One Week Later
A week had passed since Orion's falling dream, and life at Zenith Academy had settled into a familiar rhythm—classes, training modules, and late-night cafeteria runs.
For once, there were no strange dreams. No cryptic figures lurking in his subconscious. Just peace.
And yet, something about that silence felt… wrong.
Orion had never gone this long without at least fragments of a dream. After experiencing true lucidity, he expected more—maybe even wanted more. But every night, sleep came and went, leaving nothing behind.
Still, things weren't bad.
In the past week, he had managed to keep up with coursework, avoid any further awkwardness with Seth, and even won a bet against Neil about whether Rin could survive a week without caffeine. (She lasted three days before cracking. Neil still swore she cheated.)
But even with everything going smoothly, a restless itch had settled beneath his skin.
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The Afternoon Hangout
The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the academy's central courtyard as Orion sat with his friends at their usual spot. A soft breeze carried the scent of freshly cut grass, blending with the distant hum of students talking and the occasional hum of a passing drone.
Cas sat cross-legged beside him, sketching something on her tablet with sharp, calculated strokes. Her focus was intense, as if she were solving some grand mystery through pure artistic precision.
Neil, sprawled out on the grass, was tinkering with a neural interface module, his fingers dancing over exposed wiring. Orion had long since learned to tune out the technical jargon after hearing the phrase "It only exploded once" too many times.
Rin, on the other hand…
"Orion."
Orion blinked as Rin waved a hand in front of his face.
"You're spacing out again," she said, nudging him with her elbow. "Still thinking about that dream?"
Cas's attention snapped up from her tablet. "Wait, you finally had another one?"
Orion sighed. "No. That's the problem. I haven't had one since that night."
Neil scoffed. "Cry me a river. Some of us would kill for dreamless sleep. Do you know how much lucid overexposure can screw up your sleep cycle?"
Cas shot him a look. "No one normal gets lucid overexposure, Neil."
Neil grinned. "Exactly."
Rin leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands. "So, let me get this straight. You go from having vivid, weirdly real dreams—including one where you literally fly—to nothing? That's kinda suspicious."
Cas frowned. "It's actually not uncommon. Some people experience strong lucid dreams and then go through a period of complete dream silence. It's like their subconscious resets."
Orion exhaled. "Maybe. But it still feels… off."
Cas tapped a finger against her tablet, considering. "Have you been doing dream recall exercises?"
"I've tried," Orion said. "But it's like there's just… nothing there."
Rin sighed dramatically. "That's disappointing. I wanted to hear about more crazy dream adventures."
Neil finally looked up from his device. "Speaking of crazy, I might have a way to fix Orion's dream problem."
Orion raised an eyebrow. "Fix?"
Neil grinned, holding up the neural interface module he had been working on.
"I need a test subject."
---
The Experiment Proposal
Orion hesitated. "...For what exactly?"
Neil sat up, his grin widening. "I'm testing a new approach to neural lucid dreaming. Basically, this baby—" he held up the small headgear-like device, "—stimulates the brain in real-time during sleep, nudging you into a lucid state without breaking immersion."
Orion eyed the device warily. "Sounds a lot like those scam lucid dream masks people buy online."
Neil gasped dramatically. "How dare you compare my technological masterpiece to mass-produced garbage? This is next-gen neural enhancement, my friend. Custom-tuned to brainwave activity!"
Cas sighed. "So, in other words, it's an experimental, untested prototype that probably has a 50% chance of giving Orion a headache."
"50% is generous," Rin muttered.
Neil rolled his eyes. "Look, all I need is for Orion to wear this overnight, let it do its thing, and then tell me if he dreams and how vivid it is. That's it."
Orion considered it. He wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. If it worked, maybe it would push him back into lucidity. And if not, well, at least he'd have something to tell Neil.
Cas, however, didn't seem convinced.
"Neil, are you sure this thing is safe?" she asked, folding her arms.
Neil scoffed. "Of course it's safe. It only zapped me twice during testing."
Cas closed her eyes briefly, as if gathering patience. "That is not reassuring."
Rin grinned. "I dunno, I say we let Orion be the guinea pig. What's the worst that could happen?"
Orion gave her a flat look. "That is also not reassuring."
Neil sighed dramatically. "Guys. Have some faith. This is cutting-edge neuroscience. I promise, Orion's not gonna wake up with a fried brain."
Cas still looked doubtful. "You can't actually promise that."
Neil ignored her.
Orion glanced at the device one more time, then shrugged. Why not?
"Alright," he said, reaching for the module. "I'll try it."
Neil whooped. "Yes! Welcome to cutting-edge science!"
Cas rubbed her temples. "Just don't break him, Neil."
"No promises," Neil said cheerfully.
Orion shook his head, wondering if he'd just made a terrible decision.
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