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    Dreams Inc. (Novelette)
    Dreams Inc. (Novelette)
    Dreams Inc. (Novelette)
    Ebook59 pages43 minutes

    Dreams Inc. (Novelette)

    By T.E. Mark

    ()

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    About this ebook

    In a world where dreams are administered artificially by Dreams Inc, and no one sleeps, people are losing interest in reality – opting instead for their manufactured dream worlds.
    (Novelette IX)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherT.E. Mark
    Release dateMay 13, 2020
    ISBN9780463290675
    Dreams Inc. (Novelette)
    Author

    T.E. Mark

    T. E. Mark Mark E. Thomas is a writer, language teacher and violinist who has studied Music and Literature in the UK, and in the US. Mr Thomas has written novels for young and adult readers, plays and a selection of science articles for on-line magazines. Mark uses the pen name T. E. Mark for all of his literary work, simply because DH Lawrence was already taken.

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      Book preview

      Dreams Inc. (Novelette) - T.E. Mark

      DREAMS INC

      SEATTLE – OUTDOOR CAFE

      ‘I’d like to stay, but I can’t, Nina. Not while I’m working. I need to wake up.’

      ‘Mark, stop it! Please! You are awake! Why are you so convinced? Why are you so anxious to go back in there?’

      Mark Lewis, tired of arguing, cringing emotionally, tried focussing. The world, this world was growing indistinct around him.

      ‘I don’t want to. I wish I could stay, but… I have to go now.’

      Nina could see and feel his anguish – the battle he was waging. She touched his face, held him, leaned across the café table and kissed him.

      ‘You said you would stay. So stay.’ Her soft eyes watered. ‘Stay here. Stay here with me.’

      Tears fell and glossed her cheeks.

      Mark pulled her hand away – held it – kissed it – looked longingly into her pretty eyes.

      ‘I can’t now, Nina. There’re things I need to do. I can’t stay in here with you now.’

      Nina’s expression changed. She pulled her hand away. Still crying, she was angered and sad and… bitter.

      ‘You think you have it better there? Better…’

      ‘…No, that’s not…’

      ‘…than what you have with me?’

      ‘It’s not…’

      ‘…The life we’ve shared?’

      ‘No. It’s not better. If you’ll just let me…’

      ‘…Then what, Mark?’

      ‘It’s…’

      With a hand to his forehead, Mark turned his eyes to the café. It had gotten busy since they were seated in the outdoor dining area. The colours were rich – striking. The elaborate, French paned doors opening into the dining room were dazzling. The cream table cloths embroidered with sophisticated designs. Modern prints – geometric – artistic – vibrant and colourful adorned the walls.

      But peripherally, up the side streets – everything: the limestone facades, the merchants’ shops, the cars lining the streets were muted – dull – diffuse. And the further he looked, like an old photograph, everything was colourless.

      He breathed and gazed into Nina’s flooded eyes.

      ‘…Not better, Nina. Nothing is better than the time I spend with you. The time we’ve spent. It’s just…’

      ‘…What?’

      He took in a deep breath.

      Let it out with a sigh.

      ‘Real.’

      ArchTEK – CAFETERIA

      Mark placed his tea back on the table and gazed off into the distance. The cafeteria was nearly empty. He tried clearing away the memories of the dream before heading back to his office.

      ‘What’s happening to me?’

      ‘Why are they affecting me so much?’

      He shut down and closed away his PDU-v3 personal dream unit, placed it back into its case and locked it.

      ‘There must be someone I can see.’

      ‘It’s getting worse.’

      He got up, fixed his tie and brushed the crumbs from his dark dress pants, emptied his tray into the bin, shelved it and turned towards the lifts.

      He had drawings for the Remi Corporation to complete. He had work to do at home before he had to leave for his night job at the university.

      I’ll leave early, he thought. 6AM. Have a sub take my 4AM lab and see someone before getting back here.

      I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

      DREAMS INC – CONFERENCE ROOM

      The assumptions reached at the meeting on the 27th floor of Dreams Inc. were inconclusive. Mr Stemford, the company’s dynamic CEO, was unimpressed with the data his senior staff had presented. The reports seemed vague. They’d had problems earlier during R&D and later during the release of DreamBases 2.1 and 2.3. Just like any tech industry trying to satisfy investors and consumers, they were always releasing new versions before they were

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