“So, John, do we have a deal?”

   The Stranger’s words entered his ears and danced in his mind, but no thoughts came out. To be more precise, John couldn’t hear his own voice. All he could do was watch as if someone else was controlling his body. The Stranger just nodded, massaging his chin as he smiled at the “response” that was given.

“You know the cost of making the deal. Do you really want to go through with this?”

   John could not see his eyes past the white, hooded shawl; however, the frown he made was unmistakable. He wanted to speak up. He wanted to engage with this Stranger. He wanted to understand what the hell was going on, but he couldn’t. His body wasn’t his own, though he felt every move his body made.

“Hmm… Very well then. If you want no further negotiations, then…”

   The Stranger’s right hand reached out, ready for the handshake. To his own horror, John’s own reached out as well. Before the handshake could be made; however, John completely blacked out. When he came to he was looking up at a clear blue sky. Lazy clouds passing over head. In the distance, birds were chirping in an unknown melody. He made his way to lean up, the soft grass tickling his exposed skin, when a familiar voice, once again, entered his ears and danced in his mind.

“It would seem the operation was a success.”

   John looked sharply to his left. Only a few paces away was the Stranger. Subconsciously, he eyed the man. 5’7”. No visible weapons. Laid back posture. Left hand in pocket, Right hand massaging his chin. White-hooded, plated shawl, white gambeson, black pants, steel-toed leather boots.

“Do I check out?” His voice was traced with amusement by his tongue.

   John got up and immediately felt a draft of wind below down stairs. He looked down to find himself in nothing more than a patient gown made out of some gray cloth. That wasn’t the only thing though, three more bodies fell under his gaze. One man, two women. They were also in the same gray patient gowns.

“W-What is going on?” Uncertainty crawled into John’s voice. These people were not there during the dream. Who are they. Why are they here? Why am I here? Before his thoughts could fester out of control, the Stranger called out once more.

“As amusing as this is John, we are running out of time. Wake up your other bodies, so we may begin your training.”

“What? Other bodies? What are you even talking about?” His thoughts linked back into the previous chain.

“The three bodies over there,” the Stranger waved his right hand to point at the three unconscious bodies, “Those three are your other bodies. Wake them up.” His previous amusement was dialed down as a seriousness came forth.

   John gulped. Something in his mind told him that he didn’t want to dilly dally. He walked over to the white-haired woman with blue highlights. He took note that her breasts were… modest. They were not the world spanning peaks of yore, more like the local mountain range. He started shaking her shoulder. No reaction. He shook again. No reaction. Annoyance was building up. He was about to pick the woman up by the shoulders and shake her till she woke up, when the Stranger’s voice called out for the fourth time.

“John. Just think about waking up. You should feel the shallow pressure of them being ‘asleep’.”

   He had to pause. Now that it was mentioned, the mental ‘pressure’ made itself known. It felt as if he wasn’t ‘fully awake’, like his mind was  shutting down and waking up at the same time. He concentrated and watched as the view of the sky appeared into his mind. The problem was that he was still looking at the woman. Both perspectives clash and melded into one. He screamed, ‘she’ screamed and the Stranger laughed.

“H-How is this possible?!” John’s voice and the woman’s voice spoke out entwined as one. “You!” John pointed at the woman and the woman was pointing at the sky. “Stop copying me!”

   He felt two sources of anger: his anger and the woman’s. This confused him. Were they really the same person? John focused in on the woman’s perspective and he started to feel the familiar soft grass. He leaned forward and the Stranger once again entered his view. Yet the woman was always in his view as John.

“How does it feel, controlling Jane?”

Jane? Was that the woman’s name? So much information yet so little. How am I supposed to understand and comprehend this situation? What am I not being told? John’s thoughts were a mess.

   He had Jane stand up and face John’s ‘original’ body. What he saw was a young man with short white hair with red highlights. The most striking feature was the piercing yellow eyes, though it was the middle of the day from how 'bright' everything was, the eyes seemed to glow with unbridled power. From John’s perspective, Jane also had those piercing eyes along with the glow. He raised Jane’s right arm and John mimic the action. He scratched his chin and, again, John mirrored the action. Throughout this sequence of events, the mental ‘pressure’ was still there: though noticeable weaker than before. John looked at the other two bodies with both bodies and concentrated. Just as it was with Jane, two more views of the same sky appeared into his mind. He had them stand-up and look towards the Stranger, then look at John and Jane.

“Oh? Looks like the connections to Jack and Jill are stable now. Come over here. We are already behind schedule by a day.” The Stranger’s voice had toned down the seriousness and the amusement was seeping back in. “Have John come over first.”

   John focused and walked towards the Stranger; however, all four bodies started to make their way towards him. The simple move had a massive mental backlash as his mind strained to process all the information simultaneously. All four bodies crumbled to the ground clutching their head.

“Hmm… Let me tone down the sensitivity. Should I add a delay? No that’ll compromise the combat capabilities… What did Urtav say about this?” The Stranger commented and proceeded to diagnose the problem.

   John could feel a hand rummaging through his mind similar to someone ruffling another’s hair. The pain died down and he could refocus his vision. The green grass undiluted and redefined itself back into how it looked before. He looked up to find that the Stranger hadn’t really moved at all. The difference from before was that now his arms were crossed, yet he noticed another feature that stood out. His blood red eyes. They brimmed with power that made John and Jane’s look dead in comparison. The sight of those eyes killed his voice.

“Sorry about that, I messed up the Encryption-Decryption sequence along with the Parallel Threading. It’s much easier when syncing two or three bodies. Try walking John over again.”

   John wobbly stood up, yet Jane, Jack and Jill were still on their knees. From their perspective, John watched his body walk towards the Stranger. It only a few moments he was standing eye to eye with him.

“It would seem the experiment was a success. The name is Weston Orre. Nice to meet-cha.” The Stranger, Weston, reached out to shake hands just as it happened in the dream. Unlike before, he was in control of his body. The apprehension was still there but this person in front of him, Weston, seemed to know what was going on. He accepted the handshake.

“Weston, what’s going on here? I don’t understand anything. I—”

“John. Have Jane, Jake and Jill come over. Like I said before, we are already a day behind.” Weston interrupted him.

  John huffed but he had the others walk on over. Afraid of another backlash, he had them walk over one at a time. He took a look at Jack and Jill. Jack, a white-haired young man with green highlights and yellow eyes. Jane was whited-haired young lady with yellow highlights and yellow eyes. Jack’s hair went down to his shoulder, while Jill’s was done in a side ponytail. Compared to Jane however, Jill's mounds were noticeable larger. John nodded in approval. He turned back to Weston with annoyance written on his face.

For a man in a hurry, you sure look like you have all the time in the world… John’s was anxious to understand what was going on but this man was not cooperating with him.

   He watched as Weston twirled his left index finger and a swirling, purple portal appeared just to his left. Reaching in he pulled out a giant executioner’s blade, a fine soft-brown wooden bow, and two light-silvery halberds. Weston handed John the executioner blade, Jane the bow, Jack and Jill the two halberds. The weapons, even the bow, felt heavy in his hands.

“These belonged to you originally. I’ll have you practice back at my citadel later. Right now, follow me.” Weston turned around, twirled his right index finger, and materialized a swirling blue portal. “This portal will teleport us to my citadel: come along now.” He walked right in, his hands placed behind his back.

   John hesitated. Weighing his options, he decided to follow Weston through the portal. He needed answers and Weston was all he had.