The main lab of the NeuroTech Institute buzzed with a frenetic energy Elena hadn’t felt since her early days as a researcher. Holo-displays flickered with data streams—global maps dotted with red markers, video feeds of impossible phenomena, and brainwave graphs pulsing like erratic heartbeats. Scientists darted between workstations, their voices a cacophony of urgency and disbelief. Elena stood near the center, her comm device clutched tightly, the memory of her apartment’s dreamlike cats still vivid. The cream-colored one’s chirp echoed in her mind, a fleeting comfort against the bedlam unfolding on the screens.
Aisha paced beside her, tablet in hand, her sharp eyes scanning a report from Tokyo. “A samurai—actual armor, sword, the works—chased a crowd through Shibuya last night,” she said, her tone clipped but laced with something close to awe. “And in Cairo, someone’s dream turned a market into a jungle. Vines everywhere.” She swiped the tablet, pulling up a grainy video of emerald tendrils snaking through stalls, merchants shouting in panic.
Elena’s stomach twisted. “It’s not just objects or creatures,” she said, her voice low. “People are seeing… people. Dead relatives, fictional heroes.” She thought of the Mumbai woman from the news, her grandfather smiling at her doorstep. The image lingered, unsettling her more than the dragons or crystalline trees.
Aisha nodded, her jaw tight. “It’s like the world’s dreaming with its eyes open. And it’s getting worse.”
The lab doors hissed open, and Dr. Victor Chen, the institute’s director, strode in, his gray hair disheveled but his presence commanding. Behind him trailed a mix of corporate suits and government officials, their sleek uniforms a stark contrast to the scientists’ rumpled lab coats. Elena recognized a few logos—GlobalTech, NeuroSynth—corporations that funded half their research. The officials wore badges from the Global Security Council, their faces grim.
“Alright, everyone,” Victor called, his voice cutting through the chatter. “We’re forming a task force. Effective immediately, you’re under joint oversight—NeuroTech, corporate partners, and the GSC. This phenomenon is global, and it’s escalating. We need answers yesterday.”
The room quieted, all eyes on Victor. He gestured to a holo-display projecting a world map, red markers pulsing like wounds. “Reports are pouring in—manifestations tied to dreams, no discernible pattern. Tokyo, Cairo, London, Mumbai, New York… it’s everywhere. We’ve got superheroes, nightmares, even dead people walking. If we don’t figure this out, we’re looking at societal collapse.”
Elena’s pulse quickened. She glanced at Aisha, who was already tapping notes on her tablet, her expression unreadable. The weight of Victor’s words settled over the room, a reminder of the stakes. Elena’s mind flashed to her cats, their playful warmth now tinged with menace. Were they a fluke, or part of this?
Victor pointed to Elena and Aisha. “Dr. Marquez, Dr. Khan, you’re leading the neural analysis team. We need to know if this is a brainwave anomaly, a tech hack, or something else entirely. Start with EEG data, cross-reference with global reports. You’ve got full access to our quantum drives and corporate resources.”
Aisha gave a curt nod, but Elena hesitated, her fingers brushing the comm in her pocket. The cats—she hadn’t told anyone yet. The thought of sharing felt too raw, like exposing a wound. But Aisha’s voice broke her reverie. “Elena, you okay?” she asked, her tone softer than usual, though her eyes were sharp.
“Yeah,” Elena lied, forcing a smile. “Just… processing.”
Aisha didn’t press, but her gaze lingered a moment before she turned back to her tablet. “Let’s start with the basics. Brainwave spikes, maybe theta or delta, could explain the dream link. But we need data—real-time, from affected subjects.”
Victor clapped his hands, dismissing the room to their tasks. The corporate suits and officials dispersed, murmuring among themselves, while the scientists scattered to their stations. Elena followed Aisha to a corner workstation, its holo-display already pulling up neural scans from early reports. The graphs showed jagged peaks, unlike any standard sleep cycle Elena had seen. Theta waves, associated with dreaming, dominated, even in waking subjects.
“This isn’t normal,” Aisha muttered, zooming in on a scan from a London case—a man who’d dreamed of a knight, only to find one standing in his garden. “These theta spikes are off the charts. It’s like their brains are stuck in REM, even when they’re awake.”
Elena leaned closer, her mind racing. “Could it be collective? Like… shared dreaming?” She’d read about Aboriginal Dreamtime, where dreams shaped reality, a concept that felt less fantastical now. “Some cultures believe dreams connect us, like a shared consciousness.”
Aisha raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “You’re reaching, Elena. This isn’t mythology—it’s neuroscience. We need hard data, not folklore.”
“Maybe it’s both,” Elena countered, her voice steady despite Aisha’s dismissal. “If dreams are manifesting, it’s not just individual brains. It’s global, synchronized somehow.”
Aisha didn’t respond, her fingers flying across the tablet. But Elena caught a flicker of unease in her colleague’s eyes, a crack in her usual composure. She wanted to ask about Aisha’s nightmare—the burning city, the cracked window—but the words stuck in her throat. Instead, she pulled up her own comm, skimming a report from Rio: a child’s dream had turned a favela into a candy-coated wonderland, only for it to melt under the sun, leaving panic in its wake.
The lab’s hum faded as Elena’s thoughts drifted. Her cats, Aisha’s fire, the dragon she’d seen—they weren’t isolated. They were pieces of a puzzle, one her team had to solve before the world unraveled further. But a nagging thought lingered: her dream had been joyful, harmless. Why, then, had Aisha’s been so dark?
“Elena, focus,” Aisha said, snapping her back to reality. She pointed to a new scan, this one from a volunteer in the facility. “This guy dreamed of a monster last night. Woke up to claw marks on his door. Look at his delta waves—through the roof.”
Elena studied the graph, her unease growing. Delta waves, tied to deep sleep, shouldn’t dominate like this. “It’s like the brain’s mixing states—dreaming while awake,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “But what’s causing it?”
Aisha shook her head, her expression hardening. “That’s what we’re here to find out. Start pulling EEG data from the global feeds. I’ll cross-reference with neurotransmitter levels. If this is a neural hack, we’ll see it.”
Elena nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. She opened a private file on her comm, hesitating before typing: Cats. Dreamed of them last night. They’re real now. Why? She saved it, locking the file. She wasn’t ready to share—not yet. Not until she understood what it meant.
As she began sorting through the EEG data, a voice cut through the lab’s din. “Dr. Khan, Dr. Marquez!” It was Victor, waving them over to a holo-conference table where the corporate and government reps waited. “We’ve got a briefing. Now.”
Elena exchanged a glance with Aisha, who sighed and tucked her tablet under her arm. “Here we go,” Aisha muttered, her tone dry. “Hope you’re ready for politics.”
Elena forced a half-smile, but her heart wasn’t in it. The cats, the dragon, the claw marks—they were all connected, and the answer was out there, buried in the noise. As they crossed the lab, she felt the weight of the world pressing down, a world where dreams were no longer safe.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10
