When Dreams Become Nightmares

Posted on Sun Oct 1st, 2023 @ 8:35am by Lieutenant JG Summer Wyse & Lieutenant Magnus Volsung

2,217 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The devil wears tripolymer
Location: Counsellor’s Office

ON:

Magnus kept his hands wrapped around the tea as he sat in Summer's office. He had asked to see her, having yet again woken up in a cold sweat. "I know it is strange," he finally said, meeting her eyes. "But the dream is the same every time. A few words or signs change, but that is that. The dream itself remains the same. I do not know if it is my gods trying to tell me something, or just my mind's way of...dealing with the life I have made for myself."

Summer nodded as she sat listening to Magnus explain. “Well I’m glad you came to see me about it. It sounds like there’s definitely something, especially as you’re having the same dream over and over again.”

Magnus nodded, sitting back for a moment. "It starts the same," he said, his voice quiet. "I am on the bridge, alone. The emergency lights are on, but apart from it...there's darkness. No stars outside. I am standing in blood...I hear it when I walk. I look down and I see it, smearing my boots. When I look up...." he stopped, his brown eyes meeting hers. "I see him. The One-Eyed Wanderer, with his wide brimmed hat. Odin, in disguise. I look up and only see the circling of crows..." he frowned and looked down. "I always feel as if I am in the middle of a fight, heart racing and lungs burning."

“Is it possible this is some sort of warning?” Summer looked at Magnus curiously. “It’s not unheard of. Is it possible this one eyed wanderer is someone trying to pass on a message? Or could this be a buried memory that’s trying to surface?”

"If it is an omen, it is not a good one," he said, but considered her words carefully. "In my faith, Odin appears when death is near. Yours, or those close to you. But I have had this dream for a while. It could be a buried memory, I...it could be from the war. But I was never on a bridge during that time. I..." he paused, sipping the drink. "I do not know. Perhaps it is not Odin, but more a...representation of the...difficulties I at times have reconciling my faith and upbringing to life on a starship."

“Perhaps” Summer nodded. “To be honest it’s difficult to say, especially as we don’t have a reference point to go from. Maybe we could explore your nightmare together? Do you recall enough detail to show me? We could make a representation on the holodeck if you’re comfortable with it?”

"I am," he said and finished the tea, the warm liquid comforting. He stood and looked at her, giving her a small smile. "But are you comfortable with it?"

“It’s the best way for me to understand what you’re going through, so it’s a case of having to be comfortable with it.” Summer smiled a wry smile.

He nodded as he started walking with her, considering how to best say it. "My mind was shaped by stories that now would be viewed as...grotesque. I hope...you won't be offended."

“It’s not my place to be offended by the way your mind has been shaped, if it scares me, it scares me, but I’m here for you.” Summer smiled as she walked alongside Magnus. “To be honest I do love horror movies!”

"I hope this...will not be too frightening," he said as he entered the holodeck. He let out a soft breath and rolled his shoulders. "Computer...give me a Sovereign class bridge, no crew..."

Around him, the world changed to a ship's bridge, clean and empty. He glanced at Summer before closing his eyes, to remember better. "Emergency lights, no sound. Viewscreen on but black...two inches worth of blood on the ground, still warm..." he opened his eyes as the world changed again, as it got darker. he could feel the blood. "A man, six feet, standing by the viewscreen. Grey beard, wide-brimmed flat hat. Black robe, holding a staff. Make the features fuzzy, no details."

He waited as the figure appeared, in the long ropes, with a wide-brimmed flat hat. He swallowed, glancing at Summer. "Computer, remove his right eye."

Summer was watching the scene unfold, the blood on the floor around them was a disturbing enough element, but the figure Magnus had added was a menacing addition to it all. She looked around trying not to feel completely horrified at the sight before her.

Magnus watched for a long moment, taking it all in. He frowned as he remembered something. "Computer, put a hand axe down at my feet. Use from personal possessions inventory." He looked down as the axe materialised at his feet before he looked at Summer. "I...I remember kneeling to pick it up. And the ravens above me...circling."

Summer nodded. “Are there any of the crew in your nightmare? Anywhere else on the ship?”

He knelt, feeling the blood on his clothes before he gripped the axe, pulling it up. He stayed kneeling, looking at the One-Eyed man, his breath tight in his chest as the man pointed the finger behind him. "I wander the ship at times, different rooms have different meanings," he said, quietly. Without realising it, he had switched languages, but the universal translator kept translating what he was saying to Summer. "And different deaths."

Summer nodded. “Did you realise you’re talking in a different language?” She looked around. “Show me the ship, let’s get away from this...”

He nodded, walking to the tubolifts. But as the doors opened it was just a long corridor. "I'm speaking my own language..." he said, before making a conscious effort to switch. "It's the language I think in. It's the language I dream in. Computer..." he paused, feeling awkward about it. "Access my personal logs, extrapolate anything to do with dreams, put them into the simulation. Authorisation Alpha-Zero-Niner-Sierra."

The corridor before them changed and rather than empty, there were now bodies. He looked at Summer, motioning ahead. "We will both experience this together."

Summer nodded. “I’m not going to lie, this is absolutely terrifying! I can see why it all disturbs you so much now. Before you ask, let’s keep going, I should see the rest.”

Magnus nodded, walking forward, past the bodies. "I blame the stories I grew up with. The tales of the gods are...not like the nice stories of a fairytale. There is a lot of...darkness..." he stopped, looking up, at the tree that was before them, and the man hanging from it. He knew who it was a representation of; the same man who had been on the bridge. Here to sacrifice himself to himself, for nine days...to get the runes. Which meant....

He looked down, at the runes carved onto bone no larger than Earth dice. He did not hesitate, like he never did in his dream, and knelt, picking them up. He threw them, watching which fell face up before he touched them with a finger. "A reckoning will happen. Not just for me, but for those who fight beside me." He stood, holding the axe in a firm hand. His eyes went past Summer, to one of the bodies on the ground and he frowned. "I don't remember the First Officer being in my dreams."

Summer turned and clasped a hand over her mouth, this was something she’d dreaded ever since she’d first fallen in love with Tyrus. “Ty...No..” She looked at Magnus. “This isn’t your nightmare, it’s mine...” She moved closer to Tyrus’ body. “This is my greatest fear. To lose him like this.”

Magnus moved to her side, his hand going to her shoulder. He looked at the body, frowning slightly. "There must be a reason," he finally said. "For you to see things here that you fear, in this representation of my dreams. Only Freya knows why. My...people, believe that death is not an end, and not anything to fear. I don't know what your people believe..." the frown eased and he let out a breath. "Dying for what you believe in, for...those you love, it is not a bad end. And it is a risk, in our profession. You may very well lose him like this, Summer. And he may very well lose you. So you live each day as if that can happen, with no regret."

Summer nodded as she tried to fight back the urge to cry, she wiped away a few tears before moving forward. “It looked like he was going this way...” the door in-front of them opened to reveal a sight that made Summer stop in her tracks. “What in the hell?...”

In-front of them laying on examination style beds were several female crew including Summer herself, all in various stages of pregnancy. Along the walls were male crew all hooked up to medical equipment. It was like some mad science experiment. “What is this!?? This isn’t any dream I’ve ever had!!”

He looked at the scene before him, frowning slightly. This was not his dreams, he knew that. Somehow, the programme had taken something else. He looked over at Summer, tilting his head. "This is not from my dreams either. It could be a glitch, this could be from some other files..." he walked ahead, slowly, looking over at them all. Stopping when he saw a sheet covering a body. He pulled it back, seeing Ash Rowe's face. "It could be that this is some primal fear in your heart that the gods are showing you." He frowned and touched the face before him, stroking the cheek with a tender hand. He had dreamt of Ash dying before. It happened at times. He pulled the sheet over her again and turned to look at Summer. "I am not Operations, I don't know how this would be...it is not in any of my personal logs."

Summer sighed. “Maybe this has just been pulled in from another log, or mixed in from another program. Let’s keep moving, I’m getting side tracked by my own thoughts, tell me more about yours.”

Magnus nodded, frowning as he walked on, eyes focused. He stopped suddenly, looking at her. "I am usually awake by now, I don't know how much else there is," he admitted before he passed through the doors...and ended up in a hall. A long table, open fire, and suddenly there were doors around them, the hall growing in size. Magnus reacted with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "I used to dream this place up as a child," he finally explained. "I think that the holodeck is drawing from my personal logs, not just for this time period, but from when I joined the Academy. Everything on record."

“Okay” Summer nodded. “So why this particular place? Why as a child did you dream about this place? In my experience the doors are all choices, good ones or bad ones. You won’t know until you open a door.”

He looked around, his lips moving before he swallowed and then smiled. "And they drank mead from the udders of a goat, feasted, then met in battle each day for fun...until Ragnarok," he met her eyes, holding them. "When they march out of the 540 doors to fight beside Odin. It's...the Halls of Valhalla. It's...part of my religion, the culture. As a child...I would dream of it." He frowned as he looked around. "But it is empty."

“So when you dreamed of it before were there others here?” Summer looked at Magnus curiously. “If there were where do you think they are now? Why aren’t they here?”

"It could be the end of days," he said, thoughtfully, before looking at her. "Or maybe I am not ready yet to know the reason." He let out a shaky breath, frowning. "Maybe we have seen enough."

Summer nodded. “I wholeheartedly agree with that” she sighed. “Let’s get out of here.”

"Computer, end programme," he called out, before he looked at her as everything dissolved back to...well, the holodeck grid. He gave her a small smile, unable to stop it. "You okay there?"

Summer nodded. “I am now that’s over with. I just have a whole new set of questions that I don’t think I’ll ever find answers to.”

"Sometimes...it isn't about answers. It's about learning something about yourself," Magnus said, watching her with a soft expression on his face.

Summer nodded. “I guess you’re right there. I just need to try and absorb what I saw in there and try to make sense of it.”

"We will get there," Magnus said, with a small smile. "Some will settle, and make you realise your own fears. Face them, acknowledge them...and be stronger for it."

“Isn’t it supposed to be me giving advice?” Summer smiled. “Thank you Magnus.”

He brought a hand over his own chest, where his heart was, and bowed. "Thank you, Counselor," he said in gentle reply.

OFF:

 

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