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Dylan Faden is sitting on a rug in front of a fireplace. He can feel the heat on his face, and the floor underneath him, and the blanket around his shoulders. He’s just happy that he can feel anything. Not all of his dreams grant him that luxury.
There’s only one other person here in this dream. Ahti, a semi-familiar face from his years of imprisonment. He would stop by to talk (more like speaking nonsense and Dylan somehow understanding it anyway) and he would turn him away when he got irritated. And he would always leave when Dylan told him to. So Dylan never hated Ahti too much.
He remembers a dream he had, right after Jesse shut off the Slide Projector. He was in a forest next to the ocean, and there was nobody there but Ahti.
“Welcome to vacation.” he had said.
Dylan isn’t so sure that this is a good vacation. But it’s better than facing whatever’s waiting for him in the real world. So he wandered for a while.
He wandered until there was a familiar voice in his ear. Not the Hiss. The Hiss was gone and
he knew it. It was Polaris. He tried to shut her out, but Polaris is anything but a pushover. She found her way in somehow.
She led him to Ahti’s dream-cabin and he hasn’t left since.
“Still no good help these days. My assistant is too busy.” Ahti comments from behind him, carrying a load of firewood.
“I could’ve carried that.” Dylan replies, pointing to the wood.
“You are a guest.” Ahti points out.
“And I still don’t know what you mean by assistant.” Dylan adds.
“She helps with the work, the Director. Takes care of the busywork and I keep the House clean.” Ahti replies.
“Jesse?” Dylan asks.
“That’s the girl. She’s a good assistant. She can fly places to clean the Mold.” Ahti answers.
“Maybe I could be an assistant.” Dylan says out of nowhere, picking at the collar of his shirt- an old one that he found in the closet of this cabin.
“I can always use the help. The dark Sector needs work done. Cobwebs in all the corners, perkele .” Ahti replies.
Dylan notices his trademark mop resting in the corner of the room. He wonders how it’d look in his hands. He decides that it’d look nicer than the Service Weapon, for sure.
“Maybe I’ll come back from vacation then. See this dark sector and finally leave.” Dylan sighs, staring out of a window at the forest outside.
Ahti opens up one of his cabinets and pulls out a bottle and two glasses.
“Your sister’s been worried. Her researcher, the guard, and me, one of us drags her away from you every day. Too much work to do.” Ahti says, bringing the glasses to them.
Dylan accepts a glass, carefully sniffing it. It’s strong, and definitely strange. He wonders what exactly it is.
“Moonshine. A gift from some friends by the dark lake.” Ahti says, as if he read his mind.
“Uh, to coming back from vacation?” Dylan says, raising his glass.
“Kippis” Ahti says.
“Kippis” Dylan copies.
Ahti drains his glass, while Dylan sips his. Dylan didn’t bring anything here, but Ahti gives him a few papers. There’s a poster that says “Visit Ordinary”, and a few about Finland.
“I saved them from the Motel, for Jesse. Give them to her, your first job.” Ahti tells him.
Dylan readies himself to finally wake up, and closes his eyes.
Jesse’s sitting at Dylan’s bedside again, repeating what Ahti told her. He’s only on vacation, he’s only on vacation.
Lost in thought, she barely registers his hand twitching underneath hers. Then, he gasps. Emily shoots up, having been leaning, half-dozing, against the glass wall.
She’s alert by the time his eyes open, and it’s a struggle to not bombard him with questions. She notices the papers in his hands, a few posters.
Jesse drowns Dylan in a hug before he can even offer them to her. Emily stands off to the side awkwardly.
“Dylan! You’re awake! I missed you so much!” Jesse exclaims, crying into his shoulder a little.
“I- I missed you too.” Dylan tells her, hugging his sister back.
“So, Dylan, how do you feel?” Emily asks, hoping that she’s not intruding.
“I’m fine.” he says, but Emily can tell that he’s rather guarded. He has a right to be, given what’s happened.
Ahti’s in the corner, and Dylan shoots him a grin. Jesse doesn’t give it much thought. If there’s one person Dylan might’ve met on vacation, it’s Ahti.
She takes a look at the posters, smiling at the Ordinary one.
“How did you get these?” she asks Dylan.
“Ahti got them.” Dylan replies.
The three of them walk out of the room, Executive staff causing a commotion. Emily shoos the nosy staff away from the trio, allowing only Arish to catch up with them.
“Dylan, this is Arish. It’s been a while since the lockdown but I made him Head of Security.” Jesse says, pointing to the black-haired man.
Arish waves, trying not to spill his coffee as he jogs along with them.
“Nice to meet you.” Arish replies.
Dylan notes how he doesn’t seem to mind the fact that he isn’t one of his coworkers. Nobody’s treated him much like a person besides Jesse, Ahti, and Emily.
They end up at one of the back entrances of the Oldest House, hidden from view, watching life go by. Nobody talks. Nobody’s sure as to what to say. Polaris dances around in Jesse’s mind and mostly leaves Dylan alone. Dylan sits next to Arish but neither of them say anything. It’s silent, peaceful.
Maybe being awake wouldn’t be so bad.