A coffee mug clinked on the counter as Dara set her drink down. "Page." Her tone rolled off into an admonishing end. "It's morning. Must we talk about that now?"

Page rounded the counter and wrapped her arms around Dara. Her warmth seeped past the thin nightgown Dara wore, instilling a sense of comfort in her veins. "I just need your help with something," she cooed against Dara's ear. "A quick check, that's all."

"I haven't even had my morning powerup," Dara replied, grasping Page's arm in a weak attempt to tug it off her neck. Page's forearm against Dara's throat, making it hard to breathe. Just a bit. "Can't I have breakfast first?"

"Aw, c'mon, babe." Page nibbled on Dara's lobe, shooting a ticklish prickle down her neck. "I've got a presentation in an hour, and Doc's not having it."

Dara hummed, stealing another sip from her cup. "You should have bugged me earlier, then. I was free last night." She smacked her lips to further relish the bitter strain. The coffee coated her tongue before sailing smoothly down to her gut. Now, that was a nice mix. "No use procrastinating on your research."

"I need to fine tune some details for them to match the analysis," Page reasoned. She drew away from Dara and held her at arm length. Her features morphed into that of a lost puppy, complete with big, round eyes, pouty lips, and a bad case of morning hair. "I'm in a bind here. Please?"

Dara pretended to think about it, licking her lips free of her drink's foam. "If you promise to buy me a cake from Barrom's," she said. "I might."

"Strawberry shake buttercream cake!" Page exclaimed. Dara raised her eyebrow, daring Page to add something to it, something that the gorgeous science-girl seemed to be forgetting. A sigh of defeat ripped off Page's lips. Her grip around Dara's shoulders loosened. "With extra red velvet dusting."

"And?" Dara prodded some more.

Page rolled her eyes. "And purple haze donuts."

"How many?"

Page peeled off from Dara completely with a chuckle. "Two dozen." She pushed her hair off her forehead. "Seriously, you're a tough nut to crack."

Dara snorted, inhaling more of her coffee. "As I should be."

A hand closed around Dara's cup and another ushered her out of the high seat. "Come on, then," Page said, jerking her chin towards the living room where her makeshift laboratory set-up was already waiting. How dead-set was she to get Dara into that thing? "I'll fix you up."

Dara could have rolled her eyes—as if anyone "fixed her up" apart from Page—but she followed her girlfriend to the couch. Within a few minutes, Page had Dara lying on her back, her hair spilling all over the pillow under her head and the embroidered spread beyond. Two fingers on each temple went in circles, slathering Dara's skin with a fine coat of gel. Wires clinked against each other as Page retrieved her device, the one she used to view dreams and memories, along with some other stuff Dara would never understand in her lifetime.

"Okay." Page blew a breath, stretching her fingers and arms. She tilted her head from side to side, taking the tension off her neck. "You know the drill. I'll be out here as your guide during the probe. Feel for the connection and give it a tug when you need to duck out. I'll take care of everything."

Dara nodded. There wasn't much to say after that. Page fastened the device around Dara's head, the locks clicking under her chin. The device felt like a bicycle helmet, complete with the thick-enough cushions lining the insides to not scratch her skin.

She exhaled. Despite having done the probes for as long as she dated Page, the beginning was always unnerving. The dream-probe—which Page still has to come up with a commercial name for—was painless. Dara had yet to encounter problems with her brainwaves and other vital signs, but the thought of poking into the human body's most important organ would make anyone feel icky.

Page swiveled to her laptop where an imaging app was already running. Dara stared at the arrangement of colors and diagrams, bobbing up and down to reflect the movement of her synapses. She might have helped a bit with coding the app, but the idea was all Page.

A key on the keyboard clacked when Page tapped it. "Alright, we're all set." She turned to Dara with a confident smile. Her presentation must be coming along nicely, and sooner than later, they might be on a conference trip to Singapore. "Close your eyes, ma'am. When you open them, you should be in your dreamstate."

Dara didn't need to be told twice. Her world plunged in darkness as she relaxed on the couch, placing her hands over her stomach. She didn't hear Page switching the device on or the faint whirring it emitted whenever it started working. Instead, when light flooded her senses, she found herself in a closed space inside her head. It was dark, but the distance between the towering walls was enough to let her have some wiggle room.

If there was a word she'd use to describe where she was, it would be a maze. The corridors winded and stretched on to an infinite void, which Dara had come to expect on her nth dive in this place.

"Page?" she called, her inner voice loud and strong. "Did you get what you need?"

It was another year off Page's life when she researched and developed prototypes for it, but the imaging app in her laptop should have translated Dara's projected thoughts clearly. In and out, that was how fast Page worked. And if it was for a presentation in an hour, Page knew better than to let Dara wander around if she could help it. Resurfacing always took a bit of time, and debriefing, even longer. Plus, Dara didn't need to spend forever in this state if it was only to check something.

"Page?" Dara called again. Her voice bounced against the dark crimson walls of her mind. "Can you hear me?"

Nothing. Dara strained her senses for the familiar warmth of the connection. It's...

Gone.

The warmth Page promised her to be behind her every step was replaced by the sheer nothingness of it. It wasn't cold, though. Just...lonely.

Dara blew a breath, or at least, exhaled mentally. Calm down. Just...calm down. Page knew what she was doing. A temporary glitch—that was all this was. Dara would be better off staying put while Page troubleshoots this issue. It was just a matter of time now...

A slight rumbling sent her out of balance. In the dreamstate, it felt like having the rug pulled under one's feet and being left to tumble to the ground on one's own. Then, the walls quivered, as if attempting to start closing in on her. Before her eyes, a dark corridor formed out of nothing, bleeding off into more darkness. Was that Page's doing? Was she telling Dara to go into that corridor for her to check something?

Dara turned her attention to the ceiling—or at least, a version of it. More of the darkness tinged crimson. Page wasn't telling her anything nor was she pulling Dara out of the dreamstate with the emergency extractor. Maybe the corridor was Page's message. It would be in her best interest to go down into it.

Slowly, Dara collected her bearings and hauled her consciousness upright. Then, she started her journey into her own mind.