DreamWalker

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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When my eyes open again I am surrounded by darkness. Reality sets in just as a a ray of light breaks the inky blackness. Jeremy jolts my dream pod's door open, he utters some remarks about my "lazy antics", and struts towards the cafeteria for lunch. I sit upright, throw my leg over the side of my D.I.P and step out into

the fluorescent.

Stretching out my arms I take in the familiar setting. I swing the lid shut on my pod and type in the password to deactivate its use. It looks similar to a tanning bed with a multitude of wire attachments and computers. On the lid of the pod's white metallic exterior is an HD observation screen about the size of a paperback novel. This screen is used to watch the tester's thoughts as they explore each dream and make sure they are staying out of dangerous situations. That job is reserved for the head dream coordinator assigned to each dream. Today Jeremy was assigned to the dream I just tested, therefore he takes his rounds, keeping up on all the individuals testing his assigned dreams keeping their vitals regular and reminding them of time limits, deadlines and goals.

I make my way out of the rectangular room lined with empty dream pods and take the hallway marked with a large "3" glowing blue above its entrance. There are four hallways exiting the main dream facilities in the centre of D.B.T, two at each end of the room. Hallway 4 heads towards our apartments within the company building, 2 is an emergency exit corridor and the hallway marked with a bright red "1" is considered a v.i.p zone. This hallway is forbidden to testers and rarely used save for head coordinators and company officials.

By now I am entering the cafeteria, buzzing with chatter, it is lunch hour and everyone has finished the first tests of the day. I make my way towards a table in the far corner where Braden is watching me expectantly. I sit down beside him and release a prolonged sigh. Braden fixates his attention to his plate of cafeteria fries and digs in. His short dark curls are in a mess and his composure is solemn. The plain white uniform he wears is pristine and contrasts his tanned complexion and blue eyes.

I don't eat because I technically just woke up and I'm not at all hungry. Braden looks up at me after he's almost finished his meal and asks, "how'd your test go?"

I let out another sigh, "good I guess. I had to rush the last bit", giving him a knowing look I raise my eyebrows.

"Jeremy?" he asks. I confirm his suspicions with a quick nod and return the question. Everyone hates Jeremy, I think it's because he's worked here so long the place has turned him rotten.

"What about you?" I ask, acting like this isn't the small talk routine we traverse through every day during lunch.

"Boring one today, it was for a senior swim team I swear, it was literally just a huge pool with no exit, so I swam around for twenty minutes before evacuating". He says laughing slightly. I snicker and steal some of his fries before I stand up. He clears his throat to grab my attention. "Test trials are today you know. Best be getting ready" he reminds me.

My heart drops and I sit down silently. Braden gives me a reassuring smile as he stands up and walks off down hallway three to go back to his apartment and prepare.

Test trials. This happens once a year on November 13th and they are feared by most of us here at D.B.T. These trials seed out 4 extraordinary dream testers to be inserted into a dream, with four other testers from our rival company "Goal of Paradise". This dream world is called 'Purgatory', and for a reason, the objective of the purgatory competition is to eliminate at least 3 of the other team before the competitors from 'goal of paradise' eliminate 3 of your teammates. The company who's team is successful gets their team promoted to be dream developers, or in other words, riches, fame and success. The test trials consist of a series of unknown tests held within a synthetic dream world created by a third party. In the dream distribution business there are always dangers beyond that of our test scenarios. These dangers consist mostly of the possibilty to be entered into the competition world. If you make it into the top four of the trials then you will be entered. This ritual is considered the only "catch" or downfall to working for D.B.T. You are given food, shelter and friends but you have to sign the form instantly making you eligible for the dream test trials.