Amelia Earhart

You're on a spaceship, out in space. You're a good student, and currently, you're learning about tiers. The professor's teaching the class how to move through the tier levels in their minds. You're his guinea pig for today. The professor and you conduct the session before the class.

You start, "I want to be in the moment."

The professor responds, "Then, close your eyes and tell me what you see. Tell me."

"I see a red star."

"Good. Continue."

"It's coming towards me."

"Good. What else do you see?"

"I see clouds. A blue sky. The star's coming closer."

"Focus on the star."

"It's so close. I feel the heat from it. Red. I can hear it as it's flying by me."

"Keep going."

"It's passing. It's gone."

"No. You need to catch it. Find out where its going."

"How? I don't see it anymore." 

"Go after it."

"I don't know which way it went. All I see is the blue sky and clouds."

"Shit. Excuse my language. You have to find it."

"Shoot."

"What?"

"I see a lighthouse in front of me."

"Where are you?"

"I'm on the ground staring at what's in front of me."

"No. You need to get yourself up into the sky again."

"Ok. I'm flying up. Passing the lighthouse. Wait. I see a lady on the balcony. She's on the deck, wearing a red dress."

"Forget her."

"She's looking at me. Her eyes are red like the star."

"Got it. Go to her. She's the red star."

"I'm there in front of her. I seem to be conflicting."

"What's happening?"

"When I see us, I see the lighthouse. But when I look at her, I see a cabin."

"I understand. You are moving. Tier 1 is the lighthouse. Tier 2 is the cabin. Look straight at her." 

"Ok. I'm looking at her. She's coming closer."

"Describe the cabin."

"I see wood. A closet with her clothes. And a bed beside us. With white sheets."

"Keep going."

"She's coming closer."

"Good. Keep going."

"I feel her hand on the back of my hair."

"Yes."

"I feel her. She's going to kiss me." 

"Keep going." 

"We're kissing."

"Ok. You need to move to Tier 3. Feel her back and press her close to you."

"I'm feeling her. I feel her chest on mine."

"Ok. Now, close your eyes and tell me what you see."

"We're kissing. I'm closing my eyes as we kiss."

"Good. Continue. Tell me what you see."

"I can't." 

"Yes you can."

"I'm having trouble."

"No. You are moving. Tier 2 is the cabin. Tier 3 is what you see."

"It's night. The moon's out. A black line's going through it. No. Wait. Its a plane."

"Keep going. Yes."

"It's like one of those old warplanes with the propeller in the front. It's passing the moon."

"Yes. Keep going. Damn you. Excuse the language."

"And. And I know who she is. I got it."

"You do? You've reached Tier 4 then. Open your eyes to the class. The session's finished."

You open your eyes. "It's Amelia Earhart. She's the person."

The professor answers, "Ok. Let's see if that's true. Let's pull her picture. Is this her?"

"Yes! I can't believe it. Only she was younger."

"Ok. Then. Let's pull up a younger picture."

"Yes. Yes."

"That is a true Tier 4, class. When you move from what your brain sees, and it matches with reality."

"But what does it mean?"

"What do you mean?"

"Does it mean I'll fly or meet someone?"

"Oh. No. Nothing like that. You took it too literally. It's a metaphor. But you'll have to figure for what."

The class ends, and you retire to your room for the moment. Curiosity pulls you, and you google Amelia Earhart. You're in shock. The red Lockheed Vega 5B monoplane's the one you saw flying over the moon. Just as you print it out and stare at it in disbelief, the power goes out all over the ship.

Luckily, the ship has flash cubes, or cubes of light. You grab some, head to lunch, and meet with your friends. The discussion leans towards your session. And that's when you show them the printout.

On the intercom, the captain of the ship states, "Good news, everyone. There is a planet in view, and we'll be making our path towards it. We must investigate this power loss."

Unbeknownst to the crew, an alien ship was the cause for the power outage, and using their mind telepathy, they deceive everyone into thinking there's a planet up ahead, but really its them luring the ship into theirs.

Once the ship safely lands, the telepathy is enforced. The crew thinks they've grounded on a beautiful lush setting, but in reality, they're on board inside the main cocoon area of the alien ship. This is how the aliens trap and feed on their prey.

Time has passed. The captain tells everyone not to worry. They are working on the issue. Not to go outside until readings can be done. You peer outside your window and see the vegetation. And also a lighthouse in the distance. When you look again, it disappears suddenly. This troubles you. You bring it up to the professor who dismisses it. Everyone seems to be growing weaker, including you.

You decide to try the tiering by yourself. You know you need a guide but try anyways. In your room, sitting on the bed, you close your eyes. Immediately, you see a white vertical line. It's moving to the left. You see the skies and the ocean. The line isn't a line. It's a sail. You were looking directly at it at the time. Your sailboat heads left. You notice other sailboats as well. The land around the ocean appears to be closing. Its becoming a route or a channel. The other boats go through. But. Shoot. You can't squeeze through. It close up. You're definitely need practice at this.

You decide to go to the professor. Hoping it's not too late. When you reach him, you see him lying in bed in the dark. He tells you the power generators are dying. You place a flash cube next to him and see he's rotting from the inside outward. You tell him you tried the mind tiering, but it didn't work. He tells you that it can't be done alone. You tell him that you feel there is something or some alien at work. That you want to get inside their heads. He tells you that it would be very hard. Tier 6 is when you jump from your own mind to another's. You would need something of theirs to do this, so you kneel by his bed, hold his leg, and focus. Inside the professor's rotting flesh are purple feelers or worms. You focus.

"Ok. Close your eyes," he says to you.

"Ok."

"What do you see?"

"It's black. Pitch dark."

"Keep going."

"I see myself walking."

"Good. You moved from Tier 1 to 2."

"I'm inside a mountain."

"Yes. Keep going."

"It's very dark. I'm in a cave."

"Keep walking. Use your flashlight."

"I don't have one."

"You must imagine having one. Then, use it."

"Ok. I'm using my flashlight. Much better now. I see the light ahead of me. I'm on a dirt path. There are rocks. There's a fork. Which way do I go?"

" Focus on the light. You are moving into Tier 3. Describe it to me."

"They both look the same."

"Look again."

"The one on the left looks real, while the one on the right looks very smoothly cut out into a circle."

"Good. Choose left."

"I'm going left. I see something. It's a monster. It looks like a large bug."

"You must fight it."

"But how?"

"Use your weapons. Imagine them."

"I'm using my sword."

"Good. Keep going."

"It ate it. I'm using my axe."

"Good. Don't stop."

"It dodged the axe. I'm using my crossbow."

"Keep going."

"Yes. I think I hurt it. I'm out of arrows. I'm using my flamethrower."

"Yes. Continue."

"It's. It's breaking apart. I've got it. Yes. Yes. I know what to do. Professor. Professor?"

You open your eyes before you were told to do so. You see the professor smiling and fade into sleep. He's past away. You cry in anguish.

You tell the captain that everyone must use a bug zapper of sorts. That the aliens are afraid of light, and they're the reason for the power outage. The crew tries it. Slowly, the weakness goes away. The purple feelers retreat out of their hosts. Everyone's health returns.

With their evil plan foiled, the aliens disengage and reveal to the crew where they are really located. The lush setting disappears. Unfortunately, the ship is tangled in a mess of webs. The next objective is being free of the alien ship.

With the power returning, the captain and his science officer decide to become a shining light similar to that of your tiering of the red star. This causes the aliens to move back further into their ship.

You save the day. Congratulations! Well, at least enough to work on the ship from being encased in the web.

You didn't think it was that easy, did you? The crew heads out to fight the aliens. And little did they know that when you pierce an alien, it releases more little ones. Not just ten or a hundred, but a thousand.

You didn't finish your tiering with the professor, remember? You had opened your eyes before you told to do so. Oh nooooooo.

Here we go again....