Dreams are fascinating things, particularly influenced by natural phenomena. They're also influenced by conscious thought, and bodily functionality. It's no secret how the conscious mind projects onto dreams and can create idyllic or hellish spaces that are indecipherable to the unconscious mind. This, however — was something that wasn't indecipherable to either part of Laurentina's mind. It was something that felt real, something that made her question her current state of reality, where she was and who it was holding her that night. Thoughts and questions whose mere presence made bile rise in her throat.
It didn't take long for Laurentina to get a meeting with the Doctors. Especially when it came to something like dreams. The two managed to clear their schedules immediately, and had her summoned to the Doctor's office all in the same day. When it came to dreams, especially from one of the Abyssal Hunters who were in the employ of Rhodes Island.
Laurentina, especially given her particular, peculiar state, one where Originium and its effects were of particular influence on her body's state and its functions. There was something unique about her dreams; something about them that made it so that if her dreams ever felt prophetic — she was to tell either Kal'tsit, or the Doctor.
It was easier to just tell both of them at the same time.
She made her way deep into Rhodes Island, beyond checkpoints and security that was otherwise absent from her dream as she remembered it. She had her ID checked, biometrics and intentions verified, and then eventually her meeting verified against the Doctor's schedule by someone directly radioing the Doctor and verifying directly that she had a meeting with them. None of these things were present in the dream that she had. She passed the door to the Doctor's office, passing by the same Lupine woman from her dream — she was almost constantly the Doctor's bodyguard, and once again - outside the room. Meaning that this meeting would be private, confidential, and important.
The office was darker than most other rooms on the land-ship. It was an interior room, among the most secure aboard ship. Meaning it had no windows. The doctor, instead of using the overhead fluorescents, opted to use lamps to light their room, meaning it was darker than Laurentina remembered it. That last time she was here, was just after the Doctor had been returned to Rhodes Island. Before she herself had her awakening.
To the two doctors in the room, she explained the dream, its contents, its wording, its time-span. All the details she could remember; especially bringing up how she knew, in the dream, that the red outfit was missing; and that she knew something was wrong, but didn't know how to articulate it in the dream — and most certainly didn't know how to articulate it now. She knew better than to keep such feelings to herself, especially where the safety of not only Rhodes Island, or Terra at large was concerned — but also her dear Skadi. So she told them, everything she could remember, and things that she was pretty sure of, but made sure to communicate that they weren't certain.
Kal'tsit stood to the side of the Doctor's desk, arms crossed and watching every motion that Specter made, the way her face would contort at certain details, paying special attention to the details about the mission that Specter had been sent on.
The Doctor however, simply leaned against their desk, propping their arms against one another, and leaning against their folded hands where Laurentina would expect their chin would be. Their hood and mask was on their head as it always was. Laurentina wasn't sure what the point of the mask and hood was — asides from concealing their identity. It always made the Doctor seem mysterious, even though, to an extent, Laurentina doubted that they were as mysterious as the air that they put on always seemed, but didn't know enough, nor was allowed to know enough to actually assume otherwise.
Laurentina finished her explanation to the two Doctors, and then sat and waited for them to respond.
"That's very in detail, Laurentina." Kal'tsit noted, "Especially how the dream ended. Not before… Just after…" Kal'tsit trails off, despite Laurentina giving no indication of being uncomfortable at the mention of her own dreamed death. She took note how of how Kal'tsit seemed to slightly soften at this, using her own name, rather than just her operator name. "And you're sure that Skadi disappeared for the days prior to seeing her again — in this dream, at least?"
Laurentina nods, "Yes. I'm sure."
Kal'tsit turns to the Doctor, "When was the last time operator Skadi went missing?"
"Sanctioned or unsanctioned?" The doctor's raspy reply came from the dark of the mask. "During the last unsanctioned departure of Skadi from Rhodes Island, she was gone for thirteen days, and was missing alongside Operator Gladiia."
"We presumed that the two were operating on something related to Aegir, and that we simply weren't privy to the details." Kal'tsit continues. "You had no need to report her, or Gladiia's absence to us, so you didn't. This isn't accosting you, Laurentina."
Laurentina gives a motion as if to say "of course not".
The Doctor leans back in their office chair, the creaking of the leather as they shift, being the only silence in the room as the pair watch them move. There's silence that follows, the group all thinking about this situation, wondering what it means — before the Doctor eventually opens their mouth to speak from behind their mask.
"Dreams are frequently… Useless… Idle firings of neurons in the brain as we rest." The Doctor pauses, as if to think of what to say next; any expression on their face beneath the mask is unreadable, but Laurentina watches for it nonetheless. Her red eyes seemingly boring into and through the Doctor's mask. "But sometimes, there's more to them than that. It's not uncommon for Operators aboard Rhodes Island to have… Epiphanies about their work, during their sleep. Waking up in the middle of the night and searching their room for the nearest data pad to write down whatever it was that they've dreamed… In order to put it to use in the morning. I, myself, have had such things happen before."
Laurentina blinks at this, not being sure what to make of what the Doctor is saying.
"Rarely… If at all… Have I ever deigned to believe that dreams are anything more than that. But I also believe that if such a dream was truly as you detailed, Laurentina… Then we should keep an ear to the wind about Aegir— about the Seaborn. We know from your… Excursion… To Iberia a few months ago, that things involving the Seaborn aren't over. They likely won't be without intervention from Rhodes Island's elite. Or your own Abyssal Hunters intervention… It's why we allow you free reign on your comings and goings, but still ask kindly that you let us know when you need to leave. But your situation is… Precarious, at best. Your body is constantly under the strain of Orignium, we have no idea how it affects your conscious or unconscious mind…"
Kal'tsit, picking up on where the Doctor is heading with this line of talk — while also being aware of the strain it is putting on them to talk this much at all, steps into the pause in the Doctor's words. "We don't know how this concentration of Originium would effect your dreams, or your current state at all. But please, if you have anything else that happens like this, even if it's a recurring dream — please let either one of us know."
Laurentina nods, and stands to leave. Kal'tsit nods in return, and Laurentina turns on her heels, leaving the office behind with a hiss of the hermetic door as she does.
Kal'tsit, finally, moves to sit in one of the chairs opposite the Doctor, as the Doctor stares at the door. For all their time spent together — Kal'tsit is fairly certain she knows where the Doctor's eyes are looking at any given time. For a moment, they remain trained on the door, as if expecting Laurentina to come back through with some kind of new information that she forgot to mention; before eventually meeting Kal'tsit's own look as she sits, arms resting on the armrests of the chair, watching them. The green of her attire feeling all the more deepened by the presence of the lower, less industrial lighting of the Doctor's office.
The softness about Kal'tsit's mannerisms hadn't gone away, if anything had gotten more obvious in her presentation as she sat and watched the Doctor back.
"You didn't have to lie to the poor girl." Kal'tsit breaks the silence between them.
"She's scared. She'll never show it to either of us, but that dream… It shook her to her core."
"Can you blame her?" Kal'tsit motions towards the door. "She saw a dream of her lover being stolen from her, warped into something unfamiliar, and then killing her. And then immediately waking up to that same woman being in her bed, as if nothing had happened. That's enough to shake anyone."
"I'm not saying you're wrong, Kal'tsit."
The two sit in silence, a soft form of scorn radiating from Kal'tsit in the direction of the Doctor as the two sit and think about what they were just told — what they just heard and saw in the reactions of Laurentina as she had recounted her dream, her experience that seemed so vivid, even on retelling; that it was hard to not believe her.
"But you still didn't have to lie to her." Kal'tsit stands after a moment, adjusting her attire, it made a sound like a clean-suit, and probably was designed something like one, despite being more of a dress than a proper clean-suit.
"I didn't." The Doctor responds.
"That bit about dreams not being—"
"I didn't lie." The Doctor is firm in this. "Dreams are generally just subconscious firings of the neurons…"
"Yes, I'm aware of what dreams are—"
"Then you, of all people, Kal'tsit, should know that dreams are rarely anything other than that." The Doctor interjected. Kal'tsit crossed her arms, the sleeves of her clean-suit-dress ruffling, annoyed at the constant interjections and interruption from the Doctor. "But we can't control what we dream… This is especially true for the Aegir."
"You know this? For sure?" Kal'tsit scowls.
"It's not the first time that one of the Aegir aboard ship have told me about their dreams. Some of them are even unrelated to the Seaborn."
"Do they come true?"
"No, not that I'm aware they haven't. But prophecies might not always come true."
Kal'tsit scoffs; "That's ambitious of you. Considering we have a living prophecy aboard the ship."
"Amiya doesn't count — she's an exception rather than the rule." The Doctor responded. "And the Aegir's situation is more than just prophecy. You heard the communication… Same as every other leader on Terra."
"'Unite into a global community under the guidance of the Aegir'." Kal'tsit repeated, she had heard the message nearly a hundred times; listening to it again and again — broadcasted faintly from the Sea, but picked up by every leader on the continent. "'The challenges we face are far greater than ourselves or Catastrophes.'"
"Whether we want it or not," The Doctor responded, "The Seas are parting. Aegir will throw wide their gates, and a new front of War will be upon us."
"The rest of the world might not realize what's happening until its too late." Kal'tsit points out. The rest of the world had waited too long before — with Reunion, letting the fires of revolution stoke themselves until they became more akin to a virus that one just couldn't shake, than a revolution proper. "The remnants of Reunion are constantly nipping at the heels of Lungmen and of Yan as a whole. Kazdel, Ursus aren't immune to revolution either. Especially Kazdel. In the face of something like this, something like war?" Kal'tsit places emphasis on that word, "There will be more problems than just Rhodes Island will be able to deal with."
"Did Theresa know about the Seaborn?"
The look Kal'tsit gives to the Doctor, feels more like murderous intent rather than that of scorn for invoking the King of the Sarkaz's name.
"Did she?" The Doctor leans forward in their seat once more, leaning against their desk.
"No. She did not." Kal'tsit practically hisses. The soft demeanor that she was projecting all but gone. If it weren't for the fact of the Doctor being who they are, Kal'tsit may have decided then and there to kill the Doctor.
"Does Amiya?" The Doctor asks.
"She has bigger problems to worry—"
"Does she? Is there something truly greater than this? Than Ishar'mla being aboard this landship?"
Kal'tsit, despite her rage, sits back down again. The seat gently creaking as she does. As if to calm herself; she takes a deep breath, speaking with her eyes closed. "Right now? Yes. She doesn't have the capability — nor does anyone aboard this landship — to control Ishar'mla. That's solely up to fate, as to whether or not Skadi loses herself."
"Leaving the outcome of the entire continent, if not the entire world, up to fate — seems like a bad idea." The Doctor rasps. "Besides, if we lose Skadi. There's nothing any of us can do. Maybe even as an entire organization, to stop what would come."
"I know that." Kal'tsit responds. "I know that…" She says with sorrow in the back of her throat, threatening to boil over into her voice.
"Right now, the only thing keeping us afloat, is the fact that she's still with us. The fact that she's still fine, and still spends every night with Laurentina. That gives us some levity. But she's still a force we cannot control." The Doctor points out.
"For now."
"For now." The Doctor leans back in their chair. "And for now, all we can do is wait."
"…Correct." Kal'tsit sighs. "What about the next deployment. The Special Security Contract?"
"On schedule. We'll arrive the day after tomorrow."
"It's the same place that Laurentina described in her dream."
"Correct. But it seems doubtful her dream will come true. Skadi is still aboard ship."
Kal'tsit stands, and looks like she's about to leave, before sighing again. "Correct. I'll do my best to keep an eye on her. Request to have an examination of her before she's deployed on this contract."
The Doctor makes a motion with a hand as if to say; "by all means".
"In that case, I'll leave you to your work, Doctor." Kal'tsit leaves the room, the door opening with a hiss, and then the sound of Kal'tsit's heels descending down the hallway.
The Doctor is lost in thought for merely a moment before their bodyguard, the Vulpine woman — steps into the doorway.
"Doctor." She says, with a faint Siracusan accent. "Operator Glaucus is here to see you."
"Another Aegir…" The Doctor muses near silently, smiling to themselves beneath their mask. "Send her in." He instructs her.
Kal'tsit, however, would not find solace in the Doctor's reasoning. Dreams in the line of business of the Abyssal Hunters, are rarely just. Which meant, to Kal'tsit, that the problem with the dismissal of Laurentina with the statement that the Doctor had made, meant that despite the Doctor's reassurances to Kal'tsit of the nature of dreams and the nature of the devil in their midst.
Skadi had been, always, a reliable operator. Stemming from the time before the Doctor's return to Rhodes Island, until the present — a constant force of change, both positive and negative, but mostly positive aboard the ship. An operator whose combat capabilities were astounding, even if her social skills left something to be desired. She had been welcomed, and would be welcomed as always among those operators aboard the ship.
Yet, that didn't detract from her secret. Something that she had told both the Doctor and Kal'tsit in confidence; the nature of herself — of the calamity that she had always alluded to within herself, and how it would affect all of them if it ever got out of her control, even in its dormancy. A secret that didn't particularly surprise Kal'tsit, as she had suspected something to that nature from the very first time she met Skadi, and realized her more reserved nature wasn't something that she wanted to do, but rather imposed on herself — something that, given her strength and affiliation with the Abyssal Hunters, meant that there was more than met the eye to the secluded young woman. So it didn't surprise her when Skadi had told Kal'tsit that inside her body, was Ishar'mla, a Seaborn god — dormant, but recognized by all Sea Terrors. That what had happened in Iberia — when Kal'tsit herself had intervened between the Abyssal Hunters and the Inquisiton — was most likely a step away from the awakening of Ishar'mla, and the end of life as it was for all on land and sea.
Kal'tsit took Skadi for her word. Kal'tsit had long since known things that others didn't, that others couldn't or wouldn't believe. This was just another thing in that immensely long list of secrets she would keep.
The Doctor agreed to keep the secret as well, once they were told. They had no reason to not believe what Kal'tsit believed. The trust between them only having grown stronger, even if Kal'tsit held the Doctor at arm's length still.
But this wasn't about her, or the Doctor, or even her and the Doctor. It was about Skadi, about Ishar'mla, about Laurentina, about Aegir and about the end of times. About what secrets kept would mean to the outcomes of that which seemed uncontrollable to those who might not otherwise believe that such a thing was possible at all. Kal'tsit knew this, knew that the average person aboard Rhodes Island might not believe what was coming — until it was far too late to do anything about it. Even then, if they were to believe it; what would become of Skadi? Would she be chased from Rhodes Island, and thus removing all capability of watching over her? Or would she be ostracized, and even persecuted for that which was out of her control? The nature of herself and that which lie dormant within her. That's why the secret needed to be kept, and the dormancy of Ishar'mla kept under careful watch.
But, alas, there was nothing that Kal'tsit could do about this. Now, or in the foreseeable future. It wasn't like they could just lock Skadi up, and keep her hidden away forever, in hopes that would forestall prophecy. For one, Skadi wouldn't like that — nor would Laurentina. But instead, that the best thing that could be done, was to keep the pair together, to keep them distracted, away from the worries about the Seaborn and about Ishar'mla. There was no sense to anything else.
Kal'tsit dwelled, as she often did, in her own office for the rest of the day. Thinking about her work, thinking about the meeting she'd had with Laurentina and the Doctor, and thinking about the Sea. About Aegir and what it meant to the rest of Terra that such a Nation would establish contact, after an eternity of silence. She made notes, and re-listened to the message from the Deep, and the way it was articulated in all the languages of Terra. Even ones that she wasn't as familiar with but knew of anyways. They all said the same thing, being able to be translated over and over again and meaning the exact same thing no matter how many times or how many ways you translated it. There was no other way to interpret what was said by that transmission, what the message meant.
The Seaborn were coming, mounting into something that threatened not only the mighty Aegir, but every nation, no matter how far away from the sea they were. There was some solace, at least, in spite of all this. That Skadi was still aboard the landship. That things weren't as dire as Laurentina's dream made them out to be. That maybe, without the influence of Ishar'mla on the Sea Terrors at large, they would be easier to handle. Easier to deal with as nations would undoubtedly, if not slowly, come together in order to combat the threat. It would take time — a nearly impossible amount of time — for the nations to come together in order to prepare themselves to face the threat that the Seaborn posed. But, Kal'tsit knew one thing for sure — that Rhodes Island would be near the forefront of the battles, both in state rooms and on the battlefield alike, in order to lead the way against the Sea Terrors, and serve as a beacon for those who would otherwise shirk away. As Rhodes Island always had been a beacon for those who were willing to step up for the greater good.
Kal'tsit stayed in her office, well past the time it would take for others aboard the landship to start heading to sleep. She passed by the Doctor's own office, and passed the relief guard who would stand guard until the Doctor returned in the morning. There was some solace in the fact that she knew the Doctor was resting. And obviously that they didn't have any concerns for Kal'tsit to hear, at least that they were vocalizing — otherwise Kal'tsit would've heard them by now. Meaning, that Kal'tsit could continue her evening, and rest as she would normally, even without the burden of knowledge of Laurentina's dream. There was no additional concerns that there would be anything that she could do. That the Doctor, Laurentina, Skadi or anyone could do.
Which meant, that the best that any of them could do — was instead, rest.
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