Ten and Q returned to the hideout about half past midnight, completely exhausted and starving. They were instantly greeted by Naomi who ran up to them with wide and innocent eyes.

“Two new people just showed up!” She proclaimed with excitement.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime Naomi?” Q asked jokingly.

“Hmph… I don’t even know you… you can’t tell me what to do!”

She stuck out her tongue and made a mocking face towards Q as she scurried off.

The two of them couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

They made their way to an open table as the smell of fresh food slowly wafted through the air. Their mouths began to salivate. It had been three whole days since they’ve had a meal.

“Oh? Look who’s back!” Mag peeked his head through the small window.

“It’s been three days, you know! I was gonna go check on ya’ll but Wolf told me not to disturb you guys!”

Q let out an embarrassed laugh.

“Ten managed to regain some of his hearing back.”

“Is that true?!” Mag exclaimed as he came out with two plates of food.

“Everything still sounds quite muffled, but thanks to a drug Q gave me, I was able to make significant progress,” Ten replied.

“That’s great to hear! Eat up, you two must be starving!” Mag smiled.

That night, the three of them celebrated Ten’s success in passing the second phase of neural potential training.

***

“So? How did it go?” Wolf asked as Q entered the captain’s room.

“It seems I was right… Ten managed to regain some of his hearing after passing the second phase…”

“Meaning he’s managed to increase his neural potential to the point where he’s able to faintly control Ikara’s Sound Inscription…” Wolf concluded.

“Correct… he said if he really focused, he could tune in on someone’s voice…” Q’s voice shuddered with a strange feeling.

Wolf stood up, unable to sit still. His hand began to tremble as he stared deep into the ravaged crevices of his gloves.

“Destiny… fate… I grew up to despise those words…” He began to monologue. 

“They would leave a bitter taste on my tongue…”

He took a dramatic pause.

“Perhaps it’s an acquired taste… or perhaps it requires time like that of aged wine… or perhaps it had been missing the right conditions… but who knew… in this moment… that it could also taste so sweet…”

Wolf had somewhat of a narcissistic personality disorder, in other words a God complex. Whenever his emotions got stirred, his superior ego would reveal itself.

Right now, Wolf was feeling a mixture of both excitement and nervousness. If Ten’s ability could really sync with others consciousness… The implications it could have would be immeasurable.

“It seems we’re about to reach a critical juncture in this war against BANE…”

Q couldn’t help but watch his captain with admiration in his eyes. It was only on rare occasions that Wolf would go on these grandeur speeches of his.

***

Ten had been lying on his bed staring up at the dull ceiling. Recalling the visions he had seen whilst he was meditating. He had found himself back in the lands of Elysion alongside Kal and Zena, as they fought against Ironclaw’s ruthless leader. Peace negotiations had broken down and Kal had been captured hostage after Ten agreed to switch roles with him as a mediator.

He smiled sadly. The memories of Elysion had slowly been slipping away further and further. Would he still remember the details of his previous life a month from now? A year from now? These memories he had taken for granted had become wisps of nostalgia from a distant era.

He missed Elysion. The only ways he could revisit his old world was through foggy dreams and amateurish meditation. He wanted something much more tactile… something that could let him truly feel like he was back home… even if it was his last time…

That night, he had a vivid dream that took place during his earlier adventuring days when he began to train with Kal and Zena. Ten and Kal had been practicing against each other with wooden swords while Zena was working on her aim with spellcasting.

“Argh!” Ten shouted in pain as he collapsed to the ground.

Kal had managed to land a direct hit on his ribcage.

“You ok Ten?! Can you get up?”

“Yeah… I’m fine…” Ten reassures Kal as he slowly gets back up.

“You spaced out for a second there… you good?”

“O-Oh yeah… just a little tired that’s all…”

“We have been at it since morning… we should call it quits for today,” Kal laughed.

The two of them walked over to some nearby cobblestone and sat down watching Zena cast her spells from a distance. The sun was just beginning to set.

Kal was looking up at the sky in silence. His eyes were glimmering ever so slightly.

“Say Ten… don’t you ever feel… like this is all a $%@:[…”

A sudden chaotic spasm of light flickered across Kal’s body, causing Ten to jolt in surprise. It had only happened for a split second.

“D-did you see that just now? You’re body…”

“Huh… is there something on my garments?”

Kal patted around but couldn’t find anything.

“No- Well… um…maybe I’m just tired… my eyes must be playing tricks on me…”

Ten wasn’t able to catch what Kal had said earlier.

“Can you repeat what you said earlier? How it feels like this is all a-”

“Dream…” Kal finished.

“Don’t you ever feel like this is all a dream?” He continued.

Ten couldn’t quite understand what Kal was trying to imply. If this was all a dream then what would be waiting for him when he woke up? In Ten’s eyes, Kal’s question was a pointless one.

“Why do you ask that…”

“Because… I’ve always wondered… when you wake up from a dream… what makes you so sure you’re not just waking up in another one… and once you wake up from that one… you’ll find yourself in another dream… if that’s the case… wouldn’t that make everything an unending dream?”

Something was off. This wasn’t the Kal Ten had remembered. He was an honest and simple boy who never revelled in complicated ideologies. All he cared about was protecting his closest friends and creating a more peaceful world.

Ten had been viewing this strange memory through a holographic projection emanating from a sleek tablet in a dark room.

“I…Is that really what Kal said to me that day? No… it couldn’t be… there’s no way… I would’ve never forgotten about something so abnormal…”

Ten began pacing around in the dark room. He had just become aware that he was dreaming at this very moment. It was natural for these lucid dreams to dilute and mix up details that have happened in actuality.

“Then again… memory alteration is quite common in this new world… wait… wasn’t there also forbidden magic that could tamper with a person’s memories back in Elysion… if that’s the case… how could I ever discern the truth in this sea of lies?!”

Ten stopped and took a deep breath.

“Calm down… that question is just as pointless as Kal’s… but still…”

Ten’s eyes grew with uncertainty.

“What if Kal… never existed…”

Ten stared deeply at the holographic projection of his conversation with Kal that day. A common side effect of an individual who begins to increase their neural potential are the hauntings of these existential questions. A desire to separate lies from truth. A realization of something much more.

“WHO’S THERE?!” Ten shouted as he spun around. The dark room had slowly faded into an infinite dark plane and Ten could have sworn he heard someone say something.

After a moment of silence a voice echoed across the black plane. It was a familiar voice.

“Ten…”

“Kal? KAL! Is that you Kal?!”

“Ten…” the voice repeated.

“Kal where are you?! ARE YOU ALIVE?!”

“Ten I have an important message to tell you…”

“ANSWER MY QUESTION FIRST! TELL ME KA-”

“Do NOT let this new world deceive you… things are not as it seems…”

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! I DON’T UNDERSTA-”

“The path ahead will only get harder… be prepared…”

The voice began to fade away.

“WAIT KAL!! YOU CAN’T JU-”

Ten woke up in his dark and dank room in a cold sweat. Was that all just a dream? No… it had felt so much more vivid and real than any dream he’s ever had. 

Little did Ten know, this was another common side effect of increasing one's neural potential. Causing the boundaries between dream and reality to begin to blur.

***

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!”

“LISTEN TO ME DAPHNE! YOU N-”

“HELP!! RAPE!! SOMEONE HELP M-”

“DAPHNE YOU NEED TO STOP TAKING LUCIDIA! YOU’RE GONNA DIE!!” Q shouted as he tried to shake some sense into Daphne.

“PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!” Daphne screams as she tries to push Q aside and reach towards a tray of tablets.

The lights began to flicker as the tension in the room escalated.

“I NEED IT!! I’M GONNA DIE WITHOUT IT!”

“YOU’RE ADDICTED DAPHNE! YOU ALREADY HAD ENOUGH FOR TODAY, YOU DON’T NEED ANYMORE!” Q’s voice was trembling and tears began welling up in his eyes.

“I DON’T CARE!!” Daphne’s voice boomed as she sent Q slamming into the wall.

“Her neural potential is out of control…” Q whimpered as he tried to recover.

Daphne had lunged onto the tray of tablets and grabbed a handful.

Q reached his hand out as he stumbled forward trying to stop her. “NO DAPHNE!!! STOP YOU’RE GONNA-”

Q woke up in a cold sweat. His hand was reaching towards the ceiling of his room.

“Daphne…” Q murmured.

It had been a while since he had that recurring dream. He shook his head trying to forget about it and got up to get dressed.

The ziploc of pills Wolf had given him was sitting on his bedside table. He stared at them with an intensity in his eyes. He recalled the second half of the conversation he had with Wolf the night before.

***

Wolf had just finished his grand dialogue about Ten’s potential. There was a long silence.

“Say Wolf let me ask you… those pills… what exactly are they?”

“They were just regular vitamin capsules… nothing special…”

“What? But that means…”

“They were placebos…”

Q shook his head in disbelief. “Placebos…”

“That’s right… the human mind is a powerful thing… in a world where consiousness has become heightened with neural potential, placebos have become much more potent and can have very real and quantifiable effects…”

Q had gotten Wolf to recontinue his grand scripture once more.

“Tricking the mind can prove to be very beneficial, especially through something as benign as placebos… However… one must be careful when playing tricks on the mind… convictions and delusions are two sides of the same coin… those who wish to master neural potential must master the art of tricking their mind… in other words… Those who stand at the top of this world are the most psychotic and mentally ill of them all…”

***

Q took one of the pills and quietly laughed to himself. Today was the day Ten would begin the third phase of his training. The most dangerous and difficult part yet.

After breakfast, Ten found himself sitting down in front of a buzzing holographic screen.

“Alright so let me explain.” Q said as he was mixing a concoction in the corner of the room.

“What I’m making right now is called a Neurogenesis Formula… also known as an NGF…”

“NGF…” Ten repeated.

“It’s a term given to a mixture made up of a bunch of different sensory enhancing drugs.”

“It’s like mixing potions…” Ten murmured.

“Isn’t that really dangerous?”

“Usually yes… it’s very dangerous to mix different compounds together if you don’t know what you’re doing. But in this world, we have gained knowledge and technology which has made it much safer.”

Q picked up what looked like a needle.

“With this, I can control precisely how much of each drug goes into the NGF. And since it’s your first time, I’m only using miniscule amounts to get your body accustomed to the feeling of heightened sensory perception.”

“And you’ll continue to increase the amount as the training progresses?”

“Exactly… now you’re starting to think like the people of this world.”

“What’s that?” Ten pointed at another device Q was using on the different compounds.

“A very powerful device that we’ve borrowed from Behaviourals that makes sure the drugs are not contaminated with some other substance… unfortunately, when it comes to digital currency and equipment, Humanistics is at the bottom of the ladder.”

“Behaviourals… Zena mentioned them once…”

“Humanistics, Behaviourals, Cognitives, Psychodynamics and Biologicals… They’re the five factions that make up the AA.”

“Zena said she was from Psychodynamics… When I peeked into Ikara’s memories, she had initially been recruited into Biologicals…” Ten muttered to himself. He had obtained another handful of pieces that fit into this ridiculous and puzzling world.

Q handed Ten the NGF he had just finished mixing.

“Here… take a sip.”

Ten grabbed the cup, it was dyed with a deep sparkly purple haze. He hesitated for a bit, fearing that this may be the point of no return. He had already witnessed how powerful a single drug could be. But now that he was drinking a concoction of them, what exactly would happen?

“You don’t trust me?”

“I-it’s not that I don’t trust you… You’ve helped me regain some of my hearing so far, and I’m thankful for that… It’s more a question if I trust myself…”

“Don’t worry… funny story but when you and I took that pill the other day… it was the first time I had used a drug in years…”

“Really?”

“I had been avoiding them for a while… ever since a certain incident happened… but I had forgotten… the amazing power of drugs when used in the right way… it’s the reason I was able to manifest my Love Inscription… all the powers you’ve seen so far, are a result of the decades of research in NGF and the growth of neural potential.”

Ten was silent.

“Just know that this will be the hardest part of the training yet. You can very easily lose yourself to drugs if you have a weak mind.”

“Isn’t my mind already considered weak? I can barely control this Sound Inscription…”

“Not a weak mind in terms of neural potential… A weak mind in terms of convictions and resolve… Drugs can be very volatile and can have completely different effects depending on the individual… under these violently changing circumstances… you must find something absolute to anchor yourself… if you don’t… your very sanity will be at stake…” Q’s voice had grown very serious.

The dream Ten had last night had only strengthened his resolve even further. Hearing Kal’s voice again had given him hope. He was prepared for whatever obstacles may arise.

Ten finally took a sip of the drink and his body began to immediately shake uncontrollably, spilling the remaining contents of the NGF all over the floor. Q activated a strange device that shot out a rope of light to prevent Ten from falling out of the chair.

Seconds later, he began to convulse and twitch as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. The isolated room had transformed into a carousel of flashing lights and colors. The buzzing screen that had been placed in front of him earlier was now flickering with sporadic and strange moving images. In that instance, the screen began sucking him into another dimension as his senses were being assaulted with relentless stimulation.

Q stared silently at Ten’s twitching body.

“Please… let this phase pass by smoothly… I need to make sure that no matter what… he doesn’t form an addiction…”