Unaware of her son-in-law’s thought’s Alix pressed a final switch. The circlet flared, light spilling across Liwu’s face. Her eyes fluttered shut. Her breathing slowed. The monitors beeped steadily.

And then, she was gone.

***

Colors exploded around her. Liwu opened her eyes to find herself standing in a floating garden. The trees, flowers and butterflies were talking to her. She looked down at herself and gasped. Her most loved trench coats were replaced by a pink frilly dress covered in cartoons. When she moved, her shoes squeaked with every step. Her hair was tied in pigtails. She felt lighter, sillier, almost giddy.

She also promised herself to kick her sister in the shin because this was not her preferred choice of clothing. Squeaky shoes!!! She didn’t even think she wore those a a baby!

Then, a grown up waddled to her. It was Qiren. "Follow me," she said.

In this world, Qiren was tall, like a giant. Somehow, she shrunk herself to Liwu’s childlike height and took her hand. Instead of walking, they flew in the air, passing a happy yellow sky, stars that were out during the day and more ridiculous things.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the children’s kingdom, a place that was surrounded by high walls. The walls were just like a bouncing castle. When Qiren tried to go in, a force thrust her back. But Liwu was pulled inside by a force.

She found herself standing in a world of candy castles and a lot of talking animals. The sky was painted with rainbows and the ground paved with toy blocks. Rides of different sizes and shapes were active, a band of ginger bread men was singing songs in the center.

A stuffed bear waddled up to Liwu, bowing. "Welcome little one! Come play!"

Liwu forced a smile. "Yes, I could play forever. But I don’t want to play alone. Where are the children?"

The bear giggled. "They’re here, playing forever. Isn’t it wonderful?"

Liwu’s eyes hardened, though her voice remained sweet. "Wonderful, yes, wonderful. I want to ride the caterpillar, and swing and swim."

The bear urged her to follow. "You will love it here, you never have to leave."

She saw one child, getting inside a play pen that had had many balls. With a squeal, she skipped forward, her squeaky shoes echoing across the candy streets. Behind her, the stuffed bear watched, its smile stretching unnaturally wide.

As soon as she hopped into the play pen, her giggles became faker. "System, exhaust my chaos points and destroy this world."

She didn’t know if it would work, but she had to try and gamble. And it worked. The balloons in the air popped without warning, and the ginger bread men tripped over their own furry boots.

Liwu sprinted to the glass house, giggling like a child. She twirled, as she plucked flowers while swing came undone.

Meanwhile, outside the dream, her team and Alix worked furiously. The tech team hunched over monitors, decoding dream signals.

"She is playing and she has activated her system." One shared.

Weijun muttered, sarcasm dripping, "So the plan is basically: let Liwu play until the dream collapses? Brilliant. Until you realize that dreamers can remain in that state for ten years without their bodies deteriorating."

Alix shot him a glare. "She is destabilizing that world so that we can find a clue outside. If you are not going to be helpful, shut up."

He Xiao Yo cleared his throat, "Instead of arguing, we should focus on finding out which of the twelve children trapped inside is the system host. We need to narrow it down."

"Follow the order." Xuanji suggested. "The first child is likely to be the one. This is like a plague, the first one infected the rest."

Suddenly, He Xiao Yi stood up with wide eyes. "No...no...no....I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner." He looked at Alix, with a gleam in his eyes. "If you wanted to force a group of people into a coffee house, how would you do it? Consider having a weapon like a gun in your hand. Would you stand inside and ask them to enter or outside?"

Alix laughed. "Standing inside is foolish because they would just run. But if I stand behind, pointing my weapon at them, it would be easier to get them to do what I want. I would be the last inside. The doors would be locked behind me."

"It’s the last kid!" Linlin screamed. "He forced the others into a coma...he is the host."

Xuanji clapped his hands. "Great, now all we have to do is tell Liwu about this so that she can find the last kid and smack them awake."

"She will flush the kid out." Alix whispered, moving to Liwu.

***

Meanwhile, inside the dream, Liwu giggled as she tossed a ball into the air. It exploded into confetti, showering nearby children. They squealed with delight, chasing the paper scraps. She clapped her hands, feigning innocence. "Oops! My bad!"

The picture here was different from what she imagined. When Linlin was forcing Qiren to help, she had made it seem as if there was despair among the children. But they just seemed to be playing non stop!

Her chaos ripple outward. A carousel spun too fast, ponies were flying off like missiles. A candy tower melted into syrup. The dream trembled, seams showing. Liwu’s eyes gleamed. "Come out, come out, little dreamer. System host friend, come and meet another friend."

She jumped into a toy car, inviting other children to race. All the children joined in, oblivious. Except one.

At the edge of the playground, a boy froze. His eyes darted, his smile faltered. He clutched a toy robot too tightly, knuckles white. Unlike the others, he was delighted by the chaos. He was afraid...afraid that his world was unraveling.

Liwu stepped out of her toy car while the other children went off. She skipped toward the boy, squeaky shoes echoing. "Hi, do you want to play?"

The boy shook his head, backing away. "Stop. You are ruining it."