight up, or back into his own body.

“Dammit. Still can’t get much farther than fifteen feet. It's an improvement, but God, is it ever slow going.” He walked over to me, shaking his hands out. I saw little wisps of electricity dance across his fingers.

I let the doors vanish as he started peeling off the tape from his hands. “Getting better. That’s all that matters, right?” He nodded absent-mindedly. “How’s the stakeout going?”

“Ugh. I’ve been bored before, but that is beyond boring. If it wasn’t important, I’d beg Liam to let me do anything else. At least we have an idea of where they’re going every time. Not our fault there’s literally no pattern to their target beyond what you were able to lay out.”

I nodded. I certainly hadn’t seen a pattern to the specific locations. Sometimes they hit the same Al’s when it’s turn in the rotation came up, sometimes they didn’t. It was frustrating. “Yeah. At least we have what we have, though.”

“Yeah. I need to go see Liam anyway. He has some more work for me. I’ll catch you later, Jackson!” He grabbed up his gloves and tape, then ran off.

I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was a little after noon. I’d spent several hours here already. Figuring it was time to leave, I headed back up to the main office. Once there, I knocked on the door again, and saw Bethany’s smiling face.

“Headed out?”

I nodded. “Yep. I have some things to do. Anna wanted to go back to Japan tonight, so I need to go get ready for that, too. Plus I have my schoolwork.”

“Busy man. I’ll not keep you, Jackson. Go do your thing.” She smiled and closed the door, and I went home my usual way.

Once there, I showered again, laid out my clothes for the evening, grabbed my phone, then sat back down for some more schoolwork. Six boring hours and several passed tests later, I sent Anna a message to call me at around eleven, then took a nap.

********

I awoke to my door being banged on.

“Get yer ass up, Jackson! Yer lady is here!”

“Huh? Lab?”