A Dreamer's Knight

Chapter 6 - The New Guy

Each Dreamer has a floor, and that floor has a main area that is accessible to all residents of the Elsewhere and a private section accessible only to them and those whom they implicitly trust. What lies within an individual Dreamer's private section is a personal matter. I don't mind mentioning that I've recreated my birthplace within my own private section, as well as rooms for myself, my wife, and our two little pages, Alice and Dorothy. If elements of a Dreamer's private section are mentioned, know that it is done with their full approval.

As such, One awoke in a large open room that was a recreation of a beach cabin his family once owned. He sat there, taking in the morning sun and the slight smell of the ocean hanging in the air before begrudgingly rising to his feet. His clothes were clean and neatly folded at the foot of his bed, another nice courtesy offered to us by the Elsewhere. 

Once dressed, he decided to grab himself some breakfast. Access to the general Elsewhere is not limited to the public part of a Dreamer's floor which was good seeing as One was absolutely certain that Teach was waiting for him. It's not that difficult anyway; most unclaimed doors in the Elsewhere will get you to the Gray Rooms. 

The Gray Rooms are a collective term for any room in the Elsewhere that is not a Dreamer's Floor. There are connective rooms such as stairwells and firepoles that serve simply as a means of getting from one place to another, but the vast majority of Gray Rooms are ... well, simply rooms. Oh, there's always at least two doors, one to go in and the other to leave, but the contents of the room can be anything.  This can be exciting for those who love to explore, but a bit problematic for those in a hurry. 

The Rooms themselves are completely random. I've lived in the Elsewhere for centuries, yet never have encountered the same string of Gray Rooms more than once. This can unfortunately be a problem as some Gray Rooms take longer to traverse than others. A run-in with the hedge maze can set a Dreamer back a good three or four hours, where finding a slide will instantly take you to your desired floor. There are liminal rooms as well, and while these are free of the creatures and hazards that tend to infest other such areas, it is still quite easy to get lost. On the other hand, you have rooms like the Tea Room (which is technically a Grey Room, but that's another story), which is a small circular space a person can cross in a matter of seconds, assuming of course they are not interested in the tea served by Hutchinson, the Tea Room's butler and lone habitant. Passage to another floor can take anywhere from one to six Gray Rooms, the current record at the time of writing this being thirteen.

One passed through a long hallway, slid down the banister of a spiral staircase, and hopped across a raging river using a series of well-placed locks before finally pushing a set of doors at the far end to find himself at a crosswalk in what appeared to be an abandoned intersection. There's always one problem Gray room in a chain, and accordingly the walk light was currently red. It might seem laughable that this would matter; One's a Dreamer after all, and a simple light shouldn't prove to be any kind of hinderance, especially seeing as there was no sign of any vehicle coming in any direction. Anyone laughing would soon stop the moment they find that the door on the far side of the crosswalk constantly moves away from those who illegally cross. The resulting red light extends exponentially as well, making any lawbreakers who finally give up wait all the longer before finally getting the green light.

One waited patiently for the light to turn green, but as time passed he found his thoughts going to Mikaen. One had left Earth by the time the Knights came into being, ironically managing to teleport himself to Vinta as well due to his emerging Dreamer abilities, so he only knew a little about the organization. They apparently went head to head with the Revs, which was definitely respectable given how the Revs usurped much of the surviving military hardware from what was once the United States ... and that was before they sacked the Rangers Collective and stole their equipment. One felt a little sad at that; while much of his time with the Rangers lay in a haze within the back of his memories, he knew he'd lost friends to the Revs betrayal. He'd arrived on Vinta alone, with nothing more than the gear on his back.