Dreamland

Chapter Twelve

Summary

April leaves Earth

A shuttle takes April aboard the Morning Star space station where, dressed in a new uniform, she's left with the other colonists under the watchful eye of the station guards. As soon as she can, April slips away to look around. She tries to go into the ladies' room, but it's locked, much to her annoyance - she goes into the men's room instead. Unscrewing a grill in the wall with a coin, she slips into the ventilation ducts and starts exploring. She sees, through the other ventilation grilles, that there are guards stationed in various corridors.

She realises that their movements are controlled by a single officer in a guardroom. Using 'Instant Heat' pills from the men's room, she spikes his coffee to make him leave in a tearing hurry to Madam Joy's Pleasure Suites, and takes charge of the guard rotation. After moving the guards so she can get to the cell block, April takes a magnetic key from the guardroom and goes to release Adrian, the former Guardian.

He's relieved to see her, but confesses he wasn't entirely unhappy to be captured by the Vanguard. Adrian was the Guardian of the Balance for twelve hundred years; the world he had known was changed beyond recognition. He wandered the streets, lost and hungry, until the Vanguard found him and gave him food and shelter. Mindful of what Vestrum Tobias told her - that she is the thirteenth Guardian - April finds this difficult to hear. She tries to focus on the next task.

The singularity to the Guardian's Realm

Because the singularity that leads to the Guardian's Realm is outside the Morning Star, they will need to use the maintenance pods to get there. Luckily, April knows how to pilot one - Adrian will go first and she'll be right behind him - but the pod she wants to use is missing an Oxybrik. Once she's 'borrowed' one from the cargo bay, April is ready to go, but Adrian has a word of warning for her. For the prospective Guardian, there are further perils to face in the Guardian's Realm.

Adrian tells April that she will have to face three Trials: three challenges that will test her worth. The Trial of Might involves defeating a powerful foe. The Trial of Spirit means April will have to face her darkest fear. And the Trial of Matter will force her to overcome a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. He can't help her - she must face them alone.

Steeling herself, April asks Adrian to get into the pod, then launches herself directly after him. They plunge through space towards the singularity and pass through. But, unknown to them, a third pod has been launched from the Morning Star... a pod being piloted by Gordon Halloway.

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Themes & References

Dreams are one of TLJ's main themes, but unlike the other chapters, April does not have any meaningful dreams or nightmares here. It's more likely that since the title is "Dreamland", it refers to the Guardian's Realm itself, a place where the intangible becomes real. April has already overcome obstacles and faced monsters in her dreams, but they will fully manifest themselves in the Guardian's Realm.

April tells Adrian that she is a Shifter, "like you." It isn't clear if all Guardians are also Shifters, but it seems likely. Given their role in keeping the Balance whole, having experience of both worlds and of the Divide itself would probably be essential. However this can't be confirmed because the only other Guardian candidate is Gordon Halloway and the experimentation on him has split him across both Stark and Arcadia.