What is a dream? A quirk of consciousness, a divine insight, a brief hallucination, or another life lived before one's wake? Oyodo did not know the answer. Neither she knew if what she was seeing was a true dream or simply a temporary projection created by her core. She sat on a bench on a cliff, overlooking a sea of lush green, the wind making waves on the grass, this field stretching over to the horizon and beyond. She could not tell if she were close or far from the sea, and somehow she didn't want to stand up and walk to find out. She chose to simply sit still and admire this beauty. All mental models were created to copy and mimic humans, to try and adapt their thinking and their tactics to achieve ultimate victory for the Fog. But Oyodo was different. A namesake of a command vessel from the old war, she was specifically designed to study humans and provide insight. Her intended purpose was not to fight, but to observe. Collect data. Run comparisons. Or so she thought, until she went down in a violent storm, all alone, never reaching her next destination. Through her observations, she obtained more and more human characteristics than she hoped for, one of which is an eye for beauty. And so, she chose to sit and watch, endlessly, at this waving sea of grass, glistening in bright sun. She couldn't tell how much time she spent in this perfect harmony until she noticed something was off. The cool breeze on her cheek suddenly gone, the wind, stopped. The lush greenery she so dearly admired started turning gray from the horizon. Out of nowhere, with each blink she made, stones appeared from the grass, filling the field, one row at the time. Somewhere deep inside her, she almost understood it was her doing. Or it wasn't yet, but soon will. Or it could be. She was not sure. As the last row approached the cliff, she stood up from her bench and looked down the cliff. She could see it was tombstones now, but no names were written on them. And suddenly, the darkness came.

Oyodo woke up in a brightly lit room, surrounded by people in sickeningly-white clothes. Doctors, her experience told her. Or scientists, perhaps? Everyone had this look of bewilderment on their faces. Some were smiling, though, one of them was this man, staring right at her face. His face was a bit old, but not quiet. Late 40's, Oyodo tried to guess. In any other case, she would have used her immense computational abilities as a Fog ship to determine almost every aspect of this man, but Oyodo knew she couldn't. She never knew this feeling before, but everything was telling her she was low on nanomaterial. She couldn't do her tricks anymore, couldn't summon even basic weapons, couldn't summon her ship body. All that she had gave the impression that her nanomaterial supply was coldly calculated exactly to keep up her mental model and cognitive abilities. She stood up and tried to move, scaring a few men, but leaving the one who approached her unfazed. She fell.

"Whoa-whoa, lady, easy there!" The man said, extending his hand, gesturing Oyodo to take it. She did not refuse. English, she recalled. As she got up, still holding this man's hand, she asked.

"Where am I and who are you?"

The man's smile grew even wider. "You can talk!" he exclaimed, turning around to address his supposed colleagues. "She talks, everyone! She moves, she talks, she thinks! She asked me questions! I think it's safe to say that our little operation was a success! Now all of you may go, though I'm sure you all are excited to stay and watch, we've a protocol here. I can assure you, everyone will get a chance at speaking with her, but for now I must address her questions and run some more tests on her basic functionality before we proceed any further. I'm sure you'll understand. As I promised, we will be holding a banquet for our success tomorrow, so you might as well start preparing!"

Disappointed and grumpy, the staff began to leave through the only door to this room, with the man turning around to address the patient Oyodo.

"Now, my dear, my name is Sebastian Carols, and you are aboard the glorious Horizon 6 station!"

"Station?" Oyodo asked. "Under the sea? Or how far are we inland?"

"Inland!" Sebastian exclaimed, before bursting into cheerful laughter. "Inland, that she said! No, dear. We're neither on land, nor are we under the sea, but details, details. Details could wait! Carefully now, follow me, we'll run some basic tests to assess your current state, and I'll explain everything to you later."

With the waving gesture, the man called her over to a small circle on the ground.

"Now stand here, darling, spread your arms."
Oyodo did what he asked. Peculiar machine rose from the floor. A metallic tube surrounded her, flashed a light, and then went down.

"Okay, now look up. U-huh. Down. Now left. Right. Touch your nose"

Oyodo followed orders again.

"Okay, you're all set! I think the protocol tells to run more and more tests, but you're a mental model after all, I don't think we need to. Heck, we don't even have to calibrate you, you seem totally fine to me! Now stay here for a while."

Sebastian retreated from the room, leaving Oyodo for alone for a while. She noticed she was just standing there, completely naked. Not that she cared, but she the man didn't seem to mind it either. Or did he? Taking her time, she looked around the room. Most of it were scientific equipment, with no chairs or benches, and a lot of control panels. In the center, where she woke up, a large machine was mounted on the ceiling. She guessed this is what was used to bring her back from her "dream". After a while, Sebastian returned, holding a set of fresh clothes to his chest with one arm, and a small chair with the other.

"Here. Take a seat, get changed. Can't have you walking around the station like that, flashing your valuables and all."

Her clothes were rather plane, and it seemed they were more suited for a male. A pair of khaki jeans, some basic underwear (thankfully for women), a gray military t-shirt, with what she presumed to be Human Armed Forces insignia, and a deep brown turtleneck sweater.

"Was it done on purpose?"
"What?"
"Your body. Was it made this curvaceous on purpose? You were intended to seduce humans?"
Oyodo thought. She wasn't sure why herself. She wasn't sure it was safe to share her guesses with humans, her being on the opposite side after all. But this Sebastian seemed to pay no mind to the fact that he was facing the enemy. He was strangely relaxed, and honestly, she would have attacked him were it not for his unusual hospitality. She decided that if she is to get out of here, she had to earn his trust. She was weak and helpless after all. And she also started dressing up.

"Not really sure. My purpose was to observe you. Infiltrate your society at some occasions. I was made into an expert at gathering info. How your society works. Relationships. Customs. Rules. Interactions."

"Interesting. So, this form was supposed to ease that process, I guess… Oh dear. Dressed already! We figured we shouldn't give you any more of nmat than we did, in case you decide to exchange your clothes for a weapon. I'm sure you understand the precautions."

"I do. Now where to, Sebastian?"

Sebastian contemplated for a while, Oyodo waited. Patience, as some humans said, is among the best virtues.

"Well, I suppose we should get you a security clearance of some level, so you can travel with some relative freedom. No restricted areas, but you should be able to walk along the general quarters…"

But Sebastian was unable to finish. A sharp shriek of emergency alarm interrupted him. The speaker spoke with a voice of a very worried and very young man.

"This is control tower, we have code red, I repeat, code red! Horizon 6 is under attack from unknown hostiles. This is not a drill! We are under siege!"

"Well, Oyodo, I think plans just changed. Follow me." Sebastian opened the door with his cardkey and waved Oyodo to follow. She could read an expression of worry on his face. They followed few corridors, taking turns here and there, until they finally arrived to a room that loosely resembled a decontamination area Oyodo seen at several human naval bases.

"Now careful darling, we only got a centrifuge installed for this section, darn things are expensive." As Sebastian stepped into the room, he suddenly flew up a tiny bit, grabbing the nearest railing on the wall. Oyodo followed him in, without asking any questions, and felt a strange sensation. It was as if she suddenly lost all the weight she had to her body, or rather, she stopped feeling the pull beneath her feet. Zero g, she figured. What in the world was happening right now?

"Okay, when I open this door, we're in the military zone. Follow me, don't ask questions, don't hesitate, just follow me closely and you will be alright."

Sebastian punched in some code at the panel in the opposite exit, and large, metal doors closed behind her. After a brief steam shower, which Oyodo though was a dcon, another door opened. And she couldn't believe her eyes. Before her, lied a long corridor, two sides of which were covered in thick glass. Right outside, she had seen an installation floating in nothingness. Behind it, a black canvas, painted with bright white dots. Space, Oyodo thought. She's in space. She stared at this scene in total disbelief. This could not be right. She heard that humans could launch satellites into space. She heard that before the Fog came, humans used to launch limited parties into space and to Earth's closes satellite, Moon. But this… if what they used to do was ugly, cumbersome capsules with no more than five-ten humans, how much technological advancement had to happen for humans to build such a thing? Now she understood. This wasn't underwater or land station. This was a space station, and as she looked through the other window, she realized even more bizarre thing. There was a planet visible on the other side. And it didn't look like anything she had seen in human science books. This wasn't Solar System. Not at all.

"Don't just stand there, keep up!" Sebastian's voice reached her. She grabbed another railing, and gently pushed herself forward. As she flew through this umbilical, she noticed small explosions and what seemed to be outlines of ships of some sort. Space ships. There was a battle going on, and it was close.

"Come, hurry up!" Sebastian tried to speed her up. Oyodo begun putting even more effort into propelling herself, gaining momentum. "Be careful not to overdo it, with this nanomaterial levels you're not going to take damage lightly!"

"Is this why you told me to follow you without questions? Where are we going?"
"We're going where it's safe, I don't think we have much time left, so would you please stop asking me around and just follow me?"

She nodded. Not that she had much choice. The PA system was busy with chatter. Various names and ranks popped, people were called in and out of their posts, station was at full alert. Suddenly, a violent twitch shook the station. Sebastian's expression turned dead grim.
Somewhere, in the distant, but not that far away, a drilling sound could be heard.
"Boarding parties. Crap. We're quickly running out of options." Sebastian explained, as he carefully took turn after turn in this bizarre maze. The farther they went into the station, the more of personnel she could see, but all of them paid the duo no mind. They were busy with more important things. The smell of burning rubber and fried metal filled the air. It was obvious that this station was already compromised, and possibly for good. Oyodo though about her plan, and she could think of none. She was alone, trapped in an unknown place, far away from Earth. Far away from her fleet. Her fate depending on one fragile human, and she was no better. Limited, vulnerable, confused. This wasn't the state Fog ships were familiar with.

After some time, they stumbled upon several bodies lying on the ground, their uniforms resembling those who they met on the way here. Light combat armor. Security, perhaps. All dead, but their weapons left lying beside the corpses. Sebastian took a tactical vest from one of the bodies and handled it to Oyodo.

"Here. Take this on. And pick up a rifle. You'll need it to protect yourself."
"Can't you just take me to the nanomaterial storage so I can replenish it and just fight them with what I have?" Oyodo asked a rightful question. The tide had turned. She was sure both understood that giving her access to her abilities increased their chances of survival.

"You see, about that… Your nanomaterial levels… well, I lied. It's not as much of a precaution as it a limitation of your core. When we found you on the seabed back on Earth, you were so deep down that your core was damaged, in a way. You can take all the nanomaterial you want, but you won't be able to hold it. In addition to you buying certain ability uses with it, it just kind of slips away naturally, at an alarming rate. What you have now is indeed a bare minimum for the security, but even if I to give you nanomaterial, you're almost at your threshold. You can store some more, but not much more. And I'm afraid that means you're as vulnerable as I or any other human are."

She contemplated, for a moment. And took that rifle.

"You should be safe, if you remember some basic rules. You can't protect yourself against extreme heat, extreme cold, low pressure, high pressure, physical damage, chemical damage, EMPs. You can take a certain amount of damage, much-much more than a human can, but still very little if you compare yourself to your sisters. So, watch out. What you have can power your body enough to restore any damage, but it will take some time. Take too much, and you will be reduced to your core and run full autistic. You don't want that to happen to you, not right now".

She could do nothing but agree. This was her reality now, and she had to cope with it. She had no orders, possibly no one to take those orders from, and for the first time she felt this strange sensation of being free. Of being able to decide on her fate herself. But Sebastian sounded like he knew about other fog ships. Was there a version of the Fog that exists to this day? Or was he referring to other ships, just like her, found somewhere on Earth? Oyodo though about this, as she followed Sebastian around corridors that seemed endless. If she was free now, was it a wise idea to search for the others? It seemed to her, that if she was so far ahead in the future, there was no point for her to pursue her orders anymore. Maybe it was best to take this freedom for yourself and see what this world had to offer to her? It sure seemed exciting. If this station wasn't in Solar System, then humans found a way to make their spaceships go beyond their home system. Endless world was awaiting, if she could only drop her allegiance to the Fog and grab that freedom. The though she may have found repulsive back on Earth, but right now it sounded so compelling she couldn't resist it.

"You said there were other Fog ships?" Oyodo asked, carefully.

"Yes, there are. Not much is known about the previous Fog wars, we kind of screwed our planet up, sans the interstellar expansion, but after almost five hundred years, the Fog appeared again. Though, this time, we could fight it well, and right now we should have been in a peace treaty."

"Should have been? You implying this is Fog's doing?"
"I initially presumed so. But after hearing boarding equipment… Fog doesn't send boarding parties. They have mental models, but they never tried to board a station or a ship before as an act of assault. They usually just destroy ships, or wait until we surrender to board and negotiate. If this is indeed Fog, we're seeing some new shit tonight."

"Tonight? How do you tell the time of the day?"

Sebastian turned around to face her after he made another puss of the railing, and pulled his sleeve. A PDA was wrist-mounted to his hand.

"I have a clock. We're not living under a rock, you know."
"Figures. Where are we headed now?"

"Bridge. It's much-much safer there and… Holy shit"

Sebastian opened another door and stopped. Some unidentified men, roughly counting nine were standing in a large hall, in the uniform Oyodo hasn't seen here yet. They were overlooking corpses of the security staff lying on the floor. Upon noticing the duo, one of them quickly exclaimed "It's her!" and everyone suddenly opened fire. Without hesitating, Oyodo gave her weapon a quick look and after guessing how to operate it, returned fire. To the best of her abilities, she popped in and out of the cover, marking hit after hit, until a group she now counted as twelve were all dead. In the heat of the battle, she didn't notice that Sebastian didn't manage to get into cover in time. She overestimated his reflexes, or perhaps underestimated hers. Only now she found him, lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. Oyodo gave his wound a look. It was bad. Relying on her knowledge of human anatomy, she deducted that Sebastian didn't have much time left. She leaned on him. Coughing, he looked back at Oyodo and slowly begun talking.

"Hey, ugh, lift me up. We should find me some Insta-patch, quick. Come one, give me a hand…" Oyodo tried to lift him up, which brought only more pain to him. She didn't know why, but somehow she didn't want to tell him the truth. She felt a mix of thoughts running through her head. A liquid came from under her eye. Was this sadness that humans always referred to? But she was above that. What must be done, must be done.

"I'm sorry, old man." She didn't know why she said sorry, but humans find it appropriate. "I don't think you'll make it."

"I see." Sebastian looked sad. Struggling, he slowly took his PDA off his wrist. "Here. Take this. There is some useful info there, maybe. This hall, there's a door right on the opposite end. Take a few more right turns, there's an elevator there. Use my card. You can take it up, straight to the bridge. Tell them… Tell them I sent you. They'll know what to do." He coughed again. "And tell them to find my daughter, Samantha. Please. She was somewhere with the students who came for a practice cruise. I only, only pray they are okay. That she is okay…".

Oyodo took the PDA and his card that he offered, and held his hand. She tried to direct some heat into it. Humans were supposed to be warm. She pulled all the knowledge she had on human death. It told her humans like closure in their final moments. This man brought her back into existence, so she figured she should return the favor, somehow.

"I can see you trying. But the wound… god, the pain…"

The wound was fatal, transporting him wasn't an option, would bring even more pain and even quicker death. But she couldn't leave him in such state either. If left here, he would slowly die, bleeding, feeling all this pain. She never knew pain, but the look on Sebastian's face told her everything. Was this tears she felt on her face? Why? Mustering all her strength, she stood up, took her rifle and aimed. Then closed her eyes and remembered that field from her "dream" again. Thirteen tombstones had names now, all freshly engraved. She couldn't make twelve of them, but the last one she could read. "Sebastian Carols" was written on it. She pulled the trigger. And the thunder filled the hall.