I slip in and out of consciousness, the soft cocoon of a dreamless sleep slowly spinning me in, holding me tight, then unraveling, over and over again. Darkness comes and goes. Spared from my usual nightmares, now it’s the glimpses of the waking world that scare me. I see Elsa leaping out of the cockpit while everyone else fusses over me. I see her freeing the red-cloaked guards behind them, pulling weapons from a hidden cache. I try to warn everyone, but the cocoon smothers me again. I hear raised voices, threats being made. I see a stand-off. It’s Elsa and her red-cloaks against Violet, Aki and Yaku. Three versus three.
I see Hickory in the middle, and Elsa throwing him a gun.
“You really want to destroy the Manor?” she says. “You’re with us.”
More threats. More shouting.
“We can end this. Wipe the slate clean, once and for all.”
“Hickory, no!”
“The Manor ruined your life.”
“Don’t listen to her!”
“You lost someone, yes? You can be with them again.”
“Drop it right now!”
I hear Masaru cackling. See Hickory frown at the gun in his hands.
“Hickory,” I manage to say, “please . . .”
He points the gun at Elsa, then aims it down at me.
“I’m sorry, Jane,” he says. “I told you. You really don’t know me at all.”
And the cocoon spins me through the dark once more.