Chapter 4 - The Deadbolt in Pink Space

A small lightbulb flickers in a dark empty room. It is circular and the floor is made of metal plating while the walls are burgundy and smooth and bends around the top to form a dome as a roof. The lightbulb sits in a metal cage hanging off the centre of the dome and flickers rapidly as the room shakes and in a quiet hiss, two people appear suddenly. A tall woman in a heavy white space suit that serves the multipurpose of protection and anonymity. The other is a young girl about sixteen years old who wears a long green sleeved dress, her brown hair tied up in a bun.

The lightbulb ceases flickering as the two begin to talk.

"So then Dahlia, how good are you at understanding things you don't know?" says the suited woman to the young girl.

"I can't quite say Ms. Karnac", Dahlia replied, looking around the room. "Where are we?" she has seen metal obviously but floors made of metal? And what are these walls?

Alice walked towards one of the burgundy walls and proceeded to tap on it. The wall then shifted and began to open out to a perfect oval big enough to fit her.

"We are in the Plane of Dreams, to be more specific, the Deadbolt. It's where we are based." Alice said matter-of-factly. 

Alice walked through and continued chatting whilst leaving Dahlia behind who was still slightly spooked by the shifting door. As Alice gains some distance, Dahlia realises she is being left behind and quickly rushes after her, careful to not touch the burgundy wall. As soon as she steps through the wall closes in on itself leaving behind a blue marble surface.

The hallway Dahlia stepped into is tall and its walls are made of the same glossy blue marble. The roof is domed with a white chalky stone with more caged lights attached to the roof. The floor was a mosaic made of the same burgundy material as the wall but is completely static and solid.

Dahlia chased after Alice who was already halfway down the hall where she continued to explain the Deadbolt.

"You see the Plane of Dreams is a realm of the culminated dreams of all sentient beings across all worlds in the universe. This makes it the only dimension that overlaps with every world all at once in the universal continuum."

"You said you are in a group called the Hencacount? What does that word mean?" pondered Dahlia.

"Hmm? Oh nothing really a word. But we are a supernatural and anomalous monitoring counteragent. Our goal is to keep the crossing of worlds and dimensions to a minimum at all costs in order to maintain the balance in the universal continuum!" Alice professed.

Dahlia felt a bit light headed. Multiple worlds? Univerbal.. continue um? "I am sorry Ms. Karnac but I believe that my knowledge is lacking. I don't understand some of those words."

"Naturally! Having to translate my language to yours and back is quite difficult but I promise you after you receive your initiation you will be running around like the rest of us and before you know it you'll be back with your family in no time!" she laughed.

The two eventually reached a giant set of doors made of the burgundy material. It had no handles or any features. Alice tapped on it with her finger and it quickly threw itself open horizontally. Alice then turned to Dahlia and spoke with an authoritative tone.

"Now. We are about to enter the main floor. Here you will meet the rest of the counteragent. My point is be careful and don't scream, ok Dahlia?"

"Of course Ms. Karnac, I have been taught by one of the best discipline teachers in my kingdom and I am one of the best pupils in the Pilin Academy." Dahlia was confident in her ability to keep her composure. After all, she had hidden her dark gift for years when she was only a young child surrounded by mages and to her, keeping calm was almost an instinct she had.

"Fantastic! Alright let me go see some people before I show you your room." Alice stepped through the door and entered a large atrium made of blue marble with a huge glass bulb of light in the centre of the room lighting it up like a chandelier.

In the atrium were more doors but they were all opened, but more than that there was what appeared to Dahlia was a fancy bar made of a walnut shaded wood with a grand back bar behind it. The floor is now birch planks and there is a soft blue carpet that seems to run from their door to the bar which is directly ahead.

Other carpets go from their carpet to the other doors and there also seems to be a second floor in this atrium which is reached by a set of stairs which sits next to the bar. Fully in appearance the atrium was laid out like a mansion's foyer.

Dahlia walked in and she could hear a distant song being played. It was chipper and used trumpets and other brass instruments to create a very energetic tune. She could also see a dining table, or rather the beginnings of a one being worked on. Currently it is on its side and the sounds of work are heard as the song seems to be coming from there as well.

Alice walked up with Dahlia and she perked up her voice as she spoke to a person behind the table. "I see that you decided on my suggestion for a new dining table?"

The table shook, the person working on it flinched. "You see I have come here with a new member to be added to Hencacount!" Alice looked to Dahlia and she hurriedly stepped forward reaching for the rims of her dress.

In a curtsy and a bow Dahlia presented herself, "My name is Dahlia McDernon daughter of Dylan and Varme McDernon." The figure began to rise up over the table and Dahlia looked up to see their face.

"I sincerely hope that I may show my..." the figure fully stood up and towered over both Dahlia and Alice at 8 feet tall. He was a man with red skin and piercing red irises and his face was in a scowl. "...Dem- *Ahem!*"

The man in full view was muscled and wore a white tank top and black suit pants. His hands were large and had sharp nails at their ends. He had a clean cut square jaw and short grey hairs in a small fluffy bush. Despite the grey hair though he was not old, his skin was smooth, gleamed and was spotless except for some grey arm hair. But what was more striking was the two giant leathery wings which stretched from his shoulder blades and were currently folded.

Dahlia pushed herself to continue despite how intimidating this man was and how he appeared to be already upset over something. "I hope to show my capabilities and provide your 'counteragent' with assistance in exchange for saving myself and my family."

The man looked to Alice and spoke, his voice a deep strong tone that could turn to a growl in an instant. "Rika took the other table. She assumed I was going with your decision."

"I see. Still I imagine it's keeping your hands busy Gregortz!." Alice smiled and looked around the atrium. "Has everyone returned to the Deadbolt?"

"Yes."

"Excellent! I'll send out a call for dinner!" Alice began to walk away with Dahlia towards one of the other doors of the atrium. "Make sure to be there!"

The red man visibly seemed annoyed at the idea as he turned back and got back down to continue working on the table.

Dahlia and Alice walked through a burgundy doorway. Dahlia talked to Alice as they walked. "Did I do something to annoy him? Outside of..."

"Outside of almost calling him a demon? No, it's fine! He gets that shouted at him all the time and it doesn't annoy him. He's just very shy. He'll warm up to you eventually!" The two entered out to a metal catwalk which overlooked a gigantic room that is barely lit by the floodlights above and the sparks below.

The floor beneath them was covered in metal junk and machinery, many of them Dahlia couldn't describe the function of nor would she even understand that they would have a function but what she could see was a giant metal beast. It looked like a spider but had no head and whilst Alice continued to chat, they walked towards a metal cage above it.

"Gregortz is our Chief Security Officer though he sometimes handles constructing some of our furniture. Now we are in the hangar, looking for Rika. She's our mechanic and handles most of our electronic equipment. Oh, you don't know what that word means... well!"

Alice began to explain electronics and machines to the medieval Dahlia who blanked most of it out due to barely following along. The two eventually reached the metal cage that closed in on itself and lowered the two down to where the junk heap was.

Dahlia wondered about the strange contraption she had never seen, but at this point after seeing a man who looked like a demon and walking with a woman who looked like a newt she has already decided to hold in her utter confusion until it is all over. Once they descended, they went towards the metal spider where they could see two people chatting at the legs.

One was a dark skinned girl with long black dreadlocks with burns on the end. She was thin and short and wore a blue jumpsuit partially worn so that it's only on her legs while the rest slacks past her waist. She wore a dark blue long sleeve shirt and was currently chatting with the other person.

While Dahlia never met someone who looks like the jumpsuit girl, she does find familiarity with the other man. At the markets where travelling foreigners would sell items from their distant homelands.

He was an eastern man who appeared to be a young man but on the older side. He had a short black goatee and wore a beige fedora with messy black hair sticking out which reached his chin. He wore a blue button up shirt and had folded under his arm a long beige trench coat. He also had grey suit pants and black shiny leather shoes.

The jumpsuit lady notices the two approach and shouts out to them. "Alice! You're back! With a... princess?". Her voice was very light yet firm. Her face was expressive and seemed to be the kind of person to wear her heart on her sleeve.

"Not a princess, a noble's daughter.", the stylish man said as he turned too to face Alice and Dahlia. "Her appearance is too inexpensive for a princess."

"Correct, you are Tsumi!" Alice looked to Dahlia who prepared to greet them.

Once more Dahlia curtsied with a bow, "I am Dahlia McDernon, only child of Dylan and Varme McDernon. I sincerely hope that I can show you my capabilities and assist in your future endeavours." She finished her curtsy and straightened her back to a perfect posture.

The jumpsuit lady rushed forth to Dahlia and grabbed her hand and shook it with vigour. "My name's Rika, Rika Glitz and wow! You must be our first ever royalty into our group."

The stylish man interjected, "Isn't Lemon also royalty?"

"Not really… she wasn't raised like that as far as I recall." Rika lets go of Dahlia's hand at which the stylish man immediately takes it.

"My name is Hato Tsumi. I'm Hencacount's chief intelligence agent." His voice was not at all like that of the eastern people Dahlia had met. It was in fact an accent she couldn't recognise but it was deep but not brutish like Gregortz. It had an increase in pitch towards the centre of his words. All in all it made his words sound longer and drawn out, almost like a cello.

Dahlia shook his hand, not used to this greeting, and continued, "I apologise at all if ever I seem to be confused or shocked. I have seen more strange things here than I have my entire life."

"Yep," said Rika, her tone light and cheery, "and don't worry! Everyone here was once as shocked as you about 'discovering the great cosmos' when they first joined Hencacount!" 

"Not for me, I was mostly calm with what was going on." Tsumi said.

"Well that's because you were crazy then!" Rika folded her arms as she looked away from Tsumi.

"I'm crazy? Aren't you the one trying to build a giant crab?"

Rika turned around and shouted in annoyance at the man, "It's not a crab! It's a Circular Rotored Autocrawling Bastion!"

"That spells crab, Rika." replied Tsumi. Rika stopped for a moment to think through her words before immediately getting angry again.

"Great! Now I need a new acronym! Now my mech project has been pushed back further!" she whined at the last line as she quickly grabbed a spool of metal fibre lying around on the floor and climbed up the leg, starting to scratch off a marking with the name engraved.

Alice looked to Tsumi, "We will be having dinner later to celebrate our new arrival. Can you inform Lemon and Samuel? I'm taking Dahlia to her room first."

Tsumi put his free hand into his pocket as he replied, "Sure. I need to see Samuel anyway. I got nicked in the shin when I was on Polaris."

"Oh! How was Polaris?" queried Alice. 

"No clear signs of it. Might be easier if we can have someone actually in the classrooms in case it's there but Rika is busy with your project." Tsumi noted. 

"Well I'm sure with Dahlia here we can get in fine!", she gently slapped Dahlia on the back as the girl looked around to try and get context clues.

"I'm sorry, what is it you need me to do?" she questioned.

Tsumi looked at Dahlia up and down, he then looked up for a moment to think, "Might not be easy, it'd depend on what she can do and how good her eyes are."

"Oh Dahlia's power will work well and her perception is, well?" Alice looked to Dahlia to respond to her question.

"I am sorry but I am still unsure what is being talked about here."

Alice pushed Dahlia towards the metal cage again as she shouted back to Tsumi. "Make sure to attend the dinner!"

Dahlia and Alice got back onto the metal cage and it started to rise up again to the level they were on before. Dahlia immediately asked Alice again about what they were talking about.

"Why Dahlia, we were talking about your first mission!" Alice exclaimed.

"How? I haven't… I don't even know what I'm doing, I haven't even been here an hour!" she exclaimed.

"Oh don't worry," the cage stopped and Alice got off followed by Dahlia, "It is still a bit before you need to go! By the time you leave the Deadbolt again, you will be ready for almost anything! To a degree..."

Alice and Dahlia continued to a burgundy door which led them back to the atrium. The trumpet sounds are still heard as Gregortz is still working on the table, though it is much closer to completion. Alice guided Dahlia towards a different door and they ended up in another blue marble corridor, this time with a blue carpet floor similar to the atrium. There were many burgundy doors along the corridor.

"Just down here should be a free room for you.. here!" Alice stood at one of the burgundy doors in the hallway.

Alice tapped on the door like many before and it opened horizontally, allowing the two to enter. The room was expansive with birch plank flooring and a wooden double bed. A dresser sat across from it and atop it was Dahlia's bags which were moved here a few days ago by Alice.

There was a door to the side with a bathroom within complete with a shower, a bathtub and a sink. At the furthest end of the room, the wall was made of glass in a huge window and behind the glass was a pink expanse that stretched endlessly. 

Dahlia looked around the room, curious to find out what all of the things here she couldn't recognise do. She stopped to look out the glass wall window, out to the pink expanse.

"What is that out there?" she wondered.

"That is outside the Deadbolt. Oh, it isn't actually behind the glass, it's just projecting an image of what's outside." Alice stood next to Dahlia. "You can change what you see if you wish. You'll need to be recognised by the Deadbolt first before you can do that."

"Is that how you are able to move those strange moving walls?"

"Oh the dreamweave? Yes! We have been trying to limit how much the Deadbolt is made of it though as you can see by the walls we've put down. Gregortz and Lemo-, actually just Gregortz, has been looking into making some floors for the hallways."

The two stood for a while and looked out to the pink nothingness. Dahlia thought about how unreal this all is. Not only has she found out about other worlds but other realities? And now she must go into them to find ways to become strong enough to protect herself and her family... 

Can I get stronger? Dahlia spent the last five years of her life strengthening her dark gift only for it to fail at doing the one thing she wanted it to.

Can I get stronger?

"I will. I know I will."