Lyra looked down at the alithiometer. She ran her fingers over it delicately, lost in her thoughts.

Three years of vigorous studying, and she was still nowhere near being able to understand what it told her. However, when she asked very simple questions with yes or no answers, she could usually make it through.

Like right now, as she was desperate to know if Will was alright. She had asked the question a few days ago, but had not been able to understand the answer. This made her angry. But she was no quitter, and now as she gazed at the instrument, her fingers stopped on the clock-like hands.

She moved the biggest hand slowly, without much confidence, and asked the question simply.

When she was done, the hand, animated by particle of Dust, bounced from symbol to symbol. Lyra wished it could go slower.

As if the Dust had heard her, the hand stopped suddenly and returned to its first symbol, moving slowly from one to another once again. Lyra smiled kindly at the instrument, following the movements with her eyes. She thanked it.

It told her this: He's been silent lately. And misses you. The alithiometer added something more, something that sounded like 'Dreams of you', followed by 'Quest'. But she wasn't sure.

And it said something about the Subtle knife. When she realized this, Lyra gasped. Pan, who was resting on her shoulder, read her thoughts and also gasped.

"I think it said something about the knife being forged again." Pan murmured, leaning closer to the instrument.

Lyra put her hand to her mouth, watching the alithiometer with wide eyes.

"Maybe he's missed you so much and had some dreams about a possibility to reunite with you. . .maybe he set out on a 'quest' to forge the knife again. . ." Pan added.

Lyra violently shook her head.

"No. . .Will would never break a promise." She said, nodding. She was sure of it. "Not when it's this important. . ."

"But. . ."

"No buts, Pan. He wouldn't. The alithiometer is talking about someone else trying to find the knife. I'm sure of it. And I bet Will had some kind of dream about it. . .maybe he's set out on a quest to stop that person. . .I just wish I could read it well!" She added angrily, curling her little fists into tight balls.

Pan rubbed his little ferret-like head against her cheek, in a comforting way. Lyra smiled at him, but frowned back down at the instrument. What was going on?

Will was very quiet as he drank his coffee, Kirjava stalking around the kitchen.

Mary Malone, who was sitting in front of him, and could see his daemon, looked over at the boy in concern.

"Will. . .what's wrong?" She asked, knowing something wasn't right. The frown on the boy's face proved her she was right.

"I had a dream . . ." He said vaguely.

"Ok. About what?"

He stayed silent for a few second, closing his eyes. Mary guessed what the dream was about, but let him tell her.

"Lyra."

The woman smiled interiorly, since she had been right.

"What kind of dream?" She asked in a detached voice, looking away.

Will opened his dark, furious orbs. He watched the woman as she blew air on her coffee, looking out the window into a lovely day. He was judging her.

"I dreamt all the Dust. . .well particles. . .you know (Mary nodded, looking over at him). . .well they got off Lyra, and she died. I don't know why. And there were these two daemon that wanted the Subtle knife. . .or a piece of it. . .and they said that Lyra dying was something that would happen. . .and now I don't know what to do. . ." Will gave an angry sigh and looked away from Mary's deep gaze. Kirjava leaped onto his lap.

The woman bit her lip.

"Maybe it was just a dream . . ." She proposed quietly. Will's furious gave made her flinch interiorly.

"No! At least. . .bah! I have no idea. Maybe it was. But the daemon said they would come back; if I have the dream again, it'll mean its true."

The boy looked at the ceiling and cracked his knuckles distantly.

Mary thought of interrogating the Particle machine back at her job, but just then, Mrs. Parry came, hair wild and eyes still sleepy.

"Will?" She asked, yawning.

Will's mom had been very lucid since she had been taking the medication. Her mind was nearly normal.

The doctors had told them it was impossible to cure her, but to everyone's surprise, Mrs. Parry got better within the first week of her son's return. It was a very good thing.

As for the Particle machine, or the Dustalizer, as Mary called it, it was a newly built machine that was exactly like the one she had before, in her other lab.

She used it to try and understand the world, asking the Dust particles things from time to time. Right now, she needed to have a few questions answered.

Getting up rather machinelike, Mary Malone bid the pair a good day, went upstairs to take a shower, got dressed and left for work.

(0)

Mary Malone passed the guard on the ground floor, and he waved at her. Impatient, she quickly ended the conversation he had started, telling him she really needed to go do some testing up in her lab. Slightly put out, the guard let her through.

Mary rushed upstairs, pressing the elevator button furiously, tapping her heals impatiently.

It was a Saturday, and no one was at the lab except a few men and women doing some special testing. They waved to Mary briefly as she passed their labs.

The woman then reached her own little lab, at the end of the corridor. She closed the door quietly, leaning against it, and sighed very deeply.

She was greeted by the comforting little room in which a huge-screened computer and desk was stuffed. The I-Ching tablet lay beside a cup of coffee on her desk. She smiled at it, remembering all her adventures in the other worlds.

Then, regaining some seriousness, Mary walked up to the huge screen, which was covered in undefined shadowy shapes that kept moving. She looked at it for some time, before slowly connecting herself to the machine. She watched the screen, and saw how the shadows moved excitedly as she connected herself. They were eager to talk.

Flicking on the program that allowed her to use the keyboard to communicate, Mary sat down on a chair and relaxed. She was used to this; it was easy for her to reach the same level of mental calm that Lyra once used with the alithiometer.

She set her fingers over the keyboard and the shadows flickered like flames of the screen.

'I suppose you heard my conversation with Will?' She typed. The answer came back very quickly.

(Yes.)

'So what was that dream?'

She sensed hesitation.

(We know, but we cannot tell you.)

Mary blinked. The Particles had not once refused to answer her. Ever.

'But. . .why?'

(The boy needs to find out on his own. It is his quest, not yours.)

Mary stopped; she felt betrayed, deep inside.

(Do not feel betrayed. We simply cannot tell you because it might change the course of things. The boy must find out on his own.)

'Is there something you could tell me that wouldn't. . .change anything?'

(Yes. The dream was real. The two daemons were real. Lyra's death was real.)

Mary gasped.

'Lyra's. . .dead?'

(Not yet. That is why we cannot tell you everything. Because whenever she lives or dies depends entirely on whenever the boy figures this out.)

Mary sighed with relief; she had gotten quite a scare.

'So what did the daemons want?'

(This we cannot tell you.)

'Who's daemon's were they?'

(A girl's.)

'Wait. . .you mean the belonged to one person?' Mary blinked, confused.

(Yes. But we cannot tell you who it is, and you cannot tell the boy. He must find out on his own, because when he does, the way he copes with it will determine whenever Eve lives or not.)

Mary took a moment to realize that by 'Eve', they meant Lyra. But she was still surprised that someone could have two daemons.

'But how's it possible for someone to have two daemons?'

(The girl is a half-witch, half-human. She was born over three hundred years ago, from a mother witch from Lyra's world, and a father from this world. And she was born in the world of the Torre del Angeli. When one is born in a different world, from two parents from two different worlds, strange things happen. Lyra was born from a father from this world, and a mother from her own world. She would have gotten the same anomaly is she was born in another world. But instead, she was born on her mother's earth, and was given the spirit of Eve, and a destiny that would change humanity.)

'Ok wait. . .so this girl's mother was a witch from Lyra's world, and her dad was like Lyra's father; from this world. And she was born in Cittagaze? But why would an 'anomaly' happen under these circumstances?'

(There were too many different particles around and inside her. It resulted in a daemon that was too different to be one. It split in two, one keeping the particles from Lyra's world, and the other keeping those of this world. Together, they shared the particles of this Cittagaze.)

Mary sat back. But the Particles added something.

(Does the date of three hundred years ago remind you of something?)

It was a strange question, but Mary sat up straight suddenly, having understood its meaning.

"Yes. . ." She gasped, and started typing furiously.

'It was the date of the creation of the Subtle knife, and the opening of the first ever window. Plus the creation of the first Specter. It was what messed up all the worlds. It was what stopped the flowers in the mulefa's world from living.'

The woman watched as an answer typed on the screen at amazing speed.

(Indeed. But the problems did not start there. The first perturbation and the cause of the creation of the Subtle knife was caused by the birth of this anomalous child. And Cittagaze was the made the 'City between the worlds', because that is where the first window was created. But we cannot tell you anything more about this. The boy will find out, and he will tell you.)

The screen faded into shadows again, and Mary unplugged herself from the machine.

So everything they had learned three years ago . . . about how the whole trouble started with the creation of the Subtle knife. . .it wasn't all that true. As a matter of fact, the only force of life that actually knew the whole story was Dust. . .and Dust wasn't saying anything about it.

The woman sighed wearily, wondering what on Hell and Heaven was going to happen now.

And naturally, before leaving, she vowed not to say a word of this to Will, no matter the temptations.

(0)