up, as can the Zombie Master, who passed this way before you."
"We are looking for him," Bink said.
"Ah, that explains it. You will be in no danger, but if you suffer what would be death in real life, you will lose the dream and wake up immediately, and be unable to return without going through the whole process again. So it is best to be careful. I will guide you to Ptero; after that I will wake up and go about my business, but the dream world will exist independently, because you are dreaming it. Once all three of you leave it, it will fade. If you need to go to the other worlds, you must find the Ida who resides on each. You will not need to have her sleep, because the entire derivative structure already exists in the present dream; just go on as you need to. I hope your mission is successful."
"Thanks, Sis," Dolph said, kissing her on the cheek. "Have a nice day when you wake up."
"When this is done, I hope one of you will come to tell me what you found," Ida said. "I can't go to those worlds, even in my dreams, unfortunately, so I am dependent on others to learn about them. I am most curious."
"We'll do that," Bink promised.
"Thank you. Now you must focus on Ptero, and think small. Very small. Make sure you stay together, because it is easy to get lost there. Time is geography; east is From and west is To. But you will not be affected by the time, because you are not really there. In fact you will have to form your bodies from filler material, as the natives do, in order to interact. Nothing you do there will be permanent, because this is only your dream."
"We understand," Dor said. "We just need to talk with the Zombie Master."
"Good fortune." Dream Ida stepped back toward her body. "Orient on Ptero." The tiny moon swung around before her head.
"Let's hold hands," Dor suggested. "So we don't get separated."
They linked up, and focused on the moon. Bink tried to think small,
74 PIFRS ANTHONY
and suddenly the moon was growing It seemed to swell to the size of an apple, then to a bowling ball Then they seemed to be floating toward it
He looked down The Castle Roogna chamber was gone, they were in empty sky, dropping toward the distant planet Their velocity increased Suddenly the world was looming scanly close Too close It was no longer a ball, but a broad landscape, with mountains and helds and lakes
"Oops," Dolph said
Then they plunged into the ground Darkness closed around them Their impetus had carried them down into the rock
"Maybe we can rise a bit," Dor suggested
Bink concentrated on rising, as did the others In a moment they burst out of the ground and sailed up into the sky
"We're ghosts," Bink said, remembering "We need to get some substance Some filler "
They were hovering in a cloud Dolph reached out and grabbed some cloud-stuff, pressing it into his body That seemed to work, so Bink and Dor tried the same The more stuff they pressed in to themselves, the more solid they became, and they began to fall But they were able to control it, so that they finally made a soft landing in a forest
Bink dusted himself off, and patted firm the last of the filler He felt much like himself Dor and Dolph seemed similar
"Now we need to find the Zombie Master's footprints," Dor said
They looked around, but there was no sign of glowing footprints They had probably gone astray in the course of their inexpert landing Even in dreams, things needed to be done approximately right
"I'll change form and fly up and see if I can spy them," Dolph said "If my talent works here "
"It should," Dor said "We should be at least as talented in our dreams as in our reality But don't lose track of us "
Dolph became a hawk moth and flew up, combining the flight powers of the one and the sensitive antenna of the other
"So this is a dream." the ground said
Dor glanced at Bink 'It seems my talent too is
"We are looking for him," Bink said.
"Ah, that explains it. You will be in no danger, but if you suffer what would be death in real life, you will lose the dream and wake up immediately, and be unable to return without going through the whole process again. So it is best to be careful. I will guide you to Ptero; after that I will wake up and go about my business, but the dream world will exist independently, because you are dreaming it. Once all three of you leave it, it will fade. If you need to go to the other worlds, you must find the Ida who resides on each. You will not need to have her sleep, because the entire derivative structure already exists in the present dream; just go on as you need to. I hope your mission is successful."
"Thanks, Sis," Dolph said, kissing her on the cheek. "Have a nice day when you wake up."
"When this is done, I hope one of you will come to tell me what you found," Ida said. "I can't go to those worlds, even in my dreams, unfortunately, so I am dependent on others to learn about them. I am most curious."
"We'll do that," Bink promised.
"Thank you. Now you must focus on Ptero, and think small. Very small. Make sure you stay together, because it is easy to get lost there. Time is geography; east is From and west is To. But you will not be affected by the time, because you are not really there. In fact you will have to form your bodies from filler material, as the natives do, in order to interact. Nothing you do there will be permanent, because this is only your dream."
"We understand," Dor said. "We just need to talk with the Zombie Master."
"Good fortune." Dream Ida stepped back toward her body. "Orient on Ptero." The tiny moon swung around before her head.
"Let's hold hands," Dor suggested. "So we don't get separated."
They linked up, and focused on the moon. Bink tried to think small,
74 PIFRS ANTHONY
and suddenly the moon was growing It seemed to swell to the size of an apple, then to a bowling ball Then they seemed to be floating toward it
He looked down The Castle Roogna chamber was gone, they were in empty sky, dropping toward the distant planet Their velocity increased Suddenly the world was looming scanly close Too close It was no longer a ball, but a broad landscape, with mountains and helds and lakes
"Oops," Dolph said
Then they plunged into the ground Darkness closed around them Their impetus had carried them down into the rock
"Maybe we can rise a bit," Dor suggested
Bink concentrated on rising, as did the others In a moment they burst out of the ground and sailed up into the sky
"We're ghosts," Bink said, remembering "We need to get some substance Some filler "
They were hovering in a cloud Dolph reached out and grabbed some cloud-stuff, pressing it into his body That seemed to work, so Bink and Dor tried the same The more stuff they pressed in to themselves, the more solid they became, and they began to fall But they were able to control it, so that they finally made a soft landing in a forest
Bink dusted himself off, and patted firm the last of the filler He felt much like himself Dor and Dolph seemed similar
"Now we need to find the Zombie Master's footprints," Dor said
They looked around, but there was no sign of glowing footprints They had probably gone astray in the course of their inexpert landing Even in dreams, things needed to be done approximately right
"I'll change form and fly up and see if I can spy them," Dolph said "If my talent works here "
"It should," Dor said "We should be at least as talented in our dreams as in our reality But don't lose track of us "
Dolph became a hawk moth and flew up, combining the flight powers of the one and the sensitive antenna of the other
"So this is a dream." the ground said
Dor glanced at Bink 'It seems my talent too is
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