The Dreamers Caught in a Nightmare (ONC 2024)

Chapter 4: Pursuit at the museum for the invisible man

Alora

Reve and I are eating breakfast when one of the superiors, Jonas, comes to tell me that I've been assigned to a mission outside of headquarters. He holds out a white folder for me to take, and I'm too surprised by his words to react.

"I'm being sent out?" I ask him. This would be my first mission on the field since fully joining the OSA. There were no plans discussed for when I would be sent out as far as I was aware of.

"Yes. The alpha personally assigned you to it. All the information is in here." Jonas offers me the folder again, and this time I take it. He gives another to Reve. "There you will find all of the details. Both of you be ready for departure in 30 minutes."

I flip open the folder and file through the documents as quickly as I can. Reve is ecstatic by the news as he quickly peruses the information. He hasn't been out since my training began. He was pulled from his team so he could remain here with me. Which means he's been stuck at headquarters all this time and hasn't had much contact with Lena and the others.

"Why didn't they tell me any of this?" I ask as I finish reading. The OSA has been following an enemy suspect for months. They want me to join the team tasked with capturing him for questioning. The man in question is balding but likely in his 30's by his young appearance in the picture. Previously I had encountered him in a dream. I knew they were investigating suspects like him. But I didn't know they had finally been able to track one of them down in real life.

"The OSA only likes giving information when you need to know." Reve appears unbothered by this revelation, which only annoys me more because I sure am. Does he not care that we were withheld this until now? While it irritates me to be sent out suddenly without warning, I don't try to argue with him about it. There is no time, and secretly I am happy that I get to do something different for once. Perhaps I can be useful today given my recent failures.

I go to my room to change into regular clothing as instructed. Then I meet up with Reve and the team being sent on the mission outside. It's a clear and cold December morning. The daylight and cold shock me as I haven't been outdoors in weeks. Exhaling out, I can see my breath fogging in the wind.

Black SUVs are waiting for us. The OSA loves white so much that it's a miracle the SUVs aren't white too. Our team is composed of ten people, five of us in each vehicle. No one says anything as I step inside. The person holding the door open merely nods at me. Once we're on the move, formal introductions are exchanged. The driver wears the classic superior uniform under a puffy white coat, but the rest of us are bundled up in normal sweaters and winter jackets. I recognize the others from a previous dream in which we had all been together, but I don't know them very well. The rest of them are all non-superior dreamjumpers. We begin debriefing on the plan for capturing our suspect after we remind ourselves of who we are. Talking with them, I realize we had all been in the dream in which I encountered the suspect. This is why all of us have been chosen for this mission. We can all see him outside of dreams.

We drive three hours out into New York City. Because it's later in the morning, we hit the tale-end of traffic. Not the worst. But we move slowly along the highway for about 25 minutes. The sky is a winter dull gray, intermingled with the pollutant gases of thousands of cars and factories. The skyscrapers are visible in between the haze. They hold a mysteriousness to them in my eyes. So well known, yet so many secrets they hold. What answers will we find here amongst the great hubbub?

At around 10:30am we are dropped off at our destination in front of a green statue of a man riding a horse, the American Natural History Museum. We climb up the steps leading to the entrance. Large concrete pillars are on either side of the glass double doors. As we step inside, there is a line of people waiting to be screened by security. The others in the team sneak pass by the detectors unnoticed because of their invisibility, but I have to stand in the line since I can't do the same. Once we're past security, I awkwardly go to purchase a ticket for myself. Above the ticketing desks there are messages written on the white walls from President Theodore Roosevelt meant to inspire the museum goers.