A Fireable Offense

The "Slumbering Rules of Order" ran through Eric's head as he sat in front of HSO Minata's desk:

Rule 1: No mind altering substances of any kind. No drugs. No caffeine. No alcohol. Being under the influence is a fireable offense.

Rule 2: No unauthorized sleeping outside of Horizon-Yasunari facilities. Sleeping away from the pod is a fireable offense.

Rule 3: Slumbers must report all dreams to management. More than three failures to report dreams is a fireable offense.

After she sat down onto her large office chair and took out a bottle of water and a case of Somnus from a drawer to her right, HSO Minata said, "So, tell me about these dreams." She then opened the metal case containing her weekly allotted amount of Somnus and picked out one of the small orange capsules inside. After closing the case she popped the pill into her mouth and took a large drink of water. It would take roughly ten minutes for the effects to hit.

Eric's shoulders slumped in defeat. There was no way he could get out of telling her. So he took a deep breath and began to explain.

"A voice. I often hear a woman's voice. It's soft and calming. I'm able to talk with her for hours, days, weeks even, in my dreams. I once experienced a month and a few days worth of time in that state. I remember it vividly as if I experienced it in real life."

Minata cocked her head to the side, "And? What do you talk about with this disembodied feminine voice?" She leaned forward slightly.

Eric felt his boss' gaze as she stared at him. He could see the bags under her eyes begin to lift as Somnus began to work in her system. He responded, "She...teaches me things."

"Oh? What kind of things? Hurry! Tell me." her tone changed from cold professionalism to one likened to a teenage girl hearing the prevailing gossip of the day. "And please, be specific."

This is strange. She's never like this. What's going on? He began to explain some of the skills he had acquired in his dream states. He had learned how to speak Mandarin over several two week long dream sequences. Refreshed his memory on how to ride a bike. He even took up kickboxing as a hobby in one particularly long recurring dream. However, as he finished explaining these newfound skills one in particular stood out.

"Oh, and finally, she taught me something that I'm not sure it was okay for me to learn. Something that might get me...in trouble." Eric couldn't shrink in his chair enough to cover his embarrassment.

"Tell me. Come on..." Minata whispered as her voice seemed desperate to hide what she was actually feeling. Her eyes were alight and she sat poised on the front edge of her large chair. Eric was confused but knew his job was on the line so he answered truthfully.

"N...neuro-hacking. She's been teaching me how to hack neuro-receptors and..." Eric looked away from Minata's unflinching gaze. She picked up on his unease.

"You won't get in trouble. I promise. Now, tell me." She did her best to sound soothing and relaxed but it ended up coming out in a raspy whisper that barely hid her desire to know more. 

Uncomfortably and with chills running down his spine he continued, "...and how to connect with her via a neural link." He managed to blurt it out as his ears and cheeks burned a deep crimson. When he glanced up, Minata's eyes were wide and her mouth slightly slack-jawed. However, she quickly regained her composure.

Eric's internal emotions were whirling around him. Brain to brain neural linking was outlawed in every region over a decade ago. It almost always resulted in one or both subjects having their brains overclocked to an extreme degree. The lucky ones never come out of vegetative states after the deed is done and die soon enough but those who somehow recover are never ever the same. It's considered an impossible and dangerous act. That doesn't stop its prevalent use in romance stories and dramas. It's been dubbed the "Lover's Kiss of Death" by popular culture. Two star-crossed lovers, desperate to be together but fated to be apart, take the final plunge into eternity through a neural link. It was unfortunately a common method of co-suicide.

"Who have you told about this?" Iko Minata asked as her business-like persona returned.

"Only you." Eric managed to mumble. This is it. I know I'm getting fired now. There's no way they'll let me stay a Slumber.

"Good. Keep it that way. Don't tell another soul. As of this moment, this is considered classified information. Revealing your dreams to anyone but me will result in immediate termination. I want you to regularly report your dreams from now on. Tell me everything. I mean everything. I don't care how embarrassing they are. Your erotic dreams won't fluster me, okay? Every dream is significant. Got it?"

Eric's looked up with his mouth open in disbelief, "I'm not getting fired?"

"No. You're too important to fire now. Granted that you keep me informed of your dreams. Are we clear?"

"Yes, m'am! Absolutely! I'll tell you everything. Thank you so much for letting me keep this job!" He was ecstatic. Not only would he keep his job but he also got to keep dreaming? This was beyond the perfect outcome!

"One more thing, I want you checked out by medical. Let's be sure your low delta levels were because of the dreams. I'll set up the appointment and send you the invite later. Until then, you'll be on leave from production. You'll still need to sleep in your pod though."

"That's fine. Thank you for setting that up." Eric's head was light and airy. Euphoria was taking hold. He would have to hold in his elation until he was well outside of the HSO's sight.

"That'll be all. Thank you Slumber First Class Morgan. You're free to go now." With that the door to Eric's right opened up and the female android stood in the door waiting to escort him back to the lobby. Eric stood up, gave a short bow, and quickly walked out of the office.

Once he was out on the street again, he could contain himself no longer. He was grinning enthusiastically as he called Tatsu from his neuro-receptor. "Tatsu!" He briefly stopped before he accidentally gave away classified information. Eric shook his head and began again. "Yeah, I just met with HSO Minata. My levels weren't a problem but they're sending me to medical anyway. Yeah, I'm not getting fired! Let's celebrate! I can bring...."

Eric Morgan continued down the street completely unaware of the two hooded figures following him roughly 30 meters behind.

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Head Sleep Officer Iko Minata waited for Eric Morgan to leave her office. Once the door slid closed she immediately went into action. A flurry of windows opened up on her comm-desk: Morgan's medical history, his childhood, known family members, and more were all displayed before her. She was searching for something, anything that gave a clue as to why he was having these dreams. A few moments after her Somnus had fully kicked in she decided to make a call. With a single thought her neuro-receptor was already dialing Director Moriyama Isao's office. His virtual assistant picked up on the other end.

"Hello, I need to speak to the director. Tell him it's incredibly important."

"I'm sorry HSO Minata, Director Moriyama is currently in a meeting and..."

"It's about Project Ides. I think that'll be worthy of his attention, no?" She interrupted the robotic voice.

"One moment."

After a long pause, an older male voice was heard through the connecting call. "This had better be good Minata. I'm in a meeting with the Asiatic Minister of Domestic Affairs."

"It is sir. Nama has made contact with a Slumber First Class named Eric Morgan. He left my office a moment ago."

There was a brief pause. "Did you tell him about her?"

"No sir. As far as he knows, it's simply a weird set of dreams where he's gaining skills through sleep. He has no knowledge of Project Ides."

"Good. Keep it that way. Have Dr. Nishikawa look at him and get a tracker installed. Place him under surveillance as well. Last thing we want is those damn terrorists to get their hands on him."

"Yes sir. I'll set the appointment now."

"Okay, I'll leave the rest to you. Keep me informed of any changes in Morgan's status. Especially if he manifests soon."

"Of course, Director. Sorry for interrupting. Have a good rest of your meeting."

With a thought, the conversation was ended and Minata Iko went about the task of setting up the network of surveillance that would close around Eric Morgan. For the first time in years, she felt actual excitement about her job. She could barely contain her devilish smile.