Cerebral Clarity

5 hours have passed since Kleiss and I arrived in the children’s park.

He laughs happily while we ride the roundabout as if it’s his first time having fun.

And the kids are getting weirded by it. With some laughing while ridiculing him using phrases like:

“Who let this guy out of the mental hospital?”

“Look at Mr. Failure, deluding himself to escape his responsibilities”

“We should work hard so we won’t end up like him”

And more insults about imperfections follow with their own variations. Upon hearing those, an average man can already see his hand in blood shortly after several minutes, I might do it less if it's in my case. But Kleiss… His patience is out of this world. I know he hears every single thing. Yet…

“Tch ha ha haa! ain’t this great, Flaus?” he said. “We’re spinning round and round to our heart’s content”

Despite his edgy fashion, Kleiss is strangely carefree. A fact that is unsettling in my eyes. He’s supposed to be this serious, average stoic guy but. Why it doesn’t add up? The actions he’s expected to do doesn’t match what he’s doing. Truly imperfect, it annoys me.

“If it’s ok, I'll just ask the questions here”, I said in a composed manner.

Kleiss spun his head in denial, stopped, and stood up while still on the roundabout. He then opens his arms wide and smirked.

“Did you forget? I already knew the questions you’re about to ask,” he said in a cheeky manner.

“Why?!” I burst out of a sudden as another factor to be confused for has been added within my minuscule cerebrum. “Just how the fuck would you know questions that are not spoken yet, huh? It’s just an atrociously bad attempt at fraud”

“Tch he, you definitely sound like your Flawed self whenever you go out of character”, he replied.

“F-Flawed?” What’s that? Like the word I hypothesized? Or is it some sort of a term that identifies the phenomenon? Just… What am I dealing with here? Just… who is this guy?

At that time, I realized… That he’s, a big deal.

FLAUS’ FLAWS

Kleiss and I went back to the roundabout shortly after we bought some ice popsicles. He then stood on it again while spinning.

“If you already knew, Flaus… Dreams are not dreams. When you dream, you’re not just witnessing another world. It’s because you live in that world too, the REM world — communicating, and making choices as you do here.”

The roundabout spun faster, to the point that our setting seemed abstract, emphasizing our presence.

“What you just experienced is a phenomenon that I like to call, The Incursion of Flaws. The concept is quite simple. If you sleep, you’ll wake up in the REM World using the body of the world’s self.”

Kleiss slowly turned his head toward me, with a serious expression.

“ — and vice versa”

AHKK!

My head suddenly aches to the same degree as a migraine.

Shit, what is going on.

My vision glitches, randomly showing random scenarios to the point of a mishmash.

A mirror, A girl, A reflection, A knife, A gun, A woman, Blood, Blood, Blood, Blood.

As the pain continued, Kleiss continued his discussion with no bother whatsoever.

“Now, if you’re asking who is the other guy like, what’s his character like? questions like that”

The pain worsens to the point of me unsafely standing on the roundabout while spinning at its rising speeds just to endure it.

Mirror, girl, reflection, knife, gun, woman, blood, blood, blood, blood.

The same thing keeps appearing in the same state as the roundabout to the point of visual distortion.

“ — let’s just say...”

I look up to the sky as I scream in pain. Right there, I saw him again. He’s sitting in an alleyway, staring coldly back at me while holding a mysterious empty vial. As if he’s waiting for me to sleep.

“ — he is made by the way you act throughout your dreams”

I lost balance.

I fell off the roundabout.

My vision began to go dark.

I looked at the sky.

He stood up as if he was getting ready for the phenomenon to occur.

I looked at Kleiss.

His seriousness is now written all over his face as he shows a gun from his leather cloak.

Mirror, girl, reflection, knife, gun, woman, blood, blood, blood, blood.

It doesn’t make sense.

Yet I understand.

— understand that this is a very serious matter.

Given the actions I did in my dreams, in order to keep my perfect image in society.

“Mirror, girl, reflection, knife, gun, woman, blood, blood, blood, blood,” I spoke to myself as I lost consciousness.

I opened my eyes standing exactly in the same spot I saw him. As I looked up, it seemed that they were having a conversation, as all I could perceive was just them standing.

“Mirror, girl, reflection, knife, gun, woman, blood, blood, blood, blood”, I said once again.

“Mirror, girl, reflection, knife, gun, woman, blood, blood, blood, blood”, I said once more.

I said them again.

After another, before another.

Desperate on what they mean.

Desperate on what it is.

Until… I look at my side.

“Did it work, sir?”

As a surprise, I never noticed that man earlier. The same man who made me kill Kleiss…

Ah yes.

I think it makes sense now that this is a dream world.

Yet the contradiction is the Incursion.

Who did I kill?

The REM world Kleiss? Or the real Kleiss?

I followed the man which led me to a black limousine. The driver immediately started the vehicle as if he knew where the REM world me go next.

At that time, I thought more of the information I got.

Other than what Kleiss said.

What is this vial? What’s in it?

And importantly.

I think I know my enemy now.

That Flawed, is my enemy.

The imperfect version of me.