Epilogue

In one moment, the man’s life had been restored to him in full. Unbeknownst to him, as the crystal smashed, he was freed from its distant, imperceptible grasp. His eyes stopped aching, his mind grew clearer, as he fully inhabited his body once more. He felt as though he had woken from a lengthy dream. His vocal cords loosened a little, relaxing, free for him to use once more. One word, a name, came to his lips.

“Anna.” He shifted his weight, making himself more comfortable, before ringing the bell at his bedside which summoned the nurse. She arrived quickly, examining his changed appearance and healthy movement, and mentally noted the more natural colouration of his eyes. They had returned to their former selves, still blue, yet gentle, like a summer sky or a fragment of glass. She fetched the doctor to examine him; the doctor recorded the man’s normal vitals and found him to be healed, quite miraculously.  

The paperwork had been filled out and signed in the illegible hand which all health professionals seem to possess, discharging the man from the hospital’s care. He sat in the atrium, waiting for the familiar face to appear - it did not disappoint. For soon, standing before the man was Anna, in all her youthful radiance, her blonde hair framing her face and styled with a severe fringe that stopped close to her pale blue eyes. Her face was nearly flawless, apart from a small scarlet mark in the centre of her forehead; it only appeared when she ran her fingers through her fringe. She took the man’s hand and smiled, before saying,

“Nikolaus, I was so worried. I had...the strangest dream.”

“How strange, Anna, so did I.” Nikolaus replied. A furrow formed by her memories creased Anna’s blemished brow.

“I remember a strange blue, a deep desire - my voice sounded as though it had passed through time.” Anna paused. “And there was a dark-haired woman with a gun. I woke up then.”

“Anna, it’s all right, it was just a dream - after all, my coma was just an accident. Besides, you were not alone in that dream - I had elements of it in mine...the blueness, the desire. But it doesn’t matter, because it was just a dream and we’re fine now.”

“Let’s go home.”

“Yes, my dear Anna, let’s go home.” As they stepped hand in hand out of the hospital, they looked beyond the shore to Mercyship, the island in which they lived.

As Mercyship and its inhabitants became aware of the new day, they also remembered the dreams they had experienced. But nobody would worry - it is the nature of dreams to be soon forgotten. The dreams of the Mercyship incident would be no exception.

Fin

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Mercyship. A small island located off the coast of America. In the recent weeks, there have been reports of a strange disease which prevents the inhabitants from acting for themselves, requiring full care. The hospitals on the mainland are filling up with Mercyship's inhabitants, healthy people in body, with blank expressions and dulling eyes, who have to be told to perform any task. The strangest part of all this is that once they are told what to do, they can do it perfectly. Myra Asthore, Undercover Intelligence Extractor - Special Agent 414, has been sent to find out what is causing the disease before the whole island is infected.

updated May 9 '11 by emptyanima