"Hello, sir," Kinson said, a little flustered.
"Yes, indeed. Have a seat," the man said, walking around the table.
Kinsons sat again, feeling a little awkward. The man looked down at the paper, now situated in the middle of the table. He reached out and flipped it around, browsing its contents. Kinson waited patiently, unsure of what to do. Finally the man put the file down and laced his fingers together.
"Sorry about that, I've been in meetings all day, and haven't had time to prepare for this interview," he said in a rather friendly tone.
"My name is Lieutenant Cur Andres , appointed head of the Deathdream department in the Titan branch of the BPI. You may call me Andres, if you want. The titles from the glory days," Andres explained with a nostalgic smile.
"Yes, sir, I mean, Andres," Kinson said, feeling slightly confused. Was this a nice guy after all?
"Now, then, we've called you here to interview for a position in my department, correct?" Andres asked.
"Should be. I'm not exactly sure what position I'm interviewing for. As you saw, I was rejected from the Deathdream department at the University, so I was looking for alternatives to continue my learning and increase my abilities," Kinson explained.
"I see. In that case, I do indeed have a few options for you. To be honest, this team is brand new, and isn't well known, so competition isn't that fierce. They've only sent over a few big names to work on our projects, so we're lacking small fry. Still, I can't accept incompetent or braindead people," the Luietenant let out a chuckle.
Kinson tried to laugh with him, but his eyes twitched. What was that supposed to mean?
"First question then. What is the purpose of the BPI?" Andres asked, sounding pretty official.
"Uh, I guess it's to find ways for mankind to benefit more from psionics," Kinson said, a little taken aback at the unexpected question.
"Hmm, hmmm. Yeah, I guess that sums it up, I was hoping for something a little more specific," Andres thought aloud to himself.
Kinson blinked and tried to come up with something. Andres continued talking without pause though.
"Alrighty, next question. What is the nature of your abilities? Please don't say anything on this paper. If I wanted that, I would just read it again," Andres yawned.
Kinson thought for a second before recalling how vague the file had been. He didn't know how else to put it, so he took his time formulating his thoughts.
"Well, my only psionic ability seems to be the ability to access deathdreams. Honestly, I'm not really able to do it on my own though, but mostly because I haven't tried. The System says I'll reach high immersion rates and something unfortunate might happen. I've only known I was a psionic for a few months though, so there still might be something I can!," Kinson said hopefully.
"Curious, curious," Andres nodded.
Apparently something he said was noteworthy, as Andres pulled out his phone, typing a few things in. Despite being unable to see the screen, Kinson it was obvious Andres was a slow typer. He waited patiently for several more minutes.
"Last Question. How did you feel about Nightmares and the Terrorlands?"
Kinson froze for a second, taken completely by surprise. Upon hearing those words, he felt a small tremor in his heart, urging him to hide. Fortunately, Kinson suppressed the instinctive urge and kept his expression smooth.
"To be honest, those monsters are about the only thing I'm scared of. The way they massacred billions, that… still haunts me. I was on the last wave out, sent up as the Nightmare attacked the Psigate. Their screams echo in my dreams," Kinson's eyes hollowed, but he took a deep breath and continued. "The writhing darkness, the death that surrounded it. Right before we teleported, it looked right at me. Its eyes held nothing but mirth for the slaughter. Still, that gaze is the reason basically nothing frightens me anymore. How could anything compare to the horror of the nightmare," Kinson shivered and finished his scattered response..
He looked up, and found the Lieutenant watching him somberly. Kinson winced and realized he had shared more than he intended.
"Well, you certainly know how to kill a mood, although I can't say I blame you. I warn you now. If you take this opportunity, you might very well meet these nightmares again. Ah, shoot, I said too much again. Don't worry too much about that, " Andres ruined his head tiredly.
Kinson looked down at his hands, which were gently shaking under the table. Was it really possible he would have to meet those monsters again? He thought silently for a few minutes. Then, his resolution hardened. He would fight these enemies. He would conquer his fears. For his brother, who had severe symptoms of Fear, for his home world, which had been brought to ruin, and for his friends, that they would never need to experience anything of the hell he did. Thinking back on it though, it was more the hell in his mind if anything. His experience on mars was maybe half an hour. But Kinson felt that it was a much more intimate prison.
"I am willing to do what it takes," he looked Andres in the eye, unflinching.
Andres nodded, then smiled.
"Very well, I like the fire in you. Those without talent definitely need conviction. We are still working out the details and acquiring resources, so you won't be able to come in right away. It will probably be the next week or so before we can start your internship," the Lieutenant said.
He then stood, walking over to the painting on the wall. Kinson looked at it closely too, but didn't find anything more than his first impression.
Andres thought for a second, then said, "Since you've accepted, I'll tell you a little about the mission of the department. Our goal is to explore the depths of the Deathdream. As you know, nightmares feed on terror and death. Soldiers who are unable to control their emotions will only make our enemies stronger. Currently, our forces who can actually engage them in combat are limited to a few powerful psionics. As it stands, if they should discover another one of the Alliance's planets, we would be forced to evacuate and surrender to them, leaving billions more dead. Thus, our mission is to find a way to create a form of training that allows soldiers to fight nightmares. I won't say much more, but your abilities to immerse yourself within the deathdream might actually come in handy. After all, only by letting go of constraints did this man rise to where he is today."
Kinson looked over at the painting at Andres' gesture. He was definitely expected to know this face, but it failed to ring any bells.
"Uh, sir. Who is that?" he asked, feeling a little sheepish.
"Huh? Don't they teach anything in school? Maybe I should have a word with the university…" Andres wondered. "Ah, never mind. His name was Orion. This is the first death dreamer known to mankind. He awakened about fifty years ago, and died a few decades back, in a deathdream. Still, without his work, the deathdream would remain a realm of complete mystery. At least now we have a general idea about them."
"The first one to enter a deathdream, huh? It must have been quite the experience," Kinson gained a newfound respect for this man.
"I'm sure it was. Unfortunately, he failed to record much of anything, as did nearly everyone else who has experience with deathdreaming. Otherwise, we wouldn't need to form a team to start from scratch."
With little following, the interview came to an end. Kinson bade farewell to Andres and returned to the lobby. Things were pretty much as he had left them, and Celeste looked up expectantly as he neared. She smiled when she saw him, and waved him over.
"Looks like I passed!" Kinson said enthusiastically. "It wasn't much, though."
"Really? That's fantastic! I knew you had something special in you. Leave it to Andres to dig it out!" Celeste nodded with satisfaction.
"I don't think it was quite like that. You see, there haven't been many people looking to participate in this project, so I sort of qualified by default…" Kinson scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
"Don't be crazy. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. You passed a rigorous interview with flying colors," she stuck her tongue out at him.
Laughing, he gave her a hand, pulling her out of her seat. Her skin was surprisingly soft, and he froze for a moment when he realized it was the first time he had held her hand.
"Alright, let's go. We don't want to be late for school!" Kinson emphasized the time to hide his embarrassment.
"I'm right behind you. You can let go of my hand, you know," Celeste reminded him with a small grin.
Kinson looked back and realized he still clutched her fingers. Embarrassed, he quickly let go.
"Ah, sorry about that. I was in such a good mood I didn't even notice," he apologized.
"Never mind that. We really will be late if we don't hurry!" she replied, running ahead of him.
They traveled quickly and took the Autoway back to campus. Fortunately, they arrived back on campus with time to spare.
"Thanks so much for all of this, Celeste. Really, it means a lot to me," Kinson said as he dropped her off at her dorm.
"Oh, it wasn't much. But you had better not disappoint us! Now, get going, or you're going to miss class," she replied waving as she went into her room.
Kinson turned and left. Upon returning to his own dorm room, he shared the good news with an equally ecstatic Trevor, who had somehow gotten up on his own, before heading off to make it to class.