The Island of The One Sought- Part 4

The Mechanic sees a rune flash inside her head. "That's the signal!" She makes her way above decks, shouts to her crew about her leg of the mission having begun, and then disembarks along the gangplank.

The shoreline is foreign to her. She is used to the clutter of the underbelly of the ship, but still she makes her way along it. The cool of the night contrasts the warmth of the sand well, and provides some difference in sensation for the journey. Still, each step feels labored in its monotony, and so her mind starts to wander. Suddenly, she feels herself generate a rune of her own. 

Just like that she is in a facility. It seems welcoming, though intentionally sterile. There is something... missing about it. Her mind starts to run at a million miles per hour, but only briefly. I suddenly walk in, as if drawn to the diaspora and her need for a partner, and she relaxes to a degree. It is as if the flywheel of her mind has a counterpart to lock into, someone running at the same speed. We talk for hours and even days as the image continues, until the rune burns out. Very little is left of the specifics of our conversation, just the warmth and synchronized nature of it.

She finds herself back on the beach, right where she left off, but it is markedly colder. She shivers in the night. I walk up behind her with a jacket and put it over her shoulders. "You came!" Expectedly, by this point, she does not reply but insteads pulls the jacket tightly around herself. I rub her arms to increase the warmth of it and finish with "I am so glad you came." We stand like this for a couple minutes, her not turning to look back at me, knowing me by my voice. Finally, she turns. 

Upon our eyes meeting, even in the dark, a rune lights up in both of our minds. It is the next dream, despite already being in one. There is a decoherence in the signal, however, like we are experiencing this moment in different ways. Still, we are connected, despite everything, and I start to feel like this connection is permanent and fundamental. It is like I'm being reminded of our connection through this experience, moreso than experiencing something new. The dream flashes in narrative sense for me- not pulling me out of this moment- seemingly of these days upcoming. It Is as if she needed me to return in order to synchronize once more, and then separate for both of our sakes. This is quite fitting of The Mechanic, I consider. Finally, the narrative sense is too much to handle while dreaming, and I shoot up in bed. Despite this shocking wake up, I smile, and turn back over to write down what I've experienced. 

"Rune by shining rune

The Mechanic and I watch

As meetings take place

As the dreams go by

We find ourselves narrating

From behind/within the scenes

I'm in it with you

Do you feel me crafting runes 

Happenstancedly?

Would you teach me how? 

I would love to dream with you

On purpose, in full.

For now we pass by

In ways like ships in the night

Not yet finding shore 

Yet in other ways

I have found shoreline with you

Here upon the page

So I will take heart

As long as it's still beating

That you are coming

When titles ill fit

You and I will cast them off 

And roll/bathe in the sand/sea."

"Uniquely we merge, remerge, and emerge

These circuitous paths all lead to here

This will be rebirth, we are on the verge

The stakes never higher nor made more clear. 

For only our sake's, we'll finish the race

Where lesson of metal merges with yeast

A watch showing plain The Bard's Clock's last face

Crystallizing time's distance to The East

Life's machinations in this tight machine

One will feel one's own judgement in the end

The Way thought endless propped up by regime

Forgiven for the rest by a true friend

The cost is what it is; we'll set right

The Bard's Tongue, a true dream dreamt by midnight."

"The final preparations have been made. I was able to re-establish the runic connection with him without issue." The Crew knows that she had plenty of time to talk with him during these nested dreams, and there is the typical jealousy aroused in these meetings. It is muted by excitement this time, however, as they each know that this was the final step in connecting with him in full. "All that's left is to connect in his waking world."