Surrealism

< Reunion

Prologue
A rabbit sat before a woman. It was large, the type referred to as "Taboos". The woman threw a carrot out into the red meadow, causing the large Taboo to chase after it. She got up, and began walking through the falling petals; taking in the fresh air. She walked for some time, eventually coming to a landing bay. Before her, her personal aircraft -- an Alchemilia Corporation hummingbird. She sighed, and prepared to enter the vehicle. The woman began talking to herself, slowly.

"This corporation is bizarre, especially that CEO . . . At one end, we construct brilliant androids; capable of the eradication of all life on this planet -- something neither the demons or angels have yet to achieve. One end, we enter the finishing stages of a device capable of capturing The Demon's Light for ourselves. And now we're here, at this end. Pillaged by low-life teenage thieves, and a deploying a disgraceful band to capture an old droid. And now I've been tasked with infiltration.." She got into the driver's seat.

"I.. guess it makes sense. According to Gabriel, Andy was a smart fellow. The Droid is nothing to mess with. With how Silivia is, with all of it's humanitarian nonsense, the other teenagers are probably all safe and sound. " She smiled. At once, she opened her hand, creating a small blue ember. The woman closed her hand, crushing it. She sunk into her chair.

"Well, fine. I'll do it myself. Take me to Silivia, at once." The woman placed the vehicle in auto-pilot, and it soared above the red meadow.

Protagonists
"We've tried all we can for the day, sir. I'm sorry."

"Well, it's alright, I guess.."

The group sat in a police station, where they had been for several hours. Steven sighed as he reported the four: despite hours of checking security footage, remain identification, Savannah was unable to be found.

"I just don't know what else we can do." Steven told the group.

Melissa looked disappointed as they left the station. "What now?" she asked Steven, "We can't just leave her out there... she could be hurt o-or worse." Melissa finished in a sad whisper.

"I think we may need to give up, everyone," Chris said.

Melissa glared at Chris. "Sure, let's give up on our friend who might be in real trouble right now."

"I just mean, Savannah is very intelligent and strong-willed, she would know how to take care of herself," Chris explained, glancing at his watch. It was getting late, and they still hadn't found Savannah. Why even bother?

Melissa sighed angrily before she turned to walk off. If the others wouldn't look for Savannah, she would.

"Melissa, get back here!" Chris grumbled, as he pulled Melissa back towards the group. "A few days ago, you told me we all need to stick together. I think it's best we all keep doing that, with Savannah missing. Steven kindly offered us a place to spend the night, so I recommend you just come with us. I doubt anything terrible happened to Savannah,"

Melissa turned and slapped Chris across his check. "Never grab me like that again!" She paused to calm herself. "I left Marshall and Atticus behind in the forest and look what happened, Savannah's been in the city alone it was attacked by Alchem and by angels anything could have happened to her! She could be laying hurt somewhere or worse, shouldn't we at least look for her?"

"That was a very interesting hug," Chris replied, not paying as much attention to the words Melissa had said as to the movement she had just made. "I'll hug you back!" Chris then slapped his hand against Melissa's cheek.

"What the fuck are you two doing?" Atticus exclaimed, walking over to the two of them. "Stop slapping each other! This is only distracting us from trying to find Savannah."

"Not again . ." Steven said to himself. "Perhaps we should all just head on in to bed."

Melissa glared at Chris rubbing her bruising cheek, then looked at Atticus. "Fine, what do you suggest we do?" She asked ignoring her brother's comment.

With the sound of cars buzzing by on the streets of Silivia as people raced to get home, Atticus looked back at the closing police station. "I agree with Steven, it's getting late and we haven't achieved anything. It's just better to wait until the morning."

"I guess so." Melissa said disappointed,

"Come, let us go for some rest." said Steven.

The red automobile drove slowly through the streets. The passengers looked out the window — Atticus, Chris, Melissa, and Steven. For Steven, the silver lights of the city were a common sight. But for the other three, this was a new and breathtaking experience. The driver, Samuel Brownlee, was transporting them to his laboratory.

"No luck, eh?" asked Samuel.

"Nope, none at all." responded Steven, in the front seat.

“I really hope we see Marshall again,” Chris said as he averted his gaze from the window and looked towards Samuel, hoping to make conversation. “So you live in your laboratory? Is that sufficient for you?”

"Indeed, much like your friend, Steven, in his laboratory."

Still feeling upset over not finding Savannah, Melissa was staying silent while listening to the others' conversation.

The car continued to go through the streets, filled with an air of awkwardness. This man, Brownlee, was responsible for fixing their android friend; but they did not quite know anything of his experiments. Marshall was still out and about, promising to somehow to arrive at the laboratory when he was ready; based on an address slip given by Samuel.

Wanting to break the silence, Samuel asked another question. "Anyone need anything to eat? I don't have much for all of you, but I'm sure I have a microwaveable or something.."

"Well," Chris thought for a moment. "I cannot eat, but I wouldn't mind smelling something with sugar in it, like a donut. Could calm me."

Samuel smirked. "Anyone else?"

Atticus, located in the back of the car, was distracted in thought during this conversation. Thinking over the past few days, everything just seemed like a never-ending whirlpool. Waking up at the barn, the trouble at Alchem Corp, the demon in the woods, being on the run with Marshall, the attack from the angels, Savanna's disappearance. None of it made sense to him whenever he thought about it. How was he even in this mess? No matter how hard he tried to think about events before waking up that day, he could bring up nothing.

Just more and more blank spaces in his mind. One of the worst parts was how, other than his name, he did not even know himself.. He couldn't recall his own age or his family - what if there were people out there searching for him and he did not even know it? Parents and siblings that missed him?

Gazing out the window, he watched the town of Silivia fly by as they drove onto a bridge. The silver lights of the city reflected onto the water and lit up the scene in a gorgeous display of flashing lights and rippling water. Gazing around at the cars and life around them, he sighed silently, laying his head against the back of his seat and closing his eyes. Silivia was truly beautiful and he considered the people who knew of it as home to be very lucky. He didn't even know of a place that he could call home.

Hearing the conversation from the others, he quickly regained his composure and replied, feeling slight hunger. "Yeah, I'd like to have something to eat. The hospital food was horrible."

"Sounds good." said Samuel.

Samuel parked the car slowly, as it pulled into the garage of a magnificent house. It was modern and sharp, the exterior plastered with walls of glass and brick. Surrounding the building, several white bushes — Euclidean Malura — aided in the building's decoration.

"We are here, everyone. Welcome."

"This place is magnificent," Chris said, as he looked around the exterior of the building. "So, do you have anything you're working on?"

Samuel began speaking with confidence. "I suppose it's about time I reveal the 'experiments' Steven mentioned to you earlier. I own a device, what this whole lab is centered around — 'The Contraption'."

Feeling tired and wanting to rest, Attcus ignored the conversation between Wellington and Brownlee; and headed for the lab doors. Pushing them open, he revealed a large waiting room littered in comfort chairs and the sound of a dull ceiling fan.

"Wait up!" Steven and Samuel called out to Atticus. "Come on, let's get inside." Samuel told the others.

Melissa hopped out of the car and followed behind her brother, as they began to head into the lab.

Sitting in the middle of the waiting room with paperwork on her lap, a girl shuffled through the papers. She gazed at the papers with her dark, brown eyes, her brown hair falling perfectly onto her shoulders. Her short, small figure made her look differently from others in the lab. She heard the lab door swing open, startling her. She looked up, expecting to see her boss.

"Uh, hello?" She said to Atticus, seeing him standing at the entrance.

Upon seeing the girl, Atticus stopped walking and gazed down at her, noticing how dark her skin was compared to his. "Hi, I'm Atticus. I'm with, uh, Brownlee and some other people I know."

"Oh, of course!" she smiled, standing up and placing her paperwork down at the table beside her. "So, do you need anything, Atticus?"

"Well, if this isn't too odd, I would like to know if there's some place to eat and rest around here? I haven't had a decent meal in a while." Atticus said, not even recalling the last time he had a decent meal.

"And uh, what is your name?"

"Oh, of course! My name is Blossom, and-" she paused for a second. Stepping closer to Atticus, she gazed up and down him.

"Uh... are you that guy from TV??" she asked.

Chris, awed by the long tables and numerous computers he saw as he entered the building, wondered if this was the laboratory part he was in right now. He could hear voices coming from a corner of the room, one definitely belonging to Atticus.

"What's your name?" Atticus asked. Chris hurried over to see who-or what-he was talking too.

"What activities have you been partaking in, Atticus..." Chris asked, curious, only to see the girl in front of him. "Oh, who's your friend?"

"Uhh," Atticus said, thinking for a moment. "Well..."

Before he could finish answering, Wellington suddenly came around the corner and right up on the two of them. Instantly stepping back from the girl, Atticus looked at him and sighed. "This is Blossom, I just met her here. She's not really a friend."

Blossom took a look at Chris, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Hello- I'll...be right back, okay?" Blossom ran to a set of doors to the right of her, which from a glance appeared to be a bathroom.

"Welcome to the Laboratory of the Mind, Atticus.." said Samuel, breaking a silence that occurred due to Atticus' awkward encounter.

Samuel and Steven were both thoroughly shocked at the events which transpired. Blossom was a lab assistant; personally selected by him, yet he never saw such a strange performance as she just did.

"I have no idea what came over me, I admit, it was disrespectful to barge in like that, so I apologize," Chris said to Atticus, before turning to Samuel. "But who's that woman he was talking with anyway?"

The others looked to Steven, hoping to get some explanation of the recent events. He cleared his throat, and begin. "Blossom Cane. She is a lab assistant here; helping with research, cleaning, and sedat— substance mixture. She joined about a month ago. Blossom has usually been quiet, though I don't know what that was."

"Ah, interesting," Chris replied, not sounding too interested. So, are we going to see more of this place? I personally would love to go upstairs, as this downstairs feels a bit to formal for my tastes,"

"Makes sense. I am eager to show you all what awaits you upstairs." replied Samuel.

"Let's just go," Atticus said, walking ahead of the group.

Atticus would not lead the group this time, though. Samuel quickly walked in front of Atticus, noticing his awkward speech. Atticus stopped to look at him. "Come now, I need to show you where to go, don't I? Follow me, everyone." he gestured to the group.

Melissa walked beside Wellington as Samuel approached an intricate, white, spiral staircase. "Is Atticus alright?" she said, softly. "I don't know what that girl did, I came in after.."

"I don't think he's doing well at all," Chris said as he reached the first step. 'I was rather impulsive in my actions, simply wishing to stop Atticus from talking to who he was talking too rather than take into account any feelings or information he was exchanging with her,"

"Very weird.." They began walking up the stairs, the steps illuminated by the night sky.

"Nice view," Atticus muttered to Brownlee as they walked up the stairs more.

Samuel smiled as they approached the final step. The group gathered behind the door, still confused on the girl from earlier. "You can introduce them, Steven."

Steven smiled. Everyone listened. "Well then everyone, we are about to approach a very special room. This room, this where all of the main activities of this laboratory takes place. In addition, this room houses what you all have been awaiting — comfortable beds."

"I don't really mind the comfort levels of my bed, considering I cannot feel it, but I'm flattered you're offering it to us, so I'll accept it. What time is bed time?" Chris asked.

"You'll see." Samuel opened the door of the room. The group followed him.

Upon his arrival, an orange cat ran to Samuel; jumping onto his soldier, purring. Chris, Melissa, and Atticus looked to their lucrative prize after days of journey — in the center of the room, thirteen beds were arranged neatly together; side by size. Their sheets followed a pattern — blue, red, yellow. Surrounding the room, near the enormous glass windows, were paperwork and computers.

Walking over and sitting down on one of the blue beds, Atticus looked around the room. "Cool room, but why is it arranged like this? Isn't this kind of..strange?"

"I agree, this makes a very minimal amount of sense," Chris said as he sat on a red bed. "Do you have a good explanation for us?"

"Ah.. get up, Wellington. " Samuel motioned for Chris to leave the bed, his voice calm; but raised slightly.

Chris got up, but was still confused. "Are you going to explain, or..."

Samuel cleared his throat, and looked not only to Chris, but to everyone else. "I suppose you all are confused." Steven looked closely at Samuel, knowing exactly what was about to happen. The cat jumped from his shoulder, and onto the floor.

"Sorry about that Wellington! Even though I gave you those new clothes at Masquerade, it's a matter of not interfering with the.. work that occurs here; and keeping the beds sterile. Don't want the slightest thing to effect results." Chris, Atticus, and Melissa, looked closely at him; wanting to figure out just what was going on.

"Now, for the big reveal." Samuel walked towards the back of the room. Opening a door, he entered into a medium-sized room — in which a mysterious object rested on a wheeled table. He slowly moved the table out of the room, bringing it before everyone. "The Contraption is looking as good as it always has, Samuel." Steven said.

Chris, Atticus, and Melissa looked at the unfamiliar object. It was certainly something. In the middle of the table, there was a large, red cylinder. On the front face, a digital clock reading "0;00". On either side, yellow disks glowed. Surrounding the cylinder's base, which intrigued everyone the most, were thirteen, long tubes — the same number of beds in the room. Each tube had a bracelet that could fit on an average human wrist. Each tube was surrounded by a glowing, blue ring in the cylinder's base. The top of the Cylinder lied a red button, and an empty beaker.

"I present to you — The Contraption. Now, who wants to tell me what is the purpose of this device? And not you, Steven." he joked.

Melissa stood there looking at The Contraption, she reached her hand out and over the different functions it had.

"It wouldn't give us exclusively free donuts, would it?" Chris asked, "Because you promised us food..."

"Don't be silly," Atticus snapped at Wellington. "Of course it won't give us food."

Turning his attention to the machine, Atticus stared in awe. "What is this? What does it do?"

"Why are you lashing out at me?" Chris asked, puzzled. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Andy Wellington certainly gave you a sarcastic side, eh Wellington?" Samuel joked towards Chris, attempting to diffuse the tension. "This device is a real special one. But let's save what it does for after we eat, eh? I'll go get some food."

"Understandable," Chris replied as he and the others got off the beds to follow Brownlee out of the room. Chris tried his best to not make eye contact with Atticus. He was a bit confused as to why Brownlee wanted it to wait, however.

"Let's see what you have, Samuel." commented Steven, anticipating what he had prepared. "I haven't eaten anything other than buttered bagels.." added Melissa.

Samuel wheeled away the mysterious device back into the back-room. "Well — I'm going up now to get the food. I'll have something special for you all, I promise. Why don't you all wait downstairs, at one of the tables? Not too many people are in tonight, and they know you are with me."

Chris looked over at Atticus, who was still clearly mad at him. 'Even in these circumstances, that sounds sufficient," Chris opened the door which they previously came in, and headed down the staircase. The group followed him as Samuel made his way to the third floor.

Sitting down at the same table as Wellington, Atticus leaned over slightly and whispered an apology. "Sorry for my behavior towards you recently, I'm just annoyed at so many things right now."

"You are forgiven," Chris replied, reaching out his hand to shake Atticus'.

Slowly shaking Wellington's hand back, Atticus looked around the room. "I'm kinda hungry now," he laughed to the android.

"What foods are you specifically hungry for?" Chris asked, curious.

"I don't know, really. Just something good and fresh."

"I want a cheeseburger pizza, something Steven and I used to eat." said Melissa, partially remembering the details her brother gave her about her childhood.

“Where is Brownlee with the food?” Chris pondered, only to hear footsteps. “Well, that answers that question...wonder what he’s brought us?” Chris did not stop to think that it might not be him.

"Not sure," Atticus said. "Marshall is also taking his time. Been hours since I heard from him."

"Yeah, what's that boy even up too? I'm still a bit skeptical how he instantly healed from that gunshot wound a few days ago..." Chris said.

"I don't know, he randomly left at the police station and said he'd be back soon. And yeah..that was weird, he didn't even explain it to me properly. Got the feeling he didn't want to. And frankly, at this point, I don't even know what normal is now."

Blossom came downstairs in place of Samuel. "I brought a few choices of pizza for you all. Cheese and...cheeseburger pizza..? We sure do have some strange options in the back."

She placed both boxes of pizza onto the table with a pizza cutter. "Eat up, make sure everyone gets at least one slice though."

Chris reached for a slice of pizza, put it on his plate, and smelled it. “Delicious. I’m sure it will please all of your di...” Chris stopped himself, feeling it would be inappropriate to discuss his lack of internal organs in front of this strange woman. Not even his friends had taken his android quirks well the first time they’d met. “Will please all of us,”

"I'm glad!" she smiled. "Is there anything else I can get for you all?"

"I think this is good," Atticus told her, as he reached for a slice of pizza. "Thanks for it."

“Do you know Brownlee’s whereabouts?”Chris asked Blossom as he desperately tried to make himself appear to be eating the pizza. A good first impression was always good.

Blossom squinted at Chris' poor attempt to eat the pizza. "Uh, I believe he is upstairs. If you'd like, I could get him for you."

"That'd be good," said Melissa; delighted as she took a bite of the delectable treat of her childhood. "What does that strange thing do?" she asked the others. "It has these long tubes, and like a beaker for liquid. Probably related to sleep...."

Steven watched his sister in amusement, knowing exactly what the purpose of the device was.

“It might be some sort of blood-sucking device...” Chris commented, before turning to Blossom. “I think it would be good if you brought Brownlee here.”

"Alright, I will be right back!" she turned, disappearing through a door nearby.

"Blood-sucking device..?" Atticus said, face palming. "I highly doubt Steven brought us here for that purpose."

"When we found out what it is, do you think you're going to have him test it on you?" asked Melissa.

“It’s obvious he would experiment on us, to give us food, a drink, or whatever goes in the tubes and beaker,” Chris replied. “Where is Brownlee anyway? We need to make sure there’s nothing fishy with this device,”

Melissa put down her slice of pizza, wondering just who it would be. Looking through the glass doors, she quickly noticed the familiar face standing behind it; holding some odd-looking plants. Melissa opened the door, welcoming Marshall in. "Well, at least we didn't lose you. Where were you, Marshall?" said Melissa.

The group looked at the unfamiliar device one more, Blossom and a new lab assistant joining them. Samuel briefly ran his hands over the devices.

"So, you all wish for me to tell you the purpose of this device?"

"Yes, please. It seems to be an interesting device," Atticus said, examining the device and trailing it with his fingers.

"Very well then. This device.." Samuel smirked. "This device, The Contraption, allows individuals to share their dreams with other people."

Atticus pulled his fingers away from the advice, taking the new information in. "How is that even possible? Seems kind of crazy to suggest such an ability."

"Well, uh, it's quite simple actually." Blossom started. "You put a bit of soporific

in the beaker here, and it's administered with small needles within these bracelets." She held one up for the group to look at.

"Yep." added Samuel. "Sedatives exist in varying.. power. The more 'powerful' a sedative, the longer and more realistic the dream will feel. I'm sure you've all had dreams that felt short, quick, and insignificant. Those types of dreams occur with weaker sedatives. The strongest sedatives allow for extended periods of sleep, in a deeply realistic dream." The others listened to his words in curiosity.

"As the others were saying, the bracelets have small needles which administer the sedative. It allows for conscious transference through the machine. If you look at this red button on the top, pushing this allows you to be sedated and begin the dream instantly. If you look to the blue rings at the end of each tube," Samuel placed his hand on one of them, pushing it twice; turning it yellow and green. "This indicates who is the dreamer, and who is the explorer. Yellow for dreamer, green for explorer."

Melissa tried her best to follow's Samuel explanation. "So.. uhh, this is confusing. So, this device can enable you to share dreams by.. drugging us?"

"Well.. in a sense, yes, but I promise it's not that bad." replied Samuel.

“I don’t have internal organs, so I’m not sure how your device will work on me,”

"What sort of side-effects could this have on us?" Melissa asked concerned.

Samuel looked to Wellington, first. "You're an object, Wellington. As long as someone holds you, or you are connected to someone else by even the thinnest of strings or something, you can join the device as an explorer."

Samuel then placed his hand on his chin, as he prepared to answer Melissa's question. "Good question, Melissa. The realm of the dreams and mind.. is most complex. I suppose we will begin with the first thing; that is, dying. If you die in a dream, you will wake up.. under the weaker sedatives, usually.

You can't be fully relieved by this, however. Dying in a dream is but a minor inconvenience compared to the true dangers of this device. You see, while sedated, regardless of if it is weak or strong, your dreams are quite realistic and immersive. This is compounded by the fact that you have real people exploring a given dream with you. If you are not careful, as has happened twice in the past.. you sort of completely lose touch with reality; as your brain falls into a 'Limbo' like state. You forget you are dreaming, become infatuated with the false reality presented to you; and your psychical body will never wake up." The cat meowed, as a small silence filled the room.

Melissa nodded listening to what Samuel was saying. "That makes alot of sense, thank you for answering, um still quite nervous over this though, but, when can we start?" She asked.

Steven perked up at Melissa's eagerness to join — something he did not expect. Brownlee began speaking towards Melissa's comment. "Uhh, you don't have to if you don't want to. Steven only gave a suggestion earlier; when you were all in the hospital." He looked to everyone else in the group. "I just wanted to show you — you don't have to participate; this is experience isn't for the faint of heart. Though, I suppose it is a once in a lifetime experience."

"Wait," Atticus said. "Who said "we" were going to do this?"

"You already are."

Atticus could barely mutter out a 'what' as the whole world began to shake violently. The glass around broke completely, surrounding the room — but never touching him. Everyone around him faded into dust, as the building slowly began to dissipate completely. There he stood, alone with Blossom Cane.

In Somnis Veritas >