Darkness. Silence. Isolation.

This is peace. This is freedom. This is safety. This is your existence. Alone and quiet and undisturbed.

Until it is shattered.

A snap. A shout. A crash. A burst of colour tearing through your haven.

Who's there?

You look. You see. A knight. Red and gold. Colour and light. Love. Hope. Fear. Death.

They are all the same.

I know you're there. Who are you?

He is looking. He is seeing. But he is not. He cannot see you. Yet he knows you are there.

A flash. A rushing.

Yellow.

He is looking. He is seeing. He sees you. There is yellow behind his helmet.

There you are.

He can see you. He should not see you. You are nothing. You are concept. You are void. He cannot see you. Yet he is seeing you.

The knight is staring. You are staring back.

Not a big talker?

You have no mouth. You have no voice. You have no form. You simply are. You cannot talk.

Alright, fine. I need you to do something for me.

A flash. A rushing.

Yellow.

There is something behind your eyes. You do not have eyes. You should not have eyes. Yet there is something behind them.

The knight steps. He is hesitant. Shaky. It is as if he is testing. Experimenting.

Good. Can you see the world from here?

You can. You do not often like to. It is loud and bright. But you can.

Oh that's weird. I can hear you like this.

There is nothing to hear. There are no thoughts. There is only knowledge. Facts. Reality. He should not be able to hear. Yet he hears.

Don't ask me, I don't know how it works. I never saw this. Why did I not see this? I saw all the universe and every future it could possibly have in an instant—would not recommend, by the way—but I didn't see this.

There is nothing to see. You exist outside of time. Outside of space. You are not in the universe. You simply are.

Huh. Okay. If you say so. Look, I need you to do something for me. I can't go back to the world, not like this. If I do, I'll be trapped, and I won't be able to come back. So I need you to go, and I need you to find Avery.

Avery. You do not know Avery. You do not know this knight. This invader. He is in your head. You have no head to be in. Yet he is in it.

Right, where are my manners? Call me… Call me Derek, I guess. Since it's my name.

A pause. A quiet. But not silence. There is no air in your haven. Yet the air is thick with fear. Anger. Dread.

He tried to steal it. He nearly succeeded. I nearly forgot.

Triumph. Arrogance. Exhaustion.

But he lost. I won. I stole from him, instead. He's an idiot and I'm not and I won. He's gone. He lost.

The knight is not speaking to you. To himself maybe. There is no one else. You do not know who this he is. You do not think the knight believes his own words.

Stop calling me that. I told you my name.

You have no name. Nothing to offer in exchange. You have heard life is a give and take. That is what the humans say. You have nothing to give. So you cannot take.

Whatever. Avery is my friend. You need to find him and tell him I'm alive and he needs to find me. I don't know… I think I'll stay trapped without him. I don't know. He needs to find me. I can't reach him, but you can, so I can reach him through you.

You look at the knight. He looks at you. He looks at himself through you. You see him. He sees you. He sees himself. And he stands tall.

The world is loud. Bright. Busy. It is not meant for you. You have visited repeatedly in your infinite existence. It is a realm of which you could not belong.

Your haven is dark. Quiet. Peaceful. It is you and you are it. The knight is an invader here. He is far from home.

He is afraid. You can taste it. You have no mouth with which to taste. Yet you taste his fear. He is afraid. For himself. For his friend. For something else. He is asking for your help.