As the summer began, the school campus emptied. As the days went by and he carried out his various responsibilities and activities, Kinson would frequently find himself walking alone through the network of passages. Although he still encountered a few other lingering students, most of his interactions were at the BPI. It was kind of lonely, but he kept in touch with Trevor, his family, and occasionally Celeste.
As promised, Griffon's training was far from easy. Every day, Kinson was put through a strenuous routine of workouts and drills, slowly honing his physical abilities. In the morning, it was weapon training, although that mostly revolved around different types of firearms. Some days, Griffon would show up carrying an assault rifle, a sniper, or even a submachine gun. Whenever Kinson asked where he got them from, Griffon would just smile, then promptly increase the difficulty of the training. He learned not to ask too many questions, and follow orders immediately and with exactness.
"There is no time for thought, only action. By the time the first bullet flies, your thoughts had better be thunk, or you're dead," was Griffon's favorite line.
The afternoon focused more on his physical abilities. Griffon was a master of several disciplines of combat, but mostly focused on the basics. Apparently, you just had to kill the opponent to win. Spin kicks were cool and all, but not required. Those training sessions usually lasted hours, until Kinson lay spent on the floor, unable to even hobble around.
There were many times he thought of quitting, many times it felt like too much. No other kid was subjected to such torment, but instead lazed around, enjoying their summer break. But whenever those thoughts crossed his mind, Kinson would remember his last conversation with Captain Ashton, or the helplessness and apathy he experienced when Rena was killed before him. Above all, he would remind himself of the terror of the Nightmares, and the power they held over everyone and everything he cared about. He held those memories close to his soul: inward pains that no bodily harm could ever compare to.
In between his training sessions with Griffon, Kinson worked at the BPI, going over much of the department's paperwork. The team was making real headway, but Kinson was able to do little but support from the side. Occasionally, he would find a meaningful idea referenced in an old journal entry, or connect a cause and an effect, but most of the work was done by Kael and Luthier, who dove into a deathdream at least once a week. Unfortunately, he hadn't had time to talk to either of them separately, but he had begun to suspect they were avoiding him. Even Luthier rarely gave him condescending looks whenever he passed him by in the office. Instead, the man would simply ignore him, walking by with eyes forward.
Most of their efforts were to cement a method by which a deathdreamer can bring ordinary people into the deathdream. Although they had some initial success, there were a few limitations. As of now, Andres was required to link their souls together beforehand, making it impractical for large groups of people. Furthermore, an extremely powerful deathdream, of at least class 5, was required to lead the deathdream. Anyone weaker wouldn't be able to prevent anyone from falling into the deathdream, like what happened to Kinson before. And finally, only those with a significantly sized soul could be brought along. Right now, they had managed to bring Andres, who was a class three, but even that took about an hour of effort.
Finally, on a typical day in the month of August, Kinson managed to catch Celeste before she slipped out of the office.
"Hey Celeste!" he called, running after her.
She turned, but almost walked away when she saw it was him. "Oh, hi," she said reluctantly.
"I've been meaning to talk to you, but there hasn't been an opportunity," Kinson said, slowing down as he reached her side.
They were right outside the elevator, so she had no choice but to talk to him. It wasn't an ideal situation, but still a good first step.
"Look, I'm sorry," Kinson blurted out, before facepalming his lack of tact.
Her eyes widened, and her eyebrows shot up. "What?"
"Uh, I meant to say… no, that works. I'm sorry for what happened in that deathdream." Kinson bit the bullet.
Kael's face smoothed, but she remained quiet. After a second, she curtly nodded. "Okay," was all she said.
Unsure of what to say next, Kinson just sat there, watching her. She looked back, until a sparkle of amusement sparkled in her eyes.
"That's it?" she asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah, I think so," Kinson nodded sheepishly.
"Oh, okay. Guess I'll be going then," the elevator had just arrived, so Kael stepped into it.
"Me too," Kinson stepped in after her.
The ride down was longer than any elevator ride had ever been. They both avoided each other's gaze and pretended to enjoy the cheesy music. As they neared the bottom, Kael couldn't take it anymore, and burst out laughing. Kinson looked at her, confused.
"I can't believe it! I gave you two months to think about it, and all you have is 'I'm sorry?' hahaha," Kael tried, but failed, to smother her giggles.
"You didn't give me much to go on," Kinson grumbled, glaring at her.
"That's your problem, not mine," she said snarkily.
"Whatever," Kinson shook his head. Women were weird. "So, are you willing to let me work with you again?"
Kael immediately sobered up, suppressing her humor with a few deep breaths. "Oh, Kinson, I've never been worried about that. Sure, in the beginning, I was scared I killed you. But when I thought back on it, it was obvious you had gone in on your own, or at least, you didn't fight it. I had complete control over everyone there. If I hadn't cut you off, we might have been stuck in a tug-of-war, of sorts. Still, I think I'm stronger than both you and that deathdream combined, even if I had to carry everyone else. But Luthier was there, and combined, nothing would have happened. I was much more upset that I had to work with the military. I am strongly opposed to war and violence, so that shook me more than anything."
Kinson's mouth fell open. "Then why have you been avoiding me this whole time?" he asked in exasperation.
She giggled upon seeing his expression, but quickly covered it up. "Well, that's my fault. When I realized what had happened, I was a little… embarrassed about how I reacted to the whole thing. So, I've kind of been putting off talking about it."
"And here I thought you hated me," Kinson rubbed his forehead.
"Not yet, anyway. But it does feel nice to get that off my chest," Kael exhaled softly in relief.
"Glad that's sorted out. " Next time, let's try and work things out sooner," Kinson said as they reached the main floor lobby.
"Sure, works for me. See you tomorrow!" She called, taking off.
Kinson sighed and looked at her retreating back. He felt eyes on him, so glanced over and found Luthier watching him. The other man sat in the foyer, reading a book, but glanced up when they walked in. Luthier snorted upon making eye contact, and returned to reading before Kinson could say anything.
Although it would have been a good time to talk, Kinson still felt a little conflicted about his conversation with Celeste. He still wasn't sure who had betrayed who, exactly, and he wanted to think more about it. Without further thought, he got back onto the elevator and descended to join Griffon in his daily training.
Griffon must have seen some change in Kinson's face that day, because he stopped their practice early, and asked him about it. Kinson gave a brief summary and moved to get back to work, but Griffon caught his arm.
"Hold on, we're not done."
Kinson snapped to a stop, and immediately returned to the conversation. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
Griffon nodded his approval. "I wanted to ask why you're so interested in returning to the deathdream. Why do all this training? Don't give me the 'I have to protect the ones I love,' or some other lame response."
Kinson shut his mouth, his words freezing in his throat. After a moment, he recomposed himself and formulated a proper response.
"I feel something in the deathdream, something I haven't found anywhere else. It just feels natural to me. I've never been nervous about it, not even the first time. What's more, is that I feel there is something more in those dreams, and something is waiting for me to discover. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's interested in my psionic growth. Remember when I broke into class 2?"
Griffon nodded, curious to see where this was going. "Right after the deathdream with the Sons of Scarlet."
"And after that cargo ship deathdream, I broke into class 3. I've practiced my heart out, and given my all every day, but that never seems to make a difference! There is no incremental growth!" Kinson exclaimed, allowing a little of his frustration to bleed into his voice.
"Perhaps you're just missing it," Griffon soothed him.
Kinson shook his head and denied it. "No, that's not it. I've checked with Rachel, although I didn't tell her the reason. She was surprised, too, after I reached class three. But in the months since then, I haven't progressed at all."
"So what are you trying to say?" Griffon asked, skeptically.
"I think the deathdream helps me get stronger, in some way. I don't know if it just stretches my soul differently, or what."
"Any why do you need to be a stronger psionic? Your ability works just fine, as is" Griffon said.
"But it doesn't, though. The only reason I survive walking in deathdreams is that I have a few memories even they can't consume. But what if I meet one that also met a nightmare? Won't my protection be invalidated? Or what about this idea of bringing others into the deathdream with us? I want to be able to help to fight the nightmares, and this seems my only option to do so," Kinson said passionately.
Griffon looked at him, blinking slowly. "I see. But I think there's more, isn't there."
Kinson returned his gaze wordlessly. After a moment, he quietly said, "It makes me feel important. Like there is something only I can and am willing to do."
"There it is. Let me ask you this: What would have happened if I were on the ship with Konga and Rena?" Griffon asked.
"Wait, you don't mean…" Kinson gasped.
Griffon nodded. "I do. What if you could get others to walk in the deathdream with you? If I were there, very few things in this universe, save the nightmares, would be able to hurt you. Even if that ship were to explode, we could survive, at least, until the dream ends."
"Have you spoken to Andres about this?" Kinson asked after he recovered from his shock.
Griffon shook his head, an amused expression on his face. "There is no one else willing. Why would I ask if it's not an option?"
"But I thought you were too powerful to enter the deathdream," Kinson's face fell as he remembered their previous experience.
"Perhaps, but we've hardly tried since. All we've got are theories, right now. Although they've pretty much ironed out their method, who can say it's the only one?" Griffon said amiably.
"Just thinking about it makes me shiver!" Kinson said expressively, "What would happen if we saved the person in the deathdream? Would it still end? What would their soul think in the soul space afterward?"
"Let's focus on getting you back to the deathdream. Do your best with Luthier," Griffon admonished
Kinson accepted it with a nod. "I will. I'll talk to him next time I see him!"
"Good, then let's get back to work!"