Chapter 1

I sat up suddenly in my bunk bed, smacking my forehead against the metal bar above me. With a silent groan, I threw my feet off the side of the bed and rubbed the pain away. I would probably have a massive bruise on my head for the next few days, so I was grateful that my long, strawberry-blonde hair had bangs to cover any marks.
That was the fifth time I had relived my memories in the past week. These nightmares were getting ridiculous. How many times would I be forced to experience the panic I had felt during my first few minutes of waking existence?
When I had been created, my body was about eight years old, a little young compared to other Generation 2 Isotopes, but thankfully I was created early enough to grow up at the same age as my peers. It wasn't like that made a difference, though. Most G2s still avoided me because, well, why would anyone want to waste their time trying to carry a one sided conversation? That didn't really bother me, though. As it was, I usually preferred a little solitude.
I felt around for the clock on my nightstand. I was lucky enough to receive a standard clock with hands rather than the normal digital clock. I gently felt the hands of the clock, making sure not to move them. 1 o'clock. I assumed it was still the middle of the night from the soft snoring I heard above my bunk. Above me, my only friend slept as soundly as ever.
Hesitantly, I crawled up onto her bunk, glad that I was small and didn't disturb her sleep. Her breath was deep and even and I found my own slowly matching the steady rhythm. I froze as I tried to make a decision. Usually, my bunk-mate enjoyed it when I used my power. I didn't want to bother her, though. On a whim, I extended my hand and rested it on her wrist, plunging into a place I could hardly imagine.

Opening my eyes, I sucked in a breath of excitement. It was always breathtaking to have my sight was returned to me in dreams. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was.
A crooked smile spread across my face as I realized I was in my friend's very favorite place. It was the Rec. Room at our base, filled with G2 Isotopes after a long day of training. The room was packed tighter than a tin of sardines. Foosball tables were surrounded by rowdy teens a few years older than I was. Instead, I made my way over to my own age group. In front of our old, little TV was a dingy couch with no more room on it for a flea. Amongst its occupants were brown haired boy, blonde twins, and red haired girl laying across the three boys' laps. They were all close to my age, between ten and twelve years old.
With a shy smile, I walked over to join them. I wasn't sure at all why I was nervous. The only other real person in this dream was currently having her brilliant hair stroked by a blonde, athletic boy. "Hey Moll. I couldn't sleep," I explained as I perched on the arm of the sofa. "Hope you don't mind…?"
If it had been my dream, I certainly would have minded. Three boys? Only Molly would find it normal. Molly was always hanging off of boys. Well, in real life it was really just one of the twins, Eric. Unlike his brother, he was a complete pig when it came to girls, which is naturally why he and Molly worked perfectly together. Molly herself was irresistible, so I couldn't really blame Eric for losing it around her. There wasn't another Isotope on base with hair as fiery red as Molly. She was eleven and had matured earlier than any of the other girl Isotopes probably would. Molly could easily pull off being fourteen and she did, too, as often as she could. The older G2 Isotopes even talked to her. She was the envy of all the girls.
Especially me.
While I was only ten, I also looked nothing like my age. I looked seven. I was short, petite, and completely flat chested. My big brown, if not glazed over, eyes only added to my innocent appearance. My long, straight strawberry blonde hair was almost always pulled back with a ribbon that Molly would do for me every morning. She always liked to tell people I was her little sister, which I couldn't decide if I loved or hated. I would have killed to be as beautiful as she was and have her as my little sister, though. I sighed quietly as I dismissed my jealousy.
With a grin, Molly scooted over onto the farther twin's lap. There was never any real way of telling which one it was. "Polly!" she squealed with excitement. "Come sit down! Eric's lap is free!" Eric was free? Molly was so gross.
I blushed and scoffed. "Psh. Shut up Moll." Even in dreams I was way more reserved than my outgoing friend. Molly was always the center of a crowd. As serial number 0757 (0758 had been terminated), we were bunked together and became friends quickly. Molly didn't really mind that I was mute. In fact, sometimes I think she took pleasure in it. There were few things she enjoyed more than her own voice. Which, I must admit, I rather loved about Molly.
"Oh come on, Poll," Molly teased as she threw her arms around her twin, who I assumed was Sam, since she had offered me Eric.
The brown haired boy sitting closest to me, Allan was his name, offered his lap and smirked lopsidedly in a very non-Allan fashion. "You know, your fantasies are kind of terrible," I admitted to Molly as she necked her twin.
"Yeah?" she laughed as she paused to look at me. "They're my fantasies, though." Sam's hand snaked its way up her thigh, causing me to grimace and look away with embarrassment.
"Are you sure this isn't a bad time? I can leave whenever I want."
"You know you can't wake yourself up without waking me up!" Molly corrected me. "And you had better not wake me up yet. This is a good dream!"
"I can see that…" I mumbled meekly. I looked around the room for anything to avert my attention from the hormonal exchange happening next to me. My eyes landed on the TV. For the first time I noticed it wasn't actually playing anything. It was just static. I groaned and stood up. No surprise there. All the detail in Molly's mind was obviously going towards something other than background visuals. "You know, I feel awkward. I think I'm going to go see how far I can get out of the room."
"Ah come on, Polly! That's no fun!" Eric whined as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his lap.
I shoved his hands away from me as they wrapped around my body. "Hey! Get off of me!" I grunted with annoyance.
"Oh Polly, relax!" Molly suggested as she stopped to look at me.
"What do you mean relax?" I snapped as Eric snickered and held me in his lap. "Your buddy here is going to rape me if he gets his way!"
"No he's not! It's a dream. Nothing bad is going to happen if you don't want it to."
"What are you talking about? What do you call nightmares, then?" I knew firsthand that you couldn't just wish the bad guys away. I'd tried it plenty of times. How could Molly just suggest nothing bad would happen to me in a dream if I just didn't want it to? She couldn't really be serious.
"It's lucid dreaming," Molly explained with a laugh. "You mean you haven't heard of lucid dreaming?" She was obviously in disbelief judging by the look on her face. "You'd think the girl with the power of dreams would have figured out lucid dreams already," she said to herself with exasperation.
"Well, could you hurry up and teach me? Eric's hands are trying to get up my skirt!"
"You know, you really should thank me. How many girls can say they've made out with Eric?"
"Like every girl on base without standards!" I spat with annoyance. This was getting unreasonable.
Eric made a face that screamed hurt puppy. "Ouch. That hurts my feelings," he said sarcastically.
A second pair of hands rested on my shoulders and I glanced to Allan nervously. "Just relax! We're not so bad."
"Molly!"
"Fine! Fine!" Molly growled. In one swift movement, she rolled off of Sam's lap and onto her feet, examining the four of us on the cramped couch. "Now, Polly, do you want to get to second base with any of these boys?" she asked simply.
"No!" I shouted as I tried to push Sam off of me now, too.
"Really?" Molly asked in surprise. "None of them? I mean, there's two hot twins. Or, if you aren't into that kind of thing, there's Allan."
"Molly!"
"Jeez, sorry. Sorry. Anyways. What you're going to do is stop them."
Well, that was terrible advice. "S-stop them?" I stammered. "Is that all you have to say?" I shot her the angriest glare I could muster.
"Well, I don't know how else to explain it. You know you're dreaming, right?"
"Of course I do"!
"Well, then you have control. Things don't have to be normal in dreams! They don't need to make sense. It's all in your head!"
"This is your dream, though!" If it was all Molly's dream, then why wasn't she stopping all this nonsense? I couldn't control other people's dreams. I could only walk through them…right?
"Just try it!"
I squeezed my eyes shut. This was ludicrous. It was impossible. It was insane. It was preposterous. It was working?
I opened my eyes in confusion. Only a moment ago I had felt six hands pulling and tugging on me in three directions. Now…I looked around. I was sitting alone on the couch. "Where'd they go?" I asked in a stupor.
Molly clapped her hands slowly. "I'm not going to lie. That was really freaking impressive. You say you've never tried this before?"
"Why?" I asked with puzzlement. "What did I do?"
"Well, you made them go away," Molly started. She walked over to the couch and rubbed a smudge of ash on the fabric. "From the looks of things, I'd say you vaporized them."
"I vaporized them?" I gasped in astonishment.
Molly nodded with a satisfied smile before she sat down next to me. For a minute or two we sat in silence. The sounds of the older G2s playing Foosball in the background were the only sound as we mulled through our thoughts. "You know, you didn't have to vaporize them," Molly sighed. "That was turning into a really good dream."
I chuckled to myself as I sat back in satisfaction. "You're nasty. The twins? Really?"
"Are you kidding? Have you seen them?" Molly exclaimed.
"No!" I shouted as I shoved my friend playfully.
"Oh, well, you know what I mean! They're hot!"
"Oh shut up Molly! You're such a perv!"

And that was how I spent the rest of my night. I never really realized how special that evening was until later, when I discovered that lucid dreaming wasn't just a handy little skill I had picked up on. It was a power and a force to be reckoned with. I didn't know that then, though. I was only ten. If I thought I was talented then, I had no clue what my future held in store.