Chapter 3

The extraordinary took over the situation. Jonas couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that even Mr. Dartagnan removing his coat and shirt to sit on one of those chairs. No explanation was given. Nothing. The only thing Giovanni had said on the microphone was: 'The Dream Room is open.', which was followed by a loud round of applause and excitement by everyone who was there, even Rodrigo, who was also not understanding anything, was exalted with the contagious euphoria exhaled by the guests.

'What is he going to do?' he asked Lara in a very low tone.

'When the time comes, you will see...' as soon as she finished speaking, she hasted to sit on the chair next to Giovanni's and as soon as she, too, removed the top of the dress, they helped each other to secure a few cables, one on each other's body.

The feeling of euphoria only increased as each guest followed the same steps as Giovanni and Lara.

'Shall we?' asked Rodrigo, who had returned to approach Jonas.

'Are you out of your fucking mind? Do you have any idea what any of these chairs do?'

'Hasn't the pill kick in yet?'

'No it fucking hasn't.'

'That must be why you're not felling it then, come sit next to me, as soon as it takes effect, you will understand.' he said, giving Jonas a huge nudge of confidence.

Jonas had never had any reason to doubt Rodrigo. Since his arrival in that city, he had shown himself to be a person he could always trust. Everything he needed - and Rodrigo could provide - was within reach. They met in the Black Hole in their first week living in the city.

"'That brunette is looking at you.' Rodrigo's voice, still unknown, sounded close to him.

'I can see that…' lied Jonas with a credulous tone.

'I know her, let me introduce you.'

After that the two started to go out together on a weekly basis, and that was when they didn't arrange one day or another during the week to drink and talk. Rodrigo had grown up in that city and still had his parents living within close range, what made lunch invitations always a possibility."

'Are you coming or not?' he returned to his senses, noticing that Rodrigo was looming with impatience.

'What is this pill making you fell? And why don't I feel anything?' he asked as they walked towards the two closest chairs.

'I don't know how to explain what I feel, but sitting in that chair makes all the sense in the world to me right now. I feel like sleeping, weird, ain't it?'

Now nothing else was making any sense to Jonas. 'Sleep medicine in the dream room, what kind of fucking party is this?', he thought and laughed as they continued to walk. Rodrigo soon removed his shirt - he hadn't been wearing his jacket for some time now - and sat down on the chair unceremoniously. 'I hope this pill thing will take effect at once.', he thought as he started to get jealous of the others. Except for him, everyone seemed very excited about the idea of ​​getting stuck in one of those devices, Rodrigo was already trying to tie the wires to himself without Jonas having the opportunity to try and help him.

'Let me help you.' he said, starting to attach the wires to his friend's body.

'Yes, I should do the same for you.'

'Fuck no! Not at least until this so called drug starts working.' he replied by slapping away Rodrigo's hand holding one of those wires.

'Hi!' whispered Lara from a chair nearby. 'You can start the program without the pill having started to take effect, it is only for side effects that may appear later on.'

'But how is Rodrigo feeling like sitting in the chair?' he asked when thinking that the drug would bring him some magical insight about how thing should work.

'He's just drunk, it has nothing to do with the pill.' she replied trying to be as clear as possible.

Things started making more sense. Jonas had let go of his anxiety and tried to focus on what he was doing. He let Rodrigo help him with the strands, one on the left side of his forehead, another two on his bare chest, and another on each wrist. On the monitor next to him, a green light began to flash, followed by numbers - which he assumed were his heartbeats, despite the fact that he couldn't see any doctors nearby. Rodrigo was practically asleep, he didn't know if the machine helped him or if he passed out from his excessive drinking. Besides him, other people already had their eyes closed, that scene was getting more and more to be something seen in a horror movie , the eccentricity of those rich people was over the limits. He still had no idea of what was going to happen, or how that pill worked, or how he was going to fall asleep like those around him.

'Hi!' he whispered to Lara. 'What should I do?'

'Lie down!' she exclaimed as she pointed to the back of the chair.

Jonas observed a magnetic plate embedded in the backrest where he would lie his head down in a few seconds, he was still afraid that anything that might happen, but the fact that the pill was only for after-effects, made him a tad more relaxed. He felt a weird little shock and left out a high-pitched noise out of his mouth as he ran his finger over the plate, making Lara come to the rescue as she noticed his hesitation, telling him to take his feet off the floor and lie them on the chair.

The lights were getting dimmer and dimmer. Jonas decided to lie his head back when he realised that even Lara had already closed her eyes. Before he could be induced to a deep sleep by the chair, he was able to see that the waiters were being replaced by men and women who wore white coats and carried strange equipment. He tried, but he couldn't open his mouth to say anything else. His mind was gone.

"The image that had appeared before his eyes was one the most realistic things he had ever seen. Jonas was fully aware, despite having a strong headache, that he was fast asleep, or rather, he was dreaming and could feel everything with the most perfect intensity. His mind was still drunk and he was still lying in the same chair when he found himself in control of his own brain. Rodrigo was at his side, and he had the same surprised expression on his face. The other people started to get up slowly as if they were waking up from a deep sleep, Giovanni and Lara were already walking among the other guests and welcoming those who already managed to stay up.

'Welcome to the Dream Room. The best lucid dreaming experience that money can buy.' said Mr. Dartagnan as he intertwined his steps between the chairs and rubbed the forehead of every person who was trying to face the new reality.

Jonas had read something, in some sensationalist article, about those things they called lucid dreams, but something like that was so far out of his reach that he had never delved into the subject. In recent years, science had been trying to achieve the reality of making that possible, but the price to be paid for such a chair did not suit Jonas's financial reality.

The unconscious seemed to have become an image of reality, because, despite knowing that he was dreaming, Jonas felt, in his own body, that what he was experiencing was not real.

'Each of you is now free to imagine the impossible.' began Giovanni as he realised everyone was already supported by their own feet. 'As most of you know, everyone has the freedom to navigate the depths of their own subconscious. Let me, please, give the voice the one who will have the honor of taking us on an exciting journey.

'I hope you appreciate the beauty of the incredible feeling that will be presented to you tonight.' said Lara, extending her arms and starting what seemed like a baptism ceremony.

Despite feeling that his mind was under control and that everything seemed safe, Jonas had a multitude of questions that needed to be clarified, but the speed of which everything was happening would not allow it to be resolved anytime soon. Little by little, people began to dissipate out of thin air.

Jonas stood still. Waiting for some scenario to magically appear in front of his eyes, but nothing changed and he was standing still in that room, in fact everything looked normal. Rodrigo seemed to suffer from the same affliction as he, whilst Lara and Giovanni watched their surroundings and appreciated the beauty of people taking their separate paths.

'Don't just stand there!' said Lara when she noticed they were static. 'Everything is possible in the Dream Room, just imagine it.'

'But what scenario is this?' asked Rodrigo when looking for something different that could catch his attention.

'The scenario is just an emotional concept. I control the main feeling of the lucid dream. The rest is up to you...'

'Beg you a pardon?' Jonas interjected.

'First-time dreamers don't get any explanations, my dear. Your job here is just to enjoy and let your imagination take you to the deepest limit of your unconscious.' said Giovanni before Lara could spoil any more future surprises.

'But I don't understand anything...'

'You will understand. The idea is to imagine! Now go!' Giovanni interrupted Jonas before he could ask anything else.

'Do you have any idea what to do?' he asked Rodrigo, who had closed his eyes.

His friend was then gone. Simple like that. In the blink of an eye he had disappeared from his sight before he could hear Jonas's question. His expression, despite showing great ecstasy, was incredulous. He could feel that any of that would make him very scared in a normal situation, but Lara controlled the main feeling, whatever that meant, and he felt that he could trust her. Jonas deduced that the only plausible explanation would be happiness, or perhaps the pill they gave him was a very strong drug. 'The idea is to imagine', Mr. Dartagnan had exclaimed a few seconds ago.

Jonas closed his eyes, imitating what Rodrigo had done, and thought of the house he had spent his early childhood in, one of the few memories he still had left of his parents. In the blink of an eye he was there, standing in the front-yard of where he used to play football with his father. In less than a second his mind was filled with nostalgia, but as much as it brought him sadness and longing, he could not assimilate the image with any negative feelings. His father's face was vivid, just as he remembered. 'Am I the small me or the big me?', he thought as he got more confused at minute he spent there. He looked down and saw that he was still wearing the party suit. 'Just use your imagination.', was when, suddenly, he found himself dressed in shorts and had his bare feet touching the lawn, showing him that he was definitely his big self. Happiness returned to take over the neural synapses that worked the brain whilst he tried to focus on the ball he would kick to his deceased father.

'Is it really you, father?' he said aloud as the old man continued to kick the ball in the same direction.

Nothing. Not even a word. His father continued to look in the same direction in which he was kicking the ball, whilst Jonas was already at his side, trying to touch him and get his attention. That was when he turned back to the position he was before and realised that he could see his young self receiving and kicking the ball back. 'But how? I felt that ball hitting my foot.', he thought as he vividly remembered the hard leather of the ball touching his bare foot.

'Lunch is ready!' shouted a female voice from the inside of the house.

Jonas knew it was his mother. Before he could run into the house, he saw his body materialised sitting at the dining table in the room where he had grown up. Once again, he tried to observe his arms, which were big and strong and could not be those of a child, he was his old self, same as before, but this time he would not make the mistake of moving. 'I will do exactly as the memory tells.', he thought before he went back to observing his own image to eat.

Confusion still dominated most of the events that followed. He was sure of that memory. In fact, he hadn't thought about that situation for many years, but his subconscious did the job of bringing him a moment of very much happiness. He could see what Lara meant by the 'scenery I designed for you.', It had nothing to do with the look, but with the feeling that took over his whole body. His arms and legs shivered every few seconds, it was some kind of euphoria he had never experienced before. Happiness didn't come with that intensity and frequency, it wasn't normal, but every aspect of the dream could be controlled, he could realise that now. If he wanted to observe or experience the moment, he could, all he had to do was imagine.

His subconscious continued to surprise him, as he was still very young at the time of that memory and couldn't remember every detail with precision, but with each word said and each look exchanged between him and his parents, he realised that everything was there, lodged in some forgotten corner of his mind.

'How was school?' asked his mother as she served him a spoonful of rice and multiple sliced up pieces of meat so he would be able to chew with his yet feeble teeth.

The response was automatic, just as his subconscious commanded. He felt like crying, but his brain continued to block the presence of possible negative feelings.

His memory took another leap, and before he knew it, he was lying on a small bed in his old childhood room. He looked at his feet and realised he had more than half his legs out of the bed. Next to him, his father covered him with a thin blanket and started to open a small illustrated book that he recognised very well. It was his favorite book as a small child, giving off an image that the world could be a box of surprises and that life was simple enough to be lived. Whenever he had time, his father would read him a story or two before he could fall asleep. But sleep did not came right then as he was already fast asleep - it was getting hard do keep track of it - and suddenly the remembrance stopped. The image was static as he was up and out of bed, seeing his young self with his eyes closed and his father holding the book whilst staring at his sleeping son.

Before he could imagine what would come next, his body materialised back into the Dream Room. He was alone, all by himself. The feeling of nostalgia started to take over his mind, and a tear fell from his eye before he could realise that sadness had taken over his feelings. 'Is it over already?', he thought as he was still the only one to be back in the room.

Jonas forced his brain to imagine anything else he had experienced before that could bring back the feeling of happiness, but his effort was in vain. All he could think about was the image of his father's fixed eye reading a book whilst he fell asleep. 'The scenario is one of happiness.', he thought as he was now understanding how things were supposed to work. He forced his brain again and again so that his subconscious would take him to another moment of happiness, it didn't matter which one, he just wanted the sadness to leave his body. 'This main room shouldn't be part of the scene.', he imagined as he tried to calm the anxiety of not being able to control his own feelings. That same thought started to repeat itself in his mind in an endless loop. With each turn the words took in his mind, the anxiety increased even more, and he had no idea of how to make it stop.

He found himself crouched on the floor with his arms crossed over his legs. Now tears streamed from his eyes in an incessant cry, whilst that unwanted thought created even more roots inside his head. 'This main room shouldn't be part of the scene.', he continued as he sought a logical explanation for what was happening as nothing else made anymore sense to him.

He then rose quickly from the floor and did the only thing he thought was congruent. He lied his back on the chair and put his head on the backrest, but the magnetic plate was now gone. He didn't wake up. He opened his eyes and the atmosphere was the same. The same room: empty and lifeless. The loop became more and more intense and the tearful expression had been replaced by an intense feeling of agony. The walls started to close towards him, and the only thing Jonas managed to do was to force his eyelids close and wait for the end to come once and for all."

'Jonas! Jonas!' he heard a familiar voice after feeling that someone was slapping his face.

As he woke up he was facing Rodrigo looking at him whilst some of the others were already standing up and a few were still waking up from what seemed to be a deep sleep in their chairs.

'What happened? Are you alright?' asked Rodrigo as he saw that he had opened his eyes and was conscious.

'I... I don't know...' he replied with a weak and discouraged voice.

'Get up and stay calm, nothing you have experienced is real, it is just a dream. Incredible, isn't it?' said Rodrigo as he noticed Jonas was, little by little, coming back to his senses.

'Yes, really incredible.' he said as he wiped his shirt sleeve over his forehead to dry the cold sweat that was dripping from him.

There was no need to lie, that experience had really been something incredible. A roller coaster of emotions had taken over his mind, but now that he was awake, he felt a complete emptiness in his heart.

'What was your experience?' asked Jonas as he got up.

'I've never felt so happy! I don't know how to explain it, but I saw memories and new things too. All at once.' replied Rodrigo who seemed ready to lie down in that chair and do it all over again.

'Same for me...' he said once more without having to lie. Despite the confusion and fear he felt at the end of his sleep, the happiness he had felt was exactly as Rodrigo described it.

'This main room shouldn't be part of the scene.', he would repeat the thought again and again before anything could bring him sadness. The loop was gone, he was now able to organize his thoughts and remember exactly what had happened to him whilst he was immersed in that deep sleep.

'How long has it been since we started?' he asked Rodrigo directly, still trying to assimilate it all.

'You can see it there.' he said, pointing to a stopwatch on the wall.

The numbers on a digital clock marked exactly thirty minutes. He couldn't say whether his perception of time was greater or lesser than that as the sensation of time had been unthinkable during hid lucid dream, but thirty minutes sounded normal. 'It may be.', he thought.

'I reckon I'm going to spend a few minutes in my room. This thing got me terribly sleepy.' said Jonas as Rodrigo ordered another drink from the waiter who was passing by once again.

'Sleep? I feel like I've slept for fucking hours.' said Rodrigo looking at Jonas with awe.

He was worried again about what was happening to him. Clearly he had not had the same experience as Rodrigo on that machine. He was tired and the feeling of happiness, despite reigning, was not the only sensation he had had whilst immersed into that dream. He needed some explanations about what just happened to him, he looked around to see if he could find Lara as he had a lot of questions to ask, and those health people he had seen before seemed to be long gone.

'So what do you think?' asked Lara, realising that Jonas was approaching her.

'Weird, to say the least. But tell me one thing, is it normal for me to be tired?' he asked as he saw that everyone else had already a glass in their hands and were returning to participate in the party as if they were not even hung over. 'I even have a little bit of a headache.'

'Hmm.' she mumbled with worry. 'Did you take the pill before lying down the bed?'

'Yes, I did. Rodrigo gave me one.' he replied as the anxiety was starting to make another announced appearance.

'So it wouldn't be normal. That drug is designed exactly to maintain the balance on the disposition of hormones during the lucid dream, in addition to providing intense rest for the brain in a matter of only a few minutes. You should feel rested.' concern had now taken over Lara's expression.

'How was it?' Giovanni's voice intruded on the conversation as Jonas started to panic.

'Maybe the pill didn't work on me?' asked Jonas, ignoring the host's question.

Lara and Giovanni looked at each other whilst Jonas became more and more concerned about his situation. The chairs had already returned to their places below the floor and the cushions were re-set to their designated area. Jonas sat in disbelief. The expression on his face defined exactly what he was feeling, there was no need to ask if he was okay to know that something was wrong.

'Tell me exactly what happened.' said Giovanni with a demanding tone as he showed off concern.

Jonas told everything he had been through, from the moment he took the pill given by Rodrigo until the moment he woke up in a cold and fearful sweat. Lara and Giovanni Dartagnan were sitting next to him and listened very carefully to everything he had to say. They then exchanged looks of concern as Jonas became increasingly anxious about the whole situation.

'I'll be honest with you.' began Giovanni as Jonas felt that it was going to be a bad conversation. 'This have never happened before, but don't worry, these machines are completely safe and have never been a problem for anyone who has used them.' he finished, showing comfort as he looked deeply into Jonas's eyes.

'It is true! Nothing to worry about.' said Lara. 'Here, just take a sip of my drink then go back to the party that this tiredness will soon be gone.' she finished by offering him the glass of champagne she had in her hands.

'Actually, I don't really feel like drinking. I've got a bit of a headache.' he replied as he politely rejected another the alcohol.

'Weird...' began Giovanni before he could be interrupted.

'Did I hear someone say something about a headache?' Rodrigo appeared out of nowhere and threw himself on a pillow next to Jonas.

'Yes, I think I've drank way to much.' he lied not to worry his friend.

'I've got a pill here. Take it and soon it will be gone.' Rodrigo, who was already drinking again, brought the pill out of his pocket and handed it to Jonas.

Jonas saw an expression of dismay on Mr. Dartagnan's face, who immediately threw himself in front of him and took the pill before Jonas could reach out for it.

'Where did you get this?' he asked in amazement.

'I brought it from home, I always get headaches after a party.' replied Rodrigo innocently.

'Impossible! This is the pill we all took before lying down on the chair. Only I know how to get one of these.'

As soon as Giovanni finished speaking, Lara, Jonas and himself made the same astonished expression on their faces. What had happened was clear, but Rodrigo still had a look of confusion in his eyes.

'What the fuck just happened?' he asked.

'You gave me the wrong fucking pill!' said Jonas, panicking.