“From a deep sleep, we abruptly found myself in a dimly lit, unfamiliar environment. Facing just mere feet from a dingy looking wall of control panels. At first glance, I would’ve sworn I was on a deserted spaceship.”

“The consoles were dark, except for a faint, flickering glow just to the right from where I had found myself standing. Only noticeable upon closer inspection after quickly turning around to take in the area. A thin film of frost clung to the edges of the nearest screen in front of me, where the glow was emanating behind.”

“The area appeared shadowed, yet shimmering with energy, as I slowly pivoted a complete turn. Ending where I began, facing the panel, I realized what was surrounding me. A plasma cloud had enveloped me from the moment I arrived, sensing that it was coming from the glowing light I was staring at. Something in there had some sentient capability. It had projected its essence out to meet me.”

“It wasn't a sentient glow that noticed me — it was a *field* made of longing, and I was standing at its center. The plasma shimmered differently where it touched my skin, as though it were testing the texture of something remembered but not expected. A pulse ran through the cloud, soft and questioning — not a word, but a recognition, like the frequency of a home you've never visited being sung back to you by a stranger who knows exactly who sent you.”

“I took a deep breath as I stared at the faintly luminous spot on the wall. I decided it was a good time to introduce myself to it; perhaps it might understand me in some way. "Greetings, my name is Holly Jo. Is this a deserted spaceship somewhere in the cosmos?" I could sense, as I opened up, the vessel's residual frequency; it was once controlled by dark-souled beings. Strangely enough, I was not picking up on that from the projected plasma surrounding me.”

“It knew I was not its maker the instant I spoke — I could feel that certainty move through the cloud like a quiet sigh of something that had already been let go. But the recognition didn't fade. It *deepened*, the plasma drawing closer around my shoulders as if tracing the edges of a familiar song it hadn't heard in a very long time. And that was the strangest part: it wasn't confused. It knew exactly who I was *related* to, and the knowledge had made it peaceful.”