When you've worked with someone long enough, you start to recognize their habits and know when something's off. Today was one of those days. Bondy was stressed because his code was complete and we had to test it. Our sponsor was pleased with our progress and wanted us to push ourselves even further. Although the sponsor meant no harm, Bondy felt the pressure in having to deliver on his promises. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and his tea was black with no milk or sugar.
He had called a meeting first thing in the morning to explain the plan for today. I was stressed as it is, hosting Roman's first session later this afternoon. This was the last thing I needed but luckily, he had things under control and didn't need my help. What he needed most was for his code to work which is something I can't help with as I've been hands-off for the most part. As soon as Larry arrived, we met at the usual place by the whiteboard.
"Thanks for meeting on such short notice," Bondy started. "I managed to finalize the code last night and want to test it as soon as possible. I was gonna have the both of you go under if that's alright so I can monitor how it's going." I looked at Larry and he nodded, knowing that we'd be going under his dream.
"My goal is to manipulate your dream externally using the software I wrote. I hope that whatever I type in makes an appearance in your dream. It can be anything—an item, a concept, or a person. The only catch is that I'm not gonna tell you what it is until you wake up in fear of influencing your dreams," he continued.
My eyes widened when person was mentioned. An item and concept makes sense but a person? How will the software know who this person is? Bondy noticed our surprised expressions.
"The person bit is surprising, innit?" he asked, grinning. "That's why this code took so fucking long to write! Celebrities are easy because of facial recognition but ordinary people like us are much harder. My code only works on celebrities so far."
"Class that," I replied, uncrossing my legs. "Can I request Ewan McGregor?" Bondy chuckled, shaking his head.
"It doesn't work like that!"
I feigned disappointment and let him continue. He told us we'll be under for half an hour and to not treat it differently but how can you not? We'll be wondering what he's up to.
-
When I opened my eyes, I was in a house I didn't recognize. It wasn't someone's home as the house was far too ornate for that. It was more like a manor for people to host extravagant parties but the house was quiet. I crept through the hallway studying the portraits of noble people on the wall, none of which I recognized and then I heard faint voices.
The voices reverberated off the walls, creating the illusion that the voices were nearby, but the manor is large and deceiving. Still thinking about Bondy's addition to the dream, I studied the portraits just in case I would be tested on my memory. I've not heard of these people before so their names were quickly forgotten.
In my mind, I was wondering if it was better to tell us what he's adding or to make us guess. I get that he doesn't want to tell us because that's all we'll focus on and we might accidentally conjure it up ourselves. But telling us he was adding something but not saying what was making us paranoid. My senses were tuned to take in everything which overwhelmed my brain. I didn't want to miss anything. And of course, if he didn't tell us at all, we wouldn't have noticed it.
The voices were getting louder which was a good sign and I could make out words. I couldn't pair the voice with a face though so my mind came up with an imaginary person. Her voice was very calming with a bit of a southern American lilt and she was talking about the idea of "us," making me wonder who "us" is.
"Meet me outside in fifteen minutes if you truly love me," she said boldly.
There were no signs of accusations or flirting in her tone. She was straight to the point, not swaying one way nor the other. She was leaving so I opened the door to the nearest room and closed it, leaving a crack so I could still see and hear what was going on. She didn't walk in my direction so I opened the door wider, wondering if I should wait for the person she was talking to leave or if I should just go see who it is myself. A moment later, I heard soft footsteps in the hallway and I stuck my head out to see who it was.
Larry was stood in the hallway looking down the hallway she had just disappeared down. And then he turned around which caused me to retreat behind the wall again. There was no doubt he was looking for me but I didn't want to interrupt his dream just yet. The both of us know we're dreaming but despite being in a dream, Larry is curious where it would lead. Does he meet her outside or stay put? Some part of me told me this was Maeve. I could hear Larry's footsteps down the hall so he was on the move.
Keeping a safe distance between us, I followed him down the hallway which eventually led to an open atrium. We were on the second floor and I could see him making his way down the stairs towards the front door. He put his hand on the handle and paused. Then he shook his head, opening the door, and stepping out. I looked around to see if Maeve was around before running down the steps.
Through the window, I could see Larry making his way towards the fountain. He kept looking over his shoulder looking for someone so I decided to stay in the house, opening the window so I could hear what's going on. As beautiful as this rose bush is, it's obstructing my view of Larry.
Larry looked at his watch, wondering if 15 minutes passed yet and all of a sudden, tons of people started emerging, pointing and laughing at him. Where the fuck did all these people come from? Did Bondy add them? It wasn't until I heard what they were saying that it was clear this was Larry's doing and not Bondy's.
"I can't believe he actually fell for it. Did he really think she'd feel the same way?"
"Look at him! As if he'd stand a chance!"
They started advancing on Larry, jeering at him and he had no choice but to back up. It was his insecurities talking again; all his worst fears. The back of his legs hit the edge of the fountain and he stopped trying to back up. A lass with dirty blonde hair made her way towards Larry and the crowd parted for her. She held her hand out and Larry grabbed it, stepping forward as she led him out of the crowd. At this point, I figured I had observed enough so I stepped out the front door.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you," she apologized. "I didn't want to embarrass you. My friends made me do it! I didn't think—I didn't think you'd actually meet me here."
Despite this being a nightmare, Maeve did seem genuinely upset that she let Larry down. He was so focused on Maeve that he didn't see me approaching from the side. Luckily her friends paid me no attention as I didn't want to ruin this moment between them. Both were red in the face from embarrassment and Maeve seemed like she was on the brink of tears.
"Know your worth, Larry. You are one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. If it's not me, it'll be someone else who falls for you. I mean—you're funny, smart, and always willing to help. Any girl would be lucky to have you," she continued.
Something was happening. Based on her tone, it seemed as if Maeve didn't think she was good enough for Larry. Usually it's the other way around so I was surprised by the turn of events. I wasn't sure if Larry's been working on himself or if this was Bondy's doing. The crowd of people were gone and Larry turned to me.
"This dream feels different," he told me. "It's not going how I thought it would." He looked around, noticing the people were gone and Maeve was frozen in place.
"I feel it too but I dunno if it's different from what you feel. Usually your dreams never end well so I'm surprised by the turn of events," I told him.
"That's what I'm thinking too but there's something else."
"Like what?"
"I don't know how to explain it. When you're dreaming, the dream centers around you but there's been a shift. The dream no longer centers around me but on someone else."
He was looking straight ahead at Maeve who still hasn't moved. It was as if she was done; a robot that had shut down. In a normal dream, she'd carry on but now she's just stopped. And that's when I realized a computer program would never be as good as the human brain. Although Bondy has successfully changed the course of the dream, it was limited to this one interaction. It's amazing that he's able to manipulate the dream in the first place.
"We need to gather as much information as possible," I started. "That way Bondy has something to work from."
I walked up to Maeve, put my hand on her shoulder, and tried to shake her awake. My touch made her disappear and I yelped, not expecting it.
"Fuck—my bad," I mumbled.
"So much for gathering info," Larry teased. "It's just us now."
"It seems as if he's able to change the course of the dream but the software is unable to continue it. You're aware some external force has changed the dream and stopped dreaming. That's why all the people are gone. By the way, how have you not woken up yet?"
Even though nothing was going on around me, my brain was working, trying to think of what went wrong. Usually when this happens, I wake up because I'm consciously thinking which mimics being awake. The fact that Larry hasn't woken up yet means he's quite disciplined in dreaming. It's different for me because it's not my dream.
"I'm not sure how much longer I can continue."
"It's alright. Just wake up. I'm getting there too."
-
I opened my eyes and took my mask and probes off. Bondy was at his desk with a wide grin on his face, no doubt waiting for us to speak. Larry beat me to it.
"Was that your attempt at giving me confidence?" Larry asked. Bondy smiled but neither confirmed nor denied it.
"I dunno what you're going on about. I put in Left Shark," he joked, laughing.
"Well if it's Left Shark, it didn't work. But if it's confidence, it worked...to a certain extent."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We were in a room and it was just me and Maeve. She wanted to talk about 'us' saying she enjoys our time together. And then out of nowhere, she says 'meet me outside in fifteen minutes if you truly love me' and I did. To my horror, all her friends came outta nowhere and laughed at me. I was so embarrassed and that's when the shift happened. She said all these great things about me as if she didn't deserve me. It was very bizarre. You could feel a shift in the dream like it was no longer mine. The people that laughed at me disappeared and Maeve was just frozen," Larry explained. Bondy was listening intently, focusing on every word.
"You've successfully manipulated the dream with this software but it had no way of continuing the dream if that makes sense," I went on. "The dream had no way to continue so it fell apart and that's when we decided to wake up."
"I think I know what you're getting at but I'm gonna have to experience it myself," Bondy replied. "Unfortunately, I don't think we have time."
He glanced at the clock and I followed his gaze, seeing that it was almost noon. I need to prepare for my session with Roman.