"Simon? Simon."
Slowly, as if in a strange daze, Simon opened his eyes. He had been in stand-by. But it had taken him unusually long to wake up. When he did, the first thing that registered with him was Markus' voice. A mix of impatience and concern rang in the way he said Simon's name.
"Simon. Are you alright?"
Finally the blond android opened his eyes and looked up from where he was standing. He found Markus' face right in front of him, worry clouding his features. It took another second for Simon to activate his voice module.
"Yes. I'm okay", he managed to say. "Just a little… confused…" He struggled with his thoughts for a moment. And even more so with his feelings. "I think I… I think I was dreaming…"
The concern hadn't quite left Markus' eyes. But now his expression changed to somewhat perplexed.
The leader of the android revolution was surprised. He had always thought he was the only one of them who dreamed. Although, it occurred to him in an instant, maybe it was simply that no one had ever shared this particular information about themselves with him up until now.
"What did you dream?", he inquired, curious as to how Simon was experiencing these particular images, and also still worried about the others well-being.
The question brought a look of pain and sorrow to Simon's face and Markus almost regretted having asked.
"I saw… despair… destruction… war…" Every word, every image seemed to diminish the light in Simon's blue eyes. The LED at his temple was flickering all shades of yellow. And Markus could almost feel Simon's sadness, even though they weren't connected.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Simon." He wanted to ask if there was anything he could do. But Simon shook his head as if he had guessed his intent.
Actually, Simon had meant to distract himself and to literally try and shake the pictures off his mind. It didn't really work.
"What do you usually dream about?", he directed his own question at Markus instead. He knew that the other man had them, too. But up until now they had never talked about the nature of Markus' own dreams. Simon hoped they were better. A smaller part of him simply wanted to shift focus away from himself. He was insecure like that.
Markus was looking at him empathically. But at least some of Simon's pain truly was his own.
"There are nightmares, too, from time to time. Because I don't have all the answers, I don't always know the right direction, and that scares me."
It was Simon who reached out for him now. Markus knew, their 'skin' wasn't actual skin, their bodies artificially created. But he still thought he felt warmth spread from where Simon's hand clasped his clothed arm.
"But I keep trying to find my way", he continued. "And I look at the things that give me strength. And sometimes my dreams reflect that." Markus' eyes were searching to catch Simon's gaze again. "Those dreams are filled with hope… with peace… with love."
Markus had a soft look in his eyes when he spoke that last word. And Simon felt a little lighter.
"I could show you", Markus then offered. He extended his free hand, deactivating his 'skin' in the process.
Simon hesitated for a just a brief moment. Then he reached for Markus' palm, deactivating his own artificial skin.
It was similar to dreaming, Simon thought. There were images. Not creations of his own conscious mind. But stemming from somewhere else. Someone else, in this case.
He saw paintings. And he could even hear piano music, playing quietly in the background. There was a chess board, only a few chess pieces left on it, the game obviously decided. Simon saw an elderly man. This had to be Carl. Markus had told Simon about him several times. The man wore a fond smile, a smile with which he must have regarded Markus regularly. Then the images shifted again. To North – her expression quite a contrast to Carl's – firm, but still with a certain warmth. Then he saw Josh, nodding at him – Markus – with a reassuring smile. Images of all their fellow androids appeared and disappeared, their affection glowing in and around him. But what shone brightest and warmest of all was Markus' own love. His love for every single one of them. And his love for Simon.
Simon opened his eyes, the last image of himself reflected in Markus' thoughts still vivid in his mind. A deep fondness now reached Simon's gaze and he looked at Markus, returning all the feelings Markus had shown him. They both leaned forward in unison to hold each other in a tight embrace.
"Thank you", Simon whispered, eyes closed again now, head resting on Markus' shoulder.
"Thank you, too", came the equally soft reply. "After all, not only do you shine on my dreams. You make my whole world a lot brighter."