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The Reaches of a Dream Chapter Two:

First Steps Towards the Light

Glass walls lowered to the ground, showering the laboratory in white steam. That didn't keep the holographic projection of a woman to try and see through it. Rheia was apprehensive; she didn't know what happened inside the tank while I was inside. Myself, I was mentally hammering my head on the floor while I felt my heart beat at the throat. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why do babies cry when they are born, anybody know? Because it hurts a lot when the lungs open up to the air for the first time, and I totally forgot Meeya never breathed air before. The NEUSYM link was still active when she instinctively drew her first breath, and the sudden excruciating pain gave me quite the startle.

"Feeling better now?" I asked her, vocalizing.

"I... I am, Christopher" The pain had faded already, and I smiled in happiness in hearing her first whisper of a physical sound, feeling her vocal cords being stimulated for the first time. Even beyond: the synapses stimulating parts of the brain still dormant, flooding her with sensations her brain couldn't possibly imagine before, with every second that passed, she was becoming more alive. We both were.

"Sir...?" A both familiar and unfamiliar voice for us broke the silence. From the white curtain appeared Rheia's avatar. Next was a wave of fear. Lots of fear crashing down my mind, and I felt myself trembling along with the cat next to me.

"Don't move, Rheia!" I said hastily "Calm down, my dear. She will do you no harm"

Meeya kept looking at the figure strange to her with fearful eyes for some time, holding me firmly for protection. Only when I felt she relaxed a bit I motioned for Rheia to come closer. She took every step carefully, until she was close enough to kneel beside us.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I want to be your friend" She said softly. Meeya shifted nearer me.

"She is still afraid" I said, before sending a message through the link "Don't fear. I won't let anyone hurt you. She is Rheia... She is a friend"

"Fr...Friend...?" She whispered, raising her paw hesitantly to touch the hologram. Rheia smiled motherly and lightly touched Meeya's hand with her own. She gasped at the weird sensation, but soon relaxed and answered the smile.

"Please turn off the NEUSYM, Rheia, and give her a muscle memory download so she can walk" She nodded.

Having my mind separated from other after all that happened in the tank was, needless to say, quite unpleasant. In the first seconds it felt like my own was gone as well, but then it settles itself. It should be tenfold so for a mind like Meeya's; fortunately I foresaw this and inputted a special safeguard in her genetic code for this. Whenever her mind entered into unnatural disorder, her logic thought would enhance greatly as to bring the mind back to order quicker, so she suffered only a few seconds worth of chaotic mind agony. Passed the mental unpleasantness, came the physical one: when the information I requested was infused in her for the first time, her muscles started acting crazy, executing in rapid succession every tiny variation of the muscle positions and tensions we learn throughout life while walking. That resulted in her whole body looking like it was having a seizure, you must know what I mean.

Past mind and body, spirit was next. The sudden and repeated use of basically every muscle of her systems left her almost without energy, so she plopped motionless on the wet floor, asleep. I slowly got up and so did Rheia.

"Let her sleep for now" I walked to another end of the room, where I took off my clothes before entering the tank. Reaching for my spine, I unplugged the Neusym tube , next applying a band-aid to protect the small hole left until it closed again. Taking the oxygen tube was far more uncomfortable, because I had to pull it all the way from my larynx. Those who went through an endoscopy will know the feeling more or less, and I sighed in relief and coughed a bit after the last inch of the tube came out. Grabbing a clean towel nearby, I dried myself from the liquid and dressed up again.

I returned to the sleeping Meeya, kneeling down and caressing softly her head. Besides her fur, she had no hair; it would grow up in time, and I would see her with the cute bubblegum-pink ponytail, as in Comet's pictures, only she would be there for me to touch. I smiled warmly.

"If you will, Rheia..." I turned to her. She was gazing in the distance, almost dreamily. I had to clear my throat to get her attention.

"S...Sir?" She snapped back to reality "Sorry. I was analyzing some data feed, and got lost in the information"

"I'm sure you were" I raised an eyebrow, smirking "As I was saying, please start with the removal procedures of her tubes, and tell me as soon as she wakes up"

"I thought you were going to do the procedures yourself..." She said as I turned to leave.

"Nah, I was never good at surgery" I smiled again "Also, I have plenty of trust in you"

The avatar smiled too. I walked back the extension of the lab and through my house, to the dining room. I say house with modesty, it is actually a Renaissance villa, on a small town in Tuscany, one or two hours' drive from Florence. Anyway, I directed myself to the kitchen. After spending almost the whole previous day without a meal and with the expectation of Meeya's birth removed from my chest, my stomach was rumbling. I served myself of a sandwich with a cup of coffee and from the dining room window I gazed at the view outside.

Fifty meters of snowed courtyard separated the house from the low wall, after which there was a dangerous drop of a good 10, 15 meters to rock outcroppings below. After that, La Toscana. Miles upon miles of fields, green grass till where the eye can see, plus the occasional cultivated fields. I had the memory of another small town nearby, known mostly for the ruins of an ancient Roman theatre near where it was built. My mind began to wander... I imagined the plains thriving with that green grass, when the winter passed. We, Meeya and I, would run through them, tumbling and rolling playfully while trying to pin each other. Her fur looks so beautiful in the sunlight... I would teach her how to ride a horse, chuckle at her clumsiness in the first try, cheer her on as she gains confidence. Soon we would ride across the fields, to the town, which, by the way, has the name of a saint with a lot of G's and M's that I haven't decorated to the day. We would venture ourselves on those ancient ruins, to watch the sun set while casting its reflection on the blades of grass, making them shine like gold. Night falls and a beautiful starry sky appears. I start to teach her about the stars, how to read them, what they mean, while we lay by a crackling fire, since it's too late to return now. She cuddles up to me and I return with a hug; we watch the horses calmly eating grass. Our lips touch, my heart beats fast, my hand slides on her leg, up her thigh...

"DOCTOR!" A yell brought me from my trance. Suddenly snow fell on the grass, the pines lost their green color to a coat of white and the lake froze. I was back to the present.

"The second dreaming gate of Carlos Castaneda" I smiled to an angry looking hologram "Crossed when one is able to fall asleep without losing consciousness"

"Yeah, you are on your way. I've been calling you for ages..." I couldn't help but laugh at the face Rheia was making. The first time she manifested anger, it was a rather unique sight "The procedures are finished"

"Good. I guess she should not be alone when she wakes up..." I drained the last drops of coffee and left the cup and the plate on the sink.

"Indeed that might bring problems" She walked me back to the lab.

---

Somewhere below where my feet touched the ground, through rock, cement and steel, the sleeping brain of what's perhaps the world's largest newborn began to slip into awakeness. Meeya opened her eyes, then closed them quickly, flinching in the bright operation lamp above. Devoid of vision, her other senses kicked into action. Her skin told the warmth was gone; the pleasant liquid that enveloped her was nowhere to be felt. Her nose picked up a strange aroma, which she was unable to characterize. In her tongue was a lightly bitter taste, which somehow translated that smell. Her ears picked nothing; wherever she was, an eerie, heavy and painful silence prevailed.

Suddenly that silence was broken with a loud and unpleasant hissing sound. She covered her ears and curled in fetal position, shaking. Unspeakable fear held her, the fear of the unknown we have when very young, and we are taught to forget and get over. Something warm and watery ran from her eyes and down her cheek, but these tears were also bitter, not sweet and joyful like when she was with Christopher. Christopher...What happened to him? Where was he? She didn't feel safe anymore; she wanted to be in his arms again, to feel him...

Then it all changed. Hasty feet echoed against the floor and two arms wrapped around the cat. Her nose picked a new smell, but she knew who it was. To embrace her so softly, she knew only one.

"I... I thought you were... gone" She rested her head against his chest, sobbing.

"I'm sorry, love" I hugged her tighter "I promised I would never leave you. I will always be here"

I softly caressed her headfur. Even though we weren't connected mentally anymore, I could still feel the despair coursing inside her, along with relief. That kind of relief that comes only when you find someone you care for, after going through something horrible. I won't try to describe it, but it is one of the best feelings any living being can feel.

"Do you think you can walk?" She hesitated "I will help you"

She opened a slight smile and, with my aid, slowly put her weight on her legs. At this moment, her knees bent, in reflex probably, and I had to hold her.

"I'll take that as a no" I smiled "We'll have to take one step at a time, it seems"

The explanation I guess is: although she was imparted of the knowledge of how to walk, there are things that impersonal, phantom data can't do, such as the pleasure of actually having sex. I read about it in many places, scientific or fictional, I should have remembered. Don't ask me why, but only at this point I realized her eyes were tight shut and the tube was removed, all that was left was the cauterization mark that would grow as her belly button.

"Something happened to your eyes?" I asked, worried.

"I stared into that glowing thing" I looked up to the bright lights above "It hurt..."

Rheia must have left it on, I thought, anger swirling in me.

"Rheia... Turn off those lights and bring me the analysis goggles, if you will" I spoke to her, again for the first time, with a tone expressing anger and disappointment.

"Sure, sir" I felt embarrassment in her voice. She must have figured her mistake, and she might as hell have!

The operation lamp shut off, and the room fell to darkness. I held out my hand and waited for my request. After a couple moments, something made of plastic, metal and rubber was laid in my palm. Those were special goggles clad with special analysis software, efficient for organic and inorganic diagnosis. I slipped them on. The software sensed the lack of light in the room, and my sight flashed green. Through the night vision lenses, I looked at Meeya, who still held her eyelids closed.

"Open your eyes" She hesitated again "It's alright. It won't harm you again"

She relaxed and yielded. I pressed a few keys on the goggles' interface, activating the ocular analysis. The visor flashed as crosshairs pinpointed various points of her eyes, including irises, pupils and cornea. Two words flashed in the visor after the process ended:

DIAGNOSIS:

PHOTOPHOBIA

I sighed in relief. To those not so familiarized with medical terms, or greek, "photo" means light and "phobia", fear. She was suffering from the aversion to light many people feel after an unslept night, for example: pupils can't close to filter the light and the excess of it causes headache and eye ache. Only her case was far more severe, like if someone woke up in the middle of a beach, with white sand, in the middle of the day. But hopefully she would be okay.

"You had a rough meeting with the light. But I can show you how beautiful it can be, if you want"

Although a little uneasy, she believed my words. If she wouldn't trust me, who would she? I am one of two people she knows, that is, if you count a holographically-manifested AI as a person. But I knew it ran deeper, she trusted me because she loved me, I proved to her I was worthy of her trust.

"Yes... Show me..."

---

"Here we are" I asked her to keep her eyes closed, and then directed her through a door. The soft, cool black of her eyelids flashed red and she became afraid, hiding her face against my chest "No need to be afraid, my dear. Open your eyes"

As the glare of sunlight faded, and while feeling the firm grip of my hand on hers, Meeya slowly opened her eyes. What was there to greet her sight left her stunned. She hadn't seen much of life yet, but she knew, instinctively, that she would never see a room more beautiful than that. The walls were made of wood and glass, which let the sunlight in, shining in a myriad of plants. Deep hues of red, vibrant yellows and delicate pinks popped all around. She looked up and the azure sky smiled to her, and she couldn't help but smile back. She was completely rapt; the beauty of this place caused in her a feeling I'll do my best to describe. Try and look at it this way, my spectators: she was blinded by the sight, overwhelmed by the scents of the outdoors, deafened by the sounds of life, all melded in one.

A pathway made of small, polished white stones snaked through the room, which was my personal conservatory, by the way, and she could hear dripping sounds that she knew as being running water. Breaking from her trance and gathering courage, she took a few hesitant steps forward, though never letting go of me. With every little step she gave, a new surprise was revealed. Vases full of plain green plants hung from the ceiling and dense foliages crowned the pebble path.

All the fear she felt a moment ago was now gone. I was right, the way the rays refracted from the glass panels and formed a mosaic of brilliant beams around the jungle of colors made unable for anyone to dislike the sun. Just after a turn, there was a set of chairs and couches of some sort of braided fiber, which she was told it was called "wicker". Matching the white seats and contrasting with its colorful pillows was a round table, with a glass covering, and atop it was a vase with thriving, recently cut flowers.

On the opposite wall, Meeya saw the source of the running water: a magnificent fountain. The statue that adorned it resembled her, and I saw her eyes widen. Lowering myself slightly, I rubbed my cheek against hers in affection. In her coursed flattery mingled with delight. Actually, the fact I was feeling what she felt with such precision was starting to be a bit scary. In that statue, she knew, was yet another proof of how much she meant to me. The stone cat bore an expression of happiness and contentment, while holding her jar, from where crystalline water fell on the basin near the ground. She also saw that feeding the fountain was a "stream", if she was not mistaken. It passed underneath the glass wall, disappearing into the basin and then reappearing on the other side, falling in smooth waves on the canal returning it to its natural course.

"It...it is..." She gasped, leaning against me, though I can't really tell if on breathlessness or simply on affection "Wonderful..."

"Such is the work of Nature, my love" I smiled.

"Nature... The Great Mother..." Her next action was understandable, though unexpected. She let go of me and slowly knelt down, leaning to kiss lightly a nearby patch of earth. I was frankly amazed. Rheia and her liberties, I thought smirking, probably taught her something about my devotion to Mother Earth during the surgeries. I was still angry about the lamp, but realizing this, I guess I could overlook her slip. I copied her gesture, to which she smiled, and then I helped her get up.

"Now that I am no longer restraining you, why don't you explore a bit?" She looked to me, a bit puzzled about what I meant. I raised both my hands; she looked at them and then to her own. I couldn't help but chuckle at her face, which could best be described as amused surprise.

The rest of the day flew on a fast and joyful twister. While Meeya slowly lost her inhibitions and put her inborn reflexes and feline muscles to work, I actually had to sprint to catch up with her as she ran and pranced around the rows of plants of the greenhouse. I will stop the twister at the point she gazed outdoors and saw the remains of the snowy night that happened a couple days ago.

"What is that, Christopher?" She pointed to a white mass of snow outside.

"That is snow, Meeya. When the weather is cold, usually on the season we call 'winter', the water in the clouds freeze, and it falls down as flakes"

"Ooh!" She exclaimed childishly. Adorable, I thought. "Can we go outside to see it?"

"Hmm...The occasion is not suitable" She pended her head in puzzlement, looking at me with those cute curiosity eyes cats are donned with "Most of it has melted already. When it starts snowing again, I promise we shall"

"Ook!" She giggled and resumed her excited explorations.

Quite many hours later; hours we spent scurrying every corner of the room, and I would explain to her about my favorite breeds of plants, teaching her about them, their smells, proprieties and other things; We collapsed, panting, under a very large oak, that occupied the very heart of the greenhouse, under a domed ceiling projected especially to let its thick branches grow freely.

"I didn't know anything so beautiful could exist" She whispered breathlessly, resting against my body, her fur matted with sweat "This world is a marvelous place"

I chuckled at her comment "This isn't the world, dearest. This is but a small grain of salt near the size and the beauty of the world. Mother Nature created countless beauties for her children to appreciate. And, as soon as you get used to your life, we will see them all"

She didn't answer, but looked at me with her green emeralds, so full of significance, yet, carrying such short words.

"Thank you, loved one"

What is there to be said? That moment meant the world to me, up to this day I can't figure what I could have answered to that look. I simply passed my arm over her shoulders and brought her closer to me. Her eyes were still on me.

"Christopher..." She spoke with the same mewling voice of when I talked to her in the tank.

"Call me Chris. It is shorter" We were close enough for me to see the hairs lying flat against her skin.

"Chris..." She looked down for a second, as if evaluating how it sounded.

"What is it, Meeya?" Our noses were almost touching.

"...Thanks for bringing me to the world" She whispered softly before our lips met.

In reflex, my eyes closed. My heart threatened to stop. She was so warm...her body touching mine, but especially her lips, rubbing in incessant passion against mine. I slowly rested my hand against the back of her head, pushing her gently deeper into our first kiss.

I wanted it to last forever... But after fifteen minutes, our lips were starting to get tired. We separated and drew deep breaths.

"I...enjoyed that..." The feline said between pants "That was a 'kiss', right?"

"Exactly" I smiled at her, also panting "It is a quite common way to show affection"

"Affection...means love?"

"Yes... and no" I scratched my chin at the innocent yet complex question "It is a wider concept. The love we have is a deep form of affection, but there are lesser ones. I will explain them to you, eventually"

"Why can't you say it now?" She asked, again in a very adorable childish way.

"Because love is one of the most complex emotions a child of Earth can feel, and you will understand it better after you have seen more of life" She looked disappointed, but I rubbed her cheek with my hand "For now, our love is all that matters"

She smiled and we kissed again. At some point in the kiss, she withdrew her mouth from mine.

"Chris..." She sounded somewhat embarrassed "I feel warm..."

"Warm?" I opened my eyes. She was blushing. Again cute beyond words, but she had also gotten me curious "Where?"

"My cheeks..." She touched lightly her flushed face "My chest..."

I looked at her breasts. Her nipples were perked up, and looked hard as granite. I began to understand.

"Do you feel tingly?" She waited a bit the answered.

"Yes, in my stomach. Like there are some... how are the name of those cute bugs you showed me, with the big, colorful wings?"

"Butterflies" She nodded.

"Yes. And..." She blushed harder "...Between my legs"

I noticed she was covering her mound. I gently took her hand off, and my suspicions were confirmed. She was excited; her fluids were almost dripping in the grass. She probably got that way because of the kiss, which is a trait I share. I should probably tell that I used my own DNA as base while building her genetic code. As such, we are common in many ways.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of, love" I touched her nipples, and they were, indeed, hard. And I smiled when she flinched from the sensation "You have felt this way before"

"Yes... But..." She writhed in pleasure at my caresses "I didn't knew... ah... It was because of you"

I couldn't suppress an evil smile. "Then it is time for another lesson"

Leaning in, I kissed Meeya again, but this time I slowly pressed my tongue against her lips. She hesitated for a second, and then opened them. I entered her mouth, and met her tongue with mine, drawing them in a wrestle. She moaned through the kiss, but I can't know if it was because of the kiss itself or because of my adventuring hands, caressing her nipples and her lower lips. Either way, I kept exploring the inside of her mouth until I could slowly withdraw and pass to lick her cheek.

"Ah! C...Chris..." She gasped when I lowered more, now brushing my tongue against her neck, which I knew, by experience, to be very sensitive.

But it was not where I stopped, drawing through her collarbone, I reached my destination: her breasts. Oh, the texture, the size, the softness! Made me want to lick them all over, and so I did. I heard my feline lover gasp and squirm every time I lashed against her sensitive nipples, or when my hand brushed against her swollen clit.

"Christopher, I...something's happening!" She spoke before arching her head and letting out a long moan, while I felt my hand be engulfed by a tidal wave of orgasmic juices. She collapsed against the oak, exhausted. Me, I was examining the clear layer coating my hand. Boldly, my tongue extended and drew a path through Meeya's love honey, and I mmm'ed at the taste. I heard a giggle near and saw she was looking at me in my dirty act.

"Want some?" I offered my hand to her "You'll like it"

She leaned forward and also took a taste of herself, and I giggled at the texture of her sandpaper tongue against my hand.

"So...?" I waited for her reaction, and she managed to surprise me yet again.

For a few seconds, she just stayed there, with a thoughtful face while she analyzed the taste. Then she almost leapt for my hand, and savagely licked it clean. Words don't describe my face. She looked up and, her eyes... were almost the eyes of a beast in heat: Burning, irrational and lust-driven. With a quite impressive display of strength, she pulled me from the oak and shoved me on the ground. I gasped, feeling the air leaving my lungs. Next, a cold breeze blew against my legs, while Meeya finished tearing off my pants and underwear. Then, straddling over me, she let out a roar of pleasure when she lowered herself on my erection

"What was that?" I asked, after many hours of fiery lovemaking, to a spent and cum-soaked Meeya, lying by my side.

"I don't know...When I felt that taste in my tongue, I just... lost control" She looked ashamed of her own actions, but also... afraid "Please don't hate me Chris..."

"Hate you? Why would I do that? It was incredible" I passed my arm over her reassuringly "But those... outbreaks will be something I'll have to study..."

She looked at me with discontent eyes.

"...After I enjoy every last bit of them"

She smiled, and closed her eyes, snuggling close to me. Before long, I started hearing a soft, rumbling sound nearby. Meeya was purring.

We held each other Mother Earth knows for how long, until the feline sound of affection died down, being replaced by a silent snoring. Also, I guess I should say that the sun had set by this time, but we were kind of "busy" to notice it.

Ever so slowly, I got up, and even more slowly I picked Meeya in my arms. "It's bed time" I whispered, mostly to myself.

Back to my room, which was luckily close to the conservatory, I gently laid the sleeping cat in my bed and covered her with the sheets.

"Damned mirror neurons..." I said, after some time looking at her innocently asleep face and letting out a huge, yet silent, yawn "Oh, well..."

I moved around the bed and laid down on the other side, covering myself and snuggling close to her. That night, I didn't do my prayer. There was no need; the happiness was already there, but there was no pain. There was no anger. There was only peace.

To Be Continued...