SECTION 2- MU'S SHIP

Run to your left.

The voice spoke directly into Jomy's mind, but it wasn't a voice he'd heard before. Panic still held him in a chokehold, and he barely registered the words he'd heard. He knew for sure that it wasn't the voice of Blue. This was a different man reaching out to him.

But Jomy didn't have time to react.

"Fire!"

All of the soldiers open fired on the boy, and bullets ripped through the air toward him. He was completely helpless. The Weeping Mouse jumped to his shoulder and hid behind his head—he threw his arms up to try and protect himself, though he knew it would do nothing against bullets. But it was all he could do.

But before the bullets hit him, a shield was raised before him. It was a faint green, and comprised of several connected hexagonal shapes. The bullets embedded themselves into the shield; once all the bullets were stopped, the shield vanished. However, the bullets remained suspended in thin air, stopped by the invisible wall that had appeared in front of Jomy. Jomy shied away from it in awe, when he heard the voice again in his mind,

Hurry!

He knew he had no other option. With the mouse clinging to his jacket, Jomy turned to his left and started running as fast as he could. The only thing to his left to run toward was a chain link fence on the edge of the cliffside. Still, Jomy ran toward it. He had to trust this voice if he wanted to survive. He could hear the soldiers shooting at him again; he never felt any pain or saw any bullets pass him. Maybe the shield was still protecting him.

Jump! I'll catch you below.

Placing blind faith in this voice, Jomy jumped, grabbed the top bar of the fence, and hoisted himself over the top and off the cliff. He screamed in terror as he fell down toward the trees far below. Suddenly, a ship phased into sight, and flew straight up. Jomy landed safely on its wing, and tried to focus on the man in the cockpit. The wind whipped his clothes and hair around, and he struggled to see him.

It was the man who'd been staring at him in awe after he tried to touch the mouse's exhibit the first time. The man with the dirty blond hair, turtleneck, and jacket. His glasses were gone, and he had an urgent expression on his face. He was looking right at Jomy, who was clinging to the wing of the ship in an effort not to fall off.

Jomy heard the voice again. The man's mouth didn't move, but he knew that it was definitely the man's voice.

Get in!

This man was not Blue, but Jomy again had no choice. He could only place his blind trust in this strange man and climb inside as the windshield opened to allow him entry. He climbed in and hurried to strap himself to his seat beside the unknown pilot, who began to raise the ship upward toward the sky.

One soldier was trying to climb the fence, and the others were shooting at the ship directly through the links. They aimed at the ship's massive back propeller, but no significant damage was done. After taking a moment to align itself, the ship, under the control of the blond man, took off into the sky at full speed, leaving the soldiers far behind in the dust. They all ceased fire and watched the ship quickly flee.

The leader of the soldiers stepped forward, and pulled out his phone to request aerial assistance.

Far in the distance, the ship was flying effortlessly through the sky, with no resistance and a great speed. The city of Ataraxia was becoming a distant sight.

Jomy stared back at it over his shoulder. All kinds of emotions were swirling inside him. Confusion, panic, awe. Everything was happening so fast.

A movement against his chest recaptured his attention. He looked down to see that the Weeping Mouse was tucked comfortably in his jacket; its head was poking out, and it was staring up at him.

Finally, Jomy looked to his rescuer, who was flying the ship and keeping a close eye on the nearby area. "Why did you help me?" he demanded. "Who are you?"

Even though they were only a few feet apart within the ship, the man still didn't speak to him. He continued to use some kind of telepathy to speak directly into Jomy's mind.

I'm Leo. I've come to get you, on orders from Soldier Blue.

"Soldier Blue?" Jomy asked. That was the name of the white-haired man who'd protected him.

He's our leader. He's waiting for you on our mothership.

Finally, Jomy actually processed the man's unique way of communication. "You're speaking with your mouth closed? I hear your voice in my head."

The man replied, I'm speaking to you with thought waves.

"Stop it! Speak to me normally!" Jomy demanded. The telepathy was making Jomy uncomfortable. He just wanted something about his rescuer to be normal. He wanted anything to be normal.

But the man didn't abide. I'm sorry. I do not have a voice.

Jomy stared for a moment. "You mean…" The man was a mute? Disabled? The approaching mountains caught Jomy's attention. He glared forward as a panic overtook him once again. "No way! We're not allowed to go outside Ataraxia!" Though Jomy had meant it as a statement, his panicked exclamation was more of a shocked reaction to what was happening.

You're being chased. At this point, laws are meaningless. The man didn't change his course, or seem disturbed by where they were going. Obviously, for some reason, the law didn't scare or intimidate him the same way it did Jomy, who'd been raised in a strict utopian society.

"But…!" he tried to argue. He trailed off, distracted by the sight of the mountains they were passing.

You must see what lies outside of here with your own eyes, the man insisted. Your pursuers are coming.

Jomy looked out the window. He only had a second to see the ships in pursuit before Leo threw the controls to the side to avoid incoming fire. It nearly hit them, but they managed to dodge in time. There were three black ships in pursuit of their small getaway ship. They were dark and had little detail aside from red lights and missiles on the underside of their wings. They were very fast, and catching up quickly. Jomy had only ever seen these ships on TV.

Leo did his best to avoid all the fire, and held up well enough. He flew the ship into a small tunnel. The opening at the other end was dangerously small. Jomy could see the stress on Leo's face—which only helped him to panic more. With one arm, he held the mouse tightly. With the other, he covered his eyes.

There was a loud scratching noise, and the ship shook briefly. They emerged from the cave with minor damage. However, the left wing was smoking from scratching the side of the exit. Behind them, the pursuit ships quickly changed course to return the other direction, avoiding the dangerously-small exit altogether.

Having emerged from the tunnel, they were engulfed in thick clouds. Visibility was near zero, and Jomy could still see the stress on Leo's face. They could hear the back propeller and the engine straining.

Leo pulled the ship up, and they emerged above the clouds. Jomy stared back through the glass. "No way!"

The mountains behind them were the only things in sight. In every other direction was nothing but clouds. They stretched on as far as the eye could see. It was a thick cloud cover that had no gaps or thin areas—Jomy had no clue what was beneath them.

Seeing Jomy's surprise at the world beyond Ataraxia's mountains, Leo took a moment to explain. What you have been taught up to this day is not the truth. I want you to know that.

Jomy felt like he was losing his mind. He was falling deeper into panic when three shimmering lights in the distance caught his eye above the mountain range. The three pursuit ships were back in sight, and two missiles were coming right for them. Jomy knew Leo could never outmaneuver the missiles.

But he didn't have to. The hexagonal green shield from before protected the ship from both missiles, which exploded on impact a few hundred feet behind their ship. Seeing their first missiles destroyed did not deter their pursuers, however, who began to fire more missiles after resetting the tracking. Leo continued to try to evade, and the fading shield was able to save them from another missile. But the black ships were flying very close now. Jomy stared back, wide-eyed at the explosion of the missile. The green shield faded.

But then something happened.

A bright purple plasma beam fired straight up from somewhere beneath the clouds, hitting one of the three ships from directly below. The ship exploded into a massive cloud of fire and smoke, slowly rising toward the sky. Jomy and Leo were shocked to see it happen. The remaining two ships left the third behind with no concern for their fallen comrade. They caught up to their ship, and were about to fire.

But two more purple plasma beams fired from beneath the clouds, and both black ships were hit and destroyed completely.

Leo was smiling, and Jomy breathed a huge sigh of relief. Their damaged ship continued to fly just above the clouds, when suddenly, something began to emerge from beneath them. It was a massive form of pure white and silver. It looked like the deck of a massive ship. A giant ring looked to circle the whole ship, though Jomy couldn't see the entire thing. The ship only rose above the clouds just far enough to reveal the deck, and a landing dock that sat on top. Leo flew the ship into the landing dock, and the massive ship descended back into the cover of the clouds.

The ships landing gear allowed them to glide effortlessly across the polished floor of the ship, where it came to a stop beside a crowd of people who were waiting for them. Leo opened the cockpit, and looked at Jomy.

This is the Mu's mothership.

Jomy looked around cautiously before releasing his safety belts. Jomy jumped out of the side of the ship, landing on the floor in front of the crowd of people who were waiting. They all began to speak with excitement, while Leo made his way around the front of the ship to join them.

Jomy immediately noticed something strange about the ambiance of the ship. It had a familiar feeling. He could hear a ringing throughout the massive chamber, though he wasn't sure if it was really there, or ringing in his head.

The man at the front of the crowd stepped forward. He wore an outfit striking similarity to the outfit Jomy remembered Blue wearing, though this man wore it in a brown and green color scheme. He almost resembled Jomy's father, which struck Jomy slightly as he stared at the man's face. His hair was blond and slicked back, and he had a deep tan.

"Welcome, Jomy Marcus Shin," he greeted. His face was cold and he looked to have a permanent frown. Many of the people behind him were older, and all wearing similar clothes with minor variations. It appeared to be their uniform; all of the women matched, and all of the men matched. "I'm the Shangri La's captain, Harley. We offer a heartfelt welcome to a new friend chosen by Soldier Blue."

Though the welcome seemed real enough, the man's face showed no sign of it being "heartfelt."

Suddenly, voices began to fill Jomy's head from all around.

Welcome, Jomy!

A new friend.

We've been expecting you.

Jomy began to lose his composure, and backed away from the group. However, they all ran forward to greet him. Jomy could hear voices saying his name in his mind, all trying to talk to him at once. Jomy couldn't focus on them. It felt like there were speakers in a ring around his head, all playing music at full volume. What music was coming from what speaker? Jomy felt sick.

One shorter young man with deep green hair and freckles stood at the front of a group of younger onlookers. He smiled at Jomy. "That was a narrow escape, Jomy. Were you hurt?"

Jomy was able to focus on this question, because it was real. It was spoken out loud. Hearing the young man speak to him normally grounded Jomy, allowing him to regain some of his composure before the captain continued to speak.

"They shot down the pursuing craft using their thought waves and carried you both here." Meaning, this group of people were responsible for the purple plasma beams that had saved them.

The young man with the green hair continued, "I heard about you from Soldier Blue. You're a pretty incredible Mu, I hear."

Immediately after his statement, the voices in Jomy's head spiked again. Jomy trembled, and finally snapped.

Grabbing his head, he yelled, "Stop it!"

The whole room fell silent. The voices stopped. Everyone was shocked.

"Don't go on rambling inside my head!" he cried. "What are you people, anyway? I'm not your friend! I'm not like you! I'm human! I'm not a Mu!"

One of the women behind the captain looked particularly stricken. They all looked horrified. Leo stood behind Jomy, watching him break down with a sad look on his face.

Jomy, he tried to reach out. Jomy didn't hear, and the room remained silent.

Distant within the ship, there was a clear, silent room with a soft bed at the top of a staircase, on a terrace. In the bed, tucked under the covers, was Soldier Blue. Sitting beside him, the woman with the long hair in the purple gown.

She suddenly felt something, and though her eyes didn't open, she was alerted. "Jomy," she declared.

A soft voice came from the unmoving figure in the bed beside her. Physis. She looked in his direction to acknowledge him. He's come to us.

Soldier Blue lie in the bed, unconscious. She smiled down at him. "Yes, Soldier. Though he still seems to be hesitating."

Blue reassured her through his telepathy, Don't worry. I'm sure he'll come around.

Physis reached out, and touched the face of the peacefully still young man. She caressed his cheek gently. "You must be tired," she said, even though he already appeared to be asleep. "Please rest for now."

She stood from the bedside to leave.

Jomy was sitting on the edge of a bed he'd been provided. An entire wall of the room was glass, revealing a view unlike any Jomy ever expected to see on a spaceship. There was a massive courtyard at the core of the ship, with grass and trees and a pathway paved through. It was like a park. Jomy could see children playing among the trees, and older people watching over them from a distance, sitting in the grass.

But the ambiance of the ship—even in this tiny room—was still discomforting. Something still felt wrong.

"Why did this happen to me?" Jomy wondered to himself, still struggling to believe everything that had happened in the last day. He looked down at his hand, staring.

The door to his room suddenly opened, and Leo stepped inside. He wore the men's uniform that matched all the others that Jomy had seen. The Weeping Mouse was perched on his shoulder. He was smiling warmly. Jomy knew that Leo had to be a kind and compassionate person; that was the kind of energy he could feel around him.

Jomy, did you sleep well?

Jomy tried not to flinch at the telepathy. However, he handled Leo much better than he did the entire crowd from the day before. Leo's voice was quiet, soft—it didn't hurt Jomy's mind or feel intrusive.

Though Jomy knew that Leo was a kind and caring person, he still managed to frown at him. He was particularly mad at his rescuer, though he had a lot of anger building up and had nowhere to direct it. He looked away from Leo angrily.

Luckily, Leo seemed understanding, and wasn't bothered by Jomy's cold treatment. Still smiling, he looked at the mouse, which promptly jumped from Leo's shoulder down to Jomy's bed. The mouse climbed onto Jomy, crying out happily.

"You…!" Jomy exclaimed, trying to grab at the animal. He heard Leo chuckle.

It's been longing for you and keeps crying.

The mouse was tickling Jomy, who couldn't help but laugh. His mood immediately improved as he began to play with the mouse. "That tickles!"

Later on, Jomy was following Leo down a long blue hallway, where several people were lingering. He tried to avoid eye contact with anyone, hoping no one would reach out to him with telepathy. He focused on following Leo, and scratching the mouse that was still perched on his shoulder. Leo led him to a door, which slid open upon their arrival, which revealed a circular room with a maroon color scheme. There were two rows of seats, with six in each row. Some were filled, some were empty. Standing at the far end of the room before the seats was an old man in a gray cloak, with a darker gray cape not unlike the one Jomy had seen Blue wearing. But something about his wasn't quite as mesmerizing.

He was standing beside an egg-shaped contraption with numbers on it. It looked like it was meant to spin. Was this a classroom?"

The old man noticed that Jomy and Leo had entered. "I've been waiting for you, Jomy. Please, have a seat."

The ambiance of this room was almost physically uncomfortable. Jomy could hear sounds in his mind that sounded like distorted voices. It made his skin crawl, and he couldn't find the source of it no matter where he looked.

Jomy took the nearest empty seat, and Leo stood behind him.

"Now, how much do you know about Mu?" the old man inquired.

Jomy shook his head. "Not a thing. Just that they're people with the ability to use strange powers humans don't have. That's about it."

The old man gave a grunt and closed his eyes. He folded his hands behind his back beneath his cape. "Yes. We may indeed live an unfamiliar existence as viewed by humans. Mu have the ability to speak and move objects through thoughts. It's an ability humans do not have." He paused for a moment, before opening his eyes to look at Jomy. "But we Mu are born from humans."

The room darkened, and a hologram screen slid into place beside the old man. It displayed a dark sky with a blood red moon.

"A few hundred years ago…by the time humans realized the mistakes they had made, Earth was ruined to a point where it could not be recovered." The screen changed to show a skeleton of an animal, partially buried in sand. "Pollution continued to progress, and greenery would no longer grow." The screen showed water, which was dark and void of life. "Fish disappeared from the oceans, which were once the source of life."

The screen showed some kind of gathering of men and women, all gazing at their own screens with images of Earth. "Humanity finally concluded that they were suffocating Earth."

The screen showed ships quickly departing from Earth, heading into space. They went out into the depths of the never-ending universe. "Recommendations were made to emigrate to other planets. The came population control. Regulations on childbirth. The prohibition of natural childbirth, followed by an educational system where adoptive parents would raise children under the watchful eye of Universal Control." The screen showed a man and woman holding a newborn baby. Jomy watched the screen intently, being reminded of his own parents.

"To ensure that this perfectly controlled society is not disturbed, the educated children go through an adult examination to determine whether they are adequate or inadequate."

Jomy gasped, remembering the results of his own test. Inadequate.

The man stepped in front of the screen. His eyes were closed, and he was in deep thought. "Why are Mu born? I have no idea…but we do know that our friends continue to be born." The lights returned to the dark room.

Jomy leaned forward in his seat slightly. "What happens if they're found?"

The old man replied bluntly, "They are secretly eliminated."

Jomy frowned.

"Nevertheless, Mu who have successfully escaped the grasp of the humans call out to each other naturally, and gather together." He took a few steps toward Jomy, going to standing directly in front of his desk. "Have you noticed? Many of us Mu are physically weak. Like this, for example."

He held up his left hand, revealing that it was made completely from metal. A prosthetic. He fumbled with it for a second, then pulled it off and out of his sleeve. He set it down on Jomy's desk. Jomy stared at it for a long moment before the old man picked it back up and began to place it back where it belonged.

With a light gasp, Jomy turned around in his seat to look back at Leo, who was just standing there with his same, sweet smile. The old man had no arm. Leo had no voice.

"Maybe God gave us special abilities to make up for it," the old man suggested.

Jomy couldn't help but feel sad.

After the session with the old man in the classroom, Leo was leading Jomy somewhere new. They were walking down a long hallway, with no windows or decorations. It was lit only with blue lights hanging from the ceiling.

It wasn't the same, but it looked exactly like the hallway from Jomy's dream. He knew the hallway he'd been in was on the ship somewhere.

Leo was explaining, This ship was taken from the humans by the elders of the first generation, and has been renovated to this state.

"Why haven't they found such a big ship?" Jomy asked curiously.

The stealth device we use cannot be detected by conventional radar.

"Stealth device?"

Yes.

Leo led him to a massive door that opened for them, allowing a bright light to pour through. Jomy gasped in awe and stepped forward. They were on a terrace overlooking the entirety of the courtyard. Situated in the very center was an intricate cylindrical structure—it looked like a building, or a tower. Jomy hadn't been able to see it from the room he'd slept in. Or perhaps he'd just been too distracted to notice…it looked very hard to miss.

This is the ship's bridge. Navigation, reconnaissance, defense, attack…the core of every chain of command. Thought waves from telepathy unification devices installed in each block are collected here to create one powerful thought wave. The feelings of not wanting to be found and wanting to turn back the attacks of the enemy are what protects this ship.

At the top of the bridge, the controls were in plain sight. There were people stationed there. Jomy could see them, and they could see him.

And Jomy could barely hear their discontented thoughts… Is he still aboard this ship?

The woman beside the man replied back, Not one thing about that child is Mu-like.

The man thought back, Soldier did say he has potential. This time around, I can only believe that he made a mistake.

Leo, too, could hear their insulting conversation, and took a few steps toward Jomy to reach out to him. But Jomy, who had been listening just fine on his own, turned around and walked away with a sigh, bothered by their gossip. Leo watched him go back toward the door where they had come from.

Deep in the ship where Blue slept, the elders of the ship had gathered around the bed where Blue was still in his deep sleep. It had become tradition to hold their important gatherings around his bed, as he was immobile while asleep.

One of the men—tall and bald, with a long face and mustache—said aloud, "Really, he thinks of us as monsters. That's exactly how normal humans react."

The old man from the classroom spoke up in his defense, "He's been under the control of Universal until now. It's not surprising that he'd have no idea about Mu. He can gradually gain an understanding from his point on."

A dark-skinned woman with a tattooed face beside him also spoke, "Perhaps he has no potential as a Mu."

Captain Harley said, "But, he does have strong thought waves. They're strong enough to reach every corner of this ship."

His statement caused everyone to fall silent. They knew he was right.

A soft voice stirred from within the sleeping Soldier. He is a Mu.

"Soldier Blue!" the captain exclaimed, surprised that Soldier Blue was at last speaking to them. He had gained back some amount of consciousness to reach out to them.

Please watch over him a little longer.

The voice was desperate, almost begging. All of the elders stared at their Soldier in silence. They all knew that they could never deny him anything he asked for.

Elsewhere on the ship, Jomy was walking the hallways alone. Everyone he passed by stared at him—some pitifully, some hatefully. It was the most uncomfortable Jomy had ever felt. He kept his eyes down, staring at the floor as he walked. But no matter how hard he tried to ignore the people around him, their thoughts were a never-ending rumble in the background. They weren't so painful to hear when they weren't directed at him, yet still the hum of their thoughts was enough to make Jomy uneasy.

"I can hear their thoughts," he thought to himself, still disturbed by the fact. "They don't translate into words…but I'm sensing hatred toward humans."

He was walking directly toward a group of four young men, who looked visibly uncomfortable at his approach. The four of them split to make way for Jomy to pass, stopping their conversation completely.

Jomy ignored them. He continued to think to himself, "Which is correct? What I had believed until now, or what they're telling me? …What am I, really? …Dad. Mom. I wanna see you." His eyes fell with sadness.

Suddenly, all noise vanished, for only a second. Jomy, staring ahead, saw no people anymore. For just that brief second, the hallway was calm and silent.

At the end of the hall stood Soldier Blue, glowing with a blue aura and partially see-through, like a ghost. There was no trace of wind in the hall, but his long cape was flowing beautifully. He glanced over his shoulder at Jomy, staring at him for a long moment.

Then the image vanished. Sound returned. The people were back.

Jomy gasped.

The hallway had changed somehow. There was no longer a hum of people's thoughts filling his head. It was the distant ringing that he'd heard when he'd first boarded the ship. It run through the hall in his mind, but it wasn't a painful sound.

Jomy ran to where the image had been standing, and looked around frantically. He turned and ran down the next hallway, glancing down every new hallway he passed.

He skidded to a stop when he passed a dark hallway. The lights were dimmed, and the other end of the hallway was engulfed in darkness. Standing in the hallway, facing away, was the image of Blue. Jomy ran down the hallway toward the image as fast as he could.

"Wait!" he called. "Who are you?!"

There was another large door at the end. The image was standing in front of it. As Jomy approached, the image vanished again, and the door slid open. A blinding light poured into the hallway, and Jomy covered his eyes. It was a door that led to the courtyard.

There were children playing with a ball on the path in front of Jomy. The girls wore cute pink dresses, and the boys wore blue suits. Their outfits looked like less-detailed, more colorful versions of the uniforms the adults wore.

Their ball escaped them, and rolled right up to Jomy's feet. The kids were about to run and get it, when they noticed Jomy standing there. They all fell silent, and stood there staring at him as he reached down and picked up the ball.

One tiny blonde girl smiled brightly at him. "Jomy? You must be Jomy!"

This energy was completely different from what he'd been feeling everywhere else. These children didn't fear or hate him. They were happy.

"Mu children," he thought to himself.

The entire group of children ran up to him, looking up at him in awe.

One little boy asked, "Why are you so sad?"

Before a surprised Jomy could answer, the tiniest girl stepped forward. She had cropped brown hair not unlike his own hair. She reached out and took Jomy's hand in both of hers. "Mom? Your mind is filled with that thought."

A shocked Jomy tore his hand from hers, but she wasn't offended. She looked up at him with a smile. "What is a mom?"

Jomy stared at her in confusion. She didn't know what a mother was? The other kids all came closer, waiting for his answer. He looked at all of them. Did none of them know?

Feeding off the positive energy of the children, Jomy smiled and knelt down before them. "My mom can be scary sometimes when she gets mad…but she's kind and is a very good cook."

The girl with the brown hair was the most pleased with his story. "Is that so?" She reached out and took his hand again, and held it close. She closed her eyes, and looked very happy. She must be able to see into peoples' minds by holding their hands. "So this is Jomy's mom. You're right. She's really warm."

All the other children shoved their way forward. "I wanna see!" they cried.

Jomy laughed. "Wait, wait!"

Suddenly, and angry voice came from further down the path. "Stop it! Don't be deceived by that human!"

The children all backed away from Jomy. Standing a few dozen feet away was the green-haired young man from when Jomy had arrived. His arms were folded, and he had three others behind him. Jomy could feel a sincere hatred emanating from him. "Soldier may have chosen you, but a human is a human. You're trying to pose as a Mu, but I'm not buying it!"

Jomy stood to face them. "What do you mean? I'm not doing that! I am human!"

The four men approached him, led by the green-haired one. "Well then get lost," he said threateningly.

Jomy was overcome with rage. He reached out and shoved him backwards. "Shut up! I'm not here because I wanna be here!" The man's friends caught him as he stumbled back.

"Okay, then I'll force you outta here!" he yelled, charging forward. They grabbed each other by the shoulders and began pushing each other around, struggling to gain the upper hand.

"Kim, get him!" his friends called.

"Kick him outta here!"

Jomy lost his grip, and Kim slapped him across the face. Jomy stumbled over, landing on the ground. A drop of blood trickled down his chin. He jumped back to his feet and punched Kim in the stomach. While Kim was stunned, Jomy reached back, and punched him square in the face. Kim flew backward, and two of his friends hurried to help him sit up. The kids were screaming.

Kim's friends stared at him with such hate and resent that Jomy could feel the emotions pressing on him like a wall. They moved to gang up on him.

"What are you doing?!" came an older, deeper voice. They all looked.

Captain Harley and the old teacher were approaching. Captain Harley was not pleased with what he saw. "What in the world's happening here?"

Jomy didn't answer, he just looked away. The old teacher went to the fallen Kim and helped him stand. "Come with me, I'll treat those wounds." He and one of Kim's friends helped Kim walk away from the others and out of sight. His other two friends followed them closely. Captain Harley was left with Jomy, with the kids not far—many of them were crying from the violent encounter.

In the infirmary, a medic was bandaging Jomy's arm while a disappointed, angry Harley stood over him. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" he demanded.

"He's the one who picked a fight with me," Jomy insisted.

"That may be true," Harley agreed. "But he didn't use his thought waves while he fought even though he knew you had an advantage being physically healthier."

Nearby, Kim was in a pod being watched over by a nurse. His entire upper half was covered in bandages.

Harley continued to scold Jomy, "We're not monsters willing to throw around our dangerous powers."

Jomy was silent for a moment. He knew that being so much stronger and healthier than Kim, his single punch to the stomach must have done more damage than he thought. But his emotions were still building up.

He looked up at the captain. "But you guys stare at me and spread rumors about me with thought waves that I can't hear. If I'm getting in your way, you shouldn't have saved me!" he exclaimed.

Harley looked offended by his outburst. "What?! If we had left you there, you would've been killed by the humans!"

"But that was all because you guys interfered with my adult examination!"

Harley stared down at Jomy in silence. Jomy looked down at the ground, defeated. He felt utterly lost.

Harley must have been able to sense Jomy's distress. He leaned down and placed both hands on his shoulders. He spoke with a softer, more understanding voice. "Jomy. Please make the effort to understand us."

Jomy shoved him away and took off running.

Jomy had found his way onto a rail car traversing through the massive Shangri La ship. He was the only one riding it, aside from the Weeping Mouse that was jumping around him. Jomy was lost in deep thought, staring intensely into space. He listened to the passing of the pillars that whished by as the car sped along.

He eventually disembarked from the car and started to wander. The ship was mostly empty, and he didn't encounter anyone on his walk. He could still hear the light hum of people's thoughts in the background, though it was especially distant and barely bothering him. He noticed after a while that the mouse seemed to be leading him somewhere. He started to follow it absentmindedly, walking along behind it still lost in thought. The floor was a gorgeous marble—it was a hue of light purple.

After a while of following the mouse, suddenly the hum ceased. It was replaced by the low ringing.

Jomy looked up, and found himself looking at a doorway covered by a sheer, purple chiffon portiere.

This was it.

The mouse jumped back onto his shoulder as he pushed one of the drapes to the side, stepping into the room from his dreams. It was slightly different. It was brighter, though it still looked to extend into an abyss. There were the two staircases leading to terraces, and the massive planet sculpture in the center of the room. Jomy stepped out into the room and began to walk inside, looking around. He'd seen this room several times in his dreams, but now he was there in the flesh.

And it felt very strange.

The table was not at the base of the right staircase as it was in his dream. However, since the table had been there every time he'd seen it, he was drawn to the right staircase. He began to ascend it, anxious to finally see what was at the top.

"I saw this room in my dream," he said aloud, looking around.

There she was. At the top of the staircase, seated at her table. The beautiful woman with the hair so long it touched the floor, in the purple gown. Her tarot cards were all placed face down on the tabletop. Jomy reached the top of the staircase, and the mouse jumped from his shoulder to rush toward the woman.

He stared at her and gulped. There was an overwhelming presence in the room.

Her eyes were still closed.

"Welcome, Jomy," she greeted, her voice like bells. "I've been waiting for you."

"Me? Who are you?" he asked. The mouse jumped up onto her table.

"I'm Physis, a fortuneteller who sees the future. You were in my predictions." She reached out and turned the middle tarot card to reveal the Hanged Man. "And I can tell what's bothering you deep in your heard right now."

"You can read my heart?" he exclaimed.

"Your thoughts are too strong." She stood from her chair and began to walk toward the railing of the terrace. "Fifty years ago, I was saved by Soldier…in much the same way you were, and came here."

"Fifty years ago?" Jomy asked. The woman didn't look a day over twenty.

"Mu live long lives, and are able to maintain a young body," she explained. She turned to face Jomy. "Soldier Blue guided you here, didn't he?"

A slight anger struck Jomy's heart. "He's the one who gave the orders to bring me here, right? So why doesn't he show himself to me?!"

"Soldier is very tired," Physis explained sadly. "He used up too much of his powers in order to save you."

Memories of Blue appearing within the computer room came rushing back to Jomy.

Don't let go of your memories. They're from the fourteen years of your life since you were born.

Blue was in a coma.

Physis stepped closer to Jomy. "Please, Jomy. I ask that you make his wish come true. It's something that only you can do." Her voice was desperate, just like Blue's had been in Jomy's dreams.

But it only made Jomy angrier. "What's this all about? Why should I care?! It has nothing to do with me!"

He turned and ran.

"Jomy!" Physis called. But Jomy was down the staircase and running toward the doorway. "Jomy…"

Jomy was running through the hallway desperately. "Come show yourself! Answer when I call out to you!" he yelled. "Soldier Blue!"

Jomy.

Jomy gasped and stopped running, standing in the center of the hallway from his dreams in silence. The reply had been stern, yet soft at the same time. A weak voice, yet still commanding power. Jomy could feel his presence again—the same that he'd felt from the moment he woke up on his Day of Awakening, to being rescued, to first arriving on the ship. He could feel Blue near him somehow.

For the first time, you're reading my mind with your own will. Can you tell?

"Where are you?" Jomy asked. He turned to run down a hallway.

Suddenly, he was teleported to a very dark room. There was a floor that seemed to be suspended in the abyss of the room—it was even emptier than the room Physis had been in. The only source of light was in the distance, around a curved walkway. Jomy focused on it, and realized it was a bed beneath a canopy, surrounded by soft blue lights.

Feeling determined, Jomy began to walk toward the bed, where he saw a figure stirring.

Soldier Blue, who'd been weak and unconscious for days, was sitting upright. As Jomy approached, he turned to sit on the edge of his bed. He watched Jomy approach.

"So, you're…" Jomy trailed off.

Blue struggled to stand from his bed, visibly weak. He took a few slow steps toward Jomy. When he spoke, his voice was softer than Jomy had heard from his dreams. "It's the first time we meet in this manner, Jomy."

"Why me?" Jomy demanded angrily. "Why did you show me that dream? I am not a Mu!"

Blue stood in silence, waiting patiently for Jomy to release all of his anger.

"Even during the adult examination, if you hadn't gotten in the way, I might've passed! And then…! I didn't wanna come to a place like this."

Finally, Blue spoke. "Then what do you want to do?"

"Take me back to Ataraxia! Back to my home!" He stared Blue right in the eyes, daring Blue to deny him his wish. He was ready to argue for his life.

"Okay."

Jomy was stunned.

"You can go. Leo." Suddenly, Leo appeared from the shadows beyond Blue's bed. "…Take Jomy back."

Okay. Leo approached Jomy, and took his arm. Let's go, Jomy…

Jomy turned to follow Leo, but hesitated. He looked back at Blue.

The mood that befell the room came upon Jomy like a thick blanket. He looked right at Blue's face, and saw nothing but sadness and heartbreak. The emotions in the room were so powerful, Jomy could feel them pushing against his chest like a physical force. These feelings reminded Jomy of what he would feel at the end of his dreams, when Blue would be in pain and crying out for someone.

Jomy hadn't yet felt that…but now it was there.

Jomy forced himself to turn away from Blue and follow Leo out. This was not his problem.

"I am not a Mu," he promised himself.

He glanced back at Blue. He was standing beside his bed, looking ready to collapse from weakness at any time. The sadness was still flowing off of him. Jomy turned away again, denying Blue's presence. Denying his emotions, his energy. He turned his back and followed Leo away. Yet with every step, there was an undeniable guilt that he couldn't shake off.

"How could this happen?"