Rieven was coming down from major Jeffries’ ‘wake-up’ cocktail, and found that he was done being awake. His body was actively shutting down all conscious functions. Rieven turned to Ono, eyes at half-mast and struggling to remain open, “Ono, I am going to sleep until I’m awake. Will you please welcome our guests and get them situated until I can deal with them? The ship’s captains that have been good little boys and girls can stay until I’m functional again. I’ll have Gahst put them through some basic training for the Void Spectres, so it won’t be time wasted – they’ll be learning the new rules they are living under to survive.”

  “Of course, sir. You have the right of it anyhow. I’ll get them sorted and tell them the there-too’s and the why-for’s. It’s not a trouble, plus I’ll get to settle several grievances that have lingered.” He looked absolutely happy about that.

  “Jackson?” Rieven asked. The dragon turned his face to him. “I would ask that you familiarise yourself with Imperial Military Law, the Void Spectre Laws of War specifically. The SI can help you get that information and answer any questions that you might have.”

  “It shall be done, m’lord.” Jackson bowed slightly and Rieven waved him away in a casual gesture of dismissal. Ono followed him out and closed the door behind himself. Rieven pressed his hand on a panel in the wall and it pushed out slightly, revealing a door to a small washroom. Rieven stripped his clothes and hung them on a hook on the back of the door, clumsy movements banging his elbows into the door or sink. He set the pearl in the sink and lost himself in the steady stream of hot water. The small room quickly turned into a sauna with the steam. It was cathartic, and Rieven didn’t think a single thought. Heaven.

  The third time he jerked awake in the shower, he shut off the water and turned on the drying function, which dried not only his body, but also the entire washroom. Waste not, want not. He picked up the pearl and headed back into his office, closing the washroom door behind himself. He pressed the wall panel next to it and another door opened, revealing a room just large enough for a trundle bunk with room to walk on the side to the closet. He fell into the bunk without dressing and was asleep before he even hit the sheets.

  -x-

  When Rieven woke up it was dark in his room. Looks like the SI shut the lights off for me. That’s nice, he thought, I didn’t want to do anything else before I fell asleep, and it’s nice to wake to a dark, quiet room after the day I had. How long was I asleep for?

  “Ship’s Intelligence, how long was I sleeping?” All he got was silence. “Ship’s Intelligence? Can you hear me?” No response. That’s concerning. Rieven’s thoughts sped up. He got up to turn the light on manually and couldn’t find the panel. He stumbled a moment before it hit him, I’m not in my bunkroom. It’s too small for me to stumble. I’m somewhere else. He looked around and didn’t see anything besides black.

  What’s going on? Just as he was about to allow himself to feel a sliver of fear, a warmth bloomed in his heart and he felt comfort and peace flow through his being. He looked in his right hand and felt that he still held the pearl. How odd, he thought. I can’t see it, but I can feel that it is there. I can’t see the floor, but I don’t feel anything there. Is this place metaphysical? There was an inquiry coming through the axiomatic link between him and the pearl, the one that formed each time he touched it.

  It wasn’t a complete thought, or even an entire feeling, it was more like a vague impression that someone had a question for him. In a startling moment of clarity, he realised it was asking permission, like a knock at the door. The difference was that the door it was knocking on was an axiomatic lace in his hand. This can go so wrong, he thought, I can quarantine it if I act quickly, but there’s no guarantee what it will choose to do.

  The knocking became more insistent. I’m going to gamble, he thought, and let this thing in. If I don’t, I’ll need to abandon the pearl because I can’t trust it, and there’s no sense keeping something you can’t trust around when it’s capable of messing with a mind. I don’t want to abandon it. That despair it felt was awful and I’d like to keep my word if possible. My crew are more important immediately, but I believe this creature can have great strategic value if it is sane and willing to cooperate. Let’s let it in and see what happens. He opened the door, granted the dream-octopus permission to enter his axiomatic lace.

  Faster than he could have imagined, a thread shot through the opening, along his lace, through his heart and then up to his brain, straight to his cerebral cortex. It didn’t ram through, just touched it gently, like laying a finger on someone’s shoulder to get their attention. When the axiom touched his brain, he could see differently. All of the laces in his being were lit up blue, with one red lace trailing to a glowing cluster of red lights from the pearl in his hand.

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  Why the different colours? What do they mean? Rieven thought, maybe it was a species differentiation? Hard to say. He gently turned the pearl in his hand, watching the pale light linger in the space. It was strange, the space he was in was dark, and now there was light, but it didn’t illuminate anything, light shouldn’t behave that way. This was officially an axiomatically metaphysical space.

  The impressions were coming through their link clearer. Not on the level of complete thoughts, but whole impressions were possible. The dream-octopus sent several impressions to his mind in quick succession: Desire for a thing, fear of loss and aloneness (on an instinctual level, beyond the ability to function around), cooperation, unfailing cooperation, happiness through companionable friendship, desire for a thing, a permanent connection between two points, permission required, desire for a thing, potential for change, kaname, and lastly distinct understanding. They came through so quickly that it was almost difficult to distinguish one from another, but they were each separate enough to comprehend. It would seem that this creature would desire to establish a permanent connection to me, which will enable partnership and comprehensive understanding between us.

  That sounds valuable. What assurance do I have? One, that in my previous interactions with this creature I felt its entire disposition, and while deception and manipulation were part of its nature, neither of those features were directed at him, the only thing its disposition harboured towards Rieven was unmitigated gratitude and affection – the sort one person feels for someone who has done something impressively tangible they could not do for themselves. It was a heady emotion, especially when combined with the promise of eternal faithful cooperation, not as master and servant, but of equals working towards something together. What that something is, Rieven thought, I don’t know.

  Two, agreements made through an axiomatic connection were impossible to lie in. One could not fail to follow both the letter and the spirit of the agreement, nor could ill intent be withheld if it existed. It was not possible. I would know the measure of the thing. Oh, he thought, Big Red said something about us knowing when foreign axiom was in our systems, that must be why I’m seeing two colours, and why it feels slick, like water that was too soft. Interesting. I think I have a hold on this. He sent back agreement, and watched a red bead of axiom flow from the pearl in his hand through his laces, following the same path the other red axiom took already.

  When it reached his brain, things changed. He could see the red axiom flow through more of his system, about half of his laces were now purple, a mix of the two he supposed. He did not hear words, but the dream-octopus sent the impression of almost-words. It seems like we’ll be able to communicate properly here soon, I hope, he thought.

  The next impression was gratitude, for trust extended in difficult and uncertain circumstances. Rieven sent: now what?

  There was a pause and the dream-octopus replied, now I grow and hatch

  How much do you need to grow, and when do you hatch?

  Time. Time is needed. Resources help speed it along, but I require time.

  Ok. Have the time. Have the resources, some at least. Have you been conscious since you were abandoned?

  Possible consciousness, yes, but in a dream state, fever dream. Time passed, but not quick. Not slow either. I am not not sane. Sanity is questionable, debateable. Not-sanity is false.

  Rieven felt the truth of that in his bones. He blew out a breath of relieved air. My dream-octopus is conscious, sane, and happy to help with a little crazy on the side – about like me or Ono. He smiled.

  Very well. Please let me know if you require anything specifically or if you desire anything. I will try to make it happen. How aware are you of what goes on?

  Things you see, hear, experience, I see, hear, experience. Relative special awareness within twelve metres.

  That’s quite the distance, he thought, we can use this too. He asked, where are we? I have never been in this state.

  The axiomatic connection dream state. When you sleep, when you hold me, we talk here. Space grows when connection grows. Connection grows when friendship grows. Friendship grows with mutual experience. Come and talk. We get stronger together. Dream time over, wake up time now.

  -x-

  Rieven jolted awake with a gasp. After several deep breaths his heartrate began to calm and his breathing slowed. He looked down at his right hand. Huh, he thought, I wonder what this will be like as it develops. I can tell that the connection was to facilitate communication, at least for now. That might change as it grows. I’ll have to keep a close eye on that and keep a kill switch, just in case. How would I even do something like that?

  Another part of him, deeper and more child-like was excited. This was the stuff of tales: dream-octopuses, axiomatic connections, eternal friendship, allies you could count on and trust. Life was going to get so cool!

  He shook his head, pushing his childish desires down for now. There were things that were more important to consider, such as the fact that he felt like he had had twenty or more hours of rest. He felt great. His axiomatic pattern was no longer stressed, and the axiom he could see flowing through the world around him was not overwhelming, so all seemed well. The SI had not turned off the light. What was up with that? “Ship’s Intelligence, how long was I asleep? And why did you not cut off the lights?”

  “You were asleep for approximately four hours, cycling through your normal sleep rhythm at five-times the speed you normally run at. I would have woken you but it seemed healthy based on your vitals. I kept the lights on because every time you sensed them go off, your heartrate and breathing spiked. I switched the light to low-intensity regenerative cycles. That seemed to help. You are healing, and healing well. It is surprising how well and how quickly you recovered from the events of yesterday, commandant. I believe you should talk through them at some point, for your own sake, as well as for the sake of the official record.”

  “Thank you Ship’s Intelligence. I appreciate your help and the insight you have provided. I’ll talk to you just after I get dressed and put some things in order.” He stood up and walked to the closet.

  “I have some snakes to step on first.”