Kinson settled down and closed his eyes, clearing his mind. He struggled to recall the feeling of his soul being grabbed by the psionic link. After several minutes, he exhaled sharply. This was it! He then recalled what he had learned about training.
Supposedly, he was to work it out like a muscle. Unfortunately, he had only experienced a deathdream a few times, and never paid attention to his soul. As such, he had no idea how he could "stretch" it.
As he focused, Kinson became aware of another presence in the room. More accurately, he could feel a resonation with something through his soul. A bit excited, he honed in and drew closer to it.
Suddenly, Kinson began feeling a great deal of pressure. He squirmed, struggling even to breath as the weight of a mountain settled upon him. His soul constricted, then disappeared, bringing his consciousness with it.
Kael turned as she heard a thump behind her. She walked towards the isolation room, curious. Had Kinson fallen off the chair while meditating? She smiled, imagining the sight. What a klutz!
Her smile disappeared as she looked into the room. Instead of a sheepishly grinning Kinson on the floor, he body lay draped over the coffin bearing the deathdream they had worked on earlier. She gasped, her hands shaking.
"Not good…" she gasped, then called with panic, "Kinson's in the deathdream!"
Andres appeared beside her, arriving before she even finished. "What? Oh, no. I don't think he's ready for that," he said in a low voice.
"Heh, looks like the kid's already killed himself. I wonder when he'll stop breathing?" Luthier smirked.
"Not funny. He's a civilian kid, with his whole life before him. Sometimes though, he's much more mature than the likes of you," Andres rebuke harshly.
"Just saying," Luthier sulked.
Andres stooped over and propped Kinson's body back onto the chair. "What's the situation like, Kael?"
"It's not good," she replied worriedly, "I don't think he has the psionic power or knowledge to break out of the deathdream. It's not a maneuver someone can accomplish before class 3."
"And if he's walking?" Andres asked solemnly.
Kael sighed deeply. "As far as I know, it's impossible to leave a deathdream once you've walked in it. Your soul itself is drawn in and leaves your body. But, I don't think he cou walk anyways. Most Psionics with his strength are unable to handle the strain of injecting their soul into the deathdream, and end up just silently dissipating. It would have happened to Kinson by now though, so he's probably fine. "
"Then can we wake him? " Andres asked, beginning to pace.
"No, that would end up about the same. His soul wouldn't be able to handle the shock, even if he's just watching it," Kael said.
"Then I guess we can only wait. When will the deathdream end?" he asked a final question.
Kael sighed again, this time very softly. "At the death of the soul. Either the psionic, or the dreamer, whichever is first. We can only hope it's the latter. However, although we only dipped in for a moment, it looked like the deathdream was in space," she added worriedly.
"Wait, was this the corpse the military came across?" Andres asked in surprise. "I thought you were going to go through that with just Luthier."
"That was the plan, but I had thought it would be a good reward for Kinson. He's been really diligent ever since joining," Karl said, abashed.
Andres frowned. "Sure enough, you're both too inexperienced. Don't try things like this on your own again.".
Kael nodded, looking at the ground. Luthier shook his head, then walked off.
"Now then, keep watch here. I'm going to report the situation to higher ups. Perhaps if he survives, he might even bring us some valuable intel." Andres let the room without another word.
Kael sat down heavily, watching the unconscious Kinson slumped over behind the coffin.
"I'm sorry," she soundlessly whispered.
Kinson felt total detachment from his senses, drifting in endless darkness. His only feeling seemed to be from his soul,which, for some reason, was being very stable. He could sense it better than when Luthier had tried pulling him into the deathdream.
In addition to that, he felt the same presence as before, pulsing with what felt like a white light. As he observed it, his soul began to move towards it, drawn in by some inexplicable power. Although most of Kinson's consciousness was confused, the idea that this was dangerous was very clear to him.
Kinson began to resist the pull, willing himself to separate from the other presence. As he did so, however, his soul began to splinter. He reeled from the numbing cold and shattering pain that slowly began to pervade his existence. His jumbled thoughts filled with fuzz, tearing down his resistance. Slowly, but surely, he was drawn in.
As his consciousness began to dissipate, he was vaguely aware of scenes beginning to appear around him, mere fragments of his experience. They were memories of his life, from his earliest life on mars to even earlier in the day. He saw his failed Advanced Study evaluation, the moment he manifested as a psionic, and even his graduation from high school. Faces passed before him, those of his family, friends, and even some random acquaintances.
These faces and memories spun around him slowly, but before they had even all fully appeared, they began to dissolve one by one. New fragments appeared. Kinson couldn't recognize a single person or scene, but he felt a growing sense of familiarity. These weren't his memories, at least, yet. It felt a lot like his confusion right after waking up after a deathdream, where his identity was unclear.
Kinson felt a panic, as distant as the rest of his personality. Was this really the end for him? As his final memories appeared, only to fade away, Kinson could only feel regret. He tried resisting, clinging to his identity, but was forced to admit defeat.
At that moment, the last memory manifested, floating before the remnants of Kinson's soul moments before it fully merged with the deathdream. Instantly, everything stopped, frozen in place as an indescribable terror erupted from the memory. The scene was filled with writhing shadowy tendrils, which revolved around the only distinct objects. Two glowing red eyes, filled with malice and destruction, seemed to gaze around the space.
After a second of shock, the deathdream began to recede, seemingly unwilling to swallow this last memory. It relinquished its grip on Kinson's soul, allowing his memories to flow back out. After a moment, his memories began to assimilate into his soul, bringing warmth and comfort as the rips began to mend.
His mind in shock, Kinson regained coherent thought just as the nightmare faded into his soul. The terror was still fresh on his mind, the feeling as real as when he first experienced it.
After the process completed, Kinson was once again drawn into the deathdream, but this time, his mind and identity remained intact. The black space around him began to shift, dissolving away into nothingness. The light of the deathdream expanded, filling the empty space and causing Kinson to lose consciousness.