REM // Van McCann

7. People Are Responding

"I'm fine. Thanks Van," he replied.

I looked for their number in my contacts list and put in my order. The wait was 15 minutes so I decided to boil water to make tea. While waiting for the water to boil, I grabbed my coat and zipped it up, straightening my collar. I was early but decided to head over just in case the food was ready before their estimated time.

The Thai restaurant is normally busy during lunch but today, it was oddly quiet. There were two other people waiting for their order. They were on their phones paying no attention to me. I walked up and paid for the food and the lady told me it would only be a few minutes. Since the seats were occupied, I leant against the wall to stay out of the way. While checking my work email, I got an incoming text.

Sounds good. I'll see you at 1 PM.

I felt relieved yet terrified at the same time. Relieved that they responded but terrified because I was going to have to find a way to explain years of research in fifteen minutes. Where do I even begin? Someone cleared their throat and I looked up.

"Your food is ready, sir," the lady said, pushing my takeaway forward for me to take.

I thanked her, grabbed it, and left, making my way towards work once again. Earlier, I felt productive but having gone out twice for errands already, I felt like I didn't accomplish much. When I came back, I nudged Larry awake and set his food on the table for him to eat when he felt ready. The water was still hot so I made myself tea and brought it to the table to enjoy with my food.

I used a fork to get a good balance of noodle, beef, and vegetable, and stuck it in my mouth chewing. My mind went over how our encounter would go. We'd meet each other, shake hands, and I'd say:

We visualize dreams by using a computer software we developed. The probes read electrical signals from the body and the software translates them into images. These images are then sent as signals back to the body in one continuous loop. This is how we visualize dreams. We have one person who acts as the dreamer while the other person is the observer.

I leant back in my chair with my hands on the table proud of myself for coming up with an explanation so quickly. It was easier than I initially thought and I was cross with myself for worrying so much. After I was done eating, it was almost time to go so I quickly gathered my stuff, throwing the takeaway container in the bin and putting my mug by the sink to wash. I cleaned my mug and put it on the rack to dry and dried my hands on the tea towel. I glanced at the others and decided that now was a good time to slip out.

I was so focused on slipping out unnoticed that I realized I forgot my phone at the table. Fuck, I cursed to myself. Let's just hope this person doesn't cancel on me. The halls were quiet as I pressed the button to go up. The lift arrived and I stepped in selecting the 11th floor. According to the clock, I was five minutes early. There were a few people on the floor; the last stragglers of a late lunch. I took some time to look at my flyer which had a grand total of two tabs missing. One person reached out to me and I wondered if I'd hear from the second person.

"Are you the person I'm meeting?" I heard someone ask.

I turned around, not expecting anyone to approach me so soon. Before me was an older man in his 40s. He was dressed well which made me think he worked in a high position. It made me nervous that I wasn't at his level of professionalism.

"Yes, you're asking about the study, right? My name is Van," I replied, holding my hand out for him to shake. He grasped my hand and shook it firmly. "Why don't we sit by the window?" I suggested.

We were standing in the hallway blocking people from accessing the lift so I decided to move towards the window. I didn't want people listening to our conversation as it was just meant to be between him and I.

"When I saw your study, I was intrigued. This sounds like something out of a movie," the man went on. "How are you visualizing dreams?" Having rehearsed my response several times, I responded immediately.

"That's a good question," I answered. "We visualize dreams by using a computer software we developed. The probes read electrical signals from the body and the software translates them into images. These images are then sent as signals back to the body in one continuous loop."

The man's eyes glazed over from my brief explanation and I knew I lost him but he was kind enough not to say anything. He probably thinks I'm nuts. This is as simple as it gets. I could go into detail but we'd be here for ages and I might scare him off.

"Is it painful?" he asked nervously. "How invasive is this procedure?"

"Not painful and invasive at all. The probes have a piece of tape at the end which you stick to your body. There's one that wraps around your finger, one that goes on your wrist, and one that goes on your temple. We use anesthesia to induce sleep which is delivered by a gas mask."

There was a shift in his demeanor which was good. Earlier, he was hesitant but now he was interested. You could tell because he kept asking question after question. We were well beyond the fifteen minutes I said it'd take but he wasn't bothered by it one bit. At the end of our conversation, I was certain I had sold him.

"So what do you say? Are you gonna take part in our study?" I asked him.

"It's definitely interesting. I've got to think about it though. Thank you for answering my questions."

"Of course. Anytime."

He was heading up while I was heading back down. His lift arrived first so he waved goodbye.

"So you're the one who posted that flyer?" I turned around to see a woman staring at me. "I thought that was a joke but I overheard your conversation. Holy shit."

The lift arrived but I ignored it as I wasn't sure if this woman was genuinely interested in the study or if she was here to give me a hard time.

"I dunno what you're getting at," I replied.

"Visualize dreams, eh? What are you trying to find out? How fucked up our dreams are?" She was smirking.

Okay, she's giving me shit. Annoyed, I pressed the button to go down.

"That's fine. You don't have to believe me," I said calmly. I have no patience for people like her; people that love to cause trouble. The lift arrived and I got in. "Have a good day." She stared at me until the doors closed.

Christ, what's her problem?

My excitement turned to annoyance when I made my way back to the lab. Bondy eyed me as I walked in.

"Where've you been?" he questioned.

"Someone saw the flyer and had questions," I answered, walking over to my phone to see what I missed. There was nothing in my notifications.

"Someone actually responded," Bondy replied, surprised.

"Responded to what?" Larry asked. I didn't notice him eating on the couch. He was so quiet.

"Do you remember how Van wanted to open the study to more participants?" Bondy asked and Larry nodded his head. "Well he made a flyer and people are responding."