Being on Hibiru, using the drone he had originally flown there, Dutch was already far from his physical body. Yet it was but the thought of an instant to return.

Likewise it was now the thought of an instant that took him out of the drone and into the Q. The thought that did it was that lugging the drone around was becoming a nuisance.

But the Q on Hibiru was not the Q of Earth, or even the Q of Mars. The spiritual referents that defined this place were those of the Annunaki who dwelt there.

Who still dwell here, he thought, linked to physical bodies lying immobile, frozen, awaiting a return to the Sun. From the Q, he could visit those bodies, seeking a link to the spirits who would dwell in them. Again, having the Q links, it was but the thought of an instant to visit one.

He went to the nearest chamber, and tried to find its resident in the Q. He got no response. This one may be truly dead, he thought. So he tried again. And again.

He visited many such bodies, those found in the royal chambers of Eridu. He realized that most of them were not truly dead, merely dreaming long slow dreams of their next awakening. He found he could link to those dreams. But the dreamers were unresponsive to his presence. He could not tell where in the Q their dreams were kept.

Until he visited the chamber of one who, in the dream, was there in his own chamber. When Dutch tried to speak to him in his dream, he slowly recognized Dutch's presence. Who are you? he asked, in the universal language of thought. How come you to be in my chamber?

Dutch responded in kind. I am sure you know that some of your people have visited Earth. I am an Earth dweller. I have dreamed myself here.

How is this possible? How did you find my chamber?

In my dream I have visited many such chambers. Until now, all of the sleepers have been dreaming in another place, to which I cannot follow. You are the first I have found dreaming here.

I know the place of which you speak. I too have been part of that long slow dream. Perhaps it was your presence that drew me back here.

I hope that is true, and that you can help me find that dream place. There is one among you who came to me on Mars. I would like to find that one again.

You say you are from Earth, and yet you speak of being on Mars. We left Mars dead long ago. How did you find your way there?

In response, Dutch dreamed for his new companion the story of how the people of Earth had discovered QAR and the Q. How they were able to physically fly to Mars, and found some of the abandoned chambers. That a goddess depicted in one of the chambers had joined them, and told them something of her dream. That she was the one he was seeking, hoping to learn more from her. Of her.

I do not know the one you speak of. If she had a chamber on Mars, then quite possibly she is one of those who died there and now exist only in the dream. But come, follow me, I will guide you to the dream. There are many others who may help you.

The very thought follow me gave Dutch the link he needed to do so. He joined his guide in the limbo of the Annunaki. He didn't know what he had expected, but this wasn't it.

Where are we?

Nowhere and everywhere. We are in the realm of thought.

Just the two of us? Why isn't it a deafening cacophony?

No one else is trying to share our thoughts. They each have their own.

I don't understand. How will I find the others?

To begin with, here we are literally lost in thought. Every one of us. There is conscious thought, and there is memory. Memory is awareness of the prior thoughts that brought us to this point. Yours was a train of thought that led you to me. Mine was a train of thought that led me to you.

So to find others...?

To find others, we must form a conscious thought, one that others can respond to.

How do we do that? How do you do that?

I open myself to others with whom I can share awareness, and offer a thought. The thought I am offering now is that I have someone with me they may want to meet. I am offering them a link to you.

Dutch began to sense the presence of others. At first they all looked similar to his guide. Then as he watched them they began to take on different aspects. One grew taller, another grew shorter. The colors of their robes changed. Then he noticed that two had beards, and one was bald.

Dutch wondered about this. Then he realized it was exactly like what can happen in QAR when you meet someone.

Most people are not very conscious of their own appearance, he thought. They don't know and don't particularly care how you see them. They don't always project a clear self-image. What you see is what you get, and that's it. But some people are very conscious of the image they are projecting, and this will affect the way you see them.

Dutch also knew that when the people you meet are wearing drones, at first all you see is what your drone sees, another drone. Then your QAR identifies the drone and picks up what it is projecting, and presents that to you.

It also picks up your own expectations of what you should be seeing. From that it builds an image that matches your expectations. All this is adjusted on the fly by feedback between the drones. Most of the time this is all too fast and too subtle for you to notice. But sometimes you get a flicker of adjustments that you learn to ignore.

Here there were no self-images in the physical sense. No bodies at all. But when projections were expected, projections could occur. Again with feedback from the observer. Dutch realized that when he interacts with another in this realm it becomes a shared dream, so there is mutual feedback. Dutch also realized that he didn't really know what body image he might be presenting. He didn't really care. He knew that it would reflect the expectation of his companions, just as theirs reflected his. He was good with that.