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Hector took his time and tried to observe the doors, though they seemed to resist that effort, too.

But then again, this was his own mind, so maybe he was the one resisting? Hmm. Perhaps the knowledge that these doors didn’t actually exist was to blame. It was like trying to study a dream in real-time. A bit of a fool’s errand, maybe.

So he changed tactics. He stopped trying to observe them with his eyes--or whatever it was that passed for eyes in this heady place--and instead, he started trying to clear his mind again.

If this was his own mind, then everything he might want to know about it was already here. Right? So maybe it was just a matter of opening himself up to that information. Allowing him to “see” it. Or to understand it, at least.

Heh. To hold truth?

Maybe so.

Man, this was something. He didn’t think he’d ever gone this deep into his meditation before. It certainly felt new enough. This place. These doors. What did he know of them?

No. That was wrong. He had to stop asking. Stop inquiring. Because he already had the answers. Hopefully.

Emptiness. Clarity. Peace.

Whoa. It felt like he was going yet deeper still.

But he wasn’t. He hadn’t gone anywhere. His body. His brain. His mind. The waterfall. The cold. The pressure. He could still feel it all. It wasn’t a matter of desensitization.

Rather, it all just felt... less important. Not a priority.

Yeah.

The doors. There they were. Just standing there. Existing. But also not.

Yep.

That one over there. That door was a thread. A background thought process. So right now, it didn’t lead anywhere, because he’d turned all those off. For clarity.

Yup.

Were all the other doors thought processes, too?

Agh. Wrong approach. Again. Stop asking.

He had to find his clarity again. The blank space.

There.

Mmhmm.

And the doors. They were still there. Still part of him. Still standing.

That one over there. That was Sto. Led straight to it. An enormous reservoir of ancient memories--or dreams--that didn’t even belong to him. Yeah. That was where he’d shoved all that stuff.

Huh.

A thought bubbled up. A question trying to be asked.

He didn’t let it, though. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. Not here, not now.

Right.

In this place, Hector was.

And there was nothing more to it.

He simply was.