“There were five of us: Bella, me, Lara, Monique, and Amanda Lynn. Something went wrong with Dharma’s pod, we couldn’t open it. The men … your crazy computer butchered them. From the looks of the lab, it entertained itself by making human clones before it accidentally offed itself.”

“So, you freed yourselves and left me frozen?”

“We were disoriented, operating in complete darkness. Monique and I attempted to repair the electrical system while Lara checked on you. Bella and Amanda went into the arboretum to locate food and water. They were attacked by a swarm of bees. We barely made it to the escape pods. By the time we surfaced, Amanda was dead.”

“You left me.”

“I had no choice. I intended to go back for you, but the sub’s batteries were dead. Ike, please climb out of that crater and hold me.”

“What happened the night we were supposed to meet?”

“Ike—”

“Just answer the question.”

“Kevin ordered me to check on a loose anchor holding down the hydrothermal vent duct plate. By the time I returned, they had already placed you in cryogenic stasis. Ike, how long have you been here? Did you see the moon? It was struck by an asteroid.”

“What year is it, Andria?”

“We don’t know. Monique thinks the lunar debris caused massive firestorms that increased global warming and melted the Antarctic ice sheet, but the process still would have taken decades. We’ve been working on building a boat, only these creatures keep attacking us.”

“What creatures?”

“We call them ‘octopeds.’ Land octopi, very intelligent. They can manipulate brain waves through physical contact, inducing vivid hallucinations.”

Adrenaline coursed through my body, my mind racing. The ants, the cave, the encounter with Bat-Andria … the rescue of Dharma in Oceanus—could Oscar have been toying with past memories … manipulating my mind?

“Andie, how did you find me?”

“I didn’t. A few hours ago a dozen of the octopeds attacked our habitat, killing our livestock and stealing our supplies. I tracked them down to this crater; I came armed with a bow and a quiver of poison-tipped arrows. One of them grabbed me—they’re experts at camouflage. When I came to my weapons were gone. When I saw you, I thought one of them had me in its suckers and was manipulating my senses like they did with Lara. To be honest, I’m still not sure it’s really you, or if any of this is real. Omega dreams can be quite convincing. Ike, please get out of there before—Oh, God, here they come!”

I looked down to see Oscar racing up the trunk of the redwood, followed by two more cephalopeds.

What to do? Dharma had warned me, and yet Andie seemed so real—

“Ike, give me your hand!”

Screw it! If all this really was just an Omega dream—

“Ike!”

—then I wanted Andria in it!