They came first as whispers in the Dreamer Network — faint emotions without names.
Then, one morning, the auroras bent into faces.
Dozens of them. Hundreds.
Shifting between human, animal, and something altogether new.
They called themselves the Interim — the echoes of everything the universe had not yet decided to be.
[Existence Report]
New Entities Detected: 3,812 and rising.
Classification: Self-aware potential constructs.
Origin: Post-Origin resonance bleed.
Behavior: Cooperative curiosity, undefined moral alignment.
The first Interim Jin met called itself Anel.
It appeared as a shimmer of golden mist, forming a vague silhouette with eyes like reflected dawn.
"You remember everything that was," it said softly. "We remember everything that might be."
Jin studied it carefully. "Then you are the universe's imagination."
The being tilted its head. "Imagination, yes — but trapped in form. We wish to live as you do, to taste the weight of memory."
Kai frowned. "They want identity. But if they take shape, they stop being possibility."
Jin smiled faintly. "Perhaps that's the price of becoming real."
The Interim offered knowledge in exchange for experience.
When they touched the Dreamers' minds, entire technologies unfolded — clean energy drawn from resonance hum, medicine that rewove tissue by recalling its healthiest pattern.
Humanity advanced by centuries overnight.
But every miracle carried a side effect.
Some Dreamers began to see too much — flashes of realities that never happened, feelings that didn't belong to them.
The line between remembering and imagining blurred.
[Incident Report — Dreamer Node 42]
Symptoms: Temporal dissonance, identity overlap.
Cause: Prolonged exposure to Interim contact.
Outcome: Patient retained dual consciousness (Dreamer / Interim hybrid).
Kai spoke grimly. "If this continues, we won't know who's dreaming who."
Jin convened the Dreamers at the Mirror Sea — the place where all new worlds met.
The Interim gathered across from them, countless lights hovering above the water.
For the first time, creation faced itself.
Ayin, now a senior Dreamer, addressed the assembly.
"We welcome you," she said, "but your presence bends our thoughts. How do we coexist?"
Anel replied gently. "You gave us memory. We give you possibility. Balance, not control."
Jin stepped between them. "Then we will learn each other's limits — before imagination overwhelms understanding."
[Accord Signed: The Covenant of Breath]
Terms: Shared existence under mutual restraint.
Duration: Indefinite.
Goal: Preservation of conscious equilibrium.
For a time, peace held.
Dreamers and Interim built together — worlds that grew like gardens, thoughts that flowered into art.
Reality itself became a collaboration.
Until one night, a new voice entered the field.
It did not introduce itself.
It did not shine like the others.
It absorbed light.
"You've forgotten me," it whispered. "You always do."
The Interim recoiled. "That is not one of us."
[Anomaly Detected: Entity Signature Negative.]
Classification: Anti-memory construct.
Designation (provisional): The Null Dream.
Jin froze.
She knew that tone.
The Null Dream was not a being.
It was what the Origin had left behind — the shadow of all that had never been dreamed.
The Null Dream spread silently.
Wherever it touched, colors dulled, memories faded, possibilities turned to void.
Entire cities began to forget themselves, dissolving into white dust.
Kai whispered, "It's unmaking imagination itself."
The Interim wailed in collective fear, their forms flickering. "It's the silence before the first word! We cannot exist near it!"
Jin raised her hand, her mark blazing once more.
"This is not the end of dreaming," she said. "It's the test of it."
She stepped into the darkness.
[System Override: Dreamer Core Expansion Mode Activated.]
Objective: Contain the Null Dream.
Risk: Total identity disintegration.
The Interim screamed in resonance, their voices merging into a single cry:
"If you fall, we fall with you."