Face-down on his control panel, he dreamt of his wife in a strange world:
A singular sun occupied the cloud-rich sky as she approached across a field of knee-high grass. They were surrounded by rolling hills that extended toward the horizon and met the grey sky above. In a long white dress, she dazzled in contrast to the deep green landscape. Her chestnut hair was tousled in a gust of wind that carried her scent to his nose. This scent, forever ingrained in his mind, was associated with love. Her beauty was enchanting, but the sun broke through the clouds, obscuring his vision. She appeared in a haze.
Is...is that really you?
"You must save her."
The words she spoke came to him in a whisper yet thundered within his head.
Her?
His thoughts went to his daughter. Memories of a laughing baby girl swept over him. Images lost during the CRITICAL ERROR surfaced in the forefront of his mind, and a warm sense of hope rose through his core. Saving her, however, was an impossibility. His daughter had died nearly a decade ago when his experiment was just a concept – years before this journey began. Like the death of any child, hers felt unfair. She was the light of her parent's life, beaming with intelligence and grace. Both parents were devastated. But his wife blamed herself, and took her own life several days later.
He had convinced himself that her suffering ended with this mortal decision. Now, neither mother or daughter rested in peace. Their world was destroyed, and their remains were now wandering endlessly throughout the cosmos. Perhaps that is peaceful. His dream drifted on:
She's gone. You're gone.
"You must save her."
The glare strengthened as she continued her approach. His eye struggled to gain perception, but his sight met hers and adjusted to see not one, but two eyes staring back. His stomachs dropped and his breath shortened as he struggled to interpret this distorted version of her once familiar face.
What...what happened to you?!
"You must save her."
Her image sharpened further, and he could now see that the figure in front of him could not be his wife. An alien creature with one too many eyes, two missing legs, and skin devoid of any color continued its slow march in his direction. A red bloom of blood began to flourish and stain the white dress between her legs – her two legs.
Stay back!
"You must save her."
He moved to run, but his feet did not follow. Looking down, he found the lush greenery gone, and all four legs now encased in concrete up to his shins. The emerald field had been replaced by a wasteland of this artificial rock, which was flanked by stalks of dying brown grass that reached well above his head. To his rear, a towering structure extended higher than his eye could comprehend, and cast a lengthy shadow across his periphery. He made out that he was standing in what appeared to be an enormous cul-de-sac filled with houses so huge that they could only have been built for giants by giants. In all the years spent floating across the infinite, he had never felt more minuscule than he did right now.
His discombobulation re-centered onto the oncoming monster. With each step her height rose, and she too began to tower over him. Closer and completely in focus, he saw her bottom half was now saturated in crimson. She reached toward him with a pale white hand, and as her grotesque fingers neared, a bead of blood pooled on the bottom hem of her dress. The bead, larger than his entire body, dripped in a sluggish release and the drop crashed onto his head.
"Save her."
He awoke with a gasp, drenched with sweat, to discover his cockpit illuminated by a resurgent control panel, music blaring, and an entire universe of starlight shining through his fully transparent windows.
