CHAPTER 22 – GOLDEN ONE ESCAPES IN THE DREAM TIME MACHINE

Second Age, Echo Realm

Somewhere farther below, three sets of footsteps ventured into a grassy field unflustered and green with new shoots and curling sprouts, midget willows and barnacles of fresh mildew, well-disposed to the hustle and bustle of the wind. Climbing away from an embankment, the land leveled out until they saw a quarter of a square mile of poplar trees situated in the center of a field. The noisy sounds of the rumblings above could not be heard here. Nothing except the rustling of the grass as the meadow hamsters ambled to their underground burrows where there are dressing cabinets, and they would climb into the sock drawers and crawl into the socks like sleeping bags for afternoon naps. "This is the last component" said the statuesque amber angel, taking a container from the hands of the young man. Eitu Emmob Albapir led Jack Interlock and Quin Refinishing to an area at a corner of the poplars where the field was manicured like a crop circle. Waving her hand over the ground, a terminal rose and she typed the command codes. Steam rose from the dividing line between the field and the trees as the quarter square mile elevated, revealing computer banks and the mechanical anatomy, a single module of an elaborate machine. "Are you ever going to tell us what we've been going on all these fancy quests for?" Quinn asked as Albapir inserted the component into a slot near a computer bank. "Yeah, we want to know why we've been going to all the different ages if we're just going to come back here?" Jack added. "Well, kids, it wasn't just for vacation" she admitted, and they both crossed their arms sarcastically. "Come on …" Quinn pleaded. "Alright" the cough-drop relented. Sweeping her hand over the terminal a hologram of the pyramid of light appeared. "Right now, we are here, in the apex. It's this whole place, built into the structure. A dream time machine. It can convert dreams into time by refining them into pure energy". "Whoa! That's bonkers!" Jack exclaimed. He looked over to Quinn, who was fiddling the dirt with her shoe, until he broke her concentration, "okay, I'm impressed". "So am I" came a voice approaching them. Jack Bronze made his way towards the module and its operators, "Prayer, you will relinquish your command to me so that I can finish this for good. I am tiring of this dance". "That's never going to happen" Albapi assured him. "Get away from them Bronze!" shouted Golden One, landing near the embankment. Phenomenological electricity channeled through Jack Bronze and began interacting with the surrounding modules. "Get on my wings, children" she ordered, and they took hold. Albapir departed from the ground, landing in the poplar forest covering the ceiling of the platform as the two Scilysts began to bicker. Hidden in the depths was a playground whirl, rusted and abandoned. She spun it quickly, until it was so fast that it blurred into a solid, and from it a pillar of light rose to the height of the apex. The earth began to reconfigure in strange ways in the room as mechanical modules positioned themselves. The poplars retracted into the module. "Why did you make all of this?" Jack demanded. "Does there have to be a reason? I really just wanted to do it for fun" Albapir replied somberly, staring up at the height of the pillar. "What!" Quinn shouted in disbelief at her arrogance. The wings of the amber statue stretched out, "Let me tell you something, friends. When I was in my heyday, I used to be the owner of a toy-store. Everyone would come, from the kids down the street to the patrons to see what wonders I had in stock. Things were simpler. Then you all grew up, and no longer wanted to play with toys, and all went to war, forgetting how much fun it was to walk the aisles, and find the surprises. That's why I built this. It's only a time machine if you think of it that way. Really, it's just a big toy. Something that's good enough for big kids like you". "Gah!" Jack Bronze huffed as another beam of cosmic light from the water spoons bullied him. "That's enough!" he cried and sent electricity into the forest module accelerating the sequence. Jack and Quinn blinked, and their friend was gone. They looked up and saw the orange seraphim striding through the sky, then dived towards the attacker. "You can't take this from them!" Albapir bellowed. A single strike of the fist, and the statue plunged to the ground, shattered and broken into pieces, its head rolling until coming to rest, her eyes looking up at the edge of the platform where the two looked back. Her lips quivered, "If you don't take it out of the box, you'll never know what it can do", then the eyelids covered the eyes of resin, shutting them for good. Distracted by the interference, Jack was not fast enough. Golden One now stood behind Jack and Quinn and brought them into the whirl. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to either of you" she promised, looking down at their faces as the three of them entered the pillar. Seconds later, the apex of the pyramid of light disappeared, and Jack Bronze found himself floating in the abyss, then landed on the base of what remained of the edifice.

"This is a decent short cut to the shore" thought Teddy. Around him manifold cacti littered the unreal desert. Some became droplets and wobbled away. Every so often, the wind would change directions, and the sand would be swept away, revealing a more picturesque ground of placid stars and appealing darkness. Tension made his steps hurried. At this juncture, every moment counted. He fought against the desert as it compensated, which sought to appease him with the erosion of all his emotions as the lemurs frolicked among the succulents. "The party's upstairs, my friend" Otto announced, following his tracks. "Doubtful. It's where it began, where you and I both saw our reflections. The path leads back there, and I will be the first to arrive" Teddy explained. "Not a good idea, this is private property and you're a trespasser" Otto replied and held out his hands, firing the firework fingers off towards him. Teddy materialized an energy seal and held it as a shield, letting the fireworks detonate against it as he pushed forwards. Otto's hands continued to regenerate, replacing the fingers that fired continuously. Step by step the trespasser inched towards him, hidden by the shield as the sparks danced in wild profusion. Near enough, Teddy became a gale of vinorian flour that engulfed the other, and dived into a bag of flour and folded, sealing itself. Otto looked around and found himself in a padded room, fastened with a straight jacket, all of which trans-mutated from the substance of the vinorian flour, and Teddy continued onwards.