therealkaichan | (no subject)

Chapter 3.

Aislinn didn’t say a word for the longest time, and the grey eyed man seemed pretty indifferent to that. She wasn’t sure if he was giving her time to process his words, or if he just didn’t care, but she wasn’t going to complain about it.

She did need a moment to think.

The mere concept of killing the Dragon was so ridiculous that she thought about checking if she was dreaming or something, to ensure she was still in the real world. How could anyone even kill something that had only been seen in dreams? How could someone kill something that could do what this Dragon was doing? Was the Dragon even a dragon? Nobody had ever seen it other than in dreams.

It made no sense. Those had to be the words of a madman.

And yet the man was still driving calmly, as if he had just said the most logical thing in the world. So she took a deep breath and spoke.
“That makes no sense at all.”
“Does it.”
“You can’t just ‘kill the Dragon’, nobody knows if it even can be killed.”
“If it lives, it can die. And if it doesn’t live, the you can break it.”
“That’s easy to say. But how can one even do that?”
“Who knows.”
“Then—”
“As I see it, you have two choices. You can try to do it, or you can enable your Dream Inhibitor and go back to your empty life.” The car finally stopped, and the man took a moment to make sure it was well parked. “That is your choice, miss Aislinn.”

She didn’t even get to answer, the man opened the car door and stepped out of the car, and before she realized it she was following him.

In front of them there was a small house, and it took Aislinn a bit to realize they were pretty far from the city. Just how much time had they spent talking? It didn’t feel like so much. The man stopped in front of the door, and turned to look at her.
“You already know far too much. If you will listen to my advice, I recommend that you step back now, if you don’t want to get more involved in this.”
“I don’t understand how you intend to do that. How can I even help?”
“Any data helps, so if you agree to have your dreams monitored you should do enough.”
“So you just want to investigate more, right?”
“Correct. I can promise you that data will go to investigating a way to stop the Dragon, which should restore your dreams. It is in our terms, when you sign them, so that at least will happen.”
“Is there some sort of contract?”
“Of course. Any kind of human experimentation conducted by the Ministry requires such a thing, to avoid legal issues. It will mention the rules of what we can and cannot do, and it also includes a non disclosure clause, so if you want to talk about this, you are in the wrong place.”
“I... I see. So can I read the contract and then choose?”
“I suppose. I’m against it, but legally, yes, you can.”
“I will do that then. I want to know if it will be dangerous.”
“It will be dangerous. That I can guarantee.”
“I still want to read it. Once I do I will choose.”
“Good. Then come in, my partner will brief you on the contract.”

The small house looked as small inside as from outside. As soon as her eyes got used to the lack of light, Aislinn could see a young man sitting, carefully taking notes on a tablet. He couldn’t be older than twenty five, his hair was in a ponytail, and he looked quite absorbed on his work. There were also three bed-like tables each hooked up to a Recording Machine. Two of them were taken by a blond young boy and a redhead girl that had to be in her teens. They seemed to be sleeping.
“I’m back.” The grey eyed man said from the door, closing it once Aislinn was inside. The other man turned to them and smiled.
“Welcome back. Please tell me you didn’t blackmail her into coming.”
“I didn’t.” The other man smiled in relief and left the tablet on the side to get closer to greet Aislinn.
“You can take over the notes, Attis.”
“I’m already doing it.”
“I’m truly sorry for his manners.” The younger man smiled politely again. “My name is Darius, he is Attis. We try to avoid our real names here, so I recommend that you do as well.”
“My name is Aislinn. Thank you for the welcome.” She smiled. Somehow this man felt familiar. It wasn’t just his voice, as it was with the other one. No, he felt as if they had truly shared time together.
“You are probably experiencing a sense of dejá vù. It’s normal, since we have met before.” His smile was a bit knowing as he spoke, motioning for her to come in a bit closer to the tables where the two children slept.
“We have...?”
“Yes. We shared a dream once, it’s normal to not remember such things, I only do because we have these special Recording Machines.”
“That’s amazing... You felt familiar, yes. Not your name, but something else.” Aislinn paused, frowning a bit. “He feels familiar as well, but just his voice.”
“That is because he is my anchor. It’s very likely that you heard him when he was retrieving me.”
“I... I don’t understand all of that.”
“I’m sorry... I can explain a bit more after we have reached an agreement if that is fine with you, miss Aislinn.”
“Ah, just Aislinn is fine. And I don’t mind, I’d like to see the contract he mentioned.”
“Then please, follow me.”

The next hour Aislinn spent reading the famous contract. It was solid enough, since it was about experimenting with her subconscious, it had a place for her to enter any limitations she wanted to establish on what should or should not be recorded or discussed. It had a very large non disclosure clause, a part where they promised to behave responsibly, but where she accepted that it was a dangerous situation and that there was a possibility of her experiencing issues because of this.

It also had a section to discuss a compensation, a surprisingly generous compensation, which took her by surprise. Darius explained to her that this was more like a job, and not something else. That was important, since human experimentation was generally frowned upon.

It was a little unexpected to see such reasonable terms after the time she had spent in the car with Attis. But it was a nice thing as well, since it meant it was much easier to make her choice. If before, when she thought this was scary and weird, she was still ready to enter the place and see what the investigation was about, then now she had no doubts at all. She spent another half an hour carefully writing the limits she wanted to set on the blank page of the contract. Once done, she quietly gave another thorough reading to it, and finally signed the last page.
“Welcome.” Darius smiled, signing the last page as well, and then taking the contract to Attis who signed it without even reading Aislinn’s terms.
“Thank you... It was an easier choice than I expected.”
“Attis is terrible at scouting. It’s usually my work, but he sneaked out without telling me.” The man sighed, as he made sure everything was well with the contract again.
“He’s just a little intimidating... I think I would’ve ran away if it weren’t for the strange feeling of knowing him.” Aislinn trailed off, looking at the place a little.
“It’s a good thing we were lucky, then. I think we can all benefit of this investigation. Hopefully we will be able to help you with whatever you need. Please take a seat, and I will prepare some tea for you. You can tell me how you ended up here meanwhile.”

She was grateful for the tea, even if it was a bit strange to be having tea in a situation like that. Darius told her it was a relaxing one and the smell was really good, which she really appreciated. It was so much easier to talk about her problem in a situation like that, that she couldn’t help but feel the tension of the last few days slowly dissipate.

Darius was really nice, asking questions politely, and letting her take as much time as she needed to sort her thoughts. It was such a pleasant experience compared to the car experience, that she found herself telling the story without needing to pause that much.

By the end of the story, the younger investigator looked thoughtful.
“I think that should be enough to start investigating. We will need to run some tests before, and we will have to create an anchor for you before we do anything, even if there have been no problems for you to wake up.”
“An anchor...?”
“It’s a bit like an alarm clock, it helps you wake up when you cannot.” Darius smiled softly, getting up from his chair. “I think it will be best if one of the children explains how the process works, since they will better explain how it is from the point of view of a dreamer.”
“I’d be thankful.”
“Attis?” Darius voice was soft, and yet firm as he called out to the other investigator, who was smiling slightly, while taking his notes. It took another call, but finally the older man looked up from his work to see them.
“Yes?”
“Would you please call one of the children back? I will accompany her in her first immersion, but we need someone to explain the procedures to Aislinn.” Attis frowned a little, but nodded, his eyes going back to the tablet.
“I will need to keep Milah a little longer. She’s onto something.”
“Is she. Then please wake Lyall up.”
“Fine.”

Attis left the tablet on the side, and looked at the young boy for a moment, still frowning a bit as he did. There was a moment of silence, that felt a bit like hours, and then his eyes fell closed and he started singing. Aislinn remembered that voice well, it was definitely the one she had heard before, however the tune was different.
“An anchor is created by making a specific memory, and attaching it to something else. Music is a good method, since it can reach you even in slumber. However other things can be used, like sensations, or touches. We try to avoid such stimuli in order to keep everything legal.”
“He said something about music being my “link”...”
“Correct. But it can’t be anything, the anchor must be specific. We do create a secondary anchor in case of something happening, but that one is to be avoided unless a real problem happens.”
“I understand...”
“Look, he’s waking up now.”

Just as the investigator said, the young boy, Lyall, was starting to stirr. He moved a bit, muttering something that sounded like a complaint, and then turned to his side. Attis seemed to be apologizing for waking him up and explaining the situation, which was a bit of a surprising thing, considering that good manners didn’t seem to be his forte.
“Lyall has been with us since he was orphaned at three. His mother had her dreams taken, so he visits her dreams often. We use that to get more information on the Dragon.”
“Isn’t it dangerous...? He could have his own dreams taken.”
“Like you he has experienced no trouble with that. We found some differences in his brain structure to the standard, so we think this may be why he hasn’t faced any problems. Just like many dragons in stories, our Dragon seems to be quite picky with his hoard.”
“Is that what happened with me?”
“No, I don’t think it is. In your case it sounds like there is some sort of external influence that keeps you from having your dreams taken. We will run the checks needed after you begin your training, we may find a clue to that influence once we do.”
“I understand... I’m really curious about all of this now.”
“It’s amazing, isn’t it? We will have so much knowledge to share with the world once this is all over. The world will change for good at last.”
“I like that idea...” Aislinn smiled a little. She liked this investigator quite a bit. It wasn’t just the familiar feeling now, but his ideas and his soft, kind voice. She found herself wanting to help, wanting to make a world where the information learned from these investigations could be use to make a happier world, one where everyone could be a dreamer, and not just a select few.

She was caught in those thoughts when the boy finally approached them. He had washed his face and all, but he still looked just like anyone who had woken up a few minutes ago. He smiled at both Aslinn and Darius, and spoke.
“Good morning. Attis said you needed me to teach someone, is it her?”
“Lyall this is miss Aislinn. She will need you to teach her the basics, so we can get started on creating an anchor for her.” Darius smiled, taking a step back. “I will have a look at Milah, to make sure she’s not overworking herself again. Please take your time to chat.”
“Welcome, miss Aislinn.” The boy smiled, it was more than clear he had been observing Darius the last few years, as his attitude mirrored his perfectly.
“Just Aislinn is fine, please.”
“All right.” Lyall brought up a hand. “Nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you too.” Aislinn shook his hand, and that only made the boy’s smile widen.
“It’s nice to meet another dreamer! Not many arrive here, since Attis scares them off.” The boy looked over to the other side of the room where the investigators were already back to work.
“He is a little scary, yes...”
“He almost scared Milah off as well, good thing Darius is here or we would never get to meet new people.” Lyall chuckled. “Come on, let me show you the house.”
“Sure, just lead the way.”

Aislinn followed the younger boy around the house for a bit. They saw the kitchen, then the two rooms. One had three beds, probably for them, and the other had two.
“We rarely all sleep at the same time. If you have your own house it’s okay to go back, Milah does that, but if you are tired, or if you are not in the mood then you can use one of the beds. The one most to the right in the big room is mine, Milah uses any bed she feels like, but if you pick one she’ll use the leftover one.”
“That’s good... I think I’ll go back home, but having a place for a quick rest sounds like a good idea.”
“You can use the kitchen too, the Ministry pays for all the food, so that’s okay. They also pay for the air conditioning, so summer is really nice here.”
“That sounds important... How old are you, Lyall?”
“I’m eight.” The boy smiled, looking fairly proud of that. “I’ve been here since I was three.”
“And do you like it here?”
“I do. Darius is really nice, and I get to see my mom, and meet other dreamers. It’s not something you get to do normally.”
“That much is true. I hadn’t met another dreamer like us before today, and I’m nineteen...”
“Wow, that’s a lot of time! I’m surprised the Ministry didn’t find you earlier.” Lyall stopped in front of a door, which he opened to reveal a bathroom with a shower.
“So am I, considering what I know now... Maybe it was because of the same thing that didn’t let the Dragon find me...”
“This is the bathroom. You can use it anytime too.”
“That sounds good.”
“We have a garden too. Darius takes care of it, he says that it’s a nice place to calm down and relax, but I never used it.”
“You don’t look like the kind of person who stops to relax.”
“I’m not.” Once more the proud tone. “When Milah leaves her current dream, I’ll show you the Recording Machines. Those can record your dreams, that’s not something all recording machines can do.”
“Yes... The other machines I had seen can only record conscious thoughts.”
“Right. The Ministry says these ones are really expensive, and that they could tempt people to do dumb things, so they are kept hidden.”
“I see.”
“Now, for the recording mats, first one is mine, then the second one is Milah’s. That means the third one is yours.” Lyall stopped at a decent distance from where the two investigators were taking notes, and lowered his voice to continue speaking. “They look a bit weird, but when you lie down you’ll find that they are super comfortable. From here you can see the buttons, the blue one will make you sleep right away, you can even schedule a time to wake up. It will sound an alarm. If for some reason you can’t wake up with that, then Attis gets a warning and he brings us back.”
“That sounds like a good thing... It’s the anchor Darius mentioned, right?”
“That’s right. We will choose an anchor for you later, you get to do that with Attis. He’s a bit weird, but don’t worry, he won’t let you stay asleep if you want to wake up.”
“That’s good... It makes me feel a little better to hear it from someone who has been here for so long.”
“Yes! They have never lost a dreamer that I know of. So in the last five years they have a perfect track.”
“There have been other dreamers here?”
“Yes. Before Milah there was Katherine, and before Katherine there was Zyana. And there was also Blake and Austin. They all went on to either other labs, or went back to their normal lives. Austin and Zyana visit us sometimes.”
“So it has been them and then you...?”
“Right. This is a small facility, since Attis doesn’t like to work in larger places. I think Darius likes it better, too, because he can take care of us like this.”
“It makes sense... So it’s never more than three dreamers?”
“Right! Well, four if we count Darius, he’s a dreamer too.”
“I like the idea of a smaller group more. You get to know everyone much more.”
“And there are no strangers. Oh look, Attis is calling Milah now. She wakes up super moody, so it’s best to just say hi and not make much conversation all right?”
“Got it.”

They both watched as Attis closed his eyes and started singing again. It was a different song from the one in the dream, and also different to Lyall’s, but that made sense. Darius did say an anchor was unique for each person, probably to not accidentally wake up the wrong person, right?
Aislinn found herself thinking that the investigator had a really nice voice. Hearing him made her wonder if he had any kind of formal training for singing.

It didn’t take long for the girl, Milah, to get up. She sat slowly on the mat, then got up. She exchanged just a few words with the investigators, and then walked up to Aislinn and Lyall.
“Hello.” She said, her voice was quieter than Aislinn expected it to be.
“Hello.” They answered in unison.
“I’m going to rest. I’ll turn on the inhibitor upstairs.”
“Rest well.” Was Lyall’s answer, Aislinn just nodded following his advice, and Milah walked away without a word.
“She sleeps with the inhibitor on...?”
“Milah has lots of nightmares... She doesn’t like talking about it that much.”
“I see... I would wake up in a bad mood too, if I were in her place.”
“That’s why we don’t want to bother her until she has rested. It’s the nice thing to do.”
“Of course. I’ll remember it.”
“Come on, I’ll show you how the machines work, and then you can take your first nap here. Darius will go in with you, so you are not in danger while you make your anchor.”
“All right, let’s go.”

Aislinn smiled. Maybe it had been a little rash to come here, following a man that mostly made her feel scared, but so far it had been strangely welcoming. She wasn’t even sure if the contract was real, or if these men were really doing what they said, but for her it was still a chance, even if small.

The blank and the silence scared her more than anything else, and she didn’t want to go back to that, ever.

She didn’t mind risking everything for that.

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Oh god, I can't believe this thing is still going.