Kinson mourned every death, feeling an acute pain within his soul. Luthier was unmoving, but Kinson could tell the senseless war bothered him, as well. He was unable to register the sheer death and destruction, much less talk about it, so they remained silent. After Dillon died, the deathdream faded, leaving the soul space in complete darkness. Then, they were ejected into their bodies.
Although awake and conscious once more, Kinson continued to lie down. Tears threatened to break through his closed eyelids, but Kinson did nothing to restrain them. A deep sense of sorrow settled upon him, a reaction he had never experienced from a deathdream before.
"Kinson, is everything okay?" Andres asked, his calm voice breaking Kinson from his reverie.
Kinson sat up and dragged his sleeve across his face. He sniffed, and opened his eyes. Luthier sat beside him, wordlessly. Andres and Rachel looked between the two, concern evident in their expressions. Griffon still stood by the door, but watched him with something closer to curiosity.
"I…don't know," Kinson replied uncertainly.
"Was it that bad?" Andres asked cautiously
"Worse," Luthier interjected. His tone sounded as sad as Kinson felt. "It was far worse than you imagine."
Andres stood and faced away from them. "I take it you've managed to discover what happened?"
Between the two of them, they managed to explain the story. The complete genocide had shocked them both, and they would often lose motivation to explain mid-sentence, leaving the other to take over. When he finally finished talking about Dillon's death at the hands of the young soldier, Kinson had tears in his eyes once more. A solemn atmosphere had fallen over the room, which nobody broke for several seconds.
"I knew there were no survivors… but that was excessive. They didn't even capture the ship to convert it. To think they killed everyone in cold blood though…." Griffon said, his eyes flashing.
"And the Eagle itself made an appearance. It seems war is truly inevitable," Andres shook his head.
"But why? Why would they do this?" Kinson cried out, although not to anyone in particular.
"..." Luthier nodded silently.
Kinson lowered his head, sinking deeper into his sorrow. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Andres looking at him with kindness in his eyes. A strange warmth blossomed in his heart as the grizzled old man offered a few words.
"The people of this generation have not experienced the horrors of war. Only those who escaped Mars can have any sort of true understanding of things like that. But even then, the Nightmares are more like something of a horror movie. We can fight against them because we do not understand them. In a war within the human race, though, there is no justification, no moral high ground. Before space travel, the earth was soaked in blood time and time again, each country battling for some resource, cause, or political ideology. Often, religion, as well. Although we look at those events, which occurred hundreds of years at the earliest, and claim separation from the fools who fought and killed each other, mankind does not change so easily. This war is about to start for the same reasons. Power, wealth, and political influence. Each has a hand, and both sides want it."
"Why can't they understand? Don't they know people are dying for this?" Kinson asked desperately.
"No, they don't, although they claim to be sympathetic. Perhaps we can change that, though," Andres said slowly, deep in thought.
"How?" Kinson's eyes widened.
Griffon walked over and crouched down, looking him deep in the eye. "That's up to you, and Luthier."
"You mean…" Luthier's face lit up in surprise.
Griffon nodded. "Exactly. No picture, video, or commentary can relate the experience of war. Only living it can. Perhaps, if we could show people the cost of war, they would be more reluctant to support it."
Kinson tapped his fingers against the cot. "Then we need to work hard. I think it might be possible to pull someone into a deathdream without binding them together. But, it will be tricky."
Andres's eyebrows shot up. "What? How?"
"When Luthier opened the deathdream, I entered it myself. Although the tie between us would have pulled me in, it didn't. I wonder if we could find a way to open a deathdream to someone else, without binding them together. It's worth a shot, at least," Kinson finished hopefully.
Luthier scratched his chin. "I think I know what you're talking about. Whenever Celeste opened a deathdream, I felt I could enter it before I was pulled in. However, only a deathdreamer is capable of sensing a deathdream, right? So how could someone else send their soul in?"
"Oh, that's true." Kinson sat back, dejected. He was right. Even if they, as deathdreamers, didn't need to be bound to enter the same instance of the deathdream, how could they bring along normal souls?
As usual, Andres found a way to lift his spirits. "Well, isn't that the point of this department? If we have a goal, we can work for it. Now, I'm going to go report these things to our employer. We will likely be commissioned to do work again, in the future. Real-world experience is the best way to get better, after all. I'm guessing you won't be willing to work with things about the war?"
"Actually, I would," Kinson said, shocking everyone.
Andres blinked. "Why?"
"I am willing to pay the price to remember. Besides, if this helps the war end sooner, I'm all for it. This time was just a little shocking to me, but nothing I haven't seen before. To think humans would be so similar to the Nightmares…" Kinson shook his head.
"I think… I think I can handle more, too. Although it was traumatic, gruesome scenes are normal for a deathdreamer. We are meant to handle the hardest, most traumatic events of any one person's life. Besides, we happen to have someone with us who specializes in helping people cope." Luthier said with a small smile.
"We do?" Kinson looked around, not sure who he was referring to.
"Me, obviously." Rachel, who had sat quietly on the side, finally spoke up.
Kinson flinched. How could he forget? "Oh, that's right. Could we, perhaps, talk later?"
Rachel nodded, a smile on her lips. "I thought you'd never ask."
Several days later, war erupted in the Solar System. The colonies of Titan and Europa declared that they were completely cutting ties with Terra, while Luna proclaimed their allegiance to the mother planet. The next day, the government of Titan announced that they were forming an alliance with Europa, forming the Outer Alliance. A single representative from both moons would form the leadership of the alliance. Their position would be named following the Romans of ancient Earth: Consoles. Below them, laws and decisions would be forwarded, debated, and settled among the planetary councils, which were further broken down to represent much more local geographical areas.
Kinson was largely ignorant of most of the changes going on around the solar system. Although he felt extremely invested in the war and changing political climate, most of it went right over his head. He only knew what he did because of Andres and Griffon, two extremely experienced military veterans. Apparently, Earth rejected the Outer Alliance's claims. And demanded they surrender and relinquish full power to the President of Earth, the leader elected by both the citizens of Terra and Luna. Titan retaliated by launching a hidden strike mission against several of Earth's military bases located within or around the asteroid belt. The consoles held a public broadcast where they revealed the information Kinson and Luthier had acquired about the destruction of the Invoker and the complete annihilation of the crew. Of course, public opinion within the Outer Alliance varied, but few rejected the notion of rebellion against such ruthless murderers.
Kinson kept up with his training and studies, both in the physical world, as well as the deathdream. He and Luthier would practice entering and exiting deathdreams until they were both exhausted and could no longer rely on themselves to avoid being drawn in and forced to walk within a deathdream. Although Kinson felt the allure of doing so, he managed to restrain himself. If he were to be caught in a deathdream like the Invoker, he would have pretty much no chance of surviving. Kael often joined them in their excursions, but always stepped away from anything to do with the war, which was about two-thirds of their commissions.
Over the next few weeks, they discovered that one could initiate a deathdream, and other deathdreamers could enter the soul space with them. So far, though, the method to bring other non-deathdreamers into the deathdream evaded them.
The war's first major battle occurred about three weeks after the Invoker attack was made public. Two cruiser-class starships went down for the Outer Alliance, exchanged for three of the Earth's fleet. The media erupted over the death toll, which reached well over a thousand, but proudly supported the cause of the Alliance. Kinson didn't bother checking any earth media, which was banned within the alliance, but he was sure it was filled with propaganda explaining in great detail and with extreme specificity the diabolical and nefarious tricks of the Alliance. At least, that was how Griffon described it.