"So, you let Nadwe punch a window?"
Joocie asked skeptically as he plucked out the small bits of glass with the tweezers stuck in Nadwe's palm. Nadwe flinched and closed his eyes as he felt each pull.

"Yeah."
I tried to sound as casual and normal as possible to let him believe in the lie.
He can't know that we both invaded Laff's house.
Joocie shook his head as he placed another few small shards onto the cloth.
"I can tell that you're not exactly telling the truth,"
He grabbed some bandages from the cabinets and started wrapping it on Nadwe's hand.

"Why would anyone punch a window? And how would any of you reach Laff's base in time?"
I paused and felt my head chill. The lie was that Nadwe and I were trying to get help from Laff after Nadwe 'punched' a window out of frustration.

And Joocie was right, the place where Nadwe and I had our base was way too far apart from Laff's. And it was so stupid that I told Joocie that Nadwe punched a window- now I get why it's so hard to lie. You have to make a believable story in less than a minute.

I messed it up again, great, just great.

"If you want to fool me, you'll have to come up with a better story than that."
Joocie didn't look up from his work as he continued wrapping the bandages on Nadwe's other hand.

"Uh well..."
I trailed off. It was harder to come up with another lie if the previous one was too obvious.

"It's alright Muffin, you're not in big trouble or anything but,"
Joocie wrapped the last bit of bandage before turning towards me.

"I want you to tell me about what actually happened."
Nadwe looked between Joocie and I as he tried to move his bandaged hands. I turned to Nadwe and mouthed out: What should I do?
Nadwe responded with a shrug to show that he wasn't sure either.
Guess it's up for me to decide then.

"Okay, okay, what really happened was..."
I inhaled and exhaled a breath.

"Nadwe and I have been needing to find Laff to help us with..."
Oh this is going to sound really dumb-

"Help us with his experience and knowledge in the SMP."
My tone sounded automatic, reading out loud from a written script. Joocie looked at me and paused for a moment then nodded.

"Okay, what happened when you arrived at his base?"
He asked calmly.

He wasn't even questioning what I said!
Maybe this won't go as bad as I thought.

So I continued to tell him everything that happened (Except for the real reason why Nadwe and I were in Laff's base):
The small bottles that shattered in Nadwe's hand and of course, Ink. Who was now sleeping in the birdcage sitting on the floor. The story was actually short, but it surprisingly left Joocie thinking. He was rubbing his glass cup forehead when I finished explaining.

"Glasses exploding? And Nadwe getting hurt?!"
Joocie suddenly stood up.

"I need to talk to Meme immediately, why did I think that Meme could keep this under control? Promising that we won't feel any pain in the SMP."
He quietly scoffed and headed towards the Medbay exit.

"Wait, where are you going?"
I asked him, though I already knew where he would be going.

"To Meme, and make him explain about what just happened. I should've known what he makes is dangerous. I'm not sure why I even let both of you go out alone in this place!"
Joocie's voice was filled with concern and worry, but also a hint of anger.

"Joocie, it's fine! It's just this one time, we'll be more careful now, I promise!"
I spoke those words quickly, I didn't like seeing or hearing people getting upset. It's scary to see what angry people will do. Though Joocie never got to an actual angry state.

"I'm still going to talk to Meme,"
He opened the door out of the medbay, repeating what he said from earlier.

"You kids can come with me,"
He pointed to the door of the Medbay.

"Or stay here and don't go anywhere."
He glanced back and waited for a response.

"Okay... I'll just stay here I guess."
I didn't want to see an argument happening, which I was convinced would occur once Joocie confronts Meme.
Nadwe shot up from the bed that he was sitting on and excitedly waved his hand.

"I'll go! I'll go!"
He flinched from the sudden movement of his bandaged hands.

"It's probably better for you to get out of the SMP anyways."
Joocie answered, allowing Nadwe to come along.

Nadwe stood up from the bed and followed Joocie out the medbay door.
As they both excited out of the medbay, Joocie poked his head back in and said,

"And remember Muffin, don't go anywhere."
I nodded.

"I won't."
I responded and watched him go. Then everything was quiet, except for the chattering noises that Ink was making.

I didn't want to sit around and do nothing so I decided to look around in the medbay, checking to see what Joocie's been doing lately.

- - - - -

And with no surprise, I found nothing interesting, just lots of medications and prescription bottles.
Boring.
I eventually gave up on finding some entertainment. And checked up with Ink instead, but I wasn't going to pet him or anything.
I just watched him bite the bars of the bird cage and looked at me with his beady eyes for a while.
I could tell that I wanted to do something more fun and productive. My hands started fidgeting and I couldn't seem to stop pacing around the room once and a while.

Maybe I can finish building the base...

I pushed the thought away.

No, I couldn't do that, I promised Joocie that I would stay where I am.

So what now?

I laid on one of the medbay beds, staring at the ceiling and the lights that stung my eyes.

But I was too bored to even care.

I let out a yawn and felt my eyes droop as my brain fuzzed. I closed my eyes to rest, and before I realized it, I fell asleep.
- - -

I was back at the farm place.
With my goldfish.
I don't remember what I was going to name the goldfish but it's not like it really mattered.
It was my goldfish and I can do whatever I wanted with it.
I stood in front of a small puddle that I watched my goldfish swim in and felt the newly Fall breeze ruffling my hair.

Then someone knelt down beside me in front of the small puddle. I turned my head to the person and recognized that it was my mom.
Her face was blurred. But it seemed just right to me. I just knew that she was my mom.

Just as my mom was about to say something, I heard a different voice. The voice echoed and felt more clear than any of the sounds that I heard.

It... it sounded like mumbling
I turned to my right and saw another figure, they wore a waiter's suit and their appearance was ghostly.

That's when realization hit, I realized that this was a dream and just as that thought came, the surroundings around me dissolved and was left with a giant black space.

The strange figure was still there though. They, too, noticed the sudden change and turned to look at me.
I nearly jumped when I saw their face, they had no mouth but had a white X in their right eye and an oval on the other.
They had this weird whisp steam looking thing wavering on the right side of their head.

"Oh hello there young one, I didn't expect you to realize this quickly."
I couldn't seem to find the words to respond back.

"Do not fret, I am technically part of your dream. In fact, I would like to teach you something,"
The strange figure walked towards me, but their appearance made it look like they were hovering.

"What we call the state that you are in now is considered a Lucid Dream."
Their voice echoed as they stood four feet apart from me.

"In a Lucid Dream, you are able to imagine anything that you want to happen in whatever the way you desire."
They flicked a hand in the air and changed the surroundings back to the farm place then dissolved it again.

"Give it a try."
Just as I was going to try, I was wondering:
If this was a dream, how is this stranger talking to me?

I fell back when my own voice echoed loudly in the empty space.The figure seemed unbothered by this.

"Glad that you asked, just grab hold of my hand and I'll show you."
The strange figure had their ghostly cyan hand out. I hesitated.

"Do not be afraid, in a dream, you cannot be harmed or feel pain."
They reassured and gave me a friendly look.

Well, they definitely weren't wrong so I took their hand. Just as I did so, a headache shot towards me as the surroundings flickered and changed immediately with flashing images of... of...

My memories.

I saw glimpses of the time when Meme introduced everyone into the SMP.
And that time when Nadwe and I first met in kindergarten.
Then that day when everyone in the group went to play laser tag for Nadwe's birthday.

But all of these flashing images gave me a huge headache and I fell to my knees, putting a hand to my head.

The strange figure looked like they saw and understood all of the constant flashing images. Their head nodded a few times in reasoning before they came to a stop at one of my memories.

This memory was recent, it was when Nadwe and I were at Laff's base and also when the strange bottle of glass exploded.

The figure and I watched the scene replay again and again till finally, the figure walked towards Nadwe, and knelt down to touch the black substance that exploded from the bottles around him.

Even though it was a memory, the figure managed to touch it and picked it up. The weird black liquid phased in and out.
They seemed to be deep in thought as they felt the black liquid on their fingertips.

Couple of minutes later, still deep in thought, their head suddenly jerked up as if in a hurry and disappeared.
Just like that.
Gone.

But at the same time, I woke up.
- - -

My head felt dizzy, I was confused about the dream that I just woke up from.
I sat up from the bed and found a beam of orange and yellow-ish sunlight seeping from the medbay windows, indicating that the sun was beginning to set.

Thump.

Then I heard a noise coming from somewhere outside.

Thump thump thump.

There it was again

Thump squelchhhhhhh

I hope that sound came from someone I know...

I went towards the medbay doors and peeked through the windows to see. There wasn't much, just grains of sand and the sky turning orange to a darker shade.
But the sound, I could've sworn it was all around the medbay.
For some reason, my heart started to pound and I could feel my legs shake.
Why was I scared?
Maybe it was because I didn't know where that terrible sound came from. Yeah, that's probably why.

Sssssssqqqquuuueeeelllllch squelch squelch squelch

The sound changed and became louder and more disturbing, like someone just came out of a pool of muck.

I watched and listened as I stood there, frozen. I didn't know how long I was there for. But finally, the sound faded somewhere else and I was able to breathe again.

I sighed in relief.

See, that wasn't anything bad.

Then a black inky hand hit the window, leaving smudges. It was a large black figure, and it looked down and locked its two gray eyes with mine.
- - -

I have woken up with a headache and sticky liquid pouring down my face. The scientist unhooked the machine from my wrists and legs, freeing me from the metallic bonds as I stood up staggering.
It was extremely exhausting. Especially when using mental energy in a long period of time at a large portion.
Immediately I was brought into questioning after the session of searching for any evidence of Specimen 096 through the different individual's memories.
I haven't told them that my ability has weakened due to the lack of use. I am now only able to break through the mental shields from under the age of sixteen year olds to access their memories. The more recent the memories are, the easier it was to identify and locate them.
"You know the drill, you give me the details and you'll be back in your chamber."
The scientist took out a clipboard, not caring about my damaged physical state. Not that I'm surprised however.

My breath was unmannerly ragged as the liquid continued to pour down from my face.
"Ah yes,"
I managed to say, taking a concentrated breath and rubbed my temple.

"I have been able to visit about forty five individual's dreams."
The scientist nodded and wrote down the result.

"And I believe that the Specimen you are looking for is starting to tire. I could feel them sleeping in a regular amount now and then."
The scientist looked up.

"You refer Specimen 096 as a person?"
"Why of course! It's quite rude to call someone an 'it ' if they were a living being. They still have emotions and a mind of their own."
A common thing in horrid places like this, the majority of the employees just seemingly assume that the beings that they encaged are just objects that they can toy and control with.
What an irresponsible meaning.

"And you have not tried to attempt to harm the victims that you chose?"
The scientist moved onto a different question.

"Victims?!"
I spoke in disbelief and complete offense.

"Mind I telling you that the people I visit in their dreams are certainly not my victims."
I folded my arms, frustrated that these people always assume I am the 'unruly villain'.

"Yeah, sure, you call whatever you wanna call them but we know you're up to something. Why else would we implant that device in you?"
The scientist pointed to my right shoulder where they implanted a small resistant device that included a tracking and a shock system.

"I would like to believe that we are both friends here on the same side but I am fairly disappointed that you still show no hint of trust to your colleague."
I glared at the scientist.

"Hm, I do whatever I want to. And I'm not going to listen to creatures like you. Anyway, last question to end the interrogation for the day:"
They put the clipboard down on the table and pushed up their glasses.

"Have you met any individual who might've encountered Specimen 096?"
If I were truly honest, I would've said yes. However, my own personal main objective was not to find Specimen 096 but to find the right time and place to escape. What I require was my own freedom.

All the individuals I have visited were usually children with such fascinating and creative minds. There was one however, with a different set of mind than others.
They were able to recognize their surroundings quickly. Usually, all the individuals I have visited so far have not been able to experience the process of the memory search due to them being distracted by the dream that their brain has constructed for them.
If I am remembering correctly, this child I have unintentionally encountered went by the name Muffin. A child that calls themselves after a fairly common sweet and well baked pastry, usually found in Bakeries and Cafés. I remember savoring one of those when I was younger, oh how it brings in so many warm memories.
If only I could just turn back time...

"Well,"
I have chosen my response, and it would neither be a lie nor the truth.

"There's no clear evidence that any of the individual's dreams I have visited encountered Specimen 096."

It was true, that memory from the child Muffin had lacked information that I needed. But they still have encountered an incident involving a black substance. It is possible the black substance may not even be Specimen 096.

But they still would've took the child up for questioning regardless. They will take the child away and completely ruin him.
And I would not allow myself for that to happen to a young child like Muffin.
The scientist on the clipboard grunted. Not surprised that I have made no 'real' progress.

"Sorry to disappoint."
I gave them an apologetic smile and glanced at the security camera.
I must not let these imbeciles know about the child.

- - - -

Words: 2845

I wanted to thank the new readers: AxolotlQueen and Panther.
If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't have had enough courage and confidence to spend my energy into this chapter. Thank you both :)

Also, kudos to Rainbow who picked the bat's name: Ink
(It's such a fitting name for a bat!)
And I can't forget to thank Addie and Rainbow (again) for always reading my story, even though I believe that it needs a lot of improvement and fixes.
I appreciate everyone's support :D

Anyways, have a good day or night everyone!