The soft crunch of stems met Gin as he exited the Rezah tree. In fact, he took a moment to watch in awe as the flowery vegetation covered so much of the area that he could count the number of grains of sand he saw on his hand. Sure, it rained the other day and plants already started to sprout …

‘Platoon One, March!’ The beat of footsteps matched the sound of Gin’s heart. His body wanted orders but his mind wandered off elsewhere. Despite all that, his senses heightened and he suffered an inexplicable calmness. ‘Platoon Two, March!’ At first, Gin contemplated who to talk to. The immediate option surrounding him was Sam, who stood right beside him, carrying a …

Gin slammed his pen on his pen then proceeded to place a piece of paper on a pile. ‘All done! Your results aren’t the greatest but you’ve improved, Joan. From getting like a tenth of the material right to getting about half of them.’ ‘Oh. I still got a long way to go still,’ Joan sulked, picking up her work …

‘Gin, why won’t you hear us out?’ Hm? ‘We are trying to help. Please listen.’ Listen to what? ‘We don’t mean harm.’ What harm? ‘Let me in.’ Let you in where? ‘This is for your own good.’ What’s for my own good? ‘Gin’ ‘Gin’ ‘Gin?’ ‘Gin. Gin Gin Gin Gin.’ Gin? ‘Gin!’ Yes? ‘You’ve got to listen to us!’ I …

‘Subject is a bestial juggernaut type. He has suffered lacerations across the quadriceps. Cause of injury: an undodged swipe of claws. Needs immediate disinfecting and stitching. Otherwise, no major injuries present,’ a short, blonde woman, no taller than Joan herself, announced. ‘I require disinfectant, several threads and a needle of length five cm.’ ‘Yes, Madam A,’ Joan and two other …

‘Gin!’ ‘Gin…’ What? ‘Please listen to me.’ ‘Please listen to us.’ Why? ‘Just listen.’ What if I don’t want to? ‘Then we’ll make sure you wake up.’ ‘Then we’ll help you wake up.’ Gin couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t see. He lost feeling in his arms and legs and an obscene ringing butchered his hearing. Help…me… he wrapped his arms around …

‘Gin.’ Hm? Gin’s head throbbed as he clambered out of bed. A stream of bile rose up against his throat only for him to force his non-existent breakfast down again. The dream he just had would cause anyone, sane or otherwise, to throw up. After all, it was a dream about…it was…what happened was that…what was his latest dream about? …

In one of the more remote Rezahs of squadron O, Maria Anasta found herself winding through a labyrinth. With every step forward, the wood degraded ahead of her and grew like a wildfire behind her. She knew where the tree took her, so she didn’t stop to marvel at the beauty of it all nor was wary of getting lost. …

Walking through an African city felt different for Jack. He could not say because he landed in Kenya, as opposed to Egypt the year before, since the structure, the busy nature of the people in wartime, the beams of lights from holes above, the underground bazaars etc. all felt similar. In fact, despite the existence of a gaping cavern that …

Gin scratched his head. He checked his notes, reread them several times, paced around a bit then scratched his head again. By his estimations, he must have walked past his classroom several times as he continued down the corridor that looped in a circle. So, there are the classrooms, here’s the elevator, some stairs… I’m getting nowhere. Is the place …