Dreamland

They raced the two jeeps at full speed through the sleeping town, one jeep close behind the other like a twin unit. Why would they risk bumping into each other, I wondered. They didn't follow any traffic laws when that would have slowed them down, but even with this mad dash, it took us some thirty minutes to arrive at the Military hospital.

The soldiers were not very talkative, but even so, I found out that they had seen my activities on social media and decided to ask the lieutenant for permission to bring me to the military hospital. Permission was granted, and as they left to pick me up, the lieutenant went to the superiors for approval. Even under Flo's truth spell, they didn't change their version; at least these soldiers were genuine.

I was expecting a lot of trouble, but to my surprise, we were let in without too many questions, and I was greeted by two doctors.

After a very short introduction and questions about side effects, long-term consequences, and possible treatment mistakes, we started with the first cases. All were desperate cases, barely alive. One had been severely burned over 90%. It was a miracle that he was still alive. His healing took me about thirty seconds, but removing the bandages also added to the time. It would have been worth paying good money to see the doctors' faces after that.

After the first five cases, they were passionately sold on my cures; even though their hands and voices were trembling, they were talking about revolutionizing medicine.

We continued to work hard for about an hour, going from room to room. At one point, we entered a smaller room with glass windows that was another disinfection corridor. We waited there for some time after disinfection, but the doors did not open.

Pete, the younger of the two doctors, was just calling security on the phone as the cabin unit didn't seem to be working when we finally heard a voice coming from the speakers, and a room on the other side of the glass wall was lit up. There were several people there, looking at us, some of them even sitting on chairs.

"Good evening!" – said the voice on the loudspeaker while a person waved at us.

I sighed. Well, I expected that to happen, but I was hoping they would do it in a more elegant way. Max, the other doctor, saw fit to object to our imprisonment.

“General, this is not necessary; we were scheduled to go to the briefing room after we finished our tour. We have a few more rooms to visit!”

The answer came hard:

“Doctor, you will have time to speak when asked. Madam, I assume you are a lady; please correct me if I am wrong. Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself?”

Since Flo was in the lead, I couldn't answer right away, and she took her time. She ignored him for a moment and examined the cage we were in.

“Mmmm. Glass impregnated with anti-teleportation dust. The floor and ceiling material was impregnated with the same dust. That must have cost a fortune, hasn't it, general? Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself first? I was expecting a more pleasant conversation."

She must have cast some spell on me because my skin glowed slightly, giving me an otherworldly aura.

"Flo, let me talk to them; give me the lead!"

“Wait, please, it's dangerous. If they do something, I have to be able to react quickly, but I'll say whatever you want me to say; you tell me."

"OK, but don't provoke them, please!"

Meanwhile, the general replied: “The conversation is as pleasant as it can be. Ms? What should we call you?

Flo sighed.

“General... Segreus”

"Yes, it's my name on my shield," - he replied, pointing to his chest - "what should be on your shield?"

I was suddenly afraid that she would tell them my name under pressure: "Don't tell them my real name, please do as we agreed, make something up..."

"I am here of my own free will to help you. Is this how you respond to a helping hand?"

“Ma'am, please be advised that a nuclear device will destroy everything if you try to run away or take any aggressive steps. I want to specify this so that you understand the seriousness of the situation."

My heart froze in my chest hearing this.

Several people in the room looked at him in shock. Obviously, not everyone had been informed beforehand. To my surprise, Flo continued to watch him unperturbed:

"And you would destroy the town and the people who live here in the vain hope of taking me down?"

Gotta give it to her; she knows how to bluff. I know how scared she had been there in the forest.

"This is the last resort if the other means are not sufficient. There is also a powerful poison that would instantly cover your area first.”

"Before you unleash your arsenal, would you be so kind as to allow the two brave doctors to leave? I don't want to have them on my conscience. I may not be able to save them."

He shrugged.

“I'm sorry, it is not possible; they may be compromised. That is the level of threat you present, and that is why I am appealing for your cooperation.”

Flo sighed again.

“Would you not call cooperation what I already did?”

"It's a start. To increase trust, it would be right if you would show us your face. The real one. We know you are under a false identity.”

So they know Flo uses magic mirrors to hide her identity? They can see through them!?

Flo closed her eyes for a few seconds.

“Ah, I think I know how they did it. I can feel it...”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it now better, general?”

He looked at one display and then looked surprised at me.

Flo shrugged:

“They got me. They used different wavelengths to scan me; I didn't know it was possible. I think it was what you call radar or close to it. Now I've corrected my mirrors!"

I exclaimed, shocked:

"This is not a fucking game!"

The general shrugged.

“Amazing. Yet we know your true face!”

"True. Point taken." – said Flo wiping any mirrors that were hiding me and revealing Cala's face.

The two doctors made a step backward, surprised at my new apparition. Max, the younger doctor pointed at my scars; obviously, he had questions about them. Flo glanced at him, grinned, and shrugged. She turned towards the general:

“Can we talk now in a more friendly way?”

"Friendly? Madam, we know what you did at the Atbaska compound. Many brave men and women died there. Your healing here was a step in the right direction, but it is not enough to erase your past deeds."

"Atbaska? What compound? I don't understand what you want to say!?"

And yet I had a suspicion.

"The labs you were transported to after being picked up from the Hesperia Hotel."

“The labs? Hesperia Hotel?" - Flo took a deep breath - "Oh yes. I was kidnapped, taken to a place, and tortured. So this was the Atbaska complex? I'm sorry, I didn't do the slaughter there, although, to be honest, it was not totally undeserved."

It was with a bitter voice that she said this. He ignored it and continued:

“Your face was registered there. Where did the other entity come from? You somehow conjured that entity that did the carnage. You have to explain the events in detail; until then, we consider that you are responsible for the deaths of one hundred and thirty-five brave men and women. That's one of the reasons for all this security."

"Ah, otherwise, you would have come with flowers to greet me."

Fuck! This is bad, this is really bad! They got Cala's face, linked her to that damn complex, and saw through Flo's disguise! Do they know Cala is me? It's just a small step to connect her to me. Besides, how can I explain to them that the black angel was already there?

“You did try your mushroom cloud magic over there. Do you think it would work better here?”

His answer was almost as ironic as her question:

“Your accomplice seems to be missing. I guess it worked for him, and you were probably too far away for the mushroom cloud magic. The glass is here to restrict your movement until the mushroom takes its toll on you, lady. So my question to you again is, would you cooperate?”

"You kidnapped me, and I escaped. That's all there was in that complex. Since then, I have stayed hidden and lived my life. Unfortunately, I saw on social media that the army had big problems, and I came here to help. I said to myself that I could help dozens, maybe hundreds of people, to survive, and I came. Will you try the same shit here again, even though I came in friendship? What's wrong with you?"

“What is wrong with us? You are not allowed to do what you want here! There are laws, and you must obey our laws!”

“But don't I do that?”

“Not if you evade.”

“What law gives you the right to restrict my movements when I obey the laws?”

"National security judged you a serious threat to society; that's why you were interned. But let's not debate that now. Let's start with the introduction: what are you, who are you, and what do you want here?"

“You can call me White Lily.”

“White Lily?” - I wondered

“It is a white flower, isn't it?”

“OK, we have some progress. Mrs. White, or may I call you Lily? What planet are you from?”

"No. We are not friends."

“Flo, let me talk with him, please!”

She sighed, but she gave me the lead.

“Just give it back to me if you feel any danger, please!”

“OK!”

I nodded. They must have asked themselves why am I sighing and nodding.

“General, I am a human like you and everybody else here. Well, not exactly the same; I can do some... let's call it magic.”

“Magic?”

“Well, as you have seen with the wounded soldiers.” - I shrugged - “ This is what I call magic. How would you call it?”

“Lily White, we cannot find any id matching the name and your face.”

I put my hand on my face and felt the scar above my left eye, which reminded me again that I had Cala's face.

“I will give you more information once we begin to trust each other. Now I fear for my life.”

“How it should be. How did you gain your magic faculties?”

How it should be? I gave him an annoyed look but refrained from commenting. With these idiots, if I'm not careful, they're going to blow me up, including this whole town. Damn, crazy lunatics!

“I believe there is a connection between the apparition of magic, the Mephisto Game, and the Dream Interface. I think that some game functions working through the interface were causing, under certain circumstances, the activation of our witch genes. In cases where they exist, of course. This might explain why this magic is somehow connected to the game and the random apparitions. Many people are probably not even aware when they cast their first spells and can involuntarily create the characters in their heads when being in-game. They may begin to think they are their own characters. Well, this is my theory, but what do I know, I've only seen a few cases.”

He sighed, looking at me:

“You mean something like the apprentice sorcerer?”

“Yes, something like that.”

“So that's your explanation for it.”

I nodded and raised my brows:

“Is there another explanation?”

He raised tiredly his head and looked at me.

“And you truly believe it?”

“Yes.” - I shrugged – “But I am open to any other explanation... I do not have the data and the info that you have...”

He rubbed his forehead and sighed.

“Well, let me give you the explanation that I was given: you are a poor sob controlled by an alien. We suspected that aliens were already inspecting our planet, but it seems that our games and the human imagination were a hit in some alien worlds. We now understand that aliens started playing games, and Dremland's Mephisto became a hit. However, the virtual world was no longer enough for some, like you. You needed it in real life! We know that you and others created the whole chaos for your so-called game. You want to play it here in real life, and we humans are backward enough to believe that your technology is magic. Was it too difficult to find a thrill otherwise? We finally got an understanding with His Highness, The Supreme Judge of this corner of the galaxy, and we promised to support him in finding and delivering the chaos players to get their fair judgment.”

He delivered it all with pathos, it was obvious that this problem had been nagging at him for some time, and he finally could voice it. For many in his audience, this seemed to be the first time that they heard it. I had no words. It was impossible, and yet… was it so? Was he right? I don't think a hammer strike on my head would have knocked me harder. A poor fuck controlled by an alien parasite. Oh, fuck!