Dream People I — The Mysterious Magic Visitors

CHAPTER 15

QUIRON, SECOR

Daniel did not scream when the small device appeared near his window. He stepped backward, nearly knocking over his coffee, and stared at the object hovering in the room. It was not shaped like any household drone he recognized. Its surface shimmered with unfamiliar symbols. The device moved slowly, as though trying not to frighten him. Daniel reached for his phone and began recording. 'QUIRON,' he said when the communication interface opened, 'I think we have a very unusual visitor.' QUIRON asked him to maintain distance and avoid touching the object.

Daniel described the device while the camera captured its movements. It rotated toward the phone, emitted a brief pulse of light, and retreated. Then, with no sound of propulsion, it disappeared. QUIRON examined the video. The recording showed an anomalous object, but did not by itself establish an extraterrestrial or interdimensional origin. Daniel compared its symbols with the architecture he had sketched from dreams. A repeating shape appeared in both. QUIRON cautioned that resemblance was not proof, yet agreed the coincidence merited organized study. Daniel felt excitement rising beneath his unease.

'What if somebody over there is looking for me?' he asked. They created a secure research log, preserving the original recording and the time of the encounter. QUIRON recommended independent review, instrument calibration, and careful protection of Daniel's privacy. Daniel asked whether QUIRON could help

design a system to compare dream memories with waking observations. The idea he had named in a notebook now had a purpose: DREAMLINK HICS Version 1.0. Across the boundary, QUIDRIX reported that the drone had encountered a biological individual whose appearance matched the archived visitor portrait.

Sardrith felt the room tilt beneath him. The mysterious flying man was apparently awake somewhere else, living in an ordinary room. The discovery did not explain why sleep brought him to VELORIA, but it transformed the question. They no longer sought an abstract origin. They sought a civilization. An Uninvited Guest Daniel set his coffee down very carefully. The object hovered near the window, moving in small adjustments that suggested it was examining the room. He resisted the urge to reach out. QUIRON instructed him to keep the camera steady and maintain a clear path to the door.

'It looks as confused as I feel,' Daniel said.

'Appearance is not a reliable measure of intention,' QUIRON replied. 'Continue observing without approaching.' The drone rotated. For a moment a tiny light pulsed in a pattern that reminded Daniel of the transportation signals in his dreams. He described the resemblance aloud. QUIRON saved the original video separately from any enhanced version and recorded the device's apparent size, motion, and duration. Then the object vanished, leaving the curtains moving gently in its wake.

Daniel stared at the empty air. He wanted to announce that he had discovered another dimension. QUIRON asked him to describe what he actually knew. A physical-looking object had appeared, been recorded, and disappeared. Its origin remained uncertain.

Daniel took a breath. 'All right,' he said. 'Then we start there.'

An Expanded Scene

QUIRON replayed Daniel's recording without enhancing the unexplained pixels. An altered image might be easier to admire, but the original carried the only trustworthy measurements. Daniel watched the small shape cross the frame and disappear behind a streetlight. 'You think it followed me?' he asked. QUIRON considered the evidence. 'I think we have an observation that requires another observation.' The answer disappointed him and steadied him at once. They began a log of time, location, device settings, and every ordinary explanation they could test. Whatever the object was, they would not build a friendship between worlds on a conclusion reached too early.