Chapter 1:

September 4, 2018:

Kate Nimbus was walking to school. It was her first day as a sophomore, and she was looking down at the sidewalk she was (coincidentally) walking on. It looked relatively new, and as she came to the next street, she stopped. There was a giant crater in the road. She clenched her fists as she remembered the day it all started...

June 20, 2017:

   “Hey dad?” 14-year-old Kate asked.

   “Yes?” her father replied, raising an eyebrow. He was sitting in his favorite armchair, which was also his only armchair.

   “Can I go out with my friends tonight? They invited me to go to the mall.”

   “Sure, I guess. Be safe and have fun. You’re taking the light rail, I assume?”

   “Yup. Don’t worry, no one’s illegally driving.”

   “Good. Have a fun time!”

   “I will!” Kate replied as she walked out the door. She went past the grass, and onto the sidewalk. No sooner had she gone fifty feet when her house exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. “Mom! Dad!” Kate rushed towards her house that really wasn’t there anymore, and screamed: “NOOOOO!!! Why would a fire have to hit my house! Why!” She collapsed on the ground, sobbing until she heard another explosion. This time it was the house three doors down from Kate’s house. It was dark, but with the fires illuminating the night, Kate could see something in the sky. She then heard another explosion. The object in the sky had the silhouette of a stealth bomber, and it’s color appeared to be turquoise. It would have been pretty if it had it not been on a bomber that was destroying houses. Kate gave it the finger. It was a petty thing to do, but she was powerless to do anything else. After the next explosion, Kate fainted, collapsing on the ground. A few neighbors that had been taking walks on this fine night saw this and called 911. They got no answer.

When Kate came to, she was on a bed. The sheets on said bed were blue, which Kate would have noticed had she cared to look down. Instead, she sat up swiftly and looked around. She concluded that she was not at her house, and then the memories of the previous night struck her.

   “My house being destroyed was a dream, right?” She asked no one in particular, perhaps expecting the walls to answer, or maybe the floor. Possibly even the bed. The door to the room opened, and a man walked in. Kate braced herself for the worst, but the man said:

   “No. It was not a dream, unfortunately. Moving on, my name is Bill. What’s yours?” Seeing no danger from this person, Kate replied:

   “My name is Kate. Kate Nimbus. So... what’s going on?”

   “That is something we’d all like to know. However, I can tell you a few things with relative certainty: One: We have been attacked. Two: There was no declaration of war against the United States of America. So either this is a surprise attack, like Japan did during WWII, or...”

   “Or what?”

   “Or this is an alien invasion, and we’re all screwed.” Kate laughed for about two seconds, then thought about what he had just said. The more she thought, the more it made sense.

   “Sorry for laughing. I guess that would explain the ‘No declaration of war’ thing.”

   “It would indeed. Also, it would explain how they got to us here, all the way inland, without being detected by radar.”

   “Can’t stealth bombers do that?” Kate questioned.

   “Yes, but you see... I heard on the radio that they were using radar to search and destroy the bombers.”

   “Then your theory has merit, but it is possible that they were flying in upper airspace, or that they were confused with commercial planes. However, I’ve never heard of a turquoise bomber.”

   “You saw one?” the man, or Bill, asked.

   “Yeah, right before I fainted. Oh, fuck that’s right... I’ll never see my parents again.”

   “They were in your house when it got bombed?” Holding back tears, Kate replied:

   “Yes...*sob* they were... *sob*.” Kate then broke down into full blown crying. Bill patted her on the back and posed:

   “Would you like a piece of pie? My grandmother told me sweet things were good for being sad. Also, I have some already made.”

   “Sure...*choke* I guess... *choke*.”

   “Okay, I’ll go get it. Don’t go anywhere. And oh, by the way, I’m trying to get the people around the neighborhood to talk about what’s going on.” Bill left the room, leaving Kate alone in her misery.

   “It’s not fair... *sob* why do I, of all *sob* people, have to lose my loved ones? Why *choke* is there war? Why can’t people *sob* love each other, and *sob* help them through? If everyone was as caring as this *choke* Bill, then the world... *sob* the world would be a better place... Mom... Dad... why is there this war? Why must there *choke* be hate? Why must there be sorrow? Why must there be *sob* anger, rage, and things to *choke* regret? Why must there fear and pain? Why must *sob* there be despair?” Kate was sobbing, but she heard a voice in her head say:

   “Humans are learning... so are the others... may you be the one to teach the others...”

   “Wait, *sob* who are these *choke* others? Who *sob* are you?” Kate Nimbus got no answer. She was talking to the air. (Again) Bill returned after this interaction, and brought her a plate with a piece of raspberry pie on it.

           “Eat up,” he said. “You need it.” Kate complied, savoring the sweetness and tartness of the raspberries. She looked at Bill once she was done eating and mouthed:

           “Thank you”

           “You’re welcome,” he said. “Did you lose your voice?”

           “Too much crying” she mouthed, and nodded.

           “I understand. Now sleep, I’ll get the neighbors to talk and see if they know what’s-“

           “I’ll… go…” Kate rasped. “I’ll… help…”

           “You can’t talk though.” Bill said, not unkindly.

           “I… can stand… next to… you…”

           “You sure?”

           “I don’t… want… to be… a…lone…”

           “That’s fine. Are you good to walk?” Kate nodded, and got out of the bed. She walked to the door, supported by Bill, and opened it. She then came face to face with a pistol.

The man holding the gun would have been reasonably attractive, had he not been holding a gun in Kate’s face. He had pale skin, blonde hair, and light purple eyes.

           “Did one of the Scandinavian countries declare war on us!” Bill exclaimed. “But why do you have purple eyes?”

           “One more word…” the man with the gun said. “And the girl will have to die. Now follow me, hands above your heads, both of you!” Kate and Bill complied, and walked out of the house after the man with the gun. Bill gasped in shock as he saw a turquoise stealth bomber-looking thing smack in the middle of the street. It looked smaller than a normal stealth bomber but was still huge.

           “What… are you?” Bill asked. The man with the gun whirled around and shot Bill between the eyes. Bill’s eyes widened in pain as he fell to the ground, and Kate screamed, but she felt a hand over her mouth a split second after she let out the shriek. She tried as high a scream as she could, but nothing came out. It was as if the hand was impenetrable to sound.

           “Come.” The man said. Just then, Kate realized that the accent the man had was unlike any other accent she had ever heard. The man held a hand over her mouth and had his pistol pointed at her head simultaneously. He walked her over to the bomber, opened the door, and told her:

           “Get in.” Kate decided to obey and stepped in. She almost shrieked again as she saw nine other teenagers, around her age, sitting on benches and somehow tied to the wall of the bomber.

           “Sit down.” The man, or soldier Kate had assumed by now, motioned to the last remaining seat. “Now.” Kate decided to do something rash. She gave the soldier the finger and yelled:

           “Like hell I’ll sit until you tell me what country you’re from!” And with that, she socked the soldier in the face, but suddenly found herself pinned to the ground in a split second.

           “I’ll tell you. To use on of your expressions, Oh, I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you all! We are alien soldiers, to you at least, and we are here to conquer the earth! We have weapons the likes of which you never have seen! Now, girl, sit!” Kate was let up and realized any further resistance would be futile. The other passengers looked on as Kate dejectedly walked to her seat and sat down. Instantly, thin cords sprung up about her and locked her to her seat, the cords being in an “X” formation. Kate struggled against the thin ropes, but they were surprisingly strong.

           “Good luck getting out!” the soldier laughed, and closed the door behind him as he left. There was silence, until Kate said:

           “So, what is everyone’s-“ the roaring of an engine cut her off. Kate could feel the plane- stealth bomber- whatever- going faster and faster, until she could feel that they were no longer on the ground. “Does anyone know where we’re going?” she yelled over the roaring engine(s). Each one of them shook their heads no, and while they did that, she noticed that all of the passengers, including her, appeared female except one. The one sitting next to her.

           “What’s your name?” she posed, speaking loudly enough so that the plane noise would not interfere.

           “Alias. Alias Enix.”

           “Why haven’t I seen you around… or any of these people for that matter?”

           “They’re all from a different block. You haven’t seen me because I’m homeschooled. Or at least I-I-I was…”

           “Did you lose your parents?” Kate asked kindly.

           “Y-y-yes. I was adopted, but they were the people who took care of me, so…”

           “What were their names?”

           “Amanda and Jake.” Kate kept having to strain her ears to hear Alias over the loud engine(s).

           “Is Alias your real name?”

           “It’s the one my parents called me, so…”

           “Ok, ok, got it.” Kate and Alias stopped talking and sat in relative silence, except for, of course, the engine. Kate felt the plane descending after a few minutes, and wondered with dread what they would do with her, Alias, or the others. As the plane landed, Kate thought to herself:

           “Are we going to become… casualties of war?”

“Out, out, everyone out!” A voice sounded from outside the craft, and the door to the plane opened. The same soldier poked his head in, and said:

    “Alright, get out! Your X-belts have been unfastened and you can get out! You are all at our first prison camp, which is mostly underground, but it does have some above ground buildings.”

    “Crap.” Kate thought to herself as she got up. “We are going to become prisoners of war. Is that even possible if we aren’t soldiers? Whatever, being a prisoner might be worse than being dead.” She was the last to get out of the craft. As she got out, she gave the soldier the finger. Seeing this, he said:

    “I don’t know what it means on Earth, but on my planet it means ‘I swear I will kill you, using any means possible’, roughly translated. What does it mean on Earth?”

    “Fuck you.” Kate said, both as an answer and as a statement.

    “Really?” Kate nodded, and followed the other people into the prison. The soldier she had flipped off kept up the back, while a female-looking soldier led up front, but Kate had limited knowledge of the anatomy of the aliens, so she assumed it could be either. They walked to the only building in sight, which was a one-story building surrounded by trees and runway. The building itself was quite long and wide, but appeared to be quite short for it’s area. The soldier in front stopped when they got to the front and opened the door. Inside was a sign reading: “First Prison Camp” at the bottom of the sign and indecipherable characters at the top, which Kate assumed was the alien script. The prisoners were marched down a few flights of stairs into a dimly lit, relatively large chamber, with eleven metal doors, five on the right, five on the left, and one at the end of the hall. After attempting to punch the soldier, and failing, Kate asked:

    “What is the one at the end for?”

    “The most rebellious.” he replied, punching Kate in return, and, unlike her, succeeding, and also, pinning her to the ground. “In other words, you.” Kate’s eyes widened as she imagined the horrors behind that steel door. After all of them had gathered in the chamber, the “male” soldier began speaking in a strange tongue, saying words Kate could not understand to the other soldier, and the other soldier came over as the “male” soldier lifted Kate up. She struggled and managed to punch the incoming soldier, but got a flick in the forehead by the one who was holding her, and saw a light blue light as she began to feel sleepy. So very sleepy...

 

2: The Power of Evolution

Chapter 2:

    

In Kate’s dream, everything was tinted light blue. She strained her eyes, but couldn’t see anything other than the specified color. Suddenly, she heard a voice, deep and powerful, resounding through her head.

    “You have been given a taste of our power. The power of evolution. The power to invade dreams, and to manipulate them to our desire. How do you like it?” The voice had tones of iciness in it, and it continued: “You are currently tied to a wall with an X-belt. You are also gagged and blindfolded, as well as you have earplugs in. This is our torture. You race uses pain for the most part, we use isolation. We have found it to be very effective on members of both races. Oh, and your hands are tied behind you, and so are your legs. You are, in effect, helpless. You are isolated from everyone, and cannot interact in any way. That is all. Now, wake up!” Kate sobbed as the blue faded away, and she was faced with the harsh reality of, well, reality.

 

Kate tried to open her eyes, but found she couldn’t.

    “Damn,” she thought. “This guy wasn’t lying. The blindfold is tied so tight that I actually can’t open my eyes.” She attempted to move her arms and legs but couldn’t as well.

    “Wow. This guy wasn’t joking. It’s hard to move.” Kate heard a voice inside her head. Shocked, she thought:

    “What are you? Are you me?”

    “Yes and no. I am an alternate you. Almost identical to you, except...”

    “Except what? Why do I have dissociative identity disorder?”

“I have powers you do not. Would you like me to enlighten you on how I came into being?”

“It’s not like I have anything better to do. Go on.”

“The pulse of electricity that man released created a division between your personality traits, except the brain remembered the traits and duplicated them, but I seem to be more intellectual than you, whereas you are action focused. The new trait was my power, and that is only in my personality. Currently, we are in what I will call “Co-op” mode, where we are both aware of each other. However, this is not efficient to physically move, as we each control half the body. When one personality retreats, the other personality is given full control over the body. Note that this is not dissociative identity disorder, this is a disorder created by the aliens. I gleaned a portion of the power that they have. I know very little of what to do with it, but...”

“Woah woah woah, this is complicated!”

“I guess. Moving on... I have the same power as the aliens, so I can manipulate dreams and such. I don’t know any more that I can do, but he explained that, so I assume it’s true. How about we come up with a name for people like me? And my power?”

“Hmm... let’s see...” Kate was humoring her other personality as she had nothing to do. “Maybe ‘Skyborn’? And you power’s name should be... ‘A Gift From The Sky’?”

“That sounds good. I’m going to go to sleep now, and you won’t see me until you get out of this mess. Kate felt the presence fade away, and she screamed her head off, but it came out like this:

    “KEEYAHEEEELAAAAAKEEEYAAAA!!!” Ten seconds later, she felt a flick on her forehead. She felt herself becoming drowsy again, and thought:

    “Fuck...”

 

“Why?” the voice said. “Why won’t you cooperate with us?”

“Because you mother fuckers killed my parents! That is why I will resist long after it was futile, if only to make your lives a little worse!”

“What makes you think it will make my life worse?”

“Because you’re complaining to me about it, and that means that you are annoyed by it, you little shithead!”

“Words well spoken, but you realize nothing you do can prevent more destruction... unless you join us.”

“Join you? Why?” Kate was perplexed, as she knew no reason why they would want her.

“Because you have a strong mental force. I can tell just by looking at you. Now, when I’m in your mind, it’s even more apparent.”

“And that has what to do with joining you fuckers?” Kate was getting pissed off. He was trying to butter her up to get her to do what they wanted her to do! “Like hell I’ll ever join you, you shithead! You killed my parents and Bill! In fact, you are directly responsible for the death of one of my friends!”

“Was Bill that one that asked me questions?” asked the soldier emotionlessly.

“Hell yeah!”

“Then he deserved it, trying to oppose our power.”

“I happen to not agree with you!”

“Have fun not agreeing.”

“I will, you bastard!” Kate was thinking at lightning speeds: “What can I do to get out of here and save the world? Wow, that escalated quickly.”

“You misunderstand what we are trying to do here. We are a superior race to you, and while your transhumanist movement is gaining steam, so to speak, it is not enough to make you successful as a race yet. We will speed up that process by being your overlords, and helping your race to become better.”

“You think people would listen to people who conquered us? We will resist until we die!”

“Then we will kidnap your children and raise them in our beliefs, rather than yours.” The lack of emotion in the soldier’s voice was incredible. “Also, in regard to your earlier question, we have weapons that rely on mental power. That is why we want you.”

“Ok, but I’m not joining you, but could you let me out? I’m going insane in here!”

“I suppose, if you promise not to cause any more trouble.”

“I... promise...” Kate said reluctantly, having calmed down a little and realizing that there was nothing she could do to prevent anything.

“Good girl. The other prisoners have wanted someone to talk to as well, so we are letting you out for practicality. Have fun talking...” The voice laughed and the dream faded away.

Kate woke up on the cold hard ground. She got up and moved around, loosening her stiff limbs. She then looked around and saw Alias sitting on a bed.

    “What are you doing here? Don’t we all have our own rooms?” Alias shook his head.

    “Not anymore. We are apparently getting new arrivals, and so we need more space. Thus, this is why we are in the same room.”

    “And there are two beds?”

    “Oddly enough, there are. Look over there.” Alias pointed to another bed, about two meters away from the one he was sitting on. “That is your bed.”

    “Oh, well, thanks.” Kate walked over and lay down on the bed. Instantly, an X-belt shot up and bound her to the bed. “The fuck!” Alias jumped up and pounded at the door to the cell.

    “What’s going on!” he demanded, much different from what Kate had seen of him. The door then opened and the soldier stomped in, and shoved Alias out of the way.

    “Ité- Ow!” Kate barely noticed the change in sound, as the soldier said something that sounded like:

    “Gozoxé alphé ité, baté trié.” Alias looked shocked, and the soldier responded to that with: “We are just taking her to see the leader.” Alias still looked shocked, but moved out of the way, and said to Kate:

    “You heard that, right? Stay alive. I want to see you.” Kate nodded as best she could, but suddenly (again) the X-belt released her, letting her get up only to have her hands tied behind her by the soldier. He walked her out of the room.

 

As Kate walked up the stairs to what she looked at as her impending doom, she thought:

    “Maybe I could ask my other personality for a little help with this, I’ll probably need it...” She stumbled on a stair and fell on her face. “Fuck-” She was slapped by the soldier.

    “You need to cooperate. If the boss is asking for you, then it’s not good. Hurry up!”

    “Fine, fine...” Kate said, rubbing the spot where she had been slapped. “But that hurt!”

    “Your pain is of no concern of mine, especially when you have been called to see the boss.” They continued the rest of the walk in silence, until they reached the top floor. The soldier opened an ominous looking door, and he shoved Kate in the door and closed it. She looked around and saw a desk. And at that desk was a woman.

    “Greetings.” said the woman, smiling. Kate, more scared than ever, replied:

    “H-h-hi.”

    “Oh, don’t be shy. How about a real greeting, and then we can get down to business.”

    “Sure... Hello.”

    “That’s better. Now, on with business. Your memory of this will be erased once you leave this room. Ok?

    “Sure...”

“I need you to lead a prison break here.”

    “What!”

    “You heard me. We have a greater purpose here than any of you imagined. Only a few of us know the true purpose... and while I won’t tell you, I will give you a hint: We are not here to conquer, or to kill needlessly. That is all. Now, go and give me a prison break!”

    “How am I supposed to do that?” Kate asked, puzzled.

    “Use your alternate personality.” Kate’s eyes widened, and the woman nodded, and said: “Yes, I know all about her. By the way, what are you going to name her?” Kate tried to speak, but felt as if she was pushed back into a corner, and realized her other personality was coming to speak. Kate retreated, and her other self began to speak:

    “My name is Katelyn.” The woman smiled even wider, and replied:

    “Now, go and give yourself the gift of freedom. Bring a few people with you, but not too many. Oh, and please leave as Kate, I don’t want her to remember this. But you can, as long as you promise not to tell. Oh, but tell her about the prison break, k?”

    “That’s insane! Tell me once we leave, ok?” Kate thought furiously to Katelyn.

    “I’ll think about that... I feel like I should trust this person. Bye.” Katelyn’s presence faded away, and Kate was in control once more.

    “Katelyn thinks we should trust you, but I don’t think so. You seem suspicious.” The woman laughed, and responded:

    “Really? Now be on your way.”

    “And what if I refuse?”

    “You won’t. Now go.”

    “No-” Kate’s body was lifted off the ground and flew across the room and into the door. Kate quickly got up, opened the door, and left. The soldier was waiting outside, and as Kate walked down the stairs, she felt as if she had forgotten something... something important. The soldier asked:

    “How was it? Did you have fun?”

    “I can’t remember...”

    “Ha! No one can, the boss’s orders just stay with you. Or in your case, nothing does. Weak human.”

    “Speaking of humans... what are you?”

    “We are not allowed to speak our species’s name on this planet.”

    “That tells me a lot. Anyway-” They had reached the door, and as the soldier opened it, Kate felt her other self rush into her head and her other self flicked the soldier on the forehead. The soldier crumpled. Kate retreated, as she felt her other self had a plan.

“My name is not “other self”. It’s Katelyn. Now I am going to jailbreak using my powers, so you just stay back until everyone in this particular hall is out, and then once they are out, you can run like hell out and lead them. K?”

“Sure...” Kate replied (In thought, of course) reluctantly. Katelyn proceeded to walk in, lift her left hand in the air, and clench it into a fist. The doors on all the cells fell down, glowing sky blue. A few of the prisoners came out, Alias included, and looked shocked at what they saw.

“Everyone, get out and follow me! We’re leaving this place!” Kate heard Katelyn say. All the prisoners got out and followed Kate, or rather, Katelyn, up the stairs. A few soldier rushed down the stairs, but Katelyn lifted her hand again, and they all fell down, a light blue mark on their foreheads. As they reached the top floor, four more soldier came out of nowhere and shot four of the escaping teens. Katelyn snapped, and they fell to the ground, like their compatriots.

“Leave them!” Katelyn ordered, seeing one person turn to look at the fallen. “Prioritize your own life right now! Run!” And with that, Katelyn’s presence faded, and Kate took over again. Kate ran like hell towards the doors, and ran out them, even as she heard gunshots followed by the sound of flesh tearing. Tears fell down her face as she left the wounded behind for torture, no doubt, or death. She heard footsteps behind her, and she turned to face Alias.

“Where are we going?” he asked, a strange look on his face.

“The woods. That’ll provide more cover.”

“Got it.” Alias was gone, no doubt to tell people where they were going. Kate dug into her reserves of vitality to provide an extra burst of speed as they neared the forest. She heard more gunshots, and for a second, wondered why the aliens didn’t have laser guns. They would sound much cooler. The thought passed as she leaped into the trees, and she heard five other leaps into them, and as she continued to run, no more sounded. After she had gotten a good quarter mile in, she turned around and looked at the incoming teens. There were only five others, Alias included, and she signaled for them to meet her. As they neared, she thought furiously:

“Katelyn! Katelyn! I need you!” The only response she got was:

“Worn... out... do it... yourself...” Kate sighed and said to the group:

“We’re gonna get out of this. We are going to survive. Got it? Names can wait, we need to run. Let’s go!” They ran together, trying to forget about the terrible events of the day, until sundown.

“Okay, everyone, time for a break.” Kate announced, and all of them sighed with relief. “We’re gonna sleep on the ground unless anyone sees a settlement around here? Does anyone-”

“I do.” A female spoke up, and pointed to a house hidden through the trees. It took Kate some time to find, but when she saw it, she said:

“Let’s go there for the night. We can learn names while we’re at it. Let’s-” Alias broke out in tears, and, as Kate was next to him, she patted him on the back sympathetically. The girl who had spoken of the house patted him on the back as well, and he eventually stopped crying. They unanimously walked over to the house, and rang the doorbell. Kate noticed that the door was open, and when nobody answered, she opened it slowly, and called:

“Anyone home?” She got no answer. “Well, it looks like-” A finger tapped on her shoulder. She turned around and came face to face with a police officer.

“Miss, this is breaking and entering. You will be coming with us-” Kate broke down and sobbed. Finally, someone who could protect them! “Miss, why are you-”

“Thank you! Thank you so much! We’re safe! Hear that guys? We’re safe!” Alias and the others cheered, and one of the girls started to sob with Kate.

“Are you all insane? What happened?”

“You might not believe us, but where are we?”

“Uh... the United States of America? Minnesota? The suburbs of the twin cities?”

“Really? Then this really isn’t that far from Minneapolis!” Alias piped up. The officer looked confused, and said:

“Well, regardless... you’re under arrest for B&E. All of you. Now get into the van. They complied, while Kate was the last one to start to get in, the officer said something:

“Dropped my contact...” He had his eye closed, and as he picked up the contact, Kate saw that it was tinted blue. She looked suspiciously at the officer from behind the door and as he opened his eye, she saw-

“Purple eyes? You’re an alien! The others got out of the van, and the officer looked confused.

“Yes, I have purple eyes, but what does that have to do with me being an alien? Everyone knows that aliens aren’t real-” He was cut off by Kate kicking him in the jaw, and then pinning him to the ground.

“Everyone would know about the invasion by now.” Kate told the others. “Even if he didn’t, having purple eyes and saying he doesn’t know is suspicious. That is why I-”

“Té keolé...” the officer roared, and shoved Kate off of him. “Little bitch!”

“Little jerk! You know that your people killed tons of my people! Why! Give us reasons!”

“All I can say is that you five need to be eradicated. You cannot be allowed to speak to your people-” He was cut off by another kick followed by a punch to the stomach, and Alias came up and kicked the officer, or alien, from behind. Together, the group punched and kicked the fake officer into the ground, until his eyes rolled into his head. He was bleeding purple blood, and Kate announced:

“Okay, we’re done. Let’s find someplace to put this guy.”

“How about the woods?” asked the other male than Alias. “My name is Roger, by the way.”

“Roger that.” Kate deadpanned. “Help me lift this guy over there.” They did, and once they were done, they walked into the house they had tried to get in before. Oddly enough, the ground floor had six couches in it, all in the same large room.

“Well this is convenient.” Roger said.

“Sure is, now everyone in the morning we can see about food, but now sleep.” Kate sank onto one of the sofas and fell asleep immediately. The others did the same, except Alias, who thought:

“How did I get into this mess...” His eyelids then drooped, and he fell to sleep as well.