Asunder Chapter 32

Chapter 7.1 (32)

The Man in Reverse

The Dreamer

“We’ve learned so much in the past fifty years as to the importance and meaning of dreams. What started as a small thought experiment has led to a vast renaissance of the Oneirology movement. Dreams opening the ripple into space-time through quantum-gravitational waves? This sort of science was unheard of and probably would have been referred to as voodoo fifty years ago, but some of us believe it’s the new Theory of Relativity. Einstein would be proud.” - Dr. Shamika Williams - Associate Professor of Oneirology at MIT.

- 256 years before the present day -

- The year 2032 -

- Age 22 -

Azar had spent the past five years of his young adulthood leading up to this moment. He had been at MIT for only a year, but his research had progressed rapidly. He could now calculate event prediction models with total accuracy, which seemed impossible during his first few months in the lab. Since oneirology was still a new field of science, many did not understand the implications and application of his findings, which limited funding for the studies. His grant had taken nearly the entire first eight months at MIT to get approved, which was fast in the academic world but not fast enough for Azar. New government legislation implemented insurmountable regulations. So much so that Azar found himself studying more Government Public Policy these days than working on his research. Many of his colleagues assumed he was obtaining a Politics degree rather than running a comprehensive dream research lab.

The rate-limiting factor and halting of progression of most academic research in the modern world boiled down to these newly enacted regulations. By law, every bit of information and data collected in an experiment required submission to a government database, which artificial intelligence then reviewed to determine if the research was within the bounds of the New American Research Policy created by the Congressional Research Oversight Committee. This committee and its subcommittees siphoned through the data to determine if the grant would remain active. The tight regulations significantly slowed the advancement of most academic research. Azar’s colleagues informed him his research was moving along relatively rapidly, but he knew there was so much more to interpret. With the government regulating their computers and sensors at all times, he found he was always the last person to parse through the data.

Even the internet was no longer safe, as tight regulations and surveillance made it nearly impossible to communicate or browse without some governmental oversight. The news, social media, and informatics were all influenced by government supervision. Because of this, he had considered becoming more active in the political sphere to help subvert this fear-caused barrier. With the near brink of war with the Nuclear Triad formed by Russia, Iran, and China, the American government was more anxious than ever about the leaking of findings by the multitude of international students performing their research in America. There was even a consideration of banning international students from research altogether, but Congress stopped this, luckily.

Though the restraints sometimes weakened his resolve, Azar had found ways around the restrictions. He had set up a home sleep lab and conducted much of his research alone, on himself. Since Azar was one of the select few who could tap into the unseen world and communicate freely in his dreams, he reasoned he didn’t always need the university’s research lab to conduct his experiments—he was the experiment.

This blessing or curse allowed him to traverse the dreamworld and communicate with the living and the dead, no matter their location in spacetime. Because of this ability, Azar had gained undeniable experiences he now hoped to explain scientifically, not just for his understanding but for the world’s.

One of the experiences he wished to prove was the materialization of dream objects into the real world. An experiment to explain this phenomenon had brewed in his mind for some time, but it required not only precise settings but also two people dreamlinking together. Azar’s calculations revealed an upper limit to the amount of quantum-gravitational energy needed to transfer an object to the real world from the dream world. Because of this, Azar designed an experiment where he could possibly overcome these energy limitations. Though the transfer of an object was theoretical, he knew it could happen because it had happened once before to him.

When Azar was younger, his best friend, who was also his cousin, passed away. Soon after the funeral, Azar slipped into a vivid dream and saw his cousin again. The dream consisted of an unreal montage of events, and in the end, his cousin had transmitted an object to him—a silver dollar. The object transcended not only a dream state to the real world but also from a deceased being to a living one. The implications were astounding, and he devoted his life to figuring out how the event occurred.

In Azar’s calculations, the amount of quantum-gravitational energy needed to transmit enough kinetic information contained in an object, such as a silver dollar, was astronomical. Thus, he theorized that an emotional trigger within the dream had catalyzed the energy transfer. He had coined this effect as the “Law of Transmedium Particulation.” Azar discovered that the only time there were spikes of energetic variations within the dreams was during an emotional event. This “Emotive Energy” was noted to have concurrent bursts of quantum-gravitational wave emittance when recorded. So, in effect, Azar assumed there was a definitive relationship between the two.

However, only Azar thought that Transmedium Particulation, the transfer of physical objects via dream states, was possible. The times he mentioned the theory to his colleagues, he was either rudely disregarded or laughed at. Unwilling to attempt the experiments within the confines and restrictions of his university lab, Azar decided to conduct the research at home.

Azar had set up a local server network within his house, preventing awareness of his private research by the outside regulatory committees. Since the experiment required the dreamlinking of two individuals, Azar needed another person to dreamlink with—someone to help him transmit the physical data from one reality to the next. He devised a plan to send only a tiny amount of information at a time. Postulating the need for a strong emotional connection between the two individuals to transmit the information via dreamlink, Azar recruited his beloved wife, Eman.

The plan was to carry with them a piece of paper into the dream. Within the dream, they would write a special message on the other person's paper. The theory postulated that with the correct setting and emotional connection, the particulation of the information into reality would occur. His only apprehension was that his wife was not a dreamer as he was. Thus, he worried the connection might not be strong enough. Ultimately, since dreamers were extremely difficult to come by, and the secrecy needed to keep this research confidential was critical, he assumed this was his best-case scenario for the moment.

Azar had set up the home recording equipment in their bedroom. The oneirologic recorders were an older model and thus more burdensome than the streamlined ones he used at the office, but they worked just the same and would provide all the information he needed. He designed and created recorders while at William and Mary. Perfecting the technology over the past few years required much of his time, but it was all worth it. He refused to patent the technology because he wanted others to add to the pool of dreaming research without limitations. Uploading the tech to the internet as freeware allowed others to join in the conversation, and within the past few months, he noted an uptick in its interest and application.

To set the stage for their first big experiment together, Azar and his wife christened the night with a small dinner of Koshary and tea. After setting up Eman’s recording apparatus, he prepared his. Azar had Eman consume a time-released caffeine pill as well as a benzodiazepine. He found in his studies that a time-released caffeine stimulant helped with mid-dream stimulation for non-dreamers, whereas the benzodiazepine kept the dreaming individual asleep. For himself, Azar set up a cooling blanket on the floor, as the heat he produced while vivid dreaming caused him to enter a hyper-metabolic state. Sleeping on the floor would prevent body movement disturbances so as not to wake each other.

Azar generally had no difficulties falling asleep. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was always out cold. He hoped this would be the same for his wife, but the expectation of sleep made her anxious, and he wished the sedative would kick in quickly enough for her.

As usual, he lay down in his makeshift bed and fell asleep within seconds.

§

The dream appeared as he had planned. He stood in the living room of the cabin in the woods. Looking through the front window, he could visualize the grass field and the ethereal dark, yet at the same time light sky. The main difficulty was getting his wife to materialize in this exact location. Frequently, non-dreamers would enter the scenery via some other route or means, and he would need to go searching for them. He reached out to Eman mentally, and he could sense she was also in a dream state, but not currently this one. After a moment, the lights in the cabin suddenly flickered and then pulsed at a steady pace. The connection was finally opening. Azar felt the sudden rush of heat flow through his body, indicating the bond was strengthening.

Even knowing he was in a dream, he began sweating. The “reaching out,” as he called it, always made him sweat. This act in the dream was where he believed the immense temperature change in his body occurred, thus requiring the cooling blanket. The “reaching out” was a communion of theta and epsilon waves between the two individuals. Feeling the connection finalize, he sighed a breath of relief. She was there in the sub-reality he created. Though she was present, she was not in the cabin's living room where Azar stood.

Azar called out to her, “Eman! Eman! Are you here?”

He approached the staircase and grabbed the railing, calling up to the second floor.

“Eman! Are you here?”

Still no response.

“Hmmm,” he hummed to himself. “Where is she?”

He opened the front door and stepped out onto the deck. He squinted his eyes and looked out to the field. After a moment, he finally visualized her walking through the tall grass field toward the cabin. Raising her hand, she waved to him. He loved her beyond any love he had ever felt. She was humble and quiet and easy to be around. She loved him for his passions and let him be himself, so he loved her even more for this. Her stark black hair blew in the wind, making the grain sway like the waves of the sea—a golden yellow sea.

She finally emerged from the field, climbing the front steps to Azar. She could not speak as usual in these dreams, so he took her hand and squeezed. He had yet to find out what defined someone who could speak and couldn’t. Initially speculating it had something to do with being a dreamer that allowed it, his theory was turned upside down by an experience with one of his colleagues months back. Either way, he grabbed her hand and kissed her cheek softly. They walked into the cabin, and it smelled of firewood and dust.

“Do you remember what we are here for?” He asked her sweetly.

She smiled and nodded.

Good, he thought.

They both sat down on the sofa facing the fireplace. Having discussed the plan earlier, Eman pulled a pen and a piece of paper from her pocket. The message they were to write on each other’s papers needed to be something the other person had not already known so there could be no speculation or concern about the source of the knowledge. It was a means to control a bias capable of skewing the results.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out his paper, and handed it to Eman while taking her piece. Reaching into his other pocket to pull out a pen, he found, to his dismay, no pen. Out of all his preparations and checklists, he forgot to grab a pen. This lack of foresight was essentially the crux of the entire project, and he forgot the pen.

Eman began writing on his piece of paper. Azar looked around the room, but there was no pen in sight. He reached over and opened the side table drawer but found no pen. Swearing under his breath, Eman looked up. Scrunching her nose and lifting her hands in question, Azar sighed in exasperation.

“I forgot a pen!”

Eman smiled and folded her paper. Quickly finishing her note, she lovingly shook her head and laughed silently. She handed him back his paper and then held the pen out, dangling it in front of her face, smiling. As soon as Azar went to grab the pen, she pulled it away and raised her eyebrows in fake contempt. This caused Azar to smile. She puckered her lips, indicating she required a kiss from him before allowing him to take the pen. Azar rolled his eyes and quickly plucked the pen from her hand. In feigned offense, Eman inaudibly gasped. Laughing, Azar reached over and kissed his wife, which seemed to satiate the moment. She pushed him away, chuckling, and motioned for him to hurry and write his message. Glancing down at the blank parchment, he quickly looked back up and gave his wife a wink, then hurriedly scribbled his message.

Your mother is coming for Thanksgiving.

Slipping the pen into his shirt pocket, he folded the note and returned it to his wife. He was so excited for his wife to read his message. For one thing, Eman hadn’t known anything about her mother’s travels, and secondly, her mother had never left Egypt. It had been three years since she had last seen her, and he was excited to be the bearer of such tidings. They looked at each other and held hands.

“Thanks for doing this for me,” Azar spoke up.

Eman looked into his eyes lovingly and nodded.

He pulled her in and hugged her for a long moment. He was grateful for her dedication to him. He kissed her cheek and then pulled away.

“Let’s read our messages!”

She nodded excitedly.

“You go first!” he exclaimed, excited for her to learn the news.

Eman unfolded the paper and read the note. Tears welled up in her eyes. Looking up, she mouthed a “thank you.” She grabbed him and hugged him tight again. He could feel her chest heaving as she cried. After a long moment of appreciation, she settled. Taking a long breath, she wiped the tears from her eyes. Now smiling, she pointed to his paper, apparently just as excited for him to read his message.

He slowly unfolded the piece of paper and read the words:

I’m pregnant.

His heart nearly exploded. He stared at the paper, astonished by the news. Tears burst forth, streaming down his cheeks. He looked up at Eman, who was also crying all over again.

“Really?” He faintly voiced.

She nodded. Azar couldn’t control himself any longer, and he began sobbing. They had been trying to have children for over a year and never thought it would work out. He had seen multiple doctors and found out the difficulties were because of his physiology, and this was the reason they struggled to have children. Even after surgery and numerous medications, they were unsuccessful. They had attempted multiple rounds of artificial and were going to attempt in-vitro, but as poor students, they could not afford it. They had nearly given up trying… but now… he could not explain the feelings welling inside him.

He looked at Eman, still with tears streaming down his face—speechless.

“I love you,” Eman mouthed, and with this, sparks of emotion erupted inside him. Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, the dreamworld they sat within began crashing down as a falling ashen mass of blackness all about them. They sat there as though wound together in a single flame penetrating the darkness.

§

Azar suddenly awoke. As his eyes shot open, he instantaneously heard his wife gasp a deep breath. Quickly gathering himself, he sat up on his elbows, assessing his surroundings. Azar was in his bedroom on the floor. Shivering consumed his body as the cold blanket beneath him and his soaking mass of sweaty pajamas turned his body to an uncomfortably low temperature. He sat up and looked over the side of the bed. His wife sat still, sleepily staring forward, clearly disoriented by what just occurred and likely still feeling the effects of the benzodiazepine she had taken the hours before.

“Eman, are you okay?” Azar whispered.

She looked over at him and nodded.

“Haha, you can talk now, my love.”

As she was still absorbing the effects of the dream, she seemed to have forgotten she could speak. Cracking a smile, she croaked, “Oh, you think you’re so funny.”

Then, suddenly remembering the news from the dream, Azar shot up and began jumping on the bed.

“Is it true? The dream? What you wrote!”

She smiled now, remembering the dream as well.

“Yes, my love.” She said gently.

Azar jumped on the bed and began jumping up and down.

“It worked! It worked!” The words implied his excitement about his body’s actual functioning in producing another human being. Suddenly, the words transformed in his mind, and he stopped jumping.

“It worked,” he said, quieter now, more speculative.

Suddenly understanding her husband's change of demeanor and thought process, Eman reached into her pocket and pulled out the paper. This reaction triggered Azar to do the same.

They both unfolded their pieces of paper. Azar’s stomach somersaulted in anticipation. On the paper lying before him were the words in his wife’s delicate handwriting.

I’m pregnant.

“It worked,” he shuddered under his breath.

“It worked,” Eman confirmed, reviewing her paper.

He chuckled a weak laugh.

“You did it,” Eman said.

Azar fell to his knees in astonishment. Reaching over, Eman grabbed his hand.

Azar looked up. “WE did it,” he said weakly. “In so many ways, WE did it.”

Glancing back down at the paper, he shook his head in disbelief. The words on the parchment represented years of research and proved what he thought was impossible. He now proved the accuracy of his predictions and calculations of the transference of information via dream states and quantum-gravitational waves. More importantly, he confirmed his ability to bring another living being into this world.

Looking back up at his wife, Azar suddenly noted a dramatic change of expression on Eman’s face. She beheld a look of astonishment in her wide eyes. Azar examined her, concerned.

“What is it, Eman?”

She lifted her hand and pointed at Azar’s front pocket. He looked down, and there was the Eman’s pen. The very same pen she carried into the dream. The very same pen she gave Azar in the dream—the very same pen that transmediated the dream from one reality to the next—from one person to the next.