It was The Half standing there.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Everyone's safe and happy back at the farm, so I thought I'd come and say howdy. In fact, I'm talking to you and to your mom at the same time. She says hi.”

“Ya know, Half, you're really strange.”

“Thank you.” He turned and jaunted over to the wall by the elevator and plopped down into a sitting position, with his elbows on his knees. “So, where's that lady chick you were supposed to meet?”

“I don't know. She probably wouldn't like you calling her a ‘lady chick,’ though.”

“No, I don't mind.”

The woman's voice came from my right, and a quick look revealed the lady from my dream. She wore different clothes, but they were still nondescript and boring. Her hair was frumpy, and her face was lined with worry. Baffled at how she'd managed to sneak up on us, I couldn't think of anything to say.

“But,” she continued, “I am sorry, He Who Is Known as The Half. But you must leave, and you must leave now.”

“I was just starting to have fun,” he countered, but his face revealed that he knew he wouldn't win this argument.

“Go, now,” the lady said. “The fate of this world is hanging in the balance. Don't mess it up.”

“Man, that's some fancy talk. Fine, see ya.” He vanished without another word of complaint.

I turned to the Floating Lady. “I still don't get how he does that.”

“Don't worry, much will become clear before you leave me today. Did you bring the Red Disk?”

I patted the leather pack hanging from my neck and shoulder in acknowledgement. “Why did we have to meet here?” I asked.

“Something special waits inside. Also, I wanted you to see the main breach of the Black Curtain. I wanted you to realize that everything must end, for good or for bad, very soon.”

“Those things flying out of the Blackness—are those the Stompers?”

“Barely. But yes, that is what they look like before they gain their full power inside the minds of your people. They are worthless and weak until then, until you are prepared and ready in the Coma. That is why they need the Shadow Ka.”

“It's all so hard to believe.”

“Believe it, Jimmy. Within hours, you will be the last one awake.” She said it the same way I'd expect someone to tell me the time.

“Come,” she said, motioning to a door. “We have much to discuss.”

We walked down a few sets of stairs and through a long, dark hallway. We went through another nondescript door and entered a sparsely furnished apartment. It smelled of scented candles and recently burnt food. The walls were white, and only a picture or two adorned them. There was one lamp in sight, letting out a dull glow at the moment. She had me sit on a brown couch, and then disappeared for a minute. When she came back, she was holding two glasses of water.

I took mine and drank the whole thing in one long gulp.

“Do you have any food?” I felt stupid, but I was starving.

“Yes.” She left again and returned with several sandwiches. “Can we finally begin?”

I nodded as I wolfed down one of the PB and Js. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted.

“We have you, we have me, and we have the Red Disk,” she said. “Let's begin.”

She started talking, and in the next minutes and hours, my world was changed forever all over again.