Cloud Chasers

eighteen | I'll try living like this [pt. one]

It all made sense. The longest hypnagogia session ever, the struggle to fight her own mind, the running in the dark toward the light.

It made sense that, after all they'd been through, they were back to their reality. As much as Joyce couldn't believe it was physically possible to fall asleep in one world and wake up in another, there they were, and it made sense.

It all made sense, until they saw Mac Tonight standing there, on Edysium, in broad daylight, in real life.

"Oh my God, no," Joyce said, unable to blink, her arms wrapped around her belly. The sound of her heartbeat thrashed in her ears.

"What..." Chase said, his lips trembling. "What's Mac Tonight doing here? What's that mean?"

The moon man took a step forward, hands still in his pockets. Joyce backed away in quick, jerky steps.

"It's impossible," she said, shaking her head, "it worked... we're back... you can't be here."

Chase clutched at his throat. "Something went wrong," he said, gasping for air.

Mac Tonight got his hands out of his pockets and they both flinched. He slowly brought them onto his moon head and pulled, trying to detach his head from his body.

Chase and Joyce stared in petrified silence, their eyes bulging and their skin clammy.

He managed to rip the moon head off his body. Behind it, was the face of the Max Headroom wannabe.

As he threw Mac Tonight's head on the ground, Joyce refused to believe her eyes. A real life version of that AI character from TV was standing before her, in person.

"That-that's him," Chase said, pointing his shaky finger at him, "that's the guy who sold me the Wave."

The man took off his sunglasses, and for a moment Joyce thought she saw Peter Charming in his dark eyes.

"Name's Niko," the man said with a deep voice, raising a single brow.

Joyce had to admit he did look like an older Peter Charming, which sent chills running down her spine.

"Niko? How many names do you go by?" Chase said.

Niko brought an open hand in front of his face to cover it, then dragged it away to reveal a smirk. "No more masks," he said, "and, for the love of god, calm down, guys. Yes, you are back to your reality. No, you're not imagining things."

Neither of them could take their eyes off him.
"You should see the looks on your faces. Oh, wait..." He snapped his fingers and a couple of mirrors appeared in his hands. "Here they are," he said, as the mirrors showed a close-up of their terrified faces.

"What's this supposed to mean?" Joyce asked, staring unblinkingly at him. "This doesn't seem like reality. You couldn't be doing what you're doing in the real world. Are we in the Lobby or something?"

He let go of the mirrors and they disappeared before they hit the ground.

"Reality is as much a construct as the Lobby is," he said and brought a hand over his open mouth, his eyebrows raised in sarcastic surprise.

"Who exactly are you?" Chase asked.

Every time Niko blinked, he'd do it twice in rapid eye movements. "Who am I? That makes me sad." He pouted. "I thought you knew. I'm the creator of the Lobby."

Joyce gulped. "How did you create it?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets," he said with a wry smile. "Just know that if you elevate yourself, you can be in control of..." He brought his hand to the side of his mouth. "Everything," he whispered.