Prologue

The man had been there for as long as anyone could remember, so long that they had to look at his chart to remember his name. Not that it mattered; he was insane and dangerous, and that was all anyone needed to know. Even the man himself had forgotten, but he didn't care about little things like that: the only name he thought about was that of the one who got him locked in here.

Kirk...Kirk...make Kirk hurt...hurt Kirk...but how? How?

Pity. They should have payed more attention to his chart: they might know exactly why they should keep him locked away. It still wouldn't be enough; a man as driven as he was and as powerful as he was could not be stopped by mere distance.

Make him hurt...no, not him...those around him...yes...that's it!

The orderlies could hear him laughing. It wasn't a pleasant sound.

Meanwhile, light-years away, five unlucky souls went to bed.

Once upon a time, in a place unknown, there was a dream.

No one knew who had dreamt the dream; such a tiny dream it was.

The tiny dream began to think:

"I don't want to disappear.

How can I make people dream of me?"

The tiny dream thought and thought,

and finally, came up with an idea.

"I will let others stray into me, and I will let them create the world."