Tempest

5 - Convalesce

The time has come.

Tobias looked around at the abstract black and red landscape that surrounded him. "What?"

The time has come.

"But ..." He struggled to comprehend. "We destroyed the Ark weapon! The time came, and we prevailed! I've been rescued, the IMC have been beaten down, Harmony and the other world of the frontier are safe! I thought it was finished?"

No. Remember your dreams, your visions. The gifts I have fed you for the past year.

He shut his eyes, and watched flickers of different places and scenes flash through his mind.

A vast ocean.

Rock and ice.

Massive storms, stretching over miles upon miles of tundra.

He was running, and he jumped but fell short-

"Tobias!"

"KT!"

He felt ice spread through him, coating his insides with frost. He crumpled to the ground, crying out in pain.

You are so much more important than you think. You are destined for so much more ...

A machine.

A cavern.

Find them. Follow your visions, and find the answers you seek. There is much more at play than you know of ...

The void swirled around him, obscuring his vision until the mysterious voice was but a faint noise in the wind-

And then he woke up.

His eyes quickly scanned around for cues to his environment. He wasn't in the black and red void anymore, it had vanished as soon as the voice had delivered its advice. But then, where was he?

"Tobias? Are you alright?"

With a start, he realized that this was the interior of KT's Vanguard hull. Not much different from the other chassises he'd seen, though it was the slightest bit smaller.

"Yeah, I'm ... I'm fine."

"Your heart rate is alarmingly high. Were you having a nightmare?"

Her voice had that familiar blend of concern and a soothing tone that he hadn't heard in so long. It felt great to hear it now. "Yeah, you could say that." He looked at himself to see that he was still dressed in the infirmary garment that he'd been dressed in last night. "So how'd I get in here?"

"You fell asleep last night after our ... talk." That was one way to describe their conversation lightly, and he could tell that she felt the same from the way she paused before finishing. "I placed you inside, figuring that the seat may be more comfortable than the ground."

He nodded gratefully. "Well, you'd be right. Thanks for that."

With a hiss of hair, the hatch opened and allowed him to exit. Carefully, he stepped down to the hard metal floor. The door closed, and KT stood back up to her proper height. "What was it about?"

He could tell that she was worried about the dreams contents. He waved her concerns away with a hand. "Nothing like that. It was one of many dreams I've been having over the last few months."

Her head tilted, expressing her curiosity. He furrowed his brow slightly, thinking about what the voice had said.

"It has to do with me being the Inferno, it's still in my head. It's odd ... I used to be able to access any information I wanted, it was like finding my way through a maze with a torch to light my way. It wasn't easy, but it was doable. But now, everything's just dark. I can't see it, but I know it's there." He looked up at the Titan. "Does that make any sense?"