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Description
"C'mon, just one more beer." Jack insisted as he sung the empty bottle around.

"Enough is enough, you're already too drunk as it is." I sighed as I helped him walk towards the exit of the bar. "Besides, tomorrow we've got work, so you should be already going to sleep."

"But it's a celebration!" he shouted, his red face and broad grin enough of a hint about the level of alcohol in his blood. "To my buddy Charlie, who just sold a book!"

Everyone in the room gave out a short cheer, though immediately after went back into drinking from their respective source of alcohol as me and my drunk friend continued our way outside.

"It's not that big-a-deal; I just got a couple dozen books printed." I wasn't as cheerful, most likely because I didn't have that much poison in me to begin with. "Even if they sell them all, I wouldn't make more than a couple hundred bucks."

"Nonsense!" Jack shouted all of a sudden. "You and I both know that you've got one hell of a brain inside that thick skull of yours." he poked me in the head a couple times. "Only God-knows-what goes in there for you to have so many ideas."

"I told you already, it's nothing special." I replied, dragging the half-unconscious man towards the parking area. "If it were, I'd be living out of stories and books rather than some boring job behind a desk all day long."

"That's because you don't have the balls to risk it." Jack's words had almost came out scrambled, though barely kept their integrity. "If you had played your cards right, you'd probably be a billionaire by now."

"Yeah, and you'd be an astronaut." sighed in reply as I took out his car keys. "Let's go big buddy, time to get into the car."

"Do you know how great of a friend you are?" Jack's mouth contorted into a broad grin. "You know?, next time we go out I'll get you laid with the hottest girl in the city."

"Sure, why not?, but I suggest you sleep on it first." I tucked him into the seat while putting the seat-belt on him. "I bet you'll get a bunch of ideas if you sleep on it."

"That's one hell of an idea." Jack pointed out, and immediately after he was unconscious in the car, snoring loudly while some drool made its way down his chin and onto the chair.

"Thank God that's over with." I closed the door of the vehicle, slowly walking to the other side in hopes of driving straight to my house and falling asleep as soon as he had dropped my friend at his own place.

Fifteen minutes latter, I was helping a half-asleep extremely drunk guy up the stairs to his place and going back outside to my car once I had laid him on his bed and locked his door.

It was somewhere around two in the morning, and even though the traffic was near to nothing, I couldn't find any parking-space near the condo I was living in; somewhat frustrated and tired, I began to go around the area in search for a spot, and eventually I found one six blocks away, right next to the only park in the neighborhood.

"The condo should have a private parking area..." I mumbled to myself as I locked the door of the car, and began walking to my home.

I felt somewhat creeped out at the fact there was no movement whatsoever around me, not a car nor a jogger; which brought back memories from all those horror movies I had seen throughout my life. But my own tiredness and frustration shrugged it out of my system by the time I had reached the edge of the park.

"Do you like books?" the voice that broke the silence made me jump in shock and surprise, immediately turning around to look at a small girl who stood a dozen feet behind me.

"Don't you think it's a little late to be out?" I mellowed my tone, my guess was the girl was around ten or twelve years in age.

"Do you like reading books?" she repeated the question, her blue eyes were oddly noticeable on the dim light of the streetlamp. "Your mind seems so full of ideas, perhaps I could eat you?"

"Excuse me?" my tiredness was getting the best of me, I was feeling a bit irritated, though not enough to show. "Go home little girl, being out at this hour is bad for your health."

"Yes, your mind is very full of ideas." she nodded as she took a step closer, I noticed she was holding a white rag doll that looked very much like a murderous clown; with a broad sharp grin and yellow eyes that seemed to look straight at me, it made a shudder run down my spine. "If Timmy eats you, he'll surely become stronger."

"Go home kid." I repeated as I turned around, somehow not wanting to be there more any longer.

"You aren't allowed to run." the girl said, and I felt something clamp itself around my ankle, making me trip and fall face forward to the floor. "Timmy must eat you to become stronger."

Turning my head to look at what had grabbed me, I saw nothing but a black shadow around my right ankle; yet every time I tried to move it, it felt as if an invisible hand was holding me tightly in place.

"Timmy, time to eat..." she whispered to seemingly no one.

My eyes widened in shock as I saw the doll in her hands jump onto the ground, slowly walking towards me as a cold cracking laughter escaped it, its mouth opening and closing, revealing those sharp teeth to be true. I struggled against the invisible holder, and found it impossible to move my leg away even an inch; -It's just some stupid doll- I finally thought to myself as I turned towards the little toy while standing up.

Waiting for just a second, the very moment the little evil clown was within reach, I aimed a kick with my free leg; I never really had the chance to hit it, since the same kind of shadow that held my right leg into place made my left one freeze on the spot, causing me to stumble and leaving both my lower limbs stuck to the ground.

"You're not allowed to fight back." the clown's voice came forth with a hysteric laughter. "It wouldn't be as fun to hear your screams."

I tried to fight back using my arms, but they too were pulled towards the floor by dark hands, leaving me completely immobile under the iron grip of those strange shadows; my mind tried to reason out what was happening, and what was it that I could do to escape from the situation, if it was real to begin with; but nothing came to mind no matter how much I tried.

The evil doll was getting closer and closer, every single one of its tiny steps making the distance between it and my head become shorter, the details of its figure turning clearer and the fear on my system running wilder while I tried as desperately as I could to get free from the vice-like holds on my limbs.

But before it could reach me, everything went dark as all the streetlamps nearby suddenly blasted in a rain of sparks and glass. "Run!" an invisible voice shouted the very moment I felt the shadows loose their grip on my body.

Not wanting to wait a single second, I rolled to the side opposite from where the clown was, and stumbled onto my feet as I began running wildly towards a destination unknown, though making sure wherever it was to be away from that creepy girl and evil doll.

I felt a delicate and tender hand grab mine in the darkness, and pull me in a certain direction. "Trust me." it was the same voice that had told me to run. "I'm here to save you."

"Who are you?" I managed to pant, my feet attempting to avoid one another as I ran, my legs feeling weak like jelly and my heart beating wildly all the way up to my throat. "Who was that girl?"

"Run first, explanation latter." the voice commanded me. "We must get away, she's too powerful for us to deal with."

Light soon came into view, and I recognized one of the streets I was going to take to head back home; within seconds, the woman holding my hand and pulling me in that direction was visible enough for me to see the details of her figure.

She was around her late teens, twenty or twenty two at most; she had short black hair that almost reached her shoulders, and her skin was a bit pale under the artificial yellow lights; her body was slim and fit, like someone who did sports regularly, but even from where I stood, I noticed her face was serious and afraid, perhaps even more so than me.

For a couple more minutes we ran through the dimly lit city, taking random turns and detours and eventually coming to a halt in front of my apartment building once we were certain that girl and her doll weren't following us; I took my keys out and went inside, heading all the way up to my place before reaching a complete panting halt from our running.

"Ok, time for answers." I managed to state, I had attempted asking several times throughout the whole time we had been running, but she had chosen to remain silent. "Who are you?, who was that girl?, and what was that doll?"

"I am 234710-V-11 android, model of the first generation." she replied while looking at me in the eye with a serious face, her eyes were a deep purple. "The small doll is android 341340-C-23 android, called *Timmy*; second generation model." she paused for a second, as if making sure I absorbed the information. "*Timmy*'s Dreamer is that young girl, name Alicia; she specializes in shadow manipulation, her weak-point is if there are no shadows to manipulate."

"Say what?" the blurt out of information sounded all too weird. "Do you expect me to believe what you just said?"

"Believe it or not, that is the truth." her words came out a bit too harshly. "Timmy was targeting you to steal your imagination; had I taken longer, you'd probably be a vegetable right now."

"If you're some kind of con artist, this is a really pitiful..." my words came to a sudden halt as the lights of my house flickered, for a second, one or two light-bulbs exploded in the process.

"I am not joking, nor am I a con-artist." her harshness suddenly became soft and sad. "I'd never do such a thing when someone's life is on the line."

"I get it, I get it..." I hurried to stop her, somehow not wanting things to become more complicated. "Let's say I believe you for a second, what is a Dreamer and how come that girl has those strange powers?"

"Dreamers are those who have control of a RD or Reality Device that's within an android." she smiled, seemingly happy I had taken he seriously. "Through the power of their imagination, Dreamers can change a certain space of reality at will; space that's directly proportional to the RD's capacity." once more, she stared at me while saying this, as if making sure I'd digest her words. "The capacity, in turn, is fed by imagination, be it of the Dreamer or some other human."

"Ok, now I'm sure this is either some strange dream, or a really bad joke." I sighed, shaking my head. "How in the blazes am I supposed to believe all of this?" I let out a short laugh. "It's just way too crazy!"

"Then let me show you proof." her smile became serious again; she stretched her hand and grabbed mine with strength, yet tenderly, as if to avoid hurting me. "Close your eyes for a moment and concentrate on my words." staring at her for a moment of hesitation, I decided to follow her words and closed my eyes. "First I'll ask you a couple of things, please answer them honestly." her skin tingled for just a fraction of a second, and then she tightened her fingers a bit more. "Have you ever written anything?"

"Well, more or less." I chuckled, not certain why I was going along. "I've written some short stories on the Internet, but I've only just managed to make a one book, though it isn't that good."

"Imagine any one object or character within your stories." she commanded, and the first thing that came into my mind was a sword, the one my favorite character used. "Describe it."

"It's a katana, a Japanese sword." I mentioned, the image in my mind slowly becoming clearer. "It's long, its blade is about four feet in length, and the hilt is a bit over a foot." bit by bit, the image in my mind took the proportions I said. "The blade is a pale black, about four inches in thickness, with one side dull while the other one is extremely sharp." I could see it clearly, the glimmer of its surface. "The hilt is deep green, made out of two twin strings that are wrapped all the way from one end of the handle to the other; and in the blade itself, there's a drawing of a dragon that almost reaches the tip."

"Any other detail?" she asked. "Like form or abilities?"

"Well, it's a katana, so it's slightly curved backwards." I pointed out. "And in the story, it's reinforced with magic so it could cut only what the wielder wanted it to cut, not shattering or becoming dull even if having to slice steel."

"What about the weight and center of gravity?" her words made the sword in my mind waver for a second as I was uncertain. "And what about the story?, who made it and for what purpose?"

"Weight wise..." I pondered. "It weights like a stick of bamboo, it's very light, so even a small child could wield it." memory arose, and I soon remembered the story. "The swords-smith had made it so his son could protect himself during the war, but the sword soon became well known and everyone began to want its power." the image of the sword inside my head changed a bit, a scabbard appearing around it. "The king ordered for a special scabbard to be made, so that only those who carried the sword-smith's blood could..."

"Stop it there." a hand covered my mouth, a delicate, soft and thin hand. "Let's leave it how it was before the scabbard was made, kay?" I nodded, and the sword was naked once more. "Open your eyes now."

Doing as told, I stared at her as she grinned at me, on her right hand, there was a sword, an exact replica of the image that had been in my mind, a copy so masterfully made that every detail on its glimmering surface perfectly matched the one inside my head.

"This is the sword." she stated while swinging it down on my arm; I felt shocked, and couldn't retrieve my arm on time, but it went right through, not even inflicting pain. "I must admit, for a first attempt, this is rather detailed." she let go of my arm as I watched where my limb should be missing for a second, the only cut there was on the sleeve of my jacket, a perfect cut that made it shorter to almost elbow length. "Actually, I think I understand why they wanted to eat your imagination, you seem to have plenty to spare."

"W...wha... how... ?" I couldn't even fully mumble out the words.

"I made your sword real." she stated while handing me the blade, it was light, just as light as what I had thought it would be. "As long as you imagine it with enough detail, I can make it real." she chuckled a bit while grabbing my free hand. "Would you be interested in becoming my Dreamer?"

Description
"C'mon, just one more beer." Jack insisted as he sung the empty bottle around.

"Enough is enough, you're already too drunk as it is." I sighed as I helped him walk towards the exit of the bar. "Besides, tomorrow we've got work, so you should be already going to sleep."

"But it's a celebration!" he shouted, his red face and broad grin enough of a hint about the level of alcohol in his blood. "To my buddy Charlie, who just sold a book!"

Everyone in the room gave out a short cheer, though immediately after went back into drinking from their respective source of alcohol as me and my drunk friend continued our way outside.

"It's not that big-a-deal; I just got a couple dozen books printed." I wasn't as cheerful, most likely because I didn't have that much poison in me to begin with. "Even if they sell them all, I wouldn't make more than a couple hundred bucks."

"Nonsense!" Jack shouted all of a sudden. "You and I both know that you've got one hell of a brain inside that thick skull of yours." he poked me in the head a couple times. "Only God-knows-what goes in there for you to have so many ideas."

"I told you already, it's nothing special." I replied, dragging the half-unconscious man towards the parking area. "If it were, I'd be living out of stories and books rather than some boring job behind a desk all day long."

"That's because you don't have the balls to risk it." Jack's words had almost came out scrambled, though barely kept their integrity. "If you had played your cards right, you'd probably be a billionaire by now."

"Yeah, and you'd be an astronaut." sighed in reply as I took out his car keys. "Let's go big buddy, time to get into the car."

"Do you know how great of a friend you are?" Jack's mouth contorted into a broad grin. "You know?, next time we go out I'll get you laid with the hottest girl in the city."

"Sure, why not?, but I suggest you sleep on it first." I tucked him into the seat while putting the seat-belt on him. "I bet you'll get a bunch of ideas if you sleep on it."

"That's one hell of an idea." Jack pointed out, and immediately after he was unconscious in the car, snoring loudly while some drool made its way down his chin and onto the chair.

"Thank God that's over with." I closed the door of the vehicle, slowly walking to the other side in hopes of driving straight to my house and falling asleep as soon as he had dropped my friend at his own place.

Fifteen minutes latter, I was helping a half-asleep extremely drunk guy up the stairs to his place and going back outside to my car once I had laid him on his bed and locked his door.

It was somewhere around two in the morning, and even though the traffic was near to nothing, I couldn't find any parking-space near the condo I was living in; somewhat frustrated and tired, I began to go around the area in search for a spot, and eventually I found one six blocks away, right next to the only park in the neighborhood.

"The condo should have a private parking area..." I mumbled to myself as I locked the door of the car, and began walking to my home.

I felt somewhat creeped out at the fact there was no movement whatsoever around me, not a car nor a jogger; which brought back memories from all those horror movies I had seen throughout my life. But my own tiredness and frustration shrugged it out of my system by the time I had reached the edge of the park.

"Do you like books?" the voice that broke the silence made me jump in shock and surprise, immediately turning around to look at a small girl who stood a dozen feet behind me.

"Don't you think it's a little late to be out?" I mellowed my tone, my guess was the girl was around ten or twelve years in age.

"Do you like reading books?" she repeated the question, her blue eyes were oddly noticeable on the dim light of the streetlamp. "Your mind seems so full of ideas, perhaps I could eat you?"

"Excuse me?" my tiredness was getting the best of me, I was feeling a bit irritated, though not enough to show. "Go home little girl, being out at this hour is bad for your health."

"Yes, your mind is very full of ideas." she nodded as she took a step closer, I noticed she was holding a white rag doll that looked very much like a murderous clown; with a broad sharp grin and yellow eyes that seemed to look straight at me, it made a shudder run down my spine. "If Timmy eats you, he'll surely become stronger."

"Go home kid." I repeated as I turned around, somehow not wanting to be there more any longer.

"You aren't allowed to run." the girl said, and I felt something clamp itself around my ankle, making me trip and fall face forward to the floor. "Timmy must eat you to become stronger."

Turning my head to look at what had grabbed me, I saw nothing but a black shadow around my right ankle; yet every time I tried to move it, it felt as if an invisible hand was holding me tightly in place.

"Timmy, time to eat..." she whispered to seemingly no one.

My eyes widened in shock as I saw the doll in her hands jump onto the ground, slowly walking towards me as a cold cracking laughter escaped it, its mouth opening and closing, revealing those sharp teeth to be true. I struggled against the invisible holder, and found it impossible to move my leg away even an inch; -It's just some stupid doll- I finally thought to myself as I turned towards the little toy while standing up.

Waiting for just a second, the very moment the little evil clown was within reach, I aimed a kick with my free leg; I never really had the chance to hit it, since the same kind of shadow that held my right leg into place made my left one freeze on the spot, causing me to stumble and leaving both my lower limbs stuck to the ground.

"You're not allowed to fight back." the clown's voice came forth with a hysteric laughter. "It wouldn't be as fun to hear your screams."

I tried to fight back using my arms, but they too were pulled towards the floor by dark hands, leaving me completely immobile under the iron grip of those strange shadows; my mind tried to reason out what was happening, and what was it that I could do to escape from the situation, if it was real to begin with; but nothing came to mind no matter how much I tried.

The evil doll was getting closer and closer, every single one of its tiny steps making the distance between it and my head become shorter, the details of its figure turning clearer and the fear on my system running wilder while I tried as desperately as I could to get free from the vice-like holds on my limbs.

But before it could reach me, everything went dark as all the streetlamps nearby suddenly blasted in a rain of sparks and glass. "Run!" an invisible voice shouted the very moment I felt the shadows loose their grip on my body.

Not wanting to wait a single second, I rolled to the side opposite from where the clown was, and stumbled onto my feet as I began running wildly towards a destination unknown, though making sure wherever it was to be away from that creepy girl and evil doll.

I felt a delicate and tender hand grab mine in the darkness, and pull me in a certain direction. "Trust me." it was the same voice that had told me to run. "I'm here to save you."

"Who are you?" I managed to pant, my feet attempting to avoid one another as I ran, my legs feeling weak like jelly and my heart beating wildly all the way up to my throat. "Who was that girl?"

"Run first, explanation latter." the voice commanded me. "We must get away, she's too powerful for us to deal with."

Light soon came into view, and I recognized one of the streets I was going to take to head back home; within seconds, the woman holding my hand and pulling me in that direction was visible enough for me to see the details of her figure.

She was around her late teens, twenty or twenty two at most; she had short black hair that almost reached her shoulders, and her skin was a bit pale under the artificial yellow lights; her body was slim and fit, like someone who did sports regularly, but even from where I stood, I noticed her face was serious and afraid, perhaps even more so than me.

For a couple more minutes we ran through the dimly lit city, taking random turns and detours and eventually coming to a halt in front of my apartment building once we were certain that girl and her doll weren't following us; I took my keys out and went inside, heading all the way up to my place before reaching a complete panting halt from our running.

"Ok, time for answers." I managed to state, I had attempted asking several times throughout the whole time we had been running, but she had chosen to remain silent. "Who are you?, who was that girl?, and what was that doll?"

"I am 234710-V-11 android, model of the first generation." she replied while looking at me in the eye with a serious face, her eyes were a deep purple. "The small doll is android 341340-C-23 android, called *Timmy*; second generation model." she paused for a second, as if making sure I absorbed the information. "*Timmy*'s Dreamer is that young girl, name Alicia; she specializes in shadow manipulation, her weak-point is if there are no shadows to manipulate."

"Say what?" the blurt out of information sounded all too weird. "Do you expect me to believe what you just said?"

"Believe it or not, that is the truth." her words came out a bit too harshly. "Timmy was targeting you to steal your imagination; had I taken longer, you'd probably be a vegetable right now."

"If you're some kind of con artist, this is a really pitiful..." my words came to a sudden halt as the lights of my house flickered, for a second, one or two light-bulbs exploded in the process.

"I am not joking, nor am I a con-artist." her harshness suddenly became soft and sad. "I'd never do such a thing when someone's life is on the line."

"I get it, I get it..." I hurried to stop her, somehow not wanting things to become more complicated. "Let's say I believe you for a second, what is a Dreamer and how come that girl has those strange powers?"

"Dreamers are those who have control of a RD or Reality Device that's within an android." she smiled, seemingly happy I had taken he seriously. "Through the power of their imagination, Dreamers can change a certain space of reality at will; space that's directly proportional to the RD's capacity." once more, she stared at me while saying this, as if making sure I'd digest her words. "The capacity, in turn, is fed by imagination, be it of the Dreamer or some other human."

"Ok, now I'm sure this is either some strange dream, or a really bad joke." I sighed, shaking my head. "How in the blazes am I supposed to believe all of this?" I let out a short laugh. "It's just way too crazy!"

"Then let me show you proof." her smile became serious again; she stretched her hand and grabbed mine with strength, yet tenderly, as if to avoid hurting me. "Close your eyes for a moment and concentrate on my words." staring at her for a moment of hesitation, I decided to follow her words and closed my eyes. "First I'll ask you a couple of things, please answer them honestly." her skin tingled for just a fraction of a second, and then she tightened her fingers a bit more. "Have you ever written anything?"

"Well, more or less." I chuckled, not certain why I was going along. "I've written some short stories on the Internet, but I've only just managed to make a one book, though it isn't that good."

"Imagine any one object or character within your stories." she commanded, and the first thing that came into my mind was a sword, the one my favorite character used. "Describe it."

"It's a katana, a Japanese sword." I mentioned, the image in my mind slowly becoming clearer. "It's long, its blade is about four feet in length, and the hilt is a bit over a foot." bit by bit, the image in my mind took the proportions I said. "The blade is a pale black, about four inches in thickness, with one side dull while the other one is extremely sharp." I could see it clearly, the glimmer of its surface. "The hilt is deep green, made out of two twin strings that are wrapped all the way from one end of the handle to the other; and in the blade itself, there's a drawing of a dragon that almost reaches the tip."

"Any other detail?" she asked. "Like form or abilities?"

"Well, it's a katana, so it's slightly curved backwards." I pointed out. "And in the story, it's reinforced with magic so it could cut only what the wielder wanted it to cut, not shattering or becoming dull even if having to slice steel."

"What about the weight and center of gravity?" her words made the sword in my mind waver for a second as I was uncertain. "And what about the story?, who made it and for what purpose?"

"Weight wise..." I pondered. "It weights like a stick of bamboo, it's very light, so even a small child could wield it." memory arose, and I soon remembered the story. "The swords-smith had made it so his son could protect himself during the war, but the sword soon became well known and everyone began to want its power." the image of the sword inside my head changed a bit, a scabbard appearing around it. "The king ordered for a special scabbard to be made, so that only those who carried the sword-smith's blood could..."

"Stop it there." a hand covered my mouth, a delicate, soft and thin hand. "Let's leave it how it was before the scabbard was made, kay?" I nodded, and the sword was naked once more. "Open your eyes now."

Doing as told, I stared at her as she grinned at me, on her right hand, there was a sword, an exact replica of the image that had been in my mind, a copy so masterfully made that every detail on its glimmering surface perfectly matched the one inside my head.

"This is the sword." she stated while swinging it down on my arm; I felt shocked, and couldn't retrieve my arm on time, but it went right through, not even inflicting pain. "I must admit, for a first attempt, this is rather detailed." she let go of my arm as I watched where my limb should be missing for a second, the only cut there was on the sleeve of my jacket, a perfect cut that made it shorter to almost elbow length. "Actually, I think I understand why they wanted to eat your imagination, you seem to have plenty to spare."

"W...wha... how... ?" I couldn't even fully mumble out the words.

"I made your sword real." she stated while handing me the blade, it was light, just as light as what I had thought it would be. "As long as you imagine it with enough detail, I can make it real." she chuckled a bit while grabbing my free hand. "Would you be interested in becoming my Dreamer?"