After some time, a presence gradually began to appear, feeling similar to the one before the deathdream that had tried to consume him. The figure of a man slowly coalesced out of the bright light. Kinson watched in awe as it took the shape of Ashton.
After another moment, the departed captain had been fully formed before him. The glowing soul opened its eyes and looked at Kinson.
"So that is what would have happened. Someone so small and useless could have made that much of a difference."
"I-I don't understand,?" Kinson said.
"I died." Ashton's said, but he didn't seem particularly upset about it.
"Yes, I couldn't save you…."
"Never mind that. I don't have much time. I feel myself being drawn away."
Ashton looked at his hands, which were slowly beginning to disperse into formless light once more. Kinson nodded, but didn't really understand what was happening.
"What you see is the last vestige of my soul. I've been waiting in this strange sort of dimension for… I'm not actually sure. Time is weird, here. I presume you are a deathdreamer, yes?
Kinson nodded. "I was accidentally drawn into your deathdream. I didn't meant to, but-"
"No matter. If you had really been there, my crew would have escaped. Before, I had been with my crew after our ship exploded in the space hangar. They simply opened the airlock and sent us out into space. I was the longest one to survive, but even I perished after only a minute or so. They were forced to change their plan when I left and went back to get you."
Although he looked distraught, Kinson found himself wordless, unable to provide any comfort. He had seen it himself, and the captain had literally ended up dying again. What could he even say? As he was torn inside, Ashton began to break apart at a rate visible to the eye.
"It's time. I can feel myself slipping," he said, closing his eyes.
"Goodbye. And… Thank you. I've learned a lot about myself." Kinson said brokenly. His sadness returned as he watched the captain disappear.
"I certainly hope so. You are terrible at fighting, so I recommend some strict training if you intend to do things like this in the future. Also, your soul is super weak. Class 1? Hopefully, you find a way to grow. " Ashton said. His tone was a little mocking, but also had a little fondness in it.
"Okay, I will." Kinson nodded. Although short, their time together hadn't been meaningless.
"Remember strength. It's all about strength, combined with endless tenacity. If I had been stronger, or quicker, or smarter, this wouldn't have happened. I'm left without excuse before my men. Now, I hope to see them and apologize," Ashton said sadly. He looked at Kinson, and began to ask, "Will you-"
Before those words could fully leave his mouth, Ashton broke apart. His brightly glowing soul separated into a blossom of ribbon-like light, flowing out in all directions before dissolving into the darkness. It was beautiful, in a way. Kinson watched until the end, noticing as several streams passed through him. He felt energized, and his soul brightened momentarily.
Soon, he was left alone, and couldn't help but glance at his own dimly lit body. If Ashton was as bright as a sun, he barely qualified as a star.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, he found himself beginning to fade. Unlike Ashton, who's soul had literally dispersed, Kinson's soul simply became increasingly transparent. After a moment, Kinson felt everything go black. A moment later, he opened his eyes.
Kinson opened his eyes and saw light. It was a warm, soft light, reminiscent of Terra's sunlight. Everything around him was fuzzy, and he struggled to interpret anything. But after a few blinks, things came into focus.
He was lying on a bed in the Isolation Chamber. Several faces with expressions ranging from concern to relief surrounded him. He couldn't help but recall how similar it was to the last time he left a deathdream. After a second, the one closest to him, an elderly looking woman, spoke.
"It seems you're awake," she said in a gentle voice.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied distantly, still looking around.
After he had assured his relative safety, Kinson unconsciously became immersed in his emotion and experience, still out of touch with reality. The pain, the battle, the loss, it had all been so real!
An awkward silence then followed. Kinson came to the realization that more was expected of him, so he forced himself to concentrate on his current situation. He felt like his mind was filled with foam, but he struggled and finally came up with something.
"Have we met before?" He found himself staring blankly at the old woman. She looked familiar, but… that was it.
She let out a small chuckle. "Hard to say if it's a side effect, or a bad memory. I'm Charlotte, the member of the team responsible for health and safety. That means you're in my care for now."
"Oh, I think I remember that. Sorry, it's been a while since I've seen you around," He rubbed his head and apologized.
"If it makes you feel better, I had to ask these two to remind me of your name, too," she said, letting out another small laugh.
Kinson looked over and saw Andres and Griffon watching them patiently. Their faces clearly reflected their relief. Andres gave him a warm and reassuring smile.
He turned back to Charlotte and asked, "So, how am I?"
"Let me see." She grabbed his hand and closed her eyes. "Give me just a minute."
Kinson felt a small surge of foreign energy enter his body, but was unable to follow it as it probed around. It was mildly uncomfortable, so he focused on the feeling of her hand instead. It was old and wrinkled, yet somehow soft. Her skin was thin, and he could distinctly feel her veins and tendons hidden beneath the pale wrinkles. Each beat of her heart reverberated from her hand into his. The steadiness and consistency brought with it some degree of comfort. Finally, Charlotte opened her eyes and the feeling left.
"From what I can tell, your body is fine. It hasn't been impacted at all from the Deathdream. Your soul… also seems good. When I first got here, there were some wild fluctuations in your energy levels, and you almost snuffed out. I was able to feed you some of my strength, which managed to keep you alive until your deficiency stabilized. Then, however,, there was a mysterious surge of energy right before you woke up, which nearly blew you up like a balloon. Fortunately, I was able to disperse some of it, or your consciousness might have exploded. I haven't seen that in a while, " she added dryly.
Kinson thought for a moment. "Okay… I think I know what's going on for the first one, but I don't think I experienced anything like the second."
"Hmm, this might require more research then." She said, pulling out a recording device. "Would you explain the energy fluctuations and causes in detail?" she asked in a businesslike manner.
"Hold it, that's enough for now. I have a feeling Kinson's going to need some rest." Andres placed a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you head home. I've already informed the university of your absence, so don't worry about that,"
"Fine, fine, you're right, of course. Kinson will be good for now, so I'll be here tomorrow morning to get some more details," Charlotte stood and walked out the door. She turned her head and added, "I'll be sure to do a full psyche exam as well. From your mental state, it's clear you're shaken up about something. Talking about it can help.."
After she had left, Kinson sat up, but immediately felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. His muscles shook, and he felt tired all over.
"You exerted yourself a little too much, and for way too long. Take it easy. It's only natural you'll be tired," Griffon said.
Kinson nodded. "Alright." Then a thought came to him. "Also, where did Kael go? She was right here when I started meditating."
"Oh, she had to leave a few hours ago. She waited beside you for as long as she could though. Fortunately, she had some experience, and monitored you until Charlotte got here," Andres said and lifted him to his feet. "Griffon will take you down."
It took until the time they reached the door to the office before Kinson realized something. "Wait, how long was I out?"
"It's almost evening, so around 8 hours or so. If Charlotte hadn't been there, you definitely would have overused yourself and died," Griffon said.
"That's not right. I was only in the deathdream for like half an hour! The space ship only took a few minutes to get there, the meeting was, well, it might have been a little longer than a half hour, but the battle wasn't more than 5 minutes!" he exclaimed.
"Whoah, slow down there!" It sounds like you've got some stories to tell. Who was that corpse?" Griffon asked.
Kinson's expression turned solemn as soon as the Captain was mentioned. "He was the leader of a group of the Sons of Crimson, a man named Andres. There was a meeting with lots of other space pirates, but they ended up betrayed, and then killed," he said quietly.
Griffon was silent for almost a whole flight of stairs. "Did you happen to sit in the meeting?" he finally asked.
"Yeah, I did. It was long and boring, but I think I learned a lot of good stuff. It was all about driving Earth and the colonies apart into war, or something. The Pirates wanted to secure more opportunities for their line of work," Kinson explained. "But honestly, the Sons of Crimson didn't seem to want that, which was why they were removed. The others thought they would interfere too much. I guess that's why there's no honor among pirates."
"No, not pirates. The sons of Crimson are extremists, but not pirates. It's not bad news they've disagreed with the Alliance. In fact, it's likely they will oppose them directly after this incident," Griffon said.
They reached the lobby without much more conversation. Kinson gave a tired wave to the secretary, but realized it was someone he didn't recognize. He was a little surprised, and it took him a second to remember shifts would change throughout the day.
"I'll be taking you home," Griffon said reassuringly, opening the door.
"Thanks, but I think I can make it by myself. The Autoways do most of the work," Kinson tried to decline politely.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not asking. Also, I'll be staying the night at your place," Griffon said matter of factly.
"Hold up, even if I wanted to, the dorm rules are clear. I can't have guests who aren't family stay overnight," Kinson rejected the notion firmly.
"Also not up to you, or the university for that matter. I'm sorry for being so bold, but this is a matter of planetary security, and we can't afford anything else happening to you before you record everything you saw there. It's beyond a simple school rule, or even your personal desires." Griffon said flatly.
"Can't someone else just watch the deathdream?" Kinson asked, looking for a way out.
"Unfortunately, the deathdream completely disappeared shortly before you awoke. Whatever you did there destroyed it," Griffon explained.
Despite his best efforts, Griffon was uncompromising. Kinson finally relented, and started home with the large man in tow. He supposed it wasn't really all that bad to get a class 7 psionic bodyguard for a while.
When they arrived, he ignored the shocked Trevor and climbed into bed, not even bothering to undress himself. He fell asleep to Griffon trying to explain to a slightly antagonistic Trevor what was going on.