Standalone
Chapter One: Dream Sequence

"You see, the fingertips can extend into chains with spiked tips, so it's very efficient for both grabbing and attacking. They also come with ends shaped like axes for a stronger attack. The legs can also extend into chains for a quick getaway. And the best part is, it doesn't even need a partner to assist it; maximum efficiency for the maximum yield!"

"An autonomous weapon? That hardly seems like maximum efficiency; it can't perform Soul Resonance with a single soul, can it?"

"Its strength far outweighs the need to perform Soul Resonance."

"I'm not sure I really buy that. I'm not even sure this is a good idea. I mean, it seems a little shady, and what would the kids think?"

"Don't worry. It knows you'll accept it eventually."

"Oh, it 'knows' does it?"

"Yes. It knows. It always knows."

***

FWINNG!

The sharp blade passed so close to Soul's face that it managed to graze it, leaving a tiny cut line no thicker than a sheet of paper. Soul immediately woke up, yelped and tumbled from his seat. The classroom burst into laughter; Maka sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"The next time you fall asleep in my class I can't guarantee you'll get away with such a small scratch," muttered Dr. Stein, "Now, if we can get back to the lesson, we see that that…"

Soul stumbled to get back into his seat, pressing his hand against the thin cut in his cheek to stop the bleeding.

"Damnit…" he groaned. Maka rolled her eyes.

"This is proof that you just can't stay up all night, Soul," she said in a wise tone of voice. Soul scoffed.

"Oh please," he said, "You were up 'til 1:00 last night reading! How do justify that?"

"And how, exactly, would you know when I went to bed?" Maka said smartly. Soul tried to come up with a response, but just wound up scoffing again.

The bell rang, ushering Soul and Maka out of the classroom and out into the courtyard in front of the school, where the students had a habit of congregating after their final class. Maka was alert and chipper, but her companion Soul was lagging and sleepy, his steps slow and lethargic.

"So, our essay on inhuman weapons is due next Thursday," said Maka as they headed out towards their apartment, "I don't know if it's a good idea, but do you think we should try and interview Crona? After all, we don't know anyone else with an inhuman weapon, right?"

"Myeh…" grunted Soul. Maka looked at him curiously, but kept walking.

"There's a sale at the bakery today," she said, "Do you want any pretzel bread?"

"Mmph…" Soul groaned again. Maka gave him another curious look, but he continued to stare at the ground, his hat pulled over his eyes.

"So I heard Black Star and Tsubaki were making out in the bathroom yesterday," Maka said casually.

"What!?" Soul blurted. He turned his head in surprise and tripped on a slanted brink, landing face-first on the pavement. Maka snickered quietly as he rose to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose.

"Just seeing if you were paying attention," said Maka, "Clearly you weren't."

"That's not funny!" snapped Soul, which only made Maka snicker more. The two proceeded in silence for a while until they were right outside their apartment's door.

"Hey, Soul," said Maka, "do your remember the dream you had today?"

"Huh?" the weapon said, "What, you mean when I was sleeping class?"

"I, for one, don't typically remember my dreams when I'm not sleeping in my own bed. Do you?" Soul thought for a moment. He had a dream, he remembered, but he wasn't sure what it was, exactly.

"I think I had a dream, yeah," he said, "but it was just a few voices talking about something or other; there wasn't anything happening. I probably bored myself awake. Hah!"

"Yeah," Maka muttered, "because getting a knfie thrown at your face is just so dull." There was a long pause.

"Oh!" Maka exclaimed, "It was a pun! See? A knife? Dull? See? It was funny! See? See?" Soul groaned and shuffled inside.

"He never sees…" sighed Maka as she followed suit, shutting and locking the door behind her. Dinner that night was fairly quiet, as Soul was strangely tired; after finishing his homework, he went to bed early. As he lay in his bed, staring up at his own ceiling, he tried to analyze the dream he had earlier that day. There were voices, but none of them were familiar to him. Except maybe one; the voice that was skeptical about whatever was being discussed rang a bell to Soul, but he was too tired to figure out who it was. He shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep faster than usual.

***

"Its strength far outweighs the need to perform Soul Resonance."

"I'm not sure I really buy that," someone said in a sing-song voice, "I'm not even sure this is a good idea. I mean, it seems a little shady, and what would the kids think?"

"Don't worry. It knows you'll accept it eventually."

"Oh, it 'knows' does it?"

"Yes. It knows. It always knows."

A small wall made of brick appeared, surrounding and surrounded by utter darkness. A spotlight appeared, and in the center of the ring there was a figure. Its eyes were dark gray and lifeless and its joints were pushed together lazily, like someone had hastily put together a marionette and this was the end result. For a while there was silence. Then there was a grinding of gears in the darkness and a whir of machinery as the carefully-crafted limbs came to life, pushing and pulling at the air like it was clay waiting to be molded. Soul watched from a metal bench behind the wall at the hands as they slowly swung about in the pitch blackness.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" came a voice. Soul turned to find a man dressed in a long robe sitting beside him. His face was obscured by the large hood, but his voice was raspy and harsh.

"It's not beautiful," said Soul as he regarded the animated arms in the center of the darkness, "It's pointless. Someone should stop it."

"Someone," whispered the man, "but not you." The hands paused and the head jerked upward, the long brown "hair" pushed back to reveal its once-placid eyes now glowing brilliantly and its artificial mouth contorted into a twisted grin.

***

Soul awoke, panting heavily. His skin felt clammy and cold and his surroundings were dark. He groped around in the darkness and found a light switch. Flipping it on, he found that he was back in his room, the surroundings usual. He glanced at his clock; it read 4:25 AM.

So it was just a dream, thought Soul, rubbing his eyes. He put his head back down on his pillow and turned the light off. As he fell back asleep, he was unaware that a figure loomed on the adjacent rooftop, its eyes glowing vibrantly and its mouth pressed into an eerie smile. It dragged itself off the roof, its metallic limbs clanking and clamoring every step of the way.