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“What if it wasn’t a threat, but actually...a warning?” you sign.

“Hadn’t considered that,” Synth signs. “But who would have both motive and ability to do that?”

“They’d have to have inside knowledge about Sector NULL, a reason to share it with you, and the technopathic skill to invade your dreams,” Akiko signs.

“The Admins?” Zeta signs.

“Astra is watching Sector NULL, but they would just warn Aydan directly if they knew something, or at least tell me,” Synth signs.

“A defector from inside?” Akiko signs.

“It happened with Ana from the Chosen of ÆON, it could happen Sector NULL too,” you sign.

“What if it’s someone from the Chosen of ÆON?” you sign. “They don’t want ÆON to be destroyed, they may be willing to help me against a common enemy.”

“It’s plausible,” Akiko signs.

“No, no, this is just devolving into idle speculation and senseless optimism,” Synth signs. “We can consider the possibilities, but we need to work off of what we actually know, which is unfortunately little.”

“This is a matter of communication, intent,” Akiko signs. “If it was a warning from someone acting in good faith, then we would take it at face value and assume it’s true. And if it’s a threat from the enemy, we would take it with skepticism, consider that it could be deceptive, and then consider what they could be hoping to achieve by doing so. Or it could be a credible threat, in which case they’re trying to intimidate Aydan. But why?”

“Sector NULL’s intent is to destroy ÆON, and the main thing standing in their way is Aydan. If anything, them resorting to these tactics is a good indication that you’re doing a pretty good job, Aydan. They want you to lower your guard,” Synth signs.

“But this is literally making me raise my guard,” you sign. “Nothing about this makes sense. I’m tired of having all questions and no answers. I think I know how we can get some.”

“What do you have in mind?” Synth signs.

“My memories of the night NULL was created are so blurry and full of holes. But when me and Akiko sync for my therapy session, maybe we’ll be able to remember more,” you sign.

“It might work. But state-dependent memory can be finicky,” Akiko signs. “We were also in a weird state of consciousness from the substance we took. We can certainly try it though.”