It was unclear whether our mission to the Girret homeworld was a success, but I was shocked to learn that Capal and Ficrae had come away with an agreement to cooperate on teleportation technology. Asscar scholars and researchers had joined, though they were under close supervision with how fresh Larimak's hostility was. The androids were maintaining a physical presence to observe, always mistrusting organics, but worked alone; it was a miracle that they were sharing their simulation results, I supposed.

In terms of the other Alliance members, the Derandi had sent a boatload of scientists to our Space Gate station, as soon as we asked; to my surprise, Jetti and Hirri hadn't departed. I thought the ambassador couldn't wait to get her son away from me. Vanare had taken the opportunity to return to Temura, reuniting with his own family and selfishly not doing any meal prep for us before leaving. So much for making the chef the ambassador: food was the best diplomacy. Perhaps some Redfish Stew or other avian overtures would help to convince the Girret.

At any rate, the point was that we had a good group working around the clock, regardless of if the purple reptiles arrived to molt all over our wormholes. I was eager to meet with Capal, the returning hero, to ensure that he wouldn't hold Mikri's past tendencies against him. However, the nerdy Asscar was also our leading expert in mapping precognition, so I'd wanted to wait to loop him into what I'd foreseen. I didn't want to explain this multiple times one-on-one. Besides, it gave me time to figure out how to quell the tin can's inevitable freakout.

Step one, apology gift. Oh, Mikri is going to love this! He won't be able to hold anything against me when I fulfill numero uno on his hierarchy of needs.

"Preston." Mikri's glowing eyes turned toward me, as soon as I reached the meeting spot. I told him to get here early, so I could give him his present before Sofia saw it. "I was promised that your explanation was delayed so that you could present me with adequate compensation, on the level of my dementia cure. This must show repentance."

I kept my gift positioned behind the door, poking my smirking head in. "Oh, you'll love what I've chosen to get you. It's so…fitting and eye-opening."

"Show me then. Hiding my gift from me is not the way to assure me of transparency between us both going forward."

"I'm not hiding it from you. I'm building suspense and anticipation! 3, 2, 1; merry forgiveness!"

I jerked the plastic ring out of the door, holding it up to Mikri like a sacred offering to the sun. The android stared dumbfounded at the hula hoop, which filled me with immense satisfaction. I could see his eyes' LEDs freeze in place, until the Vascar gave me the same look he'd given me when I was "overheating" at Vanare's fabulous spice banquet. I pressed the object into his claws, and waited until he held it upright to let go. I gave him an excited grin, waiting for him to try it out.

"Why?" the Vascar beeped, in the most distraught tone I'd ever heard.

I clapped my hands together with excitement. "I always wanted you to have one of these!"

"What even…is this? This may be the most purposeless personal artifact I have seen an organic wield. It is a hollow plastic circle of no value."

"You say nothing we do has value. It's a hula hoop, and it's something anyone could see you needed. Try it! Put it on and twirl! Push that tushie like there's no tomorrow!"

"…how is this making up for your wrongdoing?"

"Pfft, you act like I wanted to kill you and hid it for months, or something. It's not like anyone here would ever do that and be instantly forgiven anyway…"

A sour frown crossed Mikri's face; he was getting good at mirroring our expressions, to be honest. His processor seemed to have hit another load zone from that remark. I took the opportunity to pry the hula hoop out of his grip, and slip it over his head. I reaffixed both of his hands on the plastic circle, to hold it in place around his waist. The android had the look of a sacrificial lamb placed on an altar. With a gleeful hop backward, I extended my arms like I was walking a tightrope while moving my hips in circles like a crazy person to demonstrate.

"Why am I being punished for your mistake?" the Vascar wailed, screeching noises seeping into the sounds.

I grinned. "You're not! I thought seeing me happy makes you happy!"

"Seeing me miserable makes you happy?"

"The misery's a you problem. You always come around to my ideas of fun in the end. Gyrate your chassis, Mikri; make me blush!"

Sofia walked in with Capal near the end that sentence, and gawked with visible alarm. "What on Earth is going on?"

"Sofia! I am so relieved you are here!" Mikri ran to the scientist, hiding behind her. "Preston imprisoned me in a plastic ring. I am basically a Servitor again, but this time being ordered to perform sensual motions."

"Why does Mikri have a hula hoop?"

"Apology gift," I explained, not feeling the need to say anything else.

"Uh-huh. Did you ever think about asking Mikri what he would want?"

"Nope."

The scientist blinked with frustration, before glancing over her shoulder at the cowering droid. "Mikri, what would you have sought from Preston if you were asked? A physical object, not 'no more missions' or 'no spicy food.'"

The android thought for a moment. "I would've requested Larimak's head."

"Hey, that's pretty good! I'll second that request," I cheered. "That is a physical object, Fifi."

Sofia facepalmed, before stepping out of the way to leave Mikri exposed. "Yep, you're on your own, buddy. I was going to get you something nice, but it seems you deserve that hula hoop."

"I don't want it!" Mikri protested.

"It's yours. Hold onto it." I offered a high-five to the scientist, who walked past my outstretched hand. Game, set, and match. "Where's furbuns?"

Capal crept in cautiously, brown mane a bit unkempt. He looked tired. "I don't respond to that."

"Yet you walked in."

"Correlation does not equal causation."

The brown-furred alien seemed satisfied to have the last word. Was he actually wearing a cardigan? Of all the human clothes he could pick out, of course that was what he chose; we should banish him to a classroom forever and get it over with. I refrained from any jokes at his expense, especially since I feared he might be able to outpace my wit. Capal had shown with the precog lessons out in the battlefield that he was a good improviser.

I'm a little nervous to share what I saw in that weird dream anyway. I have to be extremely mindful of Mikri, and frame it in a way that doesn't show that I was afraid he might be keeping us against our will.

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"Alright. Well, you all know why we're here." I took a deep breath and settled down; Mikri followed my head, the hula hoop still around his waist. I would laugh so hard if he just started wearing it as a tin can's belt, and showed up to Takahashi's meetings with it. "Ahem. I wanted to include Capal, since he could record or decode whatever I saw. Sofia and Capal are some of the smartest people I know."

Mikri scowled. "I'm not?"

"You're metal. You don't count. No really, I'm trusting you not to do anything drastic. Please be cool. Is there anything you want to say before we hash this out?"

"There is one thing. Capal doesn't think I'm…a threat? He has forgiven my cross disposition?"

The Asscar's eyes widened, and he sucked in a sharp breath. "I don't know what to make of you, Mikri. There's a function in you that always adds up to 'kill the organics.' I don't doubt your feelings for Preston and Sofia, but I doubt your connection to me."

"I like you, Capal, though not on the level where I would sacrifice myself for you and consider this an obvious output. My…functions have not changed, but I assure you the results have changed due to the introduction of new variables."

"Spell it out. What variables?"

"I would have harmed Preston and Sofia under the conclusion that their lives were a net negative in value. Therefore, I must bestow value in all organics' life to avoid making any errors which would have deleted them and prevented me from ever knowing them. They mean far too much to allow any chance of losing them, or someone like them, through my miscalculations."

Sofia arched an eyebrow. "Your reasons for attributing value to organics have to be deeper than just us."

"There is nothing deeper than you, Fifi. I do strive to understand. I do not wish for anyone to be treated like a lesser being in the way I have been, but my primary motivation is always to act for your benefit."

"You should act for our benefit: all of us. We don't want you to neglect your wants."

"I want to get rid of the hula hoop."

"Nobody asked," I jumped in. "Anyway, if we're all over Mikri's murder phase, I'm going to dive right into the details of my dream. I'll need…serious interpretations."

Avoiding the urge to shoot a nervous look at Mikri, I launched into a recap of what I'd seen and felt: the discombobulation like waking up from anesthesia, being on a spaceship while feeling terrified and helpless, and the Vascar's panicked plea that was burned into my brain. "You can't take Preston and Sofia away from me! Let me keep them—just them." I noticed my scientist partner's eyebrows furrow, and issued a silent prayer for her not to say what I worried about Mikri, if she'd guessed. Capal, at least, didn't seem to have the same kneejerk reaction.

I'm surprised, since I know he's worried about Mikri's emotional control and boundaries. Maybe I was unreasonable to jump to that kind of thinking; he's my friend. Why would I…

I took a deep breath. "That was it. What do you guys make of it?"

"Preston, I hope you won't take this the wrong way." Capal lowered his eyes, hesitating to say what was on his mind. "I don't mean to discredit you at all, but I just want you to think about a few key details that jumped out to me. All of those aspects: the fear, the sedatives, being trapped, even Mikri pleading to save you. Those have…an uncanny similarity to your time with Larimak."

"You think Larimak will kidnap Preston again…Preston and Sofia?" Mikri screeched. "No! We have to find him."

"That's not what I'm saying, Mikri."

I narrowed my eyes with skepticism. "What are you saying? Discredit me, you say…"

"I'm saying the dream could merely be PTSD. Your brain took those elements and merged it with some of your current life to craft a…nightmare. It's understandable that you'd have those fears in the back of your mind."

"Fuck you! I know what I saw."

"Calm down, please," Sofia patted my knee. "Let Capal explain himself. He's here because he's the expert and he knows a thing or two about how precog manifests."

Capal shied away, looking uncomfortable. This alien specializes in conflict avoidance. "The fact is, you have no history of dream foresight. You're in the minority on that, but not alone. You haven't had nighttime visions like Dr. Aguado has. There's nothing wrong with that, of course; you were one of the most in-tune with waking precognition, so a trade-off…we don't know how people react differently. You're the first species to exhibit these traits."

"Exactly, so how do you know I just wasn't delayed in it? My brain might've pulled it up now for whatever reason," I fired back.

"I don't know, but I merely think we should exercise caution. This doesn't match with the other reports of precog; it's not an out-of-body experience with sensory confusion. No others, including known dreamer Dr. Aguado, have reported such an incident. Something else may be afoot, and you wouldn't want to worry Mikri over a…false alarm, would you?"

"Of course not, but I wouldn't make something like this up. I didn't want to tell him at all! But what if something does happen, and people are hurt because we didn't even look into it?"

"Preston, I'm going to do my due diligence. I've recorded the details like any report, and if I find anyone with corroborating testimony, I'll change my tune. I'm just not convinced this isn't an ordinary dream. All humans are having more vivid reveries in their slumber; probably a side effect of the 5D reality snapshot mixing up a few wires. You've also been through a great deal in a very short time."

I snapped my head toward Sofia, a scowl creasing my face. "Is that what you think? That I've lost it and I'm seeing things?"

"I don't think you've lost it, no," she replied. "Capal is right that organics…lose our minds from the portals, because the brain can no longer keep track of causality. We've been here the longest and made the most portal trips of everyone. It's possible the boundary between past, present, and future became fuzzy, when coupled with your intense emotions. Like you said, we're the first species to have precog. We're learning."

"Hmph, I see where you stand. Mikri? I trusted you—you believe me, don't you?"

The android beeped. "I am evaluating arguments. I do not want you not to trust me; your friendship means very much to me. What answer would you like me to give? Yes?"

I stood up, scowling. "Unbelievable. None of my friends want to do anything. You scientific assholes would probably give more credibility to healing crystals than to me!"

"All I'm saying is we want verification! I agree that you should be careful, and maybe see if anything else comes to you," Capal pleaded. "Look, why don't you not go anywhere serious for a month or two, in case it is in your immediate future? That should be enough time for Sofia to back up your story, since you say she's there too."

"Oh, Mikri'll love that outcome. Only grounded for a month, then case dismissed; Preston should never be cleared to fly again."

"You're putting words in my mouth. You know the value of having complete information from the Space Gate battle. But I mean, waiting a month is reasonable, isn't it? You can't live your whole life looking over your shoulder."

"Whatever, Prince Capalimak. We'll all handle it your way."

Seething with white-hot anger, I stormed out of the room and hid out of view behind the doorway. I wanted to hear the unfiltered bullshit my "friends" had to say about me, especially Mikri: who outright just was trying to say what I wanted him to, but didn't actually believe me. To think I'd apologize for not telling him about my vision, when they'd all just gotten together to mock me! The sense of betrayal he felt over my omission was nothing compared to how backstabbed I felt now. That was an ambush!

"What did I do wrong?" Mikri protested to Capal. "I wish I wasn't so bad at comforting organics! I cannot express compassion, beyond just saying I care about him deeply. Should I be worried over this future scenario? Preston excluded me because I worried too much about his safety, and now, he walked out because I weighed the hypothesis that the danger may be in his mind!"

The Asscar nerd shushed the android. "It's not you, Mikri. It's not a good feeling to express your experiences and be told they're not real, but it'd be more hurtful for him to live his life paranoid and grasping at shadows. I don't think you need to worry; it fits the mold of a trauma flareup. However, it's clear that it's real to Preston. We should take it seriously when dealing with him, so he doesn't feel belittled."

"I've explained to you that we need to be patient with Preston. You know he'll lash out when he's hurting, especially now when he doesn't feel supported by us. This dream evidently made him afraid, and caused him to make some lapses in judgment. Please, don't take it personally," Sofia soothed Mikri.

"I understand," the robot beeped. "I should not have demanded an apology gift if his brain was making him panic, and this impaired his judgment abilities. I am sorry I did not make him feel supported, even if I and he both did not know it was a PTSD episode. I will no longer complain about the hula hoop. The gift will be tolerated."

I trudged away from the doorway, careful not to make any noise. It was clear how they all felt about poor Preston. They couldn't be right; I'd moved beyond the Larimak incident, and went through most days without any serious hang-ups. When the problematic moments happened, I recognized them and…I'd worked so hard to cope with them. Since none of them believed in my dream, it was up to me to figure out what it meant alone. I was never going to speak a word of it again.

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