“H

ey, watch it!”
“Ouch!” Kevin groaned, “You’re stepping on my
head!”
“Sorry!” Tom lowered his foot slowly, searching for the next rung on the wall. It was nearly impossible to see anything in the dark.
Kevin reached the solid floor at the bottom. “There’s got to be a light switch somewhere.” He groped around in the darkness, feeling the wall for anything to press. Finally, Kevin felt the shape of the switch and flicked on the floodlights. Startled by the sudden light, Andrew lost his grip and fell, knocking Tom off as well. The two boys landed on top of each other ungracefully.
With Andrew’s foot in his mouth, Tom mumbled, “Gurd awha heee!”
Andrew removed his foot and asked, “I didn’t quiet hear you.” “GET OFFAH ME!” Tom screamed.
“Oh, oh! Sorry….” Andrew quickly got up.
The hole was empty. There was nothing much to it aside from a door. When Tom opened the door, a cold draft swept across them. The door led to a giant steel hallway, which was cold like a freezer. Besides a low hum coming from the fluorescent tubes overhead, it was quiet.
Kevin hissed out a trail of vapor. “I should’ve brought a jacket! Why’s it freezing down here?” He stared at the group. “Wait a minute…. Where’s Katie? I thought she was behind us.” “She didn’t want to come down.” Andrew rubbed his arms, shivering. He looked in his chest pocket. Terminus was snuggled inside, immersed in Andrew’s body warmth. “I don’t blame her. Let’s do what we came for…and quickly.”
Kevin nodded in reply, keeping his lips closed, afraid to lose heat from his breath.
The main hall only had twenty doors, ten on each side. However, each door was nearly a football field apart. The other end of the hall seemed so distant and tiny. They began examining the first few doors.
“This place is massive!” exclaimed Kevin. “Each door leads to a different department…”
“And they all have code names,” Tom added, pointing at the sign. “Like this one. It’s called ‘Phantom.’ I wonder what’s inside.” “Phantom,” Andrew said nervously. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Why not?” Tom snickered. “Do you believe in ghosts?” An uneasy feeling rising in his chest, Andrew glanced around. “N-no way. G-ghosts don’t exist…I think.”
While Andrew was looking around, Tom snuck behind him and let out a ghastly moan in his ear. His eyes nearly bulging, Andrew gasped, then jumped and spun around, his hand clutching at his heart.
Squeezing Andrew on the shoulder, Tom cracked up. “Oh man, are you serious?”
Glaring at Tom, Andrew stormed away.
Kevin ignored them and hurried down the corridor, glancing at every door.
“There’s got to be something here related to sleep.” The third door down had a sign that read: Fairy Tale. He thought about it for a minute. Many times fairy tales involved sleep, usually being some form of a curse. Could the solution to their problem lie behind this door?
A voice behind him shouted, “Boo!”
Kevin thrust back his elbow and made contact with someone’s gut. Kevin looked over his shoulder and saw Tom kneeling on the ground, grunting.
Tom held his stomach tightly. “Ugh…I wasn’t expecting that.” Kevin smirked. Then he turned his attention back to the door and placed his hand on the door. “What do you think? Should we open door number three?”
Tom, still in pain, groaned, “Sure, why not?”
Curious, Kevin glanced around the hall. “Where’s Andrew?” Tom shrugged. “He just ran off. Maybe he went to check out another door…” A thought came to his mind, and his face split into a grin. “Or maybe he’s thinking of a way to get back at me. But I’ll be ready. No one ever gets me back and gets away with it.” He suddenly forced out a howling laughter that echoed through the halls, making him sound like a stereotypical villain.
Kevin said coolly, “Whatever.”
They went inside. It was much warmer in there, close to the comfort of normal room temperature. The first area they saw was a large office full of cubicles arranged like a rat maze. There were dead ends everywhere. The partitions nearly ten feet high, it was impossible to see across the room. Finding their way through would be a matter of trial and error.
Kevin stopped to peer inside one of the cubicles. No one was around. It didn’t look like an ordinary cubicle, like the ones he had seen on TV. Three flat computer screens were attached to the walls, providing the user with a screen at every turn of his head. The screens were showing a screensaver, which displayed cuddly baby pandas. The place looked like a giant mess, charts and graphs scattered across the desk. Stacks of reports towered over, almost about to topple.
“I don’t think anyone’s here,” said Tom.
“I think you’re right.”
“We can still—” Tom abruptly tilted his head.
Kevin asked, “Something wrong?”
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“A sound…like a soft growl or howl or something…” Kevin ran his eyes across the room in silence. “Nothing.” “I could’ve sworn—”
An eerie gurgle softly penetrated the walls of the office. Though soft, it was long and pronounced, like a pot of water boiling over. They only heard it for a fleeting moment.
Kevin smiled. “It’s probably Andrew…or his stomach.” Tom said, “I bet he’s trying to scare us.”
Snooping around, they didn’t find much of interest. The only thing that stuck out was the set of white double doors at the end of the office area. These doors led to another area of the facility, one that resembled a hospital ward. One side was a solid white wall, but the other was a wall of thick glass, or some other form of transparent material. The two teens gawked in wonder. Behind the glass were several rows of beds with people resting on them.
Tom threw himself onto the glass, pressing his face against it. “What the heck is this? A morgue? Holy crap…it’s creepy.” He counted the beds. “There are fifty beds in there!”
Kevin stared at a bed. He noticed a subtle movement from the person. “They’re not dead. Only asleep. A policeman told me that the most important people were moved to facilities where they could be looked after. Maybe this is one of them.”
While they stood in wonder, a loud scuffle came their way. They turned their heads in unison. A small silver sphere, the size of a basketball, was rolling towards them. Once it drew near, it came to a halt.
“Hello.” To their surprise, the sphere produced a monotone vocalization.
“Oh,” said Tom, seeming uninterested, “a talking ball. Hello.” “I am not just a talking ball,” said the sphere irritably. “I am the robotic assistant of Doctor H.E. William. Please follow me. I will show you the way to his office.”
“Why? What’s in his office?” asked Kevin.
“Information about his research and his last message for mankind.”
Kevin frowned. “His last message? So he’s…”
The round robot moved back and forth to demonstrate a nod. “Yes, he has fallen asleep.”
“The last message….” Kevin sighed. “I wonder if there’s anyone still awake out there.”
The doctor’s office was at the end of the corridor. It was an odd office to be sure. Kevin could pretty much sum up the entire room in one word: books. Large bookshelves covered the walls, absolutely overflowing with books, so much so that heaps of books littered the floor.
The books appeared to be used for much more than just reading. Books were neatly put together in the center of the room in the likeness of a table, and right next to it was a stack of books that resembled a cushion for sitting. On one side, the books were used in the construction of a simple couch, though it looked rather unpleasant to use since all the books were hardcover. Lastly, with a little imagination, Kevin identified a structure of books that looked like a sleeping bag; a bunch of opened books were put facedown, used as a blanket.
“Excuse the mess,” said the sphere, “but the doctor never had time to tidy up.” The sphere wandered over to a remote control on the floor. “Now, if you will please lie down, the video will begin.” “Lie down?” asked Kevin.
“Yes. Direct your attention up. I will project the image there.” The sphere rolled over a button and a small projector on the floor began displaying video on the ceiling. As the lights dimmed, Kevin and Tom uncomfortably lay down next to each other on the mess of books, which felt hard and lumpy on their backs. Fascinated, Helios happily jumped out of Kevin’s clothes and took his seat between the two boys’ heads.
The image showed the grim face of a dark-skinned man. His visage did not look elderly, but his hair was completely gray and the wrinkles on his face were pronounced. The background of the recording looked exactly like the room they were currently in. The man said, “To those watching, I am Doctor William. I am head researcher of the department of Fairy Tale here at the MORIA Industries R&D.” He hesitated to continue, his forehead wrinkled by the strain of distress. “I…I have done a terrible thing— unintentionally, of course. I am making this video as my last act on earth. It is documentation for future generations, should the human race survive.” He smiled. “Or, it might be documentation for any alien races who visit our planet and wonder if there was ever any sign of highly intelligent life.”
The doctor’s face darkened. “But I digress. Whoever you are, by the time you watch this video I will have already gone to sleep. I, along with the other researchers, have already come to the conclusion that there is nothing we can do to stop this mess. Based on our data, we have concluded that mankind cannot be wakened. That is why I no longer search for a cure. Death by sleep is painless anyway, so the extinction of mankind will be quiet.”
The doctor straightened, drawing in a deep breath. “I will begin by explaining how I created this problem. Obviously, we were researching sleep…and the possible effects of sleep with telepathy. The human mind is a mysterious thing, one of great potential and power. I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying ‘mind over matter.’ Is there any basis for mental abilities? Telepathy…telekinesis…such powers are wondered about, but do they exist?
“When we are awake, we are busy observing things, thinking about things or performing tasks. Our minds are focused on being alive and doing the things we do. But what happens when we sleep? We have involuntary functions that keep us going…but the rest of our cognitive processes move into the dream. We live in the dream…we act out fantasies…we do what we’re not doing. Our mind is awake and alive, yet not necessarily using its full potential… “Then I had an idea. The possible reason why we can’t use such abilities might be related to the fact that we unconsciously use our mind for other things. It is the limiter of our own brain. Could being in a dream state enhance telepathy? Could we actually communicate with one another while we sleep, even if we don’t realize it? Or what if…the dream was removed from sleep entirely? What would happen to that withheld power of the mind? I was curious. Such a thing sounded impossible, but I figured, why not try?
“MORIA is a private company. Our research and development is a secret operation. Because of that, we do not feel obligated to follow any laws so that we may further our research. To study sleep, we needed test subjects. We took fifty volunteers and gave them a genetic alteration. We isolated the gene for the hibernation of bears in winter and modified it accordingly to fit it with humans. Then, once a trigger is activated through environmental conditions, the person will fall into a deep sleep. We did this for all our test subjects and monitored their condition for about a month. Lastly, to break the dream state, we had them undergo a bit of shock to the brain in an effort to disrupt the neurons.
“After this experiment, we began using various neuroimaging techniques to see the effect. It was phenomenal. Instead of a decrease in functionality, the activity of their brains was increased several fold. More importantly, every person’s mind seemed to be in sync with one another. When comparing scans from every individual, the results were nearly identical! Everyone’s mind was functioning on the same level…on the same wavelength, so to speak. “Then the unthinkable happened: they could not break free from their hibernation. We tried to resuscitate them with whatever means possible…but nothing worked. So we kept them on lifesupport, hoping that this was just a temporary setback.
“Then things got worse. Some personnel who had gone home to rest never returned. We could not contact them. It didn’t take long to figure out we had a problem on our hands. Using our network, we tried to determine the extent of the ‘epidemic.’ Data was difficult to gather because everyone has different sleep cycles, but the correlation was too striking to ignore. Our research lab was the epicenter of this crisis. It began from here—and soon enough, it enveloped the whole world.
“We brought some people who had fallen asleep back here for studying. The results were astonishing. Scans showed the same activity as our original test subjects. The only conclusion we could draw from this was that the experiment was a success. Somehow, the minds of the unconscious victims were linked together in a dream state. The best way for me to describe this is a network through telepathy. A mental network that I call the Dream Wave. “I believe the Dream Wave has always existed, but in a much weaker state. Our world has different time zones. In each time zone people will generally go to sleep at a similar time for obvious reasons. This forms the vertical Dream Wave that stretches loosely across the populated continents. This Dream Wave creates a weak link, but this form of vertical Dream Waves moves horizontally as people in the neighboring time zone go to sleep. That is why when a person sleeps they may sometimes have a similar dream with another person or have a realistic dream with someone they know. It is a subconscious communication system.
“The Dream Wave never fully connects across the whole world because of two factors: people will eventually awaken on the other side of the world, thus severing the link, and the oceans create a natural gap.
“However, because of the strength of the Dream Wave formed here in our research, we may have created this crisis in which the Dream Wave, instead of being weak and severed, has now encompassed the entirety of earth. That is all I know and that is all I hope to know.
“This video is a warning. I pray no one else makes the same mistake. Sometimes there are boundaries you should not cross. I do apologize for the problems I have caused. But that is all I can do. Thank you for watching…and goodbye.”

evin stood up and heaved a sigh. “I don’t really get what he’s talking about, but it looks like the scientists gave up on a solution.”
“That is truly most disappointing,” said Helios thoughtfully.

Taking a seat on the couch of books, Tom frowned. “So…it’s all pointless? There’s nothing we can do?”
Kevin looked over at the sphere. “Hey…um…robot dude—”
The robot replied, “If you were wondering about my name, you can call me Shiro.”
“Shiro? Sounds Japanese,” said Kevin.
The robotic sphere rolled back and forth, as though nodding enthusiastically. “That is my country of origin. My birthplace.”
“Typical. So anyway, Shiro, is there no way to save the human population?”
“There might be a way.”
Shocked, Kevin raised his eyebrows. “Really? But didn’t that doctor just say that he couldn’t find one?”
“Oh, he found one.”
Kevin’s jaw slackened. “Wait, what? I thought—what? This is just—I don’t get it.”
“Your confusion is understandable,” replied Shiro. “Through our research, we found a possible solution. However, it is not a solution that the Doctor would accept.”
“Why not?”
“Because the solution is based on a certain folklore entitled The Three Stars. The folklore talks of three stars that fell to earth a long time ago. All three stars crumbled away into dust, darkening the earth for three days and three nights. During this time, all mankind fell asleep—except for one man. And that man was able to save everyone from eternal sleep…”
“And then?” Kevin demanded.
“That is all the doctor wanted to know before dismissing the story as useless. And to call it folklore is also misleading because we were unable to determine where such a story came about. It might’ve been just a prank on the Internet. There are plenty of those.”
“Still, it’s very similar to the situation we have now,” said Tom.
“Folklore or not,” said Helios, “it sounds like a clue.”
Kevin nodded, agreeing with them. “I want to find out more about this story—like how the man was able to save everyone. Even folklores sometimes have truth to them.” He said to Shiro, “Do you have an Internet connection in this place so we can do some research?”
Shiro said, “We do. However, our computer network is password protected. You need to be a member of the facility to log into an existing account.”
“You can access the Internet, can’t you?”
“I can. But I cannot give you access. You are intruders, after all. My instructions are only to bring you to this room so you can watch the video. Nothing more.”
Tom snapped, “Wow, you suck!”
Shiro’s robotic eye turned bright red. “Blame the programmer, not the programmed. I’m not human. I don’t have a choice. I must follow my programming.”
Kevin abruptly glanced toward the door. It looked like something was bothering him. “Well, no matter. I want to meet up with the others as soon as possible. We can find Internet somewhere else. I’m worried about Andrew. He’s been gone for quite a while.”
Helios climbed up into the pocket of Kevin’s jeans. “Indeed. It is not wise for one to be separated. But he does have Terminus for protection.”
“You guys are just getting paranoid.” Tom smiled. “There’s nothing wrong. He’s just hiding…I know he is.” Tom went to the door and motioned for Kevin to follow. “Come on, let’s see if we can avoid his traps and give him another scare.”
Kevin took out his cell phone. “This is no time to be playing around.” He tried calling Andrew several times. He didn’t answer.
“I’m telling you, Kevin,” said Tom, “he’s up to something.”
“I hope you’re right.” Kevin followed Tom back into the tight corridor where all the people were sleeping behind the glass.
As they walked down the long hallway, Kevin glanced at Tom’s facial expression. Even though Tom looked confident, Kevin imagined him to be afraid under his calm exterior. After all, this was terrifying stuff. And Kevin didn’t want to be the only one who felt scared.
Up until this point, everything felt like a game to him, even if he didn’t want to admit it. It was something out of the ordinary, an experience of a lifetime. Talking to animals, staying awake as long as possible, hanging out with new faces—all of this was fun to him. The only reason he didn’t feel worried before was because he thought it didn’t really depend on them. He had believed that somewhere out there someone else would figure something out. He had believed that the government or some scientists would be able to help them.
Kevin bit his lip, staring at the sleeping bodies through the glass. He had always believed in hope. If he had screwed up on a test, there was always another chance to make up for it. If he had skipped out on a chore, he could always appease his parents by doing more. But this was different. Everything always had a solution—until now. This was life and death…and everything about their hope now seemed so frail.
Kevin threw a look over his shoulder, feeling pierced by someone’s gaze. He spun around and searched for anything out of the ordinary. Shiro was rolling right up behind them.
Tom asked, “Showing us the door? I didn’t know robots had manners.”
Shiro said flatly, “I have come to alert you about something. I’m not sure how, but one of our experiments has escaped. Since it is our responsibility, I thought I should let you know.”
“An experiment?” Kevin gulped. He didn’t like the sound of that. “What kind of experiment are we talking about?”
“A strain of rare and deadly bacteria indigenous to a small island off the coast of Brazil. It was brought back here for examination and…alteration.”
Partially in a state of disbelief, Kevin chuckled. “Deadly bacteria? Just give us some masks…or maybe a can of disinfectant. That should do the trick.”
“Disinfectant, I have none.” Shiro rolled around. “I will, however, allow you access to the hazmat suits. That should give you some protection.”
Tom raised a brow. “The haz-what?”
“Hazmat—or hazardous material.” Shiro went over to the wall. “We have the suits for situations like these. But I cannot guarantee its effectiveness against this particular bacteria.”
There was a thin red line that started from the ground and ran up the wall to about shoulder level. At the top of the line was a bright red handprint carved into a panel, which Kevin found to be a peculiar choice of design, and the words Emergency Use Only. Shiro began vibrating and was suddenly attached to the wall, as though he was stuck on it. Kevin never noticed it before, but Shiro’s outer shell was like a sponge: soft and elastic, and full of tiny holes. Shiro was then able to roll up the wall to the handprint through the power of suction. Once Shiro touched the handprint, part of the wall retracted, opening up a small closet full of hazmat suits on hangers. The different sizes ranged from nearly seven feet tall to the size of a small baby.
“Cool,” said Tom. “I need one of these closets at home.”
Tom browsed through the selection, checking to see what would fit him. While Tom was busying examining the suits, Kevin warily watched the hall. There was still the possibility of an ambush. His eyes fell on a peculiar purple-colored smoke forming down the hall.
Pointing, Kevin said, “I thought you said bacteria…that looks like a chemical.”
Shiro looked in the direction Kevin was pointing. “It’s here! Quick! Put on your suits.”
Kevin shrugged. “If we can see it and there’s no draft, I don’t see a problem…” He spoke too soon. The purple smoke started drifting to their location, faster and faster. Kevin gawked, then yanked Tom out of the closet and ran for the office area.
“What?” Tom wondered what was going on. He looked around, and when he saw the purple mist, he also darted for the exit. Shiro followed after him.
They slammed the door behind them and, since they couldn’t find a way to lock it, pushed a heavy desk against the double doors. Breathless, they stared at the door, fearfully stepping backwards. Boom. The door shook, like something banged against it.
“What was that?” Kevin exclaimed.
Tom gibbered some nonsense before saying, “How should I know?” Tom felt a weird, gentle tickle going down his shoulder. He whirled around and screamed. Kevin copied his reaction, unsure of what was going on. Then Andrew jumped away from them and screamed. They all screamed for a long time as they exchanged confused glances with one another. Helios and Terminus showed up in the loud chaos, both covering their ears.
When the screaming finally died down, Tom said hoarsely, “Holy crap, Andrew. Don’t do that! I thought my heart was going to burst.” He clutched at his chest, feeling for his speeding heartbeat.
Andrew said, “I didn’t think a tap on the shoulder would make you jump like that.”
“We just…I don’t know how to explain this,” said Kevin, gesturing with his thumb, “but there’s something back there and it’s trying to get out. We shouldn’t stay here.”
“Then I will lead you out,” said Shiro, who was next to Tom’s feet.
“Before you do, can you explain that? I thought you said something about a bacteria outbreak. How’s that bacteria? Bacteria are small enough to be invisible. That is quite visible and quite ridiculous…I mean, it’s banging on the door! Bacteria don’t bang on doors!”
“Like I said,” Shiro explained, “it’s a rare strain of bacteria…with alterations. I must admit that the final results were unexpected. The bacteria are purple in color and have been loosely clumping together. When there are enough of them clumping closely, they do start to become visible…very similar to the situation of certain fungi or algae. There are some signs of basic intelligence as well…like when it’s seeking you out.”
“How does it fly like that? Isn’t it too heavy to float?”
“It’s not flying, however it has that appearance. The structure is bottom heavy, but you were focused on its ‘head.’”
Panicking, Andrew shouted, “It’s coming through the cracks!” Sure enough, a purple haze squeezed through the slight gaps in the door.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” Kevin said, waving his hands around excitedly. “There’s no stopping it!” He said to Shiro, “Hurry and show us the way out!”
Shiro zipped away at maximum speed, rolling across the rug with a powerful friction that caused a slight burning smell. The boys chased after the spherical robot in hopes to escape out of the maze of cubicles with relative ease. Shiro moved quickly, analyzing each possible route and finally he found his way to…a dead end.
Kevin curled his lip. “Shiro…why are we staring at a dead end?”
Shiro said, “I’ve never set foot outside of the Doctor’s office. All of this is new to me.”
Kevin stomped his foot. “Then why did tell us you could lead us out?”
“I assumed it would be an easy task.”
Kevin groaned in frustration. “You assumed wrong!”
The purple mist caught up with them, and then stopped in front of them. It started to expand like a balloon until it reached all the way up to the ceiling. Its cells were stretched even thinner now. It was so thin that it almost turned invisible.
“What is it doing?” wondered Andrew.
Tom shrugged. “Maybe it’s trying to form a net…so we can’t escape.”
Andrew took Shiro and jolted the robot furiously. “Do something you hunk of junk!” His arms outstretched, he held Shiro forward in the direction of the mist. “Shoot it! Fire lasers or a missile or something!”
Shiro replied, “I’m not a weapon. I can’t shoot anything.”
“Not a weapon, huh?” Kevin grabbed Shiro with one hand and waggled his index finger at him. “We’ll see about that. You got us into this mess and you’re getting us out.” Then Kevin placed Shiro on the ground, pulled back his leg and launched a powerful kick that sent Shiro rocketing into the haze.
“AIEEEEEEEEEE!” Shiro yelped in his odd monotone vocalization as he disappeared from view, bouncing around the maze like a pinball.
The thin structure of the bacteria slowly fell apart, collapsing into an airy mess.
Terminus took the initiative. Flying over the high partitions, he saw the way to the exit.
“If we break down this wall, you can escape.”
Kevin exclaimed, “Then on the count of three, we knock down this wall!” The others nodded dubiously in reply. The partition looked sturdy, but this wasn’t a good time to argue. “One…two…three!” The boys charged at the gray divider, slamming it full force—only to bounce off its surface without making so much as a dent.
Massaging his bruised shoulder, Kevin grunted, “That didn’t work.” He looked up. “Why don’t we climb over?” He glanced at Tom and Andrew. “Tom will give us a boost.”
“What? Why me?” Tom demanded.
“Because you’re tall and skinny. You’ll make it easier to reach the top and easier to pull you over.”
Tom nodded. “Oh, all right. Andrew, get on.”
Tom bent his knees slightly and interlocked his hands, forming a foothold for the others. Andrew stepped up on Tom’s hands, using Tom’s shoulder and the wall to keep his balance. Tom yelled out a war cry as he hoisted Andrew upward. He felt like he was going to get crushed under Andrew’s weight. Andrew climbed over and made a loud grunt as he fell onto the other side. Kevin followed after him without much trouble.
“All right, pull me up, pull me up,” Tom said quickly, stretching as high as he could with his hands raised. He looked over his shoulder to see the purple cloud stirring. “Anytime now!”
Kevin reached over the wall, grabbing Tom by the wrist. The