Past what was left of Mom, and into the grass behind the house. She didn’t dare try shoes, so she ran barefoot.

The further she got from the house, the less light there was to go by.

☽

The room was dark, as she opened her eyes.

“How are you doing?” Jessica asked.

Ashley’s mouth was dry. She reached for her water bottle, initially moving her hands in a careful way, then realizing she didn’t have to.

She drank before answering. Jessica stood and attended to the light switch and the blinds.

“Do you want more water?”

Ashley nodded.

Jessica took the water bottle and went to the sink in the corner of the office. “Is the thirst because of what you experienced in the dream? Stress?”

“The medication.”

“Of course. It’s only been a short while, so we’ll give it time.”

Jessica returned with the bottle. Ashley drank more, then put the bottle aside.

“I’m… out of order,” Ashley answered the question from earlier. “Right now, everything feels incoherent and it’s hard to get it sorted in my head. Memory and present day. What came when and what’s…”

She trailed off. She felt tired and she didn’t like feeling and acting tired in front of someone.

Jessica didn’t finish the sentence or prod her. She took her time, instead, to sit up, to fix her hair, and to compose her thoughts.

“What came when and what’s mine and what isn’t mine,” Ashley said.

“This was an experiment. Some people with powers report success, some struggle with it. It’s unique to the individual and the powers, and does not reflect on you. I thought it was worth a try.”

Ashley nodded.

Jessica went on. “This is not my field of expertise, and if you wanted to pursue it further, I would recommend we turn to someone else as a resource. If you weren’t comfortable doing anything further, that would be wholly understandable. Disorientation doesn’t sound positive.”

“It felt more real than this room, here.”

“Parahumans have unusual relationships with things like drugs, legitimate or otherwise, which we talked about before starting you on your regimen—”

“Yes.”

“And they also have unusual reactions to dreams and things like dreams. In this case, walking you through a near-sleep state where your mind can wander, it’s possible you’re tapping into the kind of thing others have experienced.”

“Who are these others?”

“I can’t name names, of course, but in scientific literature, there are people with powers who don’t sleep, ever, but they dream while awake, because the mind still wants to sort things out. That sorting is important. People with perception powers sometimes need to dream to refresh themselves and get what they see separated from what their power sees. Occasionally tinkers sometimes need to tap into dreams to get inspiration. Virtually every parahuman reports dreams that are different than what they experienced before their triggers, if they can remember their dreams at all. Dreams are often reported as clearer, more exciting, having meanings, or, commonly, having a strong emphasis on memories.”