"The real world?" Petra spoke first.
"Your reality was a dream." The adult said.
Petra smirked. "Prove it."
The adult grinned. "It's simple really – you've never seen me other than in this place, therefore this cannot be the dream." Both Levi and Petra knew of this research – that dreamt up faces were figments of real ones.
"Really?" Levi asked.
"This is everybody you've seen." A projector projected a grid of faces, most of which gave Levi a sense of Déjà vu as he recognized every face to some extent.
"And me?"
"Your list is exactly the same."
"What?"
"We controlled the dream."
"Now, I wouldn't have dreamt that up." Petra said, half-jokingly.
"Well and the technology here is the more advanced." Levi said.
"So?"
"I know I could not imagine facial recognition at this level."
"So this must be real, then?"
"But both times I felt like the main character."
"You mean the conscious one, right? I feel the same way."
"But how?"
"We are testing a way of having two people in the same dream." The adult said.
"So then is that why we were lied to?" Petra said.
"Yes."
Noting the lack of restraints, Petra leapt up, pinning the man against the wall in a swift, terrifying motion. "Why?" Petra snarled. "Why would anybody do something like that?"
"I did it for science."
"Science? What of ethics, you heartless shit!"
Levi was still unsure of how to react, therefore did not know what to do as Petra continued her outburst. "I tried. I didn't know that they would do this, but they put a gun to my head."
"They?"
"Reiss - a billionaire who wants more of everything."
"Then why tell us?"
"You look too much like Mary. Too much for me to want to kill you."
"Kill?"
"That's what would probably happen to you over time. They'll use the two of you for tests and it would only take one failure." Petra's grip on the man loosened. "I'm sorry for this, but I promise that I won't do something like this again."
"You had better not."
"Where is Mr Ral?" Levi said, finally having decided how to act.
"Peter?" The adult asked.
"Yes, my father." Petra said, adding another dimension to Levi's query.
"I do not know." The adult sighed. "Here's what happened seventeen years ago: Mary – your mother – died in an initial test. Then, your father tried to leave but was coerced legally into a mental asylum. You were kidnapped, as was Levi, and then put to sleep in the fake reality we had prepared for second tests. Once we realized that your aging had not altered – that was the primary purpose of your sedation – we decided to try to merge your dreams. It was nice that it worked so well."
"So well that you convinced us of a lie, let us waste our first seventeen years and now will have us in bondage until I would be fortunate enough to die as my mother did." Petra was still vexed.
"I'm sorry, I did not know about your kidnapping and Peter's predicament until a few years into this and I tried to leave, but they threatened me with the same."
"I can't blame you."
"But now you're stuck with your fate."
"How so?"
"In two minutes, they will come in here and dismiss me. Then they will prepare you two for the Guinea pig life."
"What until then?"
"I warn you: don't trust them."
"Who to trust?" Levi asked.
"Only Peter."
"Why only him?" Levi added.
"He's the only one who I know will care for Petra. And since you're her boyfriend, he'll care about you as well."
"You were against that." Petra pointedly pointed out.
"Only to fill Reiss' coffers."
"You asshole."
"Sorry." There was a knock on the door. "Come in." The adult called. The manager entered and held the cuff of the adult's shirt. From inside, he pulled out a small black chip. The adult's eyes widened in horror.
"Now, kids, you learn the consequences of betrayal." The manager menacingly murmured.
"Remember what I said." The adult said as the manager pulled out a small pistol. The shot was barely audible. The adult fell as blood pooled about a neat incision on his head, covered by his grey hair.
"Point taken." Petra said, more angered than fearful.
"Good, because if you act up, not only do you die, but so does he and your father." The 'he' was Levi who had folded into his knees and was terrified of what would be.
Petra's lip quivered. "Now what, slave master."
"Get into these clothes and come up to the lab. Just take a left as you leave here. We'll brief you." The manager pulled out a bag from behind the door and tossed it onto Levi's bed. "Take your time." The manager slammed the door for effect, sighed and left.
Petra also sighed inside the room. She noted happily that the dead man looked peaceful in his repose and that neither of them had joined him. She did also take his words seriously – if his words had not been detrimental, had he not helped, he would have still lived.
Petra turned to the bag on the bed. Wordlessly, she took her new clothes, noting that this future did not bring about huge changes in fashion. Quickly, she threw off the plain, white gown they had left her in and donned the t-shirt and shorts. Somehow, they understood her tastes in garment. She wondered how she had any under clothes on, but decided against pondering that more deeply.
Dressed, she sat next to Levi. Putting her arms around his waist, she leaned onto him. "We're still fine." She softly said.
"We'll die soon." He quietly replied.
"Not on my watch."
"How?" Levi asked. Petra rose and found the black chip. She kicked it out, into the corridor. She proceeded to inspect her clothing. She then checked Levi's. Levi check the beds and gowns. Quickly, he changed his clothing as a part of the search. A total of five chips were kicked out.
"We escape." Petra revealed, leaning back onto Levi.
"But we know nothing about this world."
"So?"
"It would be hard."
"I'd rather that than stay in here."
"What if we stay for a while?"
"How long?"
"Long enough to know how to escape."
"Of course."
"But what then?"
"We'll have to hide and I feel obliged to take this corruption down."
"I love you." Levi said, kissing her.
"Love you more."
"Should we go?"
"Sure." Petra said, looking about the room. "But, before that…" She trailed off in thought as she bent over the dead man and proceeded to ransack his pockets.
She found his visor and proceeded to put it on. "I know you are not the owner. Would you like to report this as found to the owner or report some calamity that has befallen them?" A dialog read.
Petra's eyed darted over the second and it was selected. It was a user-interface she knew she could get used to. "Please explain the calamity."
Petra glanced about the keyboard that materialized. "HE IS DEAD." She managed to quickly type, noting that the qwerty standard had not changed and thankful that her dream was set in a time with computers.
"Would you like to report this to the police?" She had selected 'yes' without a thought. "Levi, I think I have it." She said, once her subconscious decision registered.
"What?"
"I called the police."
"Shit!"
"What?"
"I think they know we're up to something now."
"It's fine."
"How?"
"Follow me." Petra opened the room door and threw the recording chips down the corridor and ran in the opposite direction. Levi followed her, noting that they were running away from the manager's room.
In front of them, a grey door revealed a stair case. Petra entered without hesitation. Levi followed and they began to climb as Petra read that they were underground.
They stopped at ground level. Petra was panting as Levi took the last two steps. "Now?" He said in a ragged exhalation.
Petra tried the door and found it locked. "Up." She said, darting up more stairs.
"Petra, wait!" Levi called.
"What?"
"It's a skyscraper and they've locked all these doors. We're probably trapped here."
"They probably did it centrally."
"Yeah."
"Shit."
"Now we wait to die."
"Levi!"
"What?"
"Have hope."
"For what?"
"If we make it up, there may be an escape."
"And if there's not?"
"We won't know if we don't try." Petra said, running upwards once more. Levi sighed and followed.
It took five minutes for them to reach the top floor, because Levi was wrong about the height of the building.
"That's that, then?" Levi said.
Petra sighed. "Wait."
"What?"
"This door is closed by some electromagnet."
"What?"
"That's what that white block is, right?" Petra pointed to a white block at the top left of the door.
"So?"
"If we break it…"
"How?"
Petra looked about the landing. There was, thanks to some unfathomable luck, a crowbar in a corner. Maybe some contractor left it from an unfinished job.
It took Petra three swings to incapacitate the small solenoid. It was a minor miracle, to the point where Petra began questioning how many layers this one, complex dream happened to have. She swung the door open, knowing that in the real world, she would be met with a group of armed men or a machine-gunning helicopter, or a Hollywood-inspired synonym.
But in this dreamy world, there was nothing. "Am I dreaming?" She half-jokingly asked Levi.
"Nope, we're just incredibly lucky."
"How do we get out now?"
"I have it: we clean windows."
"What?" Levi pointed at a white crane-like structure. It looked like a lifeboat hanging off the side of a cruise ship, but it was better – it was their ticket to freedom. They sprinted across the roof and clambered onto the cleaner. Levi fumbled about the screen, pressing a downward arrow to begin their relaxing descent. They ducked into the tub-like structure that was their escape tool. Fortunately, the couple could hide comfortably in the slowly falling tub.
They tub stopped at the ground level, where the two sprang out and ran across the grass yard and into the cover of trees. "This is the back." Levi said.
"Yeah, but I realized something on the roof."
"What?"
"We're in the middle of nowhere."
"So?"
"To get anywhere and hide, we'll need a vehicle."
"Crap."
"Actually, we may find some delivery trucks or something."
"Where are the police?"
"What?"
"You called them, right?"
"They won't believe us. Knowing these people, they blamed us for the murder."
"Fair enough."
"So we need a friend now."
"True." Levi glanced about. "What's there?"
"That looks like… a building." Petra strained to see.
"That could be a place to see."
"Let's go?"
"Beat you there." Levi sprinted off as Petra lagged a few feet behind. They cut through the foliage that occluded the building and found a small delivery centre.
The building was shorter and evidently older than the building they had escaped. It was red brick and at the back, opened up to a fleet of hollow hover trucks and the required concrete and glass docking bays.
Petra confidently strode towards the bays. "Hello." She innocently called out.
"Miss, this place is not open to the public." A middle-aged trucker walked over, authoritatively glaring and frustrated by the trespassers.
"I'm sorry, it's merely that I have been lost, and was wondering if I could get to the nearest town."
"You and your friend?"
"Yes."
"I'm afraid that there's not much we can do right now-"
"Cap! Get off their asses cap! I'll sort it out."
"Fine." Another, older man walked out to join the small interaction as 'Cap' walked away.
"Hello." The new man said. "Now I know you two aren't really lost, but I'll help you."
"What?" Levi stammered.
"I know you both ran away from home."
"Can we get a ride? We'll go back and-" Petra began, gushing as if weighed down by guilt.
"It's quite alright. You two can, in fact, stay at my house. I'll drop you off."
"Are you sure?"
"Please do, maybe you can inspire my fifteen year olds to do something, while you're at it."
"Thank you."
"And, before any of these morons have you calling me Docky, my name's Grisha. Follow me."
(And so ends part 2: the revelations.
Next up: more action!
Have fun!)