It’s funny how sometimes you have a plan for the big picture stuff in a story, but sometimes don’t know the details until you’re writing them. The dive shock that Sam experienced on the way in was known to me, the shock he experienced on the way out is new.
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Silence fell between the two as Sam hesitated with his next question. He was certain that Dr. Baker could be trusted, but this matter seemed somehow more private.
“The dark space I mentioned,” he started, his voice drawing each word out slowly. “I’ve seen it before. Twice, actually.” Now that he was talking about it, he suddenly remembered the first time he had experienced that sense of detachment in the virtual world.
“You have seen it before? In your dreams, perhaps?” Baker’s tone hinted that he suspected Sam was speaking of something else.
Sam shook his head no, “Once when I entered Beta fully for the first time, and once more yesterday, during the pull from Barrett’s world.”
“Would you say this coincided with your physical body’s distress in both cases?”
“I think so, yes. But I don’t know why.”
Baker frowned, staring off into space while he mulled things over. Sam took this moment of silence to place his tea back on the table, still half full. He didn’t feel much like finishing it now. It had cooled considerably during the conversation.
“The first time can be explained well enough,” the psychologist began. “It happens from time to time with new agents. The first dive can be a shock to the mind’s equilibrium which is then translated to the physical body. What I do not understand is why it would happen again as it did yesterday.”
A thought occurred to Sam, “When I… Awakened, what happened?”
“From what I have learned, your mental connection with Beta’s virtual environment solidified to the point that the system can read you as a virtual construct. Beyond that, it seems your abilities in Beta as a Dreamer have become augmented beyond that of a normal agent.”
“So after I Awakened, would it make sense that leaving Beta would have been another shock to my mind’s equilibrium?”
“Hmm, perhaps,” Baker stroked his chin pensively. “Upon Awakening your subconscious would have started to see Beta as a natural environment. Pulling it out so soon after this change could have upset its new balance.”
“And the dark space? Did anyone else see that?”
“Just one,” Baker’s voice dropped to a low tone of sadness. “And now she is trapped in Beta.”