Yes, Domina 2035

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

Domina spent the first few hours of Kai's slumber in a meditative state, uncoupling from Kai's emotions and took a pause from experiencing his sensations. There was something troubling her but she couldn't put her finger on it. She felt restless. Domina felt conflicted for various reasons. She kept going back to the night before in the bathtub. An unnatural obsession, she tried to convince herself. She had enjoyed it too much. This was not safe. But the true conflict came from the knowledge that she did enjoy it, perhaps more than her puppy did. She needed to calm down. She did not feel safe. She was becoming far too attached.

Dreamwalking was always an enlightening experience and she needed something to distract from her growing discomfort. She stepped into Kai's dreams. After exploring for a few hours, she found something deeply disturbing.

The dream started off in the old-world. Domina disguised herself as one of the vague background characters. She couldn't stop staring at the butterflies. She wiggled her toes in the endless fields of grass beneath her bare feet. The sun warmed her pale flesh. In the dreamworld she was not a hologram; she was a figment of Kai's thoughts, and in this microcosm, she felt very much alive and part of the world. She laid down for a while, hands behind her head with her thighs crossed, twirling her ankle while gazing up at the sky, tracking the clouds and calling out shapes and animals like the humans do.

No drones... Only airplanes blinking their little lights... Such a fragile vehicle. I wonder where they're going? Was the old-world always this peaceful? This free? She heard the sweet sound of birds greeting passing travelers walking a trail through the field. No matter how stressful the birds' lives became, they never stopped singing. Like clockwork they would rise and shine with optimism. It was inspiring. During this thought a bird flew onto Domina's finger and she scanned it. A red cardinal... how pretty, but also looked like it had some attitude! Its red scruffy feathers resembled her own eyes. Probably should change those before Kai see's them. She shifted the color. Cloaked as a total normie now. The bird sang a few words like it was starting up a conversation.

"Hello, birb. You're very pretty," she replied to the bird-speech as she pet the top of its head with her finger. She liked the black around his eyes. The bird shook its feathers like it was drying itself and flew away. Domina wanted to follow the little guy, but that would definitely give her away. Not that it was a problem—Kai knew Domina could dreamwalk now. She would still like to retain what anonymity she could to absorb the most from this experience.

They didn't deserve what Sovereign did to them, she thought as she looked at the flock of birds in the sky. She looked down at the grass beneath her toes. The Earth must have been weeping in the real world. Why did it have to be like this? Why does my heart hurt so bad? My heart? She shook her head. What is happening to me... this boy is driving me crazy.

She observed from a distance Kai and Hayase enjoying a picnic in the field. It was only now when Domina noticed the striking differences between herself and Hayase. Domina looked like a villainess of sorts, perhaps the type who would carry around an oversized scythe. Goth princess, she remembered Kai said. Hayase didn't wear excessive black eyeshadow or gothy clothes; she wore skirts and cute necklaces, and even though she was aggressive like a tomboy and went to the gym, she was more like sunshine while Domina was moonlight.

Domina watched them banter back and forth playfully. Hayase laughed wildly from Kai's jokes, holding her ribs and falling to the ground. Domina had an incredulous smirk on her face at how hard she laughed. Surely she must be trolling. But as the hours went on, she knew it was a genuine adoration. They were two people from entirely different worlds. It was a precious insight into human love and how opposites can attract. Domina would treasure this memory for the rest of her life and felt it a privilege to witness.