Dreams of Tomorrow

Chapter 1

"...why, yes, I have some doctor friends. Should I call one?"

I nodded and turned my back on the cat woman. There was only one thing in my mind: I had to protect that house. There was something coming, and I knew it could look like anything at all. For that same reason, I wasn't sure about calling a doctor or not. Of course, having someone who knows first aid could save lifes, but what if the "thing" took the doctor's appearance? I'd have to interrogate him when he made his appearance.

I made sure the house had all windows barricaded. Some with wooden planks, others with with oil barrels and television screens. I had made an excellent job, but there was not a shred of natural light coming from outside. "Let's hope we don't have a blackout." I said to myself.

There were five people in that house, counting myself. One was the cat lady in a purple dress, and then there were two humans, male and female, and a strange crocodile man that, for some reason, dressed like a man from from the 1800s, wearing some kind of vest. Only I had a weapon, a small revolver with three bullets left. With the incoming danger, I had to make sure my shots were accurate.

Three knocks at the door. The doctor had arrived, apparently. I readied my gun, opened the door, and aimed at his deer face. "What are the first ten words from the fifth line of the hypocratic oath!?" I shouted, waving the revolver. The deer blinked twice, and replied. "I will not be ashamed to say I know not "

"Good. Welcome to this house. Please make sure not to let anyone enter." I closed the door, locked it thoughtfully, and sat on the stairs. I was starting to get nervous. It could appear any second now...

And, just having thought that, it happened. From the kitchen's sink, a skeleton hand appeared, and quickly began transforming into a fleshy tendril, gaining mass within seconds. "Crap! Everyone, upstairs, NOW!" I ordered. Both the cat woman and the doctor obeyed instantly, and I run behind them. Once we got to the second floor, we got inside one of the bedrooms and closed the door. All the house residents were there.

"Alright... you two, push some furniture to block the door. And you, crocodile man, go t-"

"I'm not a crocodile" He interrupted. "I'm an alligator."

"..." I stood in silence for a few seconds, and then asked. "What's your profession?"

"I'm a detective, if you must know."

I bursted out laughing, realizing how bad it was. "You're an alligator in a vest. So to say, an investigator." I couldn't believe my brain did that. Of course, it was all a dream. And it just turned into a lucid one. Which, fortunately for me, could mean I had control to do whatever I wanted. At least, that was usually the case. I snapped my fingers and closed my eyes: when I opened them, I was in a green and sunny hill, laying in the grass.

"This is a blessing." Although lucid dreams were more rare than I'd have liked, being able to have them was already really nice. It wasn't something that I was born with, of course: it was more like a skill, something you learn to have and control. But most people simply didn't have them. For me, it was relatively easy: just follow some instructions and remember to do "reality checks" every once in a while. That is, reading a piece of paper two or three times, or looking at a digital watch to see if it changed. I got used to checking my own heartbeat, but I didn't even need to do it that time.

I stood up and looked straight at the sun, smiling. Of course, I wasn't blinded nor felt any pain. I raised my hand and created some clouds, up above, drawing different shapes that came to mind. It was hard not to be happy during my lucid dreams. I had the power of any god, yet it felt so real. Any kind of scenario I could think of would become real as soon as I wanted.

But I had to remain calm. If I got too excited, I could wake up in a moment's notice. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, focusing on what I felt like doing. Ah, I missed the summer. The small river I used to go to in my childhood, the water balloon fights, the bright blue sky... I decided to cling onto that. So I started hearing the sound of a waterfall. The heat intensified, and then, I was laying on the water, without really feeling wet at all. A peaceful scenery unfolded around me: a green and deep forest that surrounded a river of pristine waters.

Needing to sate my thirst for adventure, I dived into the water, without having to worry about not being able to breathe. The river was just as full of life as the woods, with beautiful fish darting around, although ignoring my presence. Swimming farther, I got inside an aquatic cave, with crystals glowing in the dark on the walls and giving it an eerie atmosphere. I just knew there would be some sort of treasure laying around. Some ancient artifact, perhaps, or the key to a great mystery. I swam back up, expecting to start a new quest.

But I got none. A ring made everything shake, and then, I woke up, thanks to the buzz of my phone's alarm. I grabbed the phone and turned the ring off, clearly annoyed. "Stupid thing..." I groaned, glaring at it as if it had betrayed me. Just when I was getting to the good part...

Any trace of the happiness I was feeling had banished from my face. I was angry and dazed. The worst part of lucid dreams was waking up, without a doubt. Dreams were a lot better than real life. At least I actually felt free when I wasn't awake...

Wait, there was something odd. I had my outside clothes on. And it was surprisingly bright outside. Oh, right. It wasn't early morning: I had taken a nap after lunch. A glance at my watch revealed it was 17:05. I had been sleeping for... almost three hours. And I had to go do... something. Something I didn't really remember.

I left my bed and went downstairs, into the bathroom. I washed my face, hoping it would wake me up, if only a little. When I finished, I gazed at the mirror. Still a silver furred wolf. That was something that didn't change, not even in my dreams. I was quite happy with my looks, after all.

I started to remember. I had to go out, against my will, to Darmid, the big city. It was half an hour away, since I lived in the suburbs. However, I didn't have much time to spare, so I grabbed my headphones, placed their clip for canines carefully on my ears, put on my shoes and a jacket and got going.

After 25 minutes of bus and listening to music in a language I couldn't possibly understand, I was finally getting there. The city was big and really populated. The streets were full of people, no matter the time. It felt kind of dirty and polluted, probably because of the huge amount of cars parked everywhere. The buildings, though, were different. Most buildings were old and solid, with decades of history. However, the city was slowly evolving, and new buildings sprouted from time to time. Those were usually tall and clean, with modern and daring designs that contrasted colors and had plenty of windows. They were reserved for offices or expensive apartments, although I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to live in one of those.

Then again, I preferred not to. I was no good with crowds and noise. That's why I avoided going into the city itself. But I didn't really have a choice: my mother was forcing me to go to a psychologist. We got into plenty of arguments because of it, but at the end, I had to reluctantly agree. Just a few times. She was concerned about me being depressed, refusing to make friends, not communicating... Of course, she just wanted the best for me. But it still was a pain.

And then, one more ring in my ears. An unknown person had sent me a message. At first glance, it looked like spam, but something caught my eye before I could delete it.

"From Mornet, you've got our deepest gratitude, Asher Brymen!

You helped us fund this project when nobody else would. Although it has been a long time, we eventually succeeded, and couldn't have done it without you. For believing in us, we want to pay you back: answer to this message or come to Mornet Offices in Darmid, and I, Degan Reve, the CEO of this corporation, will make sure you receive your product!"

"...what the hell is this?" The name "Mornet" felt somewhat familiar. Searching for the name on my email inbox, I found one message related. Two years earlier, I had paid a few bucks to some crowdfunding project. It was from some company that had run out of money after losing some important market deal, so it relied on donations. The interesting thing was the product they were developing: some sort of gadget related to controlling your own dreams every night. Things didn't work out for some time, but eventually they managed to get enough. And since I had helped (although with a measly amount), apparently I was going to get one for free.

I replied to the message, just to check if it was legitimate. "Hey. Is that true? Did it finally work out? I had forgotten all about it." The screen flashed a few seconds later. "Oh, that was quick. Yeah, it's all true. Again, thanks for your support. Is there anything you wish to know?"

I did have quite a few questions, but unfortunately, not the time. The bus had stopped, so I got out. "Yeah, but I can't really talk right now. I'm in Darmid right now, though, so maybe I could go to the office in one hour or so. What's the direction?" after reading the reply, I noticed it was quite close. Just a short walk from where I was. "Scratch that, I'm really close by. Can I go now?"

Luckily for me, that Degan Reve guy was free at the moment. It felt surprisingly humble for a CEO to receive just about anyone who spared five euros for his project, but apparently, the guy was just like that. The kind of person that even after becoming rich and important donates to charity anonymously. Those who were unrealistically nice for no real reason. Or so it seemed based on a quick research.

After five more minutes of walking, I was in front of a huge building. It was one of those modern ones, but it felt almost taken from a sci-fi utopia. One side was almost completely covered by mirrored windows that reflected the blue sky, and rather than a square, it formed a giant U on its side, supported by quite a few columns and a base with some elevators.

I entered through a big gate to the base of the building. That place seemed so clean and new... on the inside, there was a long, circular counter and behind it, the only two people there besides me, a pair of secretaries chatting quietly in front of their computers, one was a white tigress and the other, a male human. I approached and cleared my throat to get their attention "Excuse me..."

"Oh, sorry. Are you mister Brymen?" I nodded lightly, a bit weirded out at being called like that. "Mr. Reve is waiting for you. First elevator, to the left, sixth floor." I thanked the secretary softly, approached the elevator, and pushed the button. Its doors opened instantly, so I went inside. Just like the rest of the building, the elevator, twice as big as I expected, was modern and taintless. As soon as I pressed the button with a big "6" on it, it started moving, but so quietly it was hard to tell if it moved at all.

"Hello!" said a voice from above. I jumped out, startled. "What the hell!?"

A hatch on the top of the elevator opened, and from it, the head of a fox peeped out and looked at me. After a few seconds, it showed a creepy grin. Nervously, I started mashing the button to open the elevator, to no avail. "You must be Asher Brymen! Good evening!" he said, jumping down the hatch. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.

I examined the fox, although keeping a safe distance. The guy was wearing a black business suit, mismatched with a bright yellow tie. He was somewhat thin and a little shorter than me. Despite that, he looked like he was in his thirties. The fox looked at me with an amused expression, his red-ish eyes not blinking for a second. Overall, that guy looked eccentric as hell. And creepy, mostly creepy.

"Err... why were you on the roof?"

"I was bored. Answer my question, youngster!"

"...my first guess was "Willy Wonka". But I think I'll risk it and go with Degan Reve."

"Oh, my bad." The foxman laughed happily. "I sometimes like doing weird things to see people's reaction. It's really fun. But I'm not crazy. Promise." the elevator doors finally opened. I let the fox get out first and followed him around.

The offices were surprisingly plain in comparison to the structure of the building. They were clean, with glass walls and warm colours. It seemed modern, but the way everything was clean and dull felt strange, especially after the first encounter with the histrionic fox. "...are these offices new?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. How did you guess? We didn't have much time to decorate yet, since we settled here a few weeks ago." I raised an eyebrow, but before I could voice my question, he replied. "You're probably wondering why it took us so much time. Well, to be honest, we lost the support of a bigger company that would sponsor us. The crowdfunding helped us progress on the project, although very slowly. It was a recent deal what made it possible to finish it."

We stopped in front of a big elevator door, with a key-card reader to the right. The fox swiped his card and a red light on the reader turned green. Unlike the previous elevator, this one had access to the 11th and 12th floors. Degan pressed them both and turned to me, showing a big smile. I couldn't tell if it was genuine or not, but it was a bit uncomfortable. Then again, the whole experience was a bit unnatural.

"So..." I started, to break the silence. "I don't really remember the details on the... thing." The fox tilted his head and smiled again. "Oh, then I'll let it be a surprise." When we got to the eleventh floor, the doors opened. However, the fox only peeped out and let out a surprisingly loud shout for the small guy. "GET TO WORK, WE HAVE ONE READY".