The next morning, back in the every-day world, Ben made his way along the upper corridor. As he guided his wheelchair his slight fingers would slip off the wheel-rims time and again. Still he would transport himself slowly but surely. A few minutes later Ben had finally succeeded in reaching Danny's room.
Danny was watching his television, which as usual was a close up of a sandstorm seen from the inside. To Danny however it was a beautiful multitude of mind-enhancing colours.
‘What's that you're watching Danny,’ enquired Ben. He felt sure that something important was going on. His mind wasn't able to decode the sandstorm into a coherent picture and he felt a little jealous.
'Oi!’' a peculiar Tokyo and East London accent rocked itself into Danny and Ben's brains. ‘You no for-get Golden Frog?’
‘How could I forget you, Master Frog,’ whispered Danny out loud. He had lost track of the visitor in his head.
‘You can call me Golf. It’s short for Golden Frog by the way.’
‘And here’s me thinking it was short for...’
‘Danny! Let’s not upset Golf,’ advised Ben.
‘Wise man. You do well to listen to your friend.’
The frog had been sleeping the last day in order to recover from the long journey into Danny's head. Being digitally encoded and transmitted electronically has its drawbacks.
‘Better not speak out loud to Golf,’ reminded Ben breathlessly.
‘Yes. He is right. We all go telepathic-visual now. Prepare for enhanced communication,’ said Golf.
Danny and Ben suddenly found themselves sitting in an all-white vaguely circular room. It was quietly humming. The sounds were both soothing and peaceful. The whole room pulsated gently as if it were alive. Danny tried to guess the size of the cabin but measurements didn't seem to quite fit what he was looking at.
‘Telepathy with virtual reality - that’s some gadgetry Mr Frog. I'm impressed,’ Danny commented absent-mindedly.
‘Mhmm, yes. My employers like to think they well equipped. You have been projected aboard deep space alpha-energy ship, or the likeness of one,’ continued Frog.
‘We really are impressed now,’ thought Ben quietly.
‘You have both been chosen as, what to say, agents - I guess,’ Golf continued.
In a secret, hopefully non-frog-accessible location within the Danny-Ben mind-set, the pair exchanged exclamation marks. They had set up this mind-arena, in what is called the Thought Realm, years previously as a place for secret exchange (should anyone be eavesdropping telepathically). Most communication here was visual or even via smells - never verbal. Words were just too easy to track. Danny and Ben exchanged images. They were on a desert island at night surrounded by blank-faced people muttering unknown words. Everyone wanted their attention and there were rough seas in the background.
Danny and Ben felt worried. Firstly, the Sapient Trees wanted their abilities in some unknown way in order to help the Earth humans. A frog-like mind-entity from a secret and highly sinister psychic agency also wanted their services. 'Whatever next?' thought Danny in visual mode to Ben.
‘Hey! Are you two listening?’ interrupted Golden Frog angrily. He was looking suspiciously from Danny to Ben and back again.
‘No worries Golf, we're just a little taken aback with all this really amazing virtual telepathy,’ thought Ben quickly.
‘Yeah, we ain’t seen nothing like this before,’ added Danny.
‘We got keep mind on job. You be sorry if you mess with Golden Frog. Here is deal,’ said Golf.
Golf explained a little. Having little option otherwise, they reluctantly accepted the mind entity's offer. They were now both working on a particular mission for the agency. Danny had already sent some mind messages to the mass consciousness for them and he was not happy about that. Now he was being dragged in much deeper. It was something quite definite that they wanted, something quite crucial, something physical. Exactly what it was they weren't being told.