Chapter Text
A book sits on my lap.
I found it on the docks. When I opened it, I was met with a very illustrative autobiography. I skimmed through it, and eventually decided it was worth sticking under my arm and bringing it to my room. (Was it called a dock? The part of Stratt's Vat by the railings and the edge of it. I don't need to know the anatomy of a boat!)
I had just finished reading it. It was.. very.. interesting. A little stupid. I was pretty sure it's fiction.
It had things about the author being some sort of muse that aided hundreds of geniuses every century. Every century, really? Was this guy some sort of immortal?
It was also incredibly vague, to an annoying degree. Said at the end, "if you'd like to know more, do this and that and blah blah blah blah blah." And so I did.
Look, I was exhausted and maybe a little delirious. Plus, it's not like whatever I did would even do anything! I don't really remember what I did- I was basically falling asleep! But I do remember afterwards, that nothing happened. So I let myself fall asleep.
I dreamed of a beach. (What a shocker!) But seriously, it was a beautiful beach. The perfect weather, too.
I sat at the shoreline, watching the water gently sway in and out as if it was slow dancing. I sat there for a while.
Then someone spoke, their voice holding barely contained giddiness.
"FINALLY!" They shouted, and I turned around quickly. "WHOO! Not to toot my own horn, but I NAILED THAT BOOK!"
The voice was coming from a floating triangle with a bowtie and tophat. It looked like the little symbol on the back of a dollar bill. And kinda like a warning sign. Oh! I recognized it from the book!
"Oh. I shouldn't have read that when falling asleep, now I'm dreaming of the thing."
"You underestimate yourself!" It floated toward me and wrapped a spindly, velvety black arm around my shoulders. I flinch. "Seriously!! Not every genius can summon a guy like me!"
I blinked at the triangle and chuckled awkwardly. This is a funky dream. "Uh, well, your book kinda said that you talk to geniuses all the time."
"YOU'VE GOT SPUNK, KID! I LIKE IT!" It laughed, kicking its little feet in the air. "Oh oh, I was so excited that I forgot to introduce myself! THE NAMES BILL! AND YOU'RE RYLAND GRACE, THE GUY WHO SAVED THE UNIVERSE!"
I stayed quiet. Oookay, kinda weird that my dreaming brain is trying to praise me about something that hasn't even happened. And I'm not saving a universe, just some stars. The universe is inconceivably large, so that's a LOT of universe to be saving!
"Right." I quirked an eyebrow. "Well, nice to meet you, Bill. But I'm kinda trying to catch some z's if you know what I mean?"
"I DIDN'T TAKE YOU FOR A SKEPTIC." Did this guy always shout? "Come on! I can prove to you that I'm the real deal!"
It turned around and gestured as if conducting an orchestra and making it hold one long note. Out of the sand rose a tall bookshelf, sand spilling out the shelves like a waterfall. "LET'S SEE.." He pulled out a particularly well-worn leatherbound book and shook some sand out of it before reading it intently. "HMMM. Oh, here we go! Twenty-two minutes after you wake up, you're gonna get coffee spilled on you by a stupid intern!"
"Okay. So, what do you want?"
"Didn't you read my book?!" It rolled its eye, tossing the book onto the sand. "I'm here to HELP YOU with your little problem!"
Before I could ask how he plans on doing that, he spoke again, "I can solve your problem with that pesky Astrophage AND THEN SOME! Ever wanted to learn about the world's mysteries, but were always too busy SURVIVING THE CAPITALIST HELL SCAPE YOU LIVE IN?" He paused for dramatic effect. "I can help you! Ever wanted to know the secrets of your colleagues without needing to snoop around and get fired! EASY AS PIE! CHECK THIS OUT!"
He snapped his fingers, and a hologram showed up, showing a young child playing with his dog. It was a border collie. He snapped his fingers again, and the hologram changed to show someone vaguely familiar looking at a picture of the child and the dog.
"Who knew CARL had such a cute little canine! Aww! You should ask him tomorrow morning about it!!" He giggled, waving his hand to make the hologram disappear.
"...You can actually do all that?" Okay. I was maybe a little desperate. But it's worth a shot!
"YEP! But only if you do something for me! Just a small thing! Nobody will even notice!" Bill leaned forward. "Just do me one iiitty bitty favor, and I'll help you save the stars."
"And.. the catch...?"
"The catch is it'll be very time consuming!! But that won't be a problem because A;" He began counting on his fingers, "you'll enjoy it. And B; you'll HAVE free time, since I'll be helping you with work! HECK, I'll even help you while you're ASLEEP if you want! But I'm getting ahead of myself!"
He extended a hand towards me, and I had to lean back a little so it wouldn't hit my chest. "So howzabout it, Rylie? Can I can you Rylie?" His hand erupts in blue flames. Creepy.
But, shoot. I had nothing to lose! This is probably just a freaky dream anyway. And I'd take any chance I'd get, if it meant knowing what I'm doing at all.
I shrugged and took his hand. The fire was actually quite cool, licking the skin of my hand like a liquid freezee pop. I hadn't had one of those in ages.
"Uh, don't call me Rylie." I watched as the triangles eye turned into a crescent, smiling giddily.
"FINE BY ME!"