Mist

'Hm?'

Trevor was motionless in midair, floating above a small mass of land that hovered in the middle of nowhere. Everywhere, there was an endless whiteness that permeated every side of this strange place. This mystical vision seemed to come straight out from a fantasy book.

'This… What the fuck is going on?'

The confusion in his mind was enormous. He felt like he was radishes on the open sea: being carried by currents of water to the bottom of the ocean, where they would be decorated by sea octopuses until they were as shiny and beautiful as mussels!

It didn't make any sense!

'Why does this look so familiar?' The brows that had been pressing together suddenly retracted. Trevor then dug deep in his brain until he unearthed the answers he was looking for.

'Oh, of course!' Trevor just didn't slap himself lightly on the face because not even his body was present at the time. The place he was now was actually the first place he was when he first awakened his consciousness.

In other words, before he was able to regain consciousness, he was here.

'Right, this is related to that strange liquid that was injected into me. Was this deliberate? Is this how Liman wants to gain control over me? Or is it part of the events related to my possible superpower?'

With each question that took shape, it seemed that those radishes at the bottom of the ocean increased in quantity. The octopuses had to do a lot of work to make them all as shiny and beautiful as mussels!

'Looks like I won't get any rest ever. Every damn hour life comes carrying unforeseen threats…' Even though he didn't have a physical body, Trevor's consciousness kept the ability to move. This process of moving someone's mind in a void was too complex to describe, only sensing someone would have the chance to understand it.

Trevor approached the little planet, failing to draw air into his lungs as he noticed the new state of that floating body before him. Unlike what he remembered, the terrain of this land mass underwent changes: previously it was cracked, full of erosion.

Now? It was almost as smooth as baby skin!

'There is also a chance that this is just something made up by my mind. It seems I underestimated the intensity of the damage my brain suffered.' Once more, Trevor tried and failed to take a deep breath. Old habits did not die with ease, especially those arising from millions of years of years of evolution.

The black-haired lad would now be stepping on this little planet if he had a physical body, which wasn't the case. His senses sailed through his surroundings and scanned the surroundings. Soon, something appeared to Trevor as a result of his searches.

'Is it… alive?'

The way he looked at the small planet in front of him changed.

At the core of this small celestial body, something small and dark was moving. Like a small animal trapped in a cage, that black mist seemed to try to escape: crashing against the inner walls of this core, just like the light tried to escape from within the Sun.

'What a weird feeling.' The mental pressure Trevor felt increased the shorter the distance between him and that mysterious core. 'Better leave it alone for now.' He went back to investigating this enigmatic environment.

Unfortunately, his investigative ability in this strange world was limited. It was similar to the human body in this regard: just as no ordinary human being was unable to stretch his arms to reach a mountain peak, so was his three-dimensional sensory area.

Hours came and went, leaving boredom and anxiety as beautiful visiting gifts to him.

'Do I really have to go there again?' The mental pressure Trevor could feel earlier wasn't light. Few could have the stamina to withstand feeling their brains being pressed by invisible hands.

'No… The exit must be somewhere else!'

The river of time flowed, washing away the visiting gifts that swelled as more water was poured on them. The whiteness there, coupled with the lack of company, drove Trevor's stability to a rock bottom.

'Very well.' Not being able to even sigh was like splashing salt on Trevor's open wound. With no landmarks, the passage of time seemed to have frozen, causing the river to become a monotonous lake.

'I'm here again, you son of a bitch!' Trevor appeared again above the small planet. The frustration of not being able to vocalize his anger left Trevor choking.

'How the hell did I end up like this? Wasn't I supposed to have just had a goddamn sleep like normal people?'

Every little detail like his inability to grit his teeth in anger made him even more pissed off! Trevor was furious, to the point of thinking about killing Liman, and everyone else who took part in that insane research, several times.

His only light on this myriad of emotions was his determination.

'Who else cares about him but me?' Trevor stared at the geoid structure in front of him with unseen eyes. Willpower erupted when he thought of his poor father being hunted by powerful enemies.

Trevor walked forward like the legendary hero into the black mist.

'Damn it…'

Trevor wanted to clench his fists but he had no hands.

Flames!

Trevor wanted to weep but he had no tears.

Pain!

Trevor wanted to moan but he had no lips.

Darkness!

Trevor wanted to see but he had no eyes.

Nothing worked!

Trevor was lost within nowhere.

Yet still, Trevor continued his march.

The hope looked like a fragile thread, about to break.

'No! I'm not going to rest or stop! I will see my father again!'

In this desperate condition, only his unyielding faith could fight these calamitous tides.

'Yes! Hahaha… Finally…' Trevor laughed ruthlessly, a spectral humanoid figure then started to gain form, its smile shining like the stars in the sky.

He managed to crack the small planet's core! The black mist was released from its inside. Soon, Trevor sighted the white sky and himself became obscure after being engulfed by the dim nebulae.

Trevor felt his chest tightening as part of the black mist started entering his pores.

The former small planet turned into countless small fragments scattered across this dim nebulae in the white sky. The black parts of this unique painting appeared to be countless spider webs spreading like cancer across the white sky.

If there was someone knowledgeable in astrophysics around, that someone could say that this view closely resembled maps of dark matter. Trevor was amazed by such an anomalous sight, but it was short-lived as he was worried about how to get out of this place.

Still, as soon as Trevor wished to get out of here, he glimpsed his limbs and body falling apart: integrating into the black mist quickly. He didn't even have time to curse someone before his conscience left this place.

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.

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'What a bizarre dream…'

The green-eyed lad looked up at the ash-colored ceiling and frowned. The reminiscence of the events that occurred in the nightmare played in his mind. Everything that had happened was so weird.

'Will this be recurring?' Trevor pondered, touching his lower lips with his left index finger.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing things was the fact that he had the exact same dream twice in a short time, even more so considering that both dreams he had were lucid. Trevor chose to bet it was related to the drug that was injected into him.

'So this is how my longed-for rest comes, through some ridiculous nightmare.' He chuckled at his disgrace. Despite that, he was actually calm in body and relaxed in mind, which made Trevor feel that the nightmare from before wasn't as serious as it had once seemed.

'What time is it now?' He rose from the bed and sat on the edge of it. From that point in the room, the young man could easily see the furniture and other objects that shaped the place where he was staying.

Trevor ran his vision along the walls, before sighing. 'There isn't even a clock. According to my memories, that sort of thing should be easy to find.'

His feet pushed down on the ground, giving Trevor enough support that he could lift himself successfully. Those lower limbs that supported all of Trevor's mass showed good improvement, as he was now able to stand upright without feeling like there was a tingle of fire beneath him.

The imposing silence in the place was overthrown by a loud noise: it decapitated the previous ruler and declared itself the new monarch.

This noise was coming from his feet hitting the ground as they were shod in black boots that had a sole as thick as an ox tongue. In terms of the external appearance of these two boots, any details that caught his attention were missing.

'Fuck.'

A slap echoed softly.

This new sound started a revolt against the current sound ruler: the slap sound then defeated the boot sound and initiated a new disnity within this soundy realm!

'How was I stupid enough to put on my boots and forget to put on my pants first?' Trevor peeled off the boots he had just donned with grudging eyes.

After doing all that, he got up from the bed he was sitting on to put on his boots and headed for the brown closet that was in the corner of the bedroom. Trevor was now rummaging through the pieces of clothing available for him to compose his favorite fashion style: the lazy one.

His smile grew when he noticed that the closet didn't disappoint his expectations. Inside the shelves, Trevor could easily see what he was going to wear since there was nothing but two shirts and a pair of pants. Both pants and shirts were painted with pigments in darker colors such as black and brown.

'But does it matter if I wear pants first before the shirt?' The question that had stunned humanity since garments were invented soon reverberated through the inner walls of Trevor's mind.

'Is it better to wear the shirt first or the pants?' He didn't know the answer either, much to the dismay of the many humans who shared the same pain of seeking this egregious explanation.

Trevor was a simple man. His chest, which was thin as a sheet of paper, was the first target, and it was soon covered by the raw but comfortable fabric that gave him the pleasant sensation of constant warmth. Next to be sheltered by this comfortable warmth were his slender legs that resembled sticks.

'It would be nice if I was hairy.' Trevor thought he felt colder than usual, since the hairs that were supposed to help regulate his body temperature, seemed to have gone on vacation halfway around the world and didn't appear to be back anytime soon.

There was no hair on the surface of his skin.

'And what should I do after that?' He thought to himself as he pulled on his black boots. However, the answer was not easy. Trevor had a consistent goal, an obese determination, but he lacked a smart plan to reach his goals.

Amidst these synapses, two currents of electricity vibrating through his neurons seemed to have crashed together: collapsing into a single word that began to vibrate throughout the rest of his brain.

'Information! I need information about this world. My memories are unreliable.' The case that the clock didn't show up as easily as he'd imagined was something Trevor dismissed earlier as being just a mere isolated case, one that got pushed to the back of his mind without causing ripples in his mental sea.

'But where are those gnarled trees? Where are those little bugs? Were the clothes always so worn and tight?' Cases Trevor has dismissed had sprouted like weeds after a rainy day, once he had started to regard them as flaws.

Still, in the end he shook his head sideways in disagreement.

'Enough of these useless thoughts. I need to meet with Liman and see if he knows anything about my nightmare. As to whether this is all a coincidence or not, I'll know once I retrieve my memories or research more of the current world.' Trevor was now ready, the objects and furniture in the background getting smaller with every step he took.

The door was opened.

From there, Trevor saw the wood-lined hallway again. The potted plants and other decorations were still there. He then headed to the right without bothering to close the door behind him, heading towards the reception of dorm HF-12.

'That's another weird thing. Why are they naming the buildings with acronyms?' No one brought him the answer to such question. Trevor had reached the end of the hall and arrived at his destination.

From Trevor's left, Sarina wearily moved her pen over the yellowed papers with less vigor than before.

"Hello again, Mr Anirth. I see you seem to have rested well." Sarina was distracted to the point of noticing his arrival even before he fully appeared beside her. Luckily, more than half of the papers she had to write were gone.

"Haha, yes. It was great to be able to rest, I was able to sleep peacefully. Speaking of rest, you look so tired I'd feel bad asking you to go to Dr. Liman. Tell me where his room is so I can go there without bothering you."

Sarina smiled. "Thank you Mr. Anirth for your kindness, Dr. Liman should be in the last room on the right hallway, in room 203 if I'm not mistaken." She also saw Trevor returning the smile and saying goodbye, slowly disappearing from her field of vision.

Her pen returned to its original position and continued to slide over the papers.

Time passed and her work seemed about to end for today.

However, Sarina dropped the pen when she realized she had made a mistake. 'Dr. Liman asked me not to be disturbed, but there shouldn't be too much trouble with that, right? After all, he also wanted to see this lad later…'

She then pulled a blue necklace out of one of the drawers next to her.

The shape of this object resembled the outlines of a snowflake.

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.

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"That was easy." Trevor muttered.

He wanted to thank the useless one who left so much work for a single person to handle, but he didn't. Trevor was standing in front of a wooden door, the number 203 embedded in its surface. 'Now, what are you doing in your room alone at this time of night, Dr. Liman?'

Trevor bent one of his knees until it formed a 45 degree angle with the floor. Then his head shifted forward until his right eye was placed in front of the small hole in the door's keyhole.

'What the hell?!' His pupils widened!

Through the dim light coming through the lock on the door, Trevor could see a dark mist covering much of the room, and right in the middle of that room there was a humanoid body being burned by intense fire!