"Close your eyes," said the voice. A hand touched Ria's arm softly. "Close your eyes and dream."

-/-/-/

The city center was always busy this time of day. So Aria Lacey had learned quickly upon moving. Unfortunately, she had not learned this before renting rooms too close to said city center to avoid the noise coming from it. Not to mention the traffic whenever she wanted to go anywhere.

Aria couldn't complain much, however. She had seen — lived in — much worse than this. Her rooms were lovely, just large enough for herself and her art supplies, and not a thing was wrong with them excepting their location. So really, things were looking up for her.

-/-/-/

Cold metal brushed against the girl's skin; she was perfectly comatose, unaware of what was happening around her.

-/-/-/

It was raining when Aria left. She pursed her lips and glared up at the dark clouds overhead, turning back around only to reappear seconds later with a sturdy umbrella held aloft in one hand. In her other hand she held a slim stack of letters addressed to family members.

The rain did not clear out the streets as much as one would think. They stayed crowded, stayed congested with people until one reached the edges of the city. Unfortunately for Aria, she was going the opposite direction.

She set out for the Post Office, carefully placing her feet in the least slippery places along the cobblestone streets. She had often wondered why the city planners had chosen cobblestones to pave their streets, when many other materials would serve better, but she would never know the answer.

It wasn't hard not to fall, however, as traffic often caused Aria to stop walking entirely. There was only foot traffic in the city, by virtue of the narrow streets and cobblestone roads. Aria did not mind it.

A smile crossed Aria's face as the crowd before her thinned, and she quickened her step while she could, no longer paying as much attention to where she stepped as she should have. Her foot struck a particularly slippery spot, skidding to the side and taking Aria down with it. She cried out as she fell, but was silenced as she struck her head on the cobbles.

-/-/-/

The girl cried out, surging forward. A technician was at her side in seconds, trying to restrain her as she woke from her comatose state. There was a rush, a few tense moments before the girl was put back under.

-/-/-/

She could see the stars. Renée had always loved the stars. And now.... Now she could see them every day, just by looking out the window.

As she was doing now, her head propped up on her hand, grey eyes staring out at the landscape of stars. The window seat built into her room was the best part of this place, if you asked her. And the rest of the station was amazing.

The most technologically advanced place there was, they called it, and they were right. The station had everything you could think of to bring you comfort — or anything, really. It was amazing. That was really the only word for it.

Renée couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

-/-/-/

There was a collective sigh of relief as it became apparent that the girl had settled into this new dream. A check of the monitors proved this right, and smiles were shared around the small room. This one would have to go better.

-/-/-/

Renée was called out of her room in the early morning, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she strolled through the halls of the station. It was not an urgent call, or she would have gone quicker, tired or not. In her opinion, it was still too early to be awake.

She should have been paying more attention to where she was going, to what was going on around her. But Renée had never been good at keeping her eyes open when so tired. She took a wrong turn, ending up near an airlock. It opened suddenly, letting in a man who had been out on an early expedition. And she was left hanging on to nothing.

It was only a few seconds. That was all it took for Renée to be sucked out of the airlock, screaming.

-/-/-/

She woke with a scream.

And she wouldn't stop screaming, and thrashing, and generally making it difficult for the techs to get everything under control. They had to hold her down, in the end.

She was awake for longer this time. Any longer, and she would have begun asking questions. They couldn't have that.

-/-/-/

There was a tree outside Carrie's window. It had been there for years and years, according to her mother, and Carrie hoped it would be there for many years to come.

For someone growing up in the country, Carrie had never liked it much. She was a more 'hustle and bustle' kind of girl; she liked the city. Unfortunately, her family didn't go outside of their small town much, so she didn't get to see the world.

That was what she wanted. To see the world.

-/-/-/

The dream was rushed this time. There wasn't enough to it. But it was simple, simple and sweet. Perhaps nothing would go wrong.

They were wrong to think that.

-/-/-/

Carrie wasn't one for romance. That was one thing she could do without. Unfortunately, no one else seemed to understand that.

There was a boy outside her window, under the tree. He had been throwing rocks at her window for at least an hour now. Carrie thought her ignoring him spoke for itself — she didn't want to talk to him, not now and not ever — but he was very persistent. It was beginning to get on her nerves.

She pulled herself up out of bed, stalking to the window and yanking it open. "What do you want?!" She yelled, leaning over.

She leaned to far.

She fell.

-/-/-/

The techs stood flabbergasted as even this simple dream went wrong. How was this possible?

The small group all collectively took a step back as He walked into the room. The girl, Ria, was awake on the table, but no one had done anything to remedy the situation. Which was likely why He had come in at all.

Ria's eyes were open, chocolaty brown eyes staring at the ceiling, so wide it must have hurt. She didn't move at all, besides the moving of her chest with her breathing. No one else moved either.

He looked between the six or seven techs and the girl, his eyes narrow and calculating. "What," he said finally, slowly, "is going on here?"

There was more silence. The techs shifted, eventually pushing one, a redheaded woman, to the front. "We- we're actually not sure, Sir." she said, her hands twisting where she held them clasped in front of her. She was nervous. "We tried our best, but she keeps- she keeps coming out of them. Every time. It's- we have no explanation." She glanced at her colleagues behind her, her green eyes looking for approval in theirs. But they still didn't move.

He raised an eyebrow, and his voice was one degree colder when he spoke again. "So you're telling me the technology is...insufficient?"

The woman gulped. "Ah, no no, it worked fine with... With other subjects. We think- we think it's something about her."

At that, everyone looks to the girl laying on the table. No longer staring at the ceiling, Ria had turned her head to watch the exchange, and now with all those eyes — including His — solely on her, she visibly shuddered. She was obviously lost. That much was visible in her eyes.

He looked back at the techs, his gray eyes colder than Antarctica. "Really. Something about her. She couldn't hurt a fly."

"Well she's not hurting anything." The woman said before she thought about it. She realized her mistake when He glared at her. Gulping, she said, "We think her mind is... Incompatable. With the technology. We can- we can't change it." She fell silent, hunching her shoulders and lowering her head. If one was to look closely, they would see that she was shaking.

He smiled slowly, wickedly, his cold gaze returning to Ria. "I guess we must find a new subject then, shall we?" He turned back to the techs. "You know what to do with her."

He turned and strode from the room. As soon as He was gone, the techs relaxed a little, though the all knew He was still watching them. The redhead approached Ria, leaning over the girl with a kind yet sad smile on her face. "Sorry about this," she said quietly.

Ria frowned, moving as if she was going to sit up only to find that she was restrained. "What are you talking about?"

The woman turned away, nodding to her colleagues. A switch was flipped. Ria never moved again.