The silence after the invitation hung over the hall like a heavy fog.
Harry and Nik still hadn't fully grasped what was happening. The black-haired woman—now named Syra—and her blonde assistant, Lena, stood a few steps away, waiting.
"Before any answer, you need to understand exactly what you are accepting," Syra said, her voice cold and clear like fresh snow. "This is not a game. It's not a recreational adventure. This is a contract with reality itself."
Nik, still shaken from Harry's encounter with the cat and that strange bite, stepped forward.
"We still don't know anything. You spun some story about timelines and layers… why should we believe it?"
Lena, without a word, reached toward the stone wall of the hall. Her fingertips barely touched it when the surface began to ripple, like water disturbed by a dropped stone. The stone changed color, shifting from gray to icy transparency, revealing a scene behind it: a city with tall glass buildings, cars floating just above the ground instead of sliding, and a sky where three moons shone in different phases.
"Iran, 2026," Lena said.
"The layer in which Parsa lives."
Harry's breath caught. This was exactly the image he had seen in his dreams. The details were even sharper: store signs in Farsi, people walking in clothes he had never seen in Arskana.
"How…" Harry managed to say.
"Because you are connected to him through perceptual cords," Syra explained. "Your mind, Harry, is like a radio tuned to Parsa's mental frequency. We call this 'mental resonance.' All humans have some degree of it, but in most, it's dormant. In you and Parsa, it's active. We don't know why. Perhaps a genetic accident, perhaps an incident in one of the layers that affected both of you."
Nik cautiously approached the wall, his hand reaching toward the image. His fingertips passed through the transparent surface and felt warmth.
"So it's real. Two different worlds exist simultaneously."
"Not just two worlds," Syra corrected. "Countless worlds, or rather, countless layers of a single reality. Like a book with many thin pages stacked together. Usually, these pages are separate, but at certain points—which we call 'temporal nodes'—the pages touch, allowing passage or at least observation."
The image vanished, and the wall returned to stone.
Lena continued, "The alley where you were captured is one of these nodes. A weak point in the fabric of reality. We've been monitoring it. You two were drawn to it because of your resonance."
"You mean we had no control?" Harry asked.
"In a way. Your brain received that signal and drew you toward its source, like a pigeon sensing Earth's magnetic field. But that's only part of the story."
Syra stepped forward.
"The main reason for our intervention is not your curiosity, but a danger forming. The Iran 2026 layer is unstable. Something—or someone—is tearing its fabric. If it happens, not only will that layer collapse, but the ripple effect could damage adjacent layers, including our layer—Arskana 1435. Possibly a chain reaction."
Nik went pale.
"You mean our world could end?"
"Exactly. And we think Parsa, unintentionally, is at the center of this storm. Your connection to him, Harry, could be the key to saving both layers. We need to know what's happening on the other side, but our access is blocked. That's where you come in."
Harry felt as if the ground beneath him were shifting. All of this had started with his dreams, a mysterious paper, and now it had escalated to saving worlds.
"What do you want from us?" he asked.
"We want to train you," Syra said. "To learn to control your mental resonance, consciously access Parsa's layer, and report what you see. Eventually, you may even influence events. You may warn Parsa. Or step from this side to the other."
Silence fell again.
Nik looked at Harry. Excitement flickered in his eyes, but so did fear. Harry felt the same. Life in Arskana had always seemed small and repetitive. This offer, with all its dangers, felt like an answer to a hidden longing for something greater.
"If we accept," Nik said, "what happens to our normal lives? My siblings…"
"We can provide conditions," Lena said. "We can create false memories that show you went to a distant city for work. Your families won't be suspicious. But this is a one-way path. Once you enter, returning to your previous life will be very difficult. Your mind will see and learn things you can no longer pretend don't exist."
Harry thought of his dreams, of the face of Parsa that sometimes appeared in them—and now he knew it was real. Of the strange sense of belonging somewhere else. Then he thought of his siblings, of Elena always watching over him. If there was a real threat, if he could prevent a disaster…
"I accept," Harry said, his voice stronger than he felt.
Nik hesitated a few more seconds, then exhaled, his shoulders dropping.
"I accept too. After all, who said saving the world is a bad thing?"
A small smile appeared on Syra's lips.
"Welcome, Guardians of the Future."
The following hours passed in a whirlwind of explanations and introductions.
They were brought to a section of the underground complex called the "Node Base." Simple, functional sleeping quarters, a dining hall, and several training rooms, each with unusual purposes.
In one room, the walls were covered in metal panels that emitted a constant whispering sound.
Syra explained, "This is the Resonance Room. Your mind, Harry, will be enhanced here so you can control your connection with Parsa—not just in dreams, but consciously while awake."
The first exercise was simple but grueling: sit in complete silence and focus on a small glowing point on the opposite wall, while the metal panels emitted special sound waves affecting the mind's frequency. Harry managed only a headache in the first ten minutes.
In the adjacent room, Lena was teaching Nik foundational concepts. His exercise was different: solving complex geometric holographic puzzles floating in the air.
"Your mind is analytical, Nik," Lena said. "In our work, you must recognize patterns between layers, see irregular rhythms. These puzzles prepare your mind to detect temporal anomalies."
Nik, who had always been skilled with complex devices, performed better, but even he felt his brain overheating after an hour.
Finally, during a short break in the dining hall, both were exhausted but full of questions.
"Don't you think we decided too quickly?" Nik whispered, stirring a thick soup.
Harry glanced around. The base was serious and cold, full of people rushing from one task to another, carrying devices that emitted strange lights.
"Maybe. But Nik, my whole life I've felt like somewhere else belonged to me. The dreams… they weren't just dreams. They were real. And now I have a way to discover the truth. Even if it's dangerous."
Nik exhaled.
"At least I don't have to endure that stifling workshop anymore. Here, the puzzles are at least interesting."
Harry's brief laugh echoed oddly in the hall.
Syra entered again, this time in simpler attire.
"Initial progress is acceptable," she said without preamble. "Tomorrow, real training begins. Harry, you will work with me. You must learn to consciously access Parsa's mind without revealing your identity or harming him. Nik, you will work with Lena on mapping the temporal nodes around Arskana."
"You said we're going to gain supernatural powers," Nik reminded. "What kind of powers?"
Syra paused, as if weighing her words.
"'Powers' isn't quite the right word. More like… expanding your senses. The ability to see what others cannot, hear the sounds of other layers, feel the flow of time like a river. But to reach that stage, you must first master your own mind. Tomorrow we start with the fundamentals: controlling sleep."
She turned to leave, but paused at the doorway.
"One more thing. Never attempt to make contact without our supervision. If you get lost in an unfamiliar layer, you may never find your way back. Your mind could wander forever between realities."
After she left, a heavy silence filled the dining hall.
Harry and Nik stared at their spoons. The danger was real—greater than anything they had imagined.
"Harry," Nik whispered. "If one day we get lost in a layer… promise me you'll find me."
Harry looked at his friend and gave a small smile.
"I promise. You do the same."
And in that moment, deep within the underground base, amid complex explanations and grueling exercises, a new bond formed between them—not just simple friendship, but the bond of two travelers crossing the unknown boundaries of reality.