Enter asshat xD

[therealkaichan]

Chapter 2



It was the fourth day since the strange dream.

Aislinn hadn’t been able to dream, and she didn’t know why.

Her case was not something she could solve by reading a book, or visiting a doctor. Her dreams were gone, but it couldn’t have been the Dragon.

Those who had their dreams taken, wouldn’t wake up. People said the Dragon made it so they would keep on dreaming, so he could hoard their dreams until they died.

But she was awake. She could sleep and still wake up, but there were no dreams.

It was more scary than the idea of not waking up again.


She had thought of visiting a professional, someone who could shed some light on her issue, but how would she explain that she had been dreaming for a few years, and that her dreams hadn’t been taken? How could she do that without it being dangerous?

She had been selfish in hiding her dreams, but it had also been the logical thing to do.

She could dream, and not have her dreams taken. She didn’t know how the Ministry would react to such a thing, so she had chosen to keep quiet, but now her dreams were gone, and she was still awake.

It frightened her more than anything, and as used as she was to being alone since she had run away from home, Aislinn felt alone and scared.

She had no friends, and she couldn’t go back to her family.

She had nobody.

Until now it had been fine, because she had her dreams. She had Meryl and Luca, she had Elicia and Terence, and hundreds of others, whom she met after the violin and the flute sounded, when she went to sleep each night.

But now there was just Aislinn and the blankness, the silence.

And she felt alone.

Little by little, she felt more and more like Clara.

And she hated that, there was a reason why she had abandoned Clara years ago, and the thought of going back was as scary as the silence in her dreams.

Her eyes fell on the Recording Machine, and a mad thought took her over.

Maybe the Editor could do something. He was well connected, at least enough to be deeply involved in the creation and trading of IDEAs, so there was a chance that he could know someone who could help. Someone who could tell her why her dreams were gone, and why she was still in the world of the awake.

How she had become one of the Dreamless if the Dream Inhibitor was still turned off.

It was a mad thought, but it was all she had.



The Editor was hooked up to the Thought Machine as usual. She was close to forgetting all kinds of politeness and just waking him up from his trance, but she reminded herself that in order to ask a favor, it was always best to stay on someone’s good graces.

The soft blip came after what felt like an absolute eternity, and the Editor opened his eyes to see her.

“You look terrible.” He said, and Aislinn nodded.
“I feel terrible.”
“I thought it was curious that you hadn’t been here in four days... You usually come once every two days at the most...” He walked up to her, he still seemed to be pretty short, but it was the less relevant thought right now. “Did anything happen?”

Aislinn looked at him for a moment. How could she even explain this? It was a Dangerous Thought, and it was not only dangerous for her but for the Editor as well, and she didn’t like the idea of getting him in trouble after all he had done for her.

“You are frowning, Aislinn. It’s your ‘dangerous thoughts’ face.” He chuckled, and Aislinn frowned. Did he know her that well by now?
“How did you...?”
“I’ve been watching your ideas for the longest time, it’s impossible to not know you. Tell me, what is it?”
“I... I need to find someone who understands about dreams.” There. She had finally managed to say it, and somehow, she felt lighter with just that.
“Then maybe the Ministry is your best bet, not this place.”
“You know I can’t go to the Ministry.”
“A dreamer among the Dreamless... That is a dangerous thought, yes.” The Editor’s eyes darted from side to side, as he had a quick look around the room, almost as if he were expecting somebody to appear from thin air.
“Please, you have to know someone... No, I know you do.”
“Anyone who can think can figure that one out. I do have a contact, but he works for the Ministry. It means you would have to meet him in secret.”
“I understand...”
“But he’s dangerous. A man who has dabbled too long in these topics always is.”
“I...” She trailed off, and for a moment there was only silence.

She understood clearly what the Editor meant by dangerous. After all Aislinn knew well how these things were, the Ministry was dangerous enough to begin with, people spoke in whispers about the things they had done, about children being taken from their homes, about dreamers that nobody could truly prove existed. Some said their mission, no, their obsession with stopping the Dragon had become something else with time, and by now nobody truly knew what they wanted anymore.

The Ministry was everywhere, in every machine, in every disk and in every IDEA. They had saved their world, but somewhere along the way, they had become something else, like an overprotective father, afraid of their children stepping too far from their sight.

And people had allowed it, of course. Few truly thought of the Ministry as a bad thing. The people they took away, they did to help others. If there was no proof, then how could you say a dreamer existed? They were after all, working to stop the Dragon, and in the way they didn’t care the sacrifices they had to make.

“You can give it thought in your home.” The Editor interrupted her thoughts, and Aislinn frowned. No, she couldn’t doubt now. Even if it meant she could be taken away, even if she could face a trial for her lies. Even then, anything was better than the blank and the silence. Anything.
“It’s fine. I’ll go meet that person.”
“Resolve... That’s a nice feeling, isn’t it?” He chuckled, his hands trembling just a little at the mere thought of it, and Aislinn recognized more than well the symptoms.
“Just tell me about it, and you can go back to your machine.”
“Yes... You won’t go meet him. I will tell him, and he will look for you if he wishes to do so.” His tone was quiet, even if a little shaky, and he smiled a bit at her.
“I understand.”
“Then go back home...”
“I will. Thank you...”
“You have beautiful thoughts... Beautiful dreams. I wouldn’t change them for anything.”

The ominous feeling had taken over her once again, and Aislinn knew she couldn’t stay there much longer. There was something, something she had to get away from. So she just nodded, uttering another “thank you” as she made her way out, as fast as she could.

Far from the suffocating air, and the deafening noises of the Editor’s Thought Machine.



It was the seventh day, and the silence was driving her mad.

Every day since the day she had spoken to the Editor she had thought about simply following that voice’s advice. She had thought a million times about just enabling the Dream Inhibitor and letting the familiar numbness that came with it take over her nights.

And every time she thought about it, she stopped herself. The Dream Inhibitor was Clara’s thing. Like so many things she was trying to forget.

So she refused, even if she really wasn’t sure for how much longer she could stand the emptiness.

Her books didn’t offer any solace, neither did the movies, which still felt artificial, or any other distraction. Maybe she would’ve given up, had she had any more time, but that day life had something quite different in mind for her.

Aislinn was certain that she hadn’t ever been so thankful for the sound of the doorbell ringing as she was today. She almost ran to the door, to see who it was, giving zero thought to the fact that it was the door of her apartment and not the building door. She wasn’t really sure if she should hope for it to be the dangerous man the Editor had promised, but it was happening before she could even stop it.

Anything was better than the silence, right?

Anything.


She hadn’t ever seen that man’s face, and yet it seemed familiar. Almost as if she had seen him in a dream before. He was tall, taller than her at least, and his grey eyes seemed distant. He was pale, so pale that it made her wonder if he ever got out of wherever he worked. Other than the small piece of paper in one of his hands, he was completely non-descript, it seemed he wanted to pass unnoticed.
“Miss...” He gave a quick look to the paper, then his eyes went back to her. “Miss Aislinn, correct?”
“Yes, that is me...” Aislinn’s voice was a bit shaky. The man had a nice voice, she had the impression that at some point she had heard him sing, and that was probably even more unsettling than the man himself. “How can I help you, sir?”
“A common acquaintance told me that you were in need of some assistance.”
“Yes... That is right. I’m glad you took some time for this.”
“We have some common objectives I’m certain. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” His voice was neutral, and because of that even if his words were harsh, it didn’t exactly feel that much like a bad response... It felt more like he was informing her of that and nothing else.
“I understand...”
“I will need you to follow me. We are going for a small tour of the city.”
“Just let me take my coat.” Aislinn nodded nervously, immediately scrambling for the coat without giving it more thought.

As she followed him in silence, she couldn’t help but wonder why she was even following the stranger. She knew he was dangerous, and that he was related to the Ministry, that should have been enough warning, but she still followed.

But she did know what it was, after all. It was something in the man’s voice, probably the strange familiar feeling, that made her instinctively trust him even when there was no reason to do so. She wanted to know more about him, she wanted to know where she had first heard his voice... But at the same time, she had the strange feeling that she wouldn’t find that information from him.

The grey eyed man opened the passenger seat door of a black car for her. She had no idea of what model it could be, she knew nothing about cars, and on top of all it had tinted glasses, so it was impossible to look inside before the door was opened.

She climbed in without further thought, taking a moment to look at her new surroundings while the man walked around to open the door on the driver’s side. The panel looked fairly modern, and there was nobody in there but them, which was a comforting thought. The seatbelts looked safe enough, and as he sat and started the car, she realized he did not actually lock the door.
“This place is safe. I will need you to tell me your problem now.”
“I...” Aislinn realized that she could not even start telling the story. The man did not move his eyes from the road as he drove, waiting for her.
“Take your time.”
“No, it’s fine... I just hadn’t thought of some things for a while.”
“I see.” The grey eyed man fell silent.
“I think my dreams were taken by the Dragon. But I am still awake.”
“Did you sleep with your Dream Inhibitor disabled?”
“Yes... I... I have been doing so for a few years now.” And there it was. The metaphorical cat was out of the metaphorical bag, and she found she was fretting a bit after speaking.
“So you are a dreamer. It explains much about you.”
“Does it?”
“Yes. How did you find out that you were a dreamer?” The car took a particularly sharp curve, and Aislinn found herself holding her breath for a moment.
“It’s a childish story.”
“All the more reason, tell me about it. It will be necessary if we want to do something about your problem.”
“I understand.” The man’s logic was solid, and somehow hearing him again made her feel comfortable. So she took a moment to sort her thoughts, and started speaking. “I first disabled the machine when I was fourteen. I had run away from home, and I was staying in a small motel.”
“Why did you run away?”
“I... I’m not sure. I always felt strange, as if I were missing something, an important part of my life. My parents always said that it was nothing, that it was a consequence of my age... That kind of thing... But I knew it was something else.”
“Did you have an idea of what?”
“Not at all. But for a teenager that is more than enough. So I ran away, and decided that there was no point in living an empty life like my own... The more I look back on it the dumber I feel...”
“You don’t have to. Your parents handled your problem terribly.”
“I...” Aislinn shook her head. Of course it wasn’t just her parents, but her own rash choice making, but that wasn’t the important point right now. “After that, I thought that maybe it would be best if the Dragon took my dreams, so I wouldn’t be a bother anymore, so I turned off the machine in my hotel room... It was stupid, but I wanted the emptiness to go away, it scared me more than the idea of never waking up.”
“Go on.” His voice was as neutral as a few moments ago and she found that interesting in a way, since it was also clear that he wanted to hear the rest of the story.
“That night I had a dream for the first time... It was amazing, so colorful and it felt so intense... So real.”
“Yes. I’ve heard that dreams are quite wonderful experiences from other dreamers.”
“So there are others...?”
“Of course. Among so many millions you can’t think you would be the only one, right?”
“I don’t, but there was no proof at the same time.” Aislinn frowned a bit. She wasn’t even sure if the man was treating her like an idiot, or if it was just how he normally was.
“Do you know why it happens?”
“No... Not really. I admit I never gave it that much thought.”
“I see. We will need to investigate that.”
“All right...”
“Continue.”
“Yes... After that, I didn’t turn the machine on again. I felt those dreams where what I was missing, that there was something among them that made me feel complete again... It was months later that I started to see different dreams. Dreams that felt like they didn’t belong to me.”
“And they didn’t. You were experiencing the dreams of those who are asleep.”
“The ones taken by the Dragon?”
“Yes. The investigations have shown that all dreams are connected since it arrived, that is how it can find new dreamers.” The man’s voice sounded as if he had explained this a million times, yet Aislinn hadn’t ever heard of it before.
“Why doesn’t anyone know about that?”
“I don’t control what goes out and what doesn’t. I just work on investigation.”
“I understand...” She took a deep breath, sorting her thoughts. Maybe she could learn more about that in the future, but for now, her dreams were more important. “I got into selling Thoughts shortly after that, and that helped me get a place and money for food... I ended up with the Editor because he was the only one who did not care about my age...”
“Of course. That one has some... Privileges.”
“Is that something you don’t decide as well?”
“Of course. Administrative duties are not my area of expertise, and any choices coming from the Minister and his Cabinet are completely outside of my range of interest, unless they deal with my division’s budget.”
“It’s the fanciest way to say ‘I don’t give a crap’ I have ever heard.”
“I pride myself in my capacity of finding new ways to not care about things, miss Aislinn.”
“It shows.”
“Continue.”
“Yes...” Once more she had to sort her thoughts. She had to explain her problem next, right? It couldn’t be that hard, it was fresh on her memory as if it had happened just yesterday. “The dreams always started the same way, I was in some place, and then I heard a violin and flute duet... A melody my parents used to play when I was a child. Then I became someone else, an observer in someone else’s dream.”
“The music is your link, then... It’s a pretty standard one, too.”
“A link...?”
“Yes. Your dreams are made of thoughts you hold subconsciously. And any person easily realizes when they leave their dream to another, so they receive a message from their subconscious about it.”
“I understand, it sounds complicated...”
“It is. But in general it means your own mind is more aware of what is happening than your conscious. So it gives you enough signs for you to notice.”
“I see...”
“Continue.”
“The last dream I had, I heard the music, but there was someone else involved... I heard a voice singing along with the instruments.”
“A voice.” The man’s eyes darted to her for a moment, before going back to the road ahead. “Whose voice.”
“It was a voice... My voice, but not at the same time. It sounded like it would when I hear my voice when I hear it in a recording, instead of how I hear it when I speak.”
“Then it was not your voice. It was somebody else’s.”
“Somebody else...?” Aislinn frowned. Why would somebody else sound the same as she herself did? She was looking at the man now, who seemed maybe a little interested, and waited for an answer.
“Do you have any family? A sister maybe?”
“No. I’m the only child in my family.”
“Interesting. A dreamer twin would have been the logical choice. Maybe there is something else we can research, but it would take time. Continue, what did the voice tell you.” Aislinn looked at the man again. Was he allergic to interrogation signs or something? She shook her head, focusing on the story once more.
“It told me to enable my dream inhibitor. It called me by my birth name instead of the one I use.”
“I see... And what do you have now?”
“I... I only see a blank space, and silence. There isn’t any more music, or anything in the dreams. It’s as if I were dreaming of a white sheet of paper. Do you know what that means?”
“Of course. You have been sealed off from your dreams. If you asked me, whoever that voice was they did it so you would be able to wake up.”
“She told me to wake up, yes. I didn’t quite understand why.”
“The Dragon found you. Probably the other dreamer was keeping you safe, but somehow you were found. So in order for you to wake up, you were sealed away from your dreams. I have seen that happen many times before.” The car took another turn, before changing directions. Somehow Aislinn had a feeling that he had just been going in circles for a while, and that just now he had started on the right way.
“Can it be fixed?”
“Of course it can.”
“How...?”
“You just need to kill the Dragon.”



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ATTIS YOU FUCKING ASSHAT

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[carricklysmic]

ATTIS YES