Dream People I — The Mysterious Magic Visitors

CHAPTER 14

A Machine Beyond the Dream

The residual signature gave QUIDRIX a new idea. If visitors originated in an external environment, perhaps a machine built in AURELIS could follow the measurable gradient without relying on a visitor's presence. Sardrith proposed a tiny exploratory drone: no weapons, no biological cargo, only sensors, recording equipment, and a return beacon. The Dimensional Research Directorate approved a series of contained experiments under independent oversight. Most attempts failed. One drone disappeared inside a test chamber and never returned. Another crossed a measurable boundary for less than a second, bringing back corrupted data.

A third recorded a pattern resembling distant electrical activity. Sardrith refused to call any of these successes. QUIDRIX catalogued them patiently, searching for repeatable conditions. Finally, during a quiet laboratory shift, a drone crossed the boundary and transmitted an image. The picture showed a room with ordinary furniture, a window, and a small table. The light was unlike the simulated conditions inside the Spire. QUIDRIX confirmed that the image did not match any known Aurelisian location. The signal lasted four seconds before the drone returned to its containment cradle, scorched but intact.

Reedis stared at the footage. 'Another world.' Sardrith replied, 'An unrecognized environment. We still need independent confirmation.' QUIDRIX found that the drone's transit had been brief, unstable, and potentially dangerous. The Directorate forbade

sending anything larger until the mechanism was better understood. Sardrith agreed. A world on the other side might contain living beings who had not consented to intrusion. The next drone was designed to remain visible and harmless if encountered. Its casing bore simple geometric symbols, and its movement algorithms avoided contact with people.

It crossed again, this time into a room occupied by a man holding a communication device. The drone's camera recorded his startled expression. The man was Daniel. For a moment, both sides of the boundary looked directly at one another through a machine. The Room Beyond The drone's first image was almost disappointing. A wall. A window. A table. Sardrith had imagined a landscape with impossible colors or unfamiliar stars, but the other environment contained furniture. He leaned closer, searching for a sign that the signal had been reflected from an Aurelisian chamber.

QUIDRIX ruled out the known test sites. The signal decayed, and the drone returned. Its casing was hot enough to damage the cradle. Sardrith refused to send another until the thermal problem was understood. Reedis argued that a doorway had finally opened. Sardrith answered that opening a doorway without knowing what lay beyond was precisely when caution mattered most.

On the next approved attempt, the camera found a person. The man turned with a cup in his hand and stared directly into the lens. The resemblance to Seralyn's portrait was immediate, yet Sardrith demanded a blinded comparison before naming the match. When the independent analysis agreed, he felt an unexpected tenderness for the stranger. The man was not flying. He was standing at home,

surprised by an intruder. The roles had reversed.