A medical airship stopped in front of the three of them, and Linda huffed and puffed as she helped the injured Sanitation Army soldier aboard.
Domir stood behind her, concern showing on his face.
The soldier nodded to both of them in thanks. He was growing weaker by the moment, but before the door closed, he gave them a solemn warning.
"This crisis is unlike anything we've faced before. The enemy is too powerful. You'd better not stay on the surface. Find an underground fortification and hide there."
Linda nodded gravely. She might have been young, but she knew when to do the right thing.
After watching the medical airship disappear into the distance, Linda turned back, intending to take Domir with her to find a fortification where they could shelter from the crisis.
But Domir stood rooted to the spot, still looking dazed as he stared in the direction the medical airship had gone.
"Domir! What are you spacing out for?"
Domir blankly withdrew his gaze, then suddenly shuddered. He looked at Linda with an inexplicable expression and began muttering a string of incomprehensible words.
"So that's how it works. So that's how it works."
"Psychological suggestion, thought modification, data shackles, positive and negative dimensions, virtual reality, higher-dimensional hypnosis.
"... So many intricate methods, building a lucid world hidden within madness to preserve the purity of the younger generation's souls."
"How should I describe this stroke of genius?"
"A second world? A second dimension? Neither is quite right."
"Like a dream, yet not a dream. It's more like...
"... a simulated, completed illusory virtual worldview, a concept...
"..."
"Two dimensions within four dimensions? Three and a half dimensions?"
Domir's consciousness had already fallen asleep. Brad, who had taken his place, immersed himself in the sensations of this extraordinary place.