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Maria was annoyed to find herself in the mysterious Velvet Room again. Ready to shout, her voice was softened slightly at the sight of Igor.

"Well I believe that you have something to tell me. Who are you, what is this place, and why am I getting weird texts?"

"Seriously. What the hell?" Was all Kieran stated when he realised he was in the dream once again, hisgaze focused on the cartoonish man. "Why latin for at moment of death?" He asked. "Why me for that matter?"

Oscar Nigel Tarinson

Oscar Nigel Tarinson spent the rest of his day attending lessons and flopped onto his bed the second he returned. He endeavoured to get some shut eye but once again, that would not succeed.

Oscar Nigel Tarinson found himself in the velvet room along with others. He recongised them and was curious to see what this bloke had to say. "In articulo mortis." He told the man in the seat and scanned the room to see if there was anything he could use as an indicator.

James had spent the school day in a vague trance. For him, te stupor of falling into a routine was almost as bad the dread of returning to school. Once his summer high had worn off, he'd be good to go, but for now, his only wish was for a decent nights sleep and a fast week. Unfortunately, that wish was crushed almost as soon as he closed his eyes, and he groaned as soon as he caught sight of that freakishly protruding nose.

He was back in the weird room with the ugly little man and the unsettling caricature of the secretary. Any other time, James would have reveled in this newly discovered talent for lucid dreaming, but he was growing quite sick of these constant interruptions. He'd heard that dreams were often composed of a mish-mash of things you'd seen or thought about before bed. If that was the case, he'd follow the thread of his thoughts, hoping that he might be able to quickly end the dream.

"An arctic Kool-Aid mortician, whatever that text said. Just stop the dream spam, man." James said, clearly annoyed, "Can I go back to sleep now?"

The Velvet Room - The Admitted

Igor's grin widened as some of the residents of the Velvet Room spoke the passphrase (or at least, a close approximation; it appeared that the intent was what was important).

Makoto, Keira, Max, Oscar, and James saw a sudden flash of light, and after it passed, they found themselves in an unchanged Velvet Room; however, they were now able to see one another. Two blurred humanoid shapes still remained sitting in desks.

"It appears that we have some resistance from the others, master." spoke the secretary.

Igor looked up and nodded. "Attend to them, Victoria. I shall see to our admitted guests until such a time that they all accept their situation."

The attendant, now known to the residents as Victoria, nodded and faded into a similar blurriness akin to the other two figures.

As Victoria faded from view, Igor gave another chuckle. "I suspect you have something to talk about with one another."

__________

The Velvet Room: The Resistant (Maria, Kieran)

You hear nothing spoken to the other residents; indeed, you are unaware that there are other residents of the room at all.

To your vision, it appears that Igor has faded from view and into a blurry obscurity. The secretary at his side remains in full view.

"Honored guests, I regret to inform you that such details are beyond my power to give. I ask that you speak the passphrase, and awaken yourselves to the true purpose of this room, so that we may continue in earnest. There is work to be done, and my master would have your attention." she clarifies. "Once you cross the threshold, we may be able to answer some of your inquiries."

_________

The Lonely Rink - Brendan

Brendan seemed to be wearing his school uniform. It was not enough to protect him from the chill of an ice hockey arena, but he got the feeling that the cold he felt was not from the ice, but from the very atmosphere of the 'dream' itself.

The ice seemed to be unmarked; unusual for a prepared ice rink. As Brendan looked for details or an exit, he could find none; the rink seemed to be completely surrounded by glass, with no visible escape.

He looked down for a moment, and then back up, and was surprised when he found himself staring face-to-face with an apparent clone of himself. The clone, wearing full hockey gear, stood still for the moment with closed eyes, whilst soft tendrils of blue-black smoke emanated from where he stood.

Makoto blinked. Nothing seemed too different. She was still in some crazy dream. But things started getting weird. The blurry shapes started to take form... Some of them, anyway. She knew these people. From the waiting room two days ago...

She was starting to wonder where the dream began and end. Dream people can't text you... Was the whole day a dream? Very confused, she tried to just sit silently and let the dream end, but she had a feeling she would need to talk.

"Wow, this is really vivid." Max said, astonished, as he tapped his fingers along the desktop, and looked around at the others. "And lucid. Alright. Ahem."

"You and you look like two very boring people", he said of Kiera and James, "you have terrible hair" Max continued, pointing at Oscar. "And you're trying too hard with the whole sad loner thing. C'mon. Lighten up." He added, looking at Makoto. "Now, I'm going to see if I can fly, or whatever."

Max attempted to get up from his desk, and see if his dream would allow him any dreamlike abilities, such as flight.

The flash of light made Keira jump, and she instinctively shut her eyes. When she reopened them, she tried to blink away the blob that remained in her sight. After a minute, she spotted the other people in the room; people from the waiting room.

"What the hell?"
Everything was feeling less and less like a dream, and more real. She didn't know where she was, or what everyone was doing there, and she was starting to feel scared.

One of the boys starting talking to everyone, but he was saying weird things, like he was drunk or something.

Keira got up off her chair.
"Where is this? How did I get here?"
She looked at Igor with an alarmed expression.
"Have we been kidnapped?! Did you kidnap us?!"
After she asked her questions, her eyes quickly moved around the velvet room to look for any doors.

Maria sighed, clearly annoyed. "If I say the password, I get the information?" This is getting weirder all the time. I can't even say for sure whether I'm dreaming or not... "Alright, then. In articulo mortis."

Brendan
"W-what the hell!?" Brendan exclaimed, stumbling backwards in surprise. He was well and truly freaked out; he would have run if there seemed to be any means of escape.

Okay, okay, hold on, the rational part of his mind piped up. This has gotta be just a lucid dream, so maybe I can change it or something. Trying to turn his fear into determination, he looked to the edge of the rink and tried to picture a door appearing in the boards.

Makoto puffed out her cheeks a little at the remark. These dream people were sassy! She still wasn't really sure what was going on. It was getting a bit real though, one of them were freaking out. And the other brings up an excellent point! Better check if it was a dream...

She imagined the walls flying away. She wasnt sure how lucid this all was. Normally those kind of dreams went bad really fast, at least in her experience. She huffed as she concentrated. "You guys are chatty for dream people."

The Velvet Room: The Admitted

As Maria spoke the passphrase, a bright light shone in her view, before she found herself in the same Velvet Room; However, Igor was now visible, as were the other students save for Kieran, while the secretary was now obfuscated. She came into view just in time to see Max leap off his desk and faceplant in the center of the Velvet Room.

Igor looked to Keira, his grinning visage ever unchanging. "You are here by the power of your own personality. The strength of your psyche, so to speak. This room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter, It is simultaneously both true and false, and it is your gateway to obstructing the tragedies that will come to pass."

The Lonely Rink

As Brendan tried to focus, his shadowy clone began to chuckle. This chuckle deepened into a full-blown laugh. Brendan saw that the clone's now open eyes were dark, black voids; save for his irises, which were glowing a bright yellow.

"You think it works like that, don't you?" asked the other Brendan. "You really think you're in control here. I've got bad news for you, buddy. This is my show, here."

Makoto huffed and listened to Igor speak. This was confusing. It wasn't a dream, but it wasn't real? This was hard to grasp. Maybe the dream was just about to get weird, or something. It was getting a little to vivid for her liking. She'd like to ask questions, but she feels like that would just result in more vague answers. It wasn't her job to talk, anyway. One thing did concern her, though... "So am I asleep or not?"

Kieran sighed. "Fine. In articulo mortis." He stated, furrowing his brow. "I'm reluntently saying this so you know."

Oscar Nigel Tarinson

Oscar Nigel Tarinson saw a sudden flash of light and then found himself in another room. "Oh, not alone?" He uttered upon seeing the others and recongised the one who was called Max. "It's hair. It keeps your head warm." He retorted without bothering to look at him. "So, we have powers based on our personalities?" He inquired. "Bit of a leap, I know but [&@%!] it, twice i've had this dream and I'm rather getting close to being [&@%!] with the lack of sleep." He hoped this was the last of the sleepless nights and ignored the fact that Max had tried to fly.

Keira listened with mouth slightly agape over the riddle-like words of Igor.

"Tragedies? What tragedies?" She asked him.

Brendan
Brendan turned back to face his doppelganger, and flinched to see those inhuman eyes staring out of his own face. Truth be told, it terrified him, but he tried to bury that fear under anger.

"Okay, well, just who the hell do you think you are?" he demanded. "And don't give me some BS like you're my conscience or something."

The Velvet Room

Kieran experienced the same sensation as the others; a bright flash, and then opening his eyes to the same room, but fully occupied with the other 6 students from the other day. Victoria, the secretary, returned to clear view along with Kieran. "Welcome back, Victoria. You have my thanks for a job well done."

Igor continued to speak to the occupants. To Makoto, he waved his hand for dramatic effect. "You are asleep, yet awake. The nature of this room is inscrutable. Your body in the waking world is safe, if you must know this. You are here in a different manner, though whether or not you come to understand the true nature of your presence here is of little consequence."

With another sweep of his hand, Igor willed the crystal ball in the center of his table to rise into the air. The murky, cloudy smoke within began to give way to a visible picture. Within was the sight of Brendan speaking to his clone in the mysterious, eerie ice hockey rink. Though words could not be heard, it was clear that the two were arguing. The picture slowly pulsed with a harsh red glow on the edges every few seconds.

"There exists a force, an entity that would do harm to the occupants of your waking world. It has claimed victims already, in the past both distant and recent." he said, giving a slight tip of the head to Max. "One who seeks out those of extraordinary talent, with the potential... has sought you out and given you the means to harness your potential and bring a stop to this force."

Igor willed for the crystal ball to return to its spot on the table, but the picture continued to play. Victoria raised her hands and clapped twice; two doors appeared on opposite ends of the Velvet Room, to the left and right of Igor's position.

The master of the Velvet Room raised his hand to the door on his right. "The time has come to make a choice. Take this door, leave, and forever forsake the Velvet Room and those in the sights of malevolent forces..." he began, then raising his hand to the door on his left. "...or take your first step beyond the Velvet Room, and discover the significance that is your calling to this place."

Igor remained silent after this to allow for questions, or for the occupants to make their choice.

The Lonely Rink

Brendan's clone laughed softly. His voice gained a slight echo to it, and the shadowy smoke emanating from where he stood began to intensify. "What, that not what you want to hear? How about... I'm what you want to see?"

In a flash of smoke, Shadow Brendan teleported slightly in a circle around Brendan. When he reappeared from the smoke, he was dressed in a dress shirt and tie; the sure sign of a cubicle dweller at the bottom rung of a corporate ladder, likely in a dead end job in the middle of nowhere. "How about... I'm what you fear?"

Another flash, another short teleportation, and Shadow Brendan appeared another short way around the real Brendan. He once again donned his hockey uniform, but this time it was damaged; his jersey torn, his skates scuffed and dulled, his hockey stick broken in half. "How about... I'm what you dread to pass?"

One last flash, and Shadow Brendan re-appeared as he did in his initial appearance, jersey and equipment repaired. "Deny the truth all you wish, but I know more about you than you realize. I know everything about you."

Keira watched in amazement as the crystal ball rose from the table and showed someone within its centre.

She looked keenly at both of the doors as they appeared, then gazed round at the others in the room to see what they were going to do.

Makoto watched everything unfold. The crystal ball, the events inside it and the two doors that had just been explained to them. This dream was really vivid. But Igor kept insisting that it was in some kind of in-between world. She huffed. "Why even give us the bad choice?" She huffed, standing up from the desk. She couldn't believe she was humouring whatever the hell this situation was so much. She walked over to the left door, putting her hand up to consider opening it. She still seemed hesitant, however.

Maria raised her eyebrows as she appeared in the room and watched Max faceplant. He looks familiar... Not wanting to interrupt what appeared to be an explanation, she stayed quiet looked around the room. Wait, they all do... The room! They were all in the waiting room!

"Why us?" She asked, once Igor had finished. "What does this have to do with that waiting room we were in the other day? Are you the one who messed with our records?"

Oscar Nigel Tarinson - The Room

Oscar Nigel Tarinson took 5 seconds to make a decision and walked towards the velvet room with the intention of going beyond it. It was out of curisoity, life being content and if he was correct, would mean powers. Maybe, it was the lack of sleep, maybe, he had a mild craving for it to become the agent of justice. Or maybe, he always felt a bit powerless with his life and wanted to gain power to determine his own fate. Either way, Oscar Nigel Tarinson would find out.

"Agh...damnit." Pulling himself up from the floor, Max looked just in time to see and hear Igor's allusion to his recent loss.

"You little [&@%!]. You think something killed my mom? This is just a dream. You don't know anything."

Keira looked at Max with surprise and sympathy over the loss of his mother. She didn't know that she had died in just the last couple of days though, or that it could be related to anything going on now.

Watching the others, she saw Oscar and Makoto go over to the left hand door.

"Wait, seriously? You're gonna go through there? Don't be stupid!"

Makoto grumbled, looking backwards at the others. That kid was talking about his mom... Hmm. She sighed in response. Maybe this was realer than she thought, but... "It's a dream." She winced a little, remembering that that guy just hit his face off the floor. Poor guy...

But this wasn't real. "If it makes me wake up faster, I don't really care. Sorry, I guess..." She pushed the door open, taking a peek inside. Maybe what was inside would peek her curiosity. But then again, knowing dreams like this she'd probably get sucked inside. She gulped and braced herself, realising there maybe no going back. This dream sure made her feel awfully tense...