He stood on a beach as the waves crashed onto the sandy dunes. He could see the flickering light of a bonfire down the coast, probably the memory he was supposed to head to. He looked up at the night sky, patterned with stars that shone as bright as the sun. He looked down the coast at the bonfire, then across the other side of the coast. He took off running, away from the memory he was supposed to erase. He ran as fast as he could, kicking up sand in his wake. He looked ahead and realized he was back where he had started.

He couldn't go the other way, only towards his memory. There was something stopping him from running away. He tried once more, to the same effect. Conner stared down at the flickering bonfire in the distance. He took a step in the direction of the bonfire. He wasn't sent back to where he stood a second ago, meaning he was supposed to go that way. He paused, recalling his memory of the bonfire. He'd forgotten all about this night on the beach. He had to do this, no matter how much it hurt. Conner trudged down the coast, heading for the bonfire. He got close enough to hear what he and Bree were saying.

"I told you we should have come out here." Bree said.

"Well, you were right. It is beautiful out here." Conner replied.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Bree asked.

"What?" Conner asked, confused.

"Let the record show that on the twenty fourth of November two thousand and twenty, Conner Bailey admitted I was right." Bree teased.

Conner rolled his eyes and smiled, laying back on the beach.

"You're gonna get sand everywhere." Bree said.

"It's really warm, come lay down." Conner said, patting the sand next to him.

Bree got up from her chair and sat down in the sand. She picked up the sand in her hands, watching the grains sift off her hand.

"It is really warm." Bree said.

"So I was right?" Conner teased.

Bree cracked a smile and laid down next to Conner.

Conner stood there and watched them sleep for a while before realizing that he was being a total creep. He heard the familiar crash in the distance. Conner looked over at Bree, reaching out to wake her up. He had no idea if it would even work, it was just a memory. Bree's eyes opened to see Conner standing over her and a white wave of nothingness rushing up behind him.

"Conner?" Bree asked.

Conner instinctively closed his eyes, bracing for impact with the white void.

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Conner opened his eyes, finding himself in a theater. He looked around, realizing he was in his college amphitheater. He dashed out the door, looking for Bree. When he'd woken Bree up, she could see him. What did that even mean? Was there a way to reverse or escape the memory wipe? Did he even want to escape the memory wipe? It was better if he forgot it all, right? He saw Bree up ahead, beanie and all. He tapped her on the shoulder, turning her back to her normal colors.

"Conner, what are you doing here?" Bree asked.

"It's a long story, but basically-" Conner began.

"Of course you're here. I forgot I was dreaming for a moment." Bree said.

"Wait, Bree? Like in real life Breanne Campbell?" Conner asked.

"Yes?" Bree answered.

"But you erased me from your mind." Conner said.

"Well, the way I've been able to figure it out is that my conscious mind can't remember you, but the silver machine thing couldn't mess with my subconscious." Bree said.

"So you can't remember me unless you're dreaming?" Conner asked.

"And then I forget my dream when I wake up, yes. How are you even in my dream, anyway?" Bree asked.

"Well, I don't know how to break this to you softly, but we aren't in your dream." Conner said.

"What do you mean?" Bree asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I went to the same place and my memory is being wiped right now." Conner said.

"You did what?!" Bree shouted.

"Okay, okay. I realize it was a bad idea." Conner said.

"Why would you do that?" Bree yelled.

"I'm an impulsive person, you know that. And your hands aren't exactly clean either. You got your memory wiped first. I didn't even know this place existed. Care to explain why you wiped your memory?" Conner asked.

"Look, we all make mistakes. I got halfway through the whole nostalgic memory trip before I changed my mind. I didn't think to try to talk to you, or I might still remember you in a non dream state." Bree said.

"So you're saying..." Conner said.

"If we work together, we may be able to save your memories." Bree said.

"I don't suppose you have any ideas on how we do that?" Conner asked.

"Well, I learned that you can move between your memories by thinking of a memory and closing your eyes. You have to hold onto whatever you want to bring with you. It messes with the mind wipe, which doesn't take full effect until you wake up, so you can travel into any memories you've already gone through." Bree answered.

"Okay. So If I think of the Land Of Stories, I'll end up somewhere in there?" Conner asked.

"Yes, but only where you've walked before. If you haven't ever gone there in real life, something pushes you back." Bree said.

Conner heard a crash behind him, startling both him and Bree. He'd gotten so caught up in the conversation, he almost forgot where he was.

"Quickly, grab my hand and think of someplace to go." Bree said.

Conner took her hand and searched his memories. Bree nervously glanced at the oncoming wave of nothingness. Conner closed his eyes, holding on to her hand as tightly as he could.

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Conner opened his eyes, realizing he was at the old sandwich shop he and Bree used to go to. He panicked, looking around for Bree.

"I'm right behind you, stupid." Bree said, looking around the small town.

"This is where we used to-" Conner began.

"Go for lunch, yeah. Which memory is this?" Bree asked.

"I honestly don't know. I panicked and just went with the first thing I could think of." Conner said.

"Well, lets sit down and we can come up with a plan." Bree said.

Conner nodded in agreement. They walked down the busy street, crossing the road and opening the small green door to the sandwich shop.

"Oh my god." Bree whispered.

A younger Conner and Bree were sitting at a table across from them. Young Conner was nervous and fumbled with his lunch, dropping his fork. Young Bree was calm and relaxed, but it was clear she was getting a kick out of Conner's antics.

"That would be our-" Conner began.

"First date." Bree finished.

"Yeah." Conner said.

"Wow." Bree chuckled.

They walked over to a table across from their young selves, having a seat. Conner picked up a menu, looking at the sandwich section.

"Conner, we're in a memory. They aren't going to serve you lunch." Bree said.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Conner said.

"So why exactly was this the first memory you thought of?" Bree asked.

"I have no idea. My subconscious is unpredictable." Conner said.

"You are your subconscious." Bree pointed out.

"Okay, I'm unpredictable." Conner said.

"Wait, that's it." Bree said.

"What's it?" Conner asked.

"Unpredictable. The silver thing is a machine, right? If we are unpredictable with where we go, the machine can't erase your memory, or we'll slow it down at least. We only need to hold out until morning." Bree said.

"Okay, so where should I go?" Conner asked.

"Just close your eyes. That's the trick. The machine's in your head, so don't think about it, just do it." Bree said.

Conner reached over the table, grabbing Bree's hand. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.