Fjord

I found myself in a valley of titans. Snowy mountains scraped the sky. A gigantic obelisk pierced the ice beneath my feet. The sun formed a spotlight over the structure. I stood alone. This fjord was veiled in complete silence until a voice slashed through. Deep of pitch and throaty of tone, it was unlike any human tongue. Yet, I could understand through sensation. Somehow, I understood that my help was needed. I knew where to go. Then, I awakened.

The computer’s steel voice entered my mind. “Intergalactic Governance, Jaeger corp, Dream Chaser Unit, designation #2187. Dream chase over”. Shivering in my pilot’s seat, I felt the chill of outer space from the viewport of the small cockpit. Sensing the decrease in my temperature, the heater automatically turned on and I revelled in the coming warmth. I breathed deeply as I unplugged the cables from my head. Moving my attention to the computer, I browsed my dream database. The snowy dream was absent. As a member of the Dream Chaser Unit, I am tasked with navigating the stars through my dreams. Every experience is a link, a path to a new star system. No matter how complex or simple, all of my dreams are listed and each is added onto the galactic map. An unrecorded dream is impossible, unless it wasn't a dream.

Examining my confusion from the copilot’s chair was my loyal robotic companion, FR3ND. As a humanoid skeletal model of the FR series, this robot is designed to emulate human personality. “You were snoring again”, it said in its familiar snarky attitude. Clearly, this model was a bit too good at its emulation.

I sighed with a grin. “Remind me again why I didn’t upgrade to the FR4 series”?

“Because those pieces of scrap are built to communicate without attitude. Built for blind obedience. Clearly, their programming is inferior”, FR3ND stated.

“They’d be more tolerable”, I whispered.

“I have trouble tolerating you, too. I should have disposed of you and commandeered this vessel a long time ago”.

“And what would your purpose be”?

“Travel the cosmos, of course, and chart unknown star systems”.

“Without dreams?” I asked with a laugh.

“I’ll simply ask my manufacturer to update my programing to allow for such imagination”.

“That’ll be the day when I become obsolete, but it’ll never happen because only humans can dream”, I said as I patted FR3ND on the back and resumed my work on the computer. Pressing a button, a hologram of the galactic map appeared before me. I studied it carefully.

FR3ND’s photographic lens eyed me. “Did you find our next adventure?” it asked.

I nodded my head. “Plot a course for these coordinates”, I said as I punched in the numbers.

Examining the location, FR3ND became puzzled. “Either my programming is fried or this system doesn’t exist. We’re low on fuel, yet you want to travel further. What did you see in your dream”?

I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. Speaking slowly as I recollected my thoughts, I described my dream and explained its absence from the dream database.

“Odd that it’s not recorded. This could be a risk. I believe it better if we return home”, FR3ND said.

“It's my duty to chart the galaxy”, I responded.

“Indeed it is, however, some dreams are pathways to regions better left untouched. You know this”.

“I need to go there. I feel compelled to go”.

“Even when the computer can’t record it? This is an abnormal situation that deserves careful thought. We must not rush into action. And what are you compelled by? A strange voice that matches no known human language. An obelisk stuck in ice. We must return home”.

“My help is needed”!

“Irrelevant”.

“No, we will travel to this system. Inform Intergalactic Governance if you must, but I need to go. I can feel the distress”.

“You’re prepared to travel to an uncharted exoplanet based on a feeling of unknown origin”?

I nodded my head. “Our fuel reserves can handle another jump and the travel home”.

“I guess I don’t understand humans as well as I thought”, FR3ND said as it pressed the buttons necessary for lightspeed travel. Finally, at the behest of my command, it pulled the lever and we watched as rays of light penetrated bending space. With as much as a poof, we leapt.

In little time, we reached the star system and laid our eyes upon my dreamed exoplanet. The small white orb lay alone with no moons and no neighbors. It was the only exoplanet of this system. Extending out from its atmosphere was a symmetrical line consisting of three visible dots. This exosolar system’s white dwarf was shining directly upon them. Flying closer to the exoplanet, we entered the atmosphere and landed a ways off from the line.

Looking out the viewport, we saw a land of stark white. I began to ready myself for our departure. “My circuits better not freeze”, FR3ND said while adjusting its weather shielding. Fastening my spacesuit and putting on my pressurized helmet, I gathered my equipment, including my scattergun.

“Check for life readings, gravity measurements, and oxygen levels”, I asked FR3ND.

The robot communicated with the computer and its diagnostics reported negative for inhabitants, a gravity pressure twice that of earth’s, and low oxygen levels. “We must be cautious”, FR3ND said. I agreed as I checked my oxygen filter. Finally, I opened the exit hatch and the ramp extended downwards into the snow.

Stepping outside, gravity’s pull felt intense. Paired with the high snow, I could barely walk. My entire body felt as if it were being pulled downwards to the planet’s core. FR3ND had difficulty maneuvering, too. Looking at me, the robot said, “There is nothing here. We should leave”. I didn’t respond as I continued trudging along. “My weather shielding has hit maximum temperature”.

“You're going to have to hold on, buddy”, I said while beckoning the robot.

FR3ND cumbersomely followed me. I heard it mutter, “I think you need an update”.

The only life here was megaflora, specifically skyscraping trees. In fact, there were only trees. No other plants. I wondered how deep their roots went. Distracted by my thoughts, I failed to notice what was coming our way. A flying black mass sped towards me and swarmed my oxygen tubes. Swiftly, I grabbed my scattergun and set it to frequency mode. Pulling the trigger, it emitted a sound inaudible to my ears, but disruptive to the mass. The mass dispersed and flew away, but, at the same time, an echoing roar caused tremors in the ground. We both staggered down to the snow, but I felt a painful reverberation across my entire body. FR3ND helped me up to my feet once the sensation subsided. “I think it’s time to leave this planet”, the robot said. I shook my head. Curiosity enveloped me. I had to know who or what called to me in my dream.

Tracing the direction of the roar, FR3ND pointed towards our destination. Before continuing, however, the robot grabbed a piece of the mass that fell to the snow from my scattergun’s blast. Examining it, its sensors discovered that the mass consisted of flying insects whose physiology revealed a diet of oxygen. “You must be very cautious”, it said.

We tread through the thick snow until we finally reached the line visible from space. Like ants among people, we found ourselves at the center of an immense frozen fjord. The mountains were the size of titans. At the center of the fjord stood a mammoth obelisk piercing the ice. Slowly walking across the ice, we stood before the pillar. FR3ND scanned it for carbon dating readings. I watched as it stood still for a long moment, deep in calculations, until it finally reported that it couldn’t be dated. “I could try recalibrating”, the robot said. I wasn’t listening because I noticed a minor crack in the ice at the foot of the obelisk. There appeared to be a form underneath. Suddenly, another flying black mass swarmed me from the crack. This time, it managed to puncture my oxygen tube and break my vizor. I rapidly lost air as I fell to my knees.

Quickly, FR3ND grabbed my scattergun and shot the mass. Once again, a loud roar reciprocated back at me. I felt my eardrums burst from such pressure. I began to convulse on the ice. The ice cracked more underneath my shaking body. FR3ND rushed to grab me, but the ice shattered beneath me. Gravity pulled me at extreme velocity until my eyes beheld a form beyond description. An amalgamation of anything and everything, both physical and ethereal. The only anatomical component I understood was a gargantuan eye staring at me. The pressure of its glare caused a decomposing feeling. My eyes felt as if they were melting and my brain was splitting apart. I lost consciousness. During my absence of mind, I saw darkness, then a sudden flash of rainbow.

So many images paired with sounds of inhuman tongue. A sensation that grinded my being to a pulp. I witnessed a form penetrating this planet’s atmosphere and landing, creating a massive depression. The force and heat of the landing caused the glaciers on top of the surrounding mountains to melt over the form. Within seconds, the melting snow froze to ice with a burning stake, thrown from a young, colorful star, penetrating the form beneath the ice. Next, my vision moved to the celestial bodies within our solar system. From planets to moons to asteroids to comets and everything in between until the focus was on Earth. Shifting my vision from outer space, I saw a library filled with innumerable books. There was a man thoroughly sifting through the pages. Then, he stopped and turned around. He was me. Walking towards me, he gave me a sheet of paper. Reading it, the word “knowledge” was written. “Dreams are a form of transportation within the landscape of imagination”, the being spoke in a debilitating voice through my clone avatar. “You seek knowledge through dreams. I can share my knowledge. I am the progenitor of dreams. Help me. Free me”.

Feeling metallic arms pulling me, I awoke to FR3ND rescuing me from the abyss. Beneath me, I tried my best to avoid the giant eye’s glare but couldn’t stop staring at a hand with infinite fingers reaching towards me. Using the micro jets on its feet, we flew upwards back to the ice. FR3ND hastily patched my oxygen tube and placed a new vizor on my pressure helmet. Then, we ran as fast as we could back to the ship. Looking back, the infinitely fingered hand was chasing us. The hand plowed through any tree in its path. “Free me”, the being shrieked. Once we returned to the ship, we ignited the engines and felt gravity’s pressure as we rose into the air. Exiting the atmosphere, I saw the hand burn and retreat back into the ice. Finally, we reentered space.

The cold confines of outer space were welcoming in a way it never felt before. I panted in my seat. FR3ND’s lens stared at my closed eyes. “Free me”, I said in an unsteady tone. “Free me”.

“What did you see?” FR3ND asked.

I shook my head, “I don’t know. I don’t know what it was. It was imprisoned by who knows what. All I know is that it could read my entire being. I doubt a single neuron was left untouched. It displayed dreams within my mind. It imagined for me. I don’t understand”. I put my face in my palms. “Transmit our coordinates to Earth, FR3ND. Inform intergalactic command that I request that this exoplanet be quarantined and marked for further investigation”.

The robot sent the message. Then, it looked at me. “I think it best for you to refrain from dreaming for a while”, FR3ND said as it logged our experience, “We have discovered that cosmic beings can dream. Simply marvelous”. I nodded my head as I steered the ship away from the ice planet and flew towards far away Earth.