Dreams Ltd

  “It’s good that I’ll be able to see it.”

  “Uh-huh.” Hulk confirmed neutrally, his thoughts wondering elsewhere. The wind brought a fragrant smoke, smelling like cherry or was it vanilla?

  After sitting quiet for some time, I began to ask more questions.

  “Hulk...”

  “Yes?”

  “Tell me more about the Commission.”

  “What exactly do you want to know, baby?”

  “What is it? Where are their offices located?”

  He chuckled, made himself comfortable in the chair and flicked the ash from his cigar. By now I’d learnt how to identify some of his movements by the sound, which I couldn’t before.

  “The Commission is a strange authority that governs all Levels. I can’t tell you where their offices are located, Drake usually comes to the allocated place, and we were trained in one of their buildings, but trust me - you won’t find it on the map. I don’t think even I could find the way there myself, because its location constantly changes within the space. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll try.”

  I was surprised to hear the words "changes within the space", but I didn’t say anything. I guessed I had to learn many things that I didn’t think could ever exist. Therefore, instead of showing my mistrust, I just asked, “But how could I contact them if there are no addresses, phone numbers and marks on any map?”

  “Why would you contact them?”

  I thought to myself that one day I might need this option, and if there was a chance to learn more about the Commission from one of the people who’d worked with them so closely, it certainly must be used.

  “I wasn’t going to.” I avoided a direct answer, “Everybody knows that they exist and wonders who they are, but nobody knows where to find them. Are they human beings?”

  Before answering, Hulk pondered for a while.

  “Yes, Shereen, I’d say so, but they are not exactly like us. What do you know about the Levels in general?”

  I had to shrug since nothing specific came to mind.

  “Nothing really. I just know that they have created the cities where we are living.”

  “Do you remember how you entered the first city and where you lived before that?”

  I referred to my memory with a new request, but got nothing in return. The thoughts were slipping away as soon as my brain tried to catch any information on this topic. Everything seemed to become like cotton wool, and the thinking process would immediately switch to something else. I told Hulk about that.

  “That’s right.” He nodded, “Some areas of your memory are not possible to reach, because they’ve been blocked.”

  “Blocked by the Commission?” I tensed

  “Well...” Hulk sighed, “You raised a very complicated topic and I have to start my explanation from the very beginning. At least, I’ll tell you what I know, which is far from the full picture, but it’s still more than anyone else could explain to you, except, of course, the people from the Commission.”

  “Won’t you get punished if you share this with me?”

  “No, I won’t. You’re a smart girl and won’t be spreading it to everybody, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Right.”

  “In order to protect this information from leaking or in case if a talented individual would decide to extract the information from you, I’ll block it out after our conversation.”

  “So I’ll forget everything?” I became capricious, “And will lose my vision again?”

  “No.” Hulk’s voice sounded soft, “You will remember everything and you won’t lose the ability to see. Well, agree?”

  “I agree!” I said; ready to hear his interesting story. At least, I thought it might be interesting. And yes - the story didn’t disappoint me.

  “Let’s start from the beginning.” Hulk started, and I listened to his every word with a great amount of fascination, “The Commission is a group of people. I don’t know how many of them there are in total, but it was them who created the place where we live now - the Levels. Yes, all the Levels were created by the Commission and I could bet my right arm that they didn’t exist before.”

  I tried to hide my amazement.

  “Does this mean that the place where we are living in is artificial?”

  Hulk pondered for a while.

  “I wouldn’t call it “artificial” since, to some extent that word means “unreal”. This place is real, it became real some time ago, even though it was created manually. Don’t ask me what kind of knowledge you must possess in order to create something that didn’t exist before and out of the emptiness, because I don’t know. But the Commission was able to do it. I don’t think they were called “the Commission” in the world they came from; they were just a race there. Or not even the “world” - because when I use the word, I think of some kind of outer civilisation, and we are only talking about this world - our world, and just about human beings, not about strange organic creatures. Thus, it would be appropriate to use a different word - a Reality. We have plenty of those in our world.”

  Hulk fell silent. Then he asked, “So? Do you understand?”

  I slowly nodded, fascinated by the lifted up curtain that was hiding either a fairy tale or some crazy fantasy behind it.

  “Yeah, I get it, but... it’s weird. Are you saying that there are many Realities?”

  My head was spinning - five minutes ago everything was easy - one life, one world; just what you see with your eyes, but now my brain stuck, thinking that not everything is that simple.

  “Yes.” His reply was firm, “I know that for sure - there is a huge number of Realities and you can switch from one to another, but that's another really complicated subject. So let’s get back to our sheep.”

  I giggled. The guys in silver uniforms, no matter who they actually were, would not approve of such a comparison.

  “They came to this place, and created it from scratch. Gradually, step by step, they built these cities and connected them with roads, created the environment and so on. You probably noticed that all the cities are different?”

  “Uh-huh.” I nodded.

  “Some of them are completely made out of concrete - they are grey and mostly dark. Many high-rise glass buildings, offices, strange neighbourhoods and unsightly areas, as if everything were copied from a postcard image from another world.”

  After I’d heard these words, something twinged in my head, which was painfully familiar, almost tangible as it often happens, when you smell freshly baked bread and it suddenly makes you recall a distant old and forgotten image from your past. But in my case it didn’t smell of baking, but of tangled up streets - dull, dirty and dangerous. As if it was in a different city, many years ago, but as soon as I tried to grab this picture by its tail, it would instantly dissolve into my intricate memory corridors.

  Hulk, meanwhile, continued speaking, “Other cities aren’t like that - they are green, cosy, with old beautiful architecture, small and cute. Or there could be a mixture in one city, where half of the buildings are made of glass and steel and another half is made of stone and wood. Like your Klendon-city. There are islands, coasts and deserts. There are many things... And such diversity allows everybody to discover their preferred environment to settle within.”

  Or where you’ll be exiled to, I wanted to add almost out of the blue, but shut my mouth on time, thinking what exactly in Hulk’s words brought this bright feeling of Déjà-vu.

  For a few seconds there was silence, but I hardly noticed it.

  “Are you trying to remember something?” Hulk asked.

  “Yes, you said something that made me briefly recall a chunk of my memory, but I couldn’t catch it.”

  “Shereen, you won’t be able to catch it. I’ll explain why, but later, ok?”

  “Ok.”

  “And another thing - what I tell to you now, can greatly affect your perception of the world. How can I explain... This new knowledge can be reluctantly accepted, or sta
rt to bother you. A human brain doesn’t like any changes in habitual feelings, it always wants to be sure that it knows and understands everything, and when we learn something new that invalidates the old knowledge, then we lose a sense of control over the situation; it knocks us for six. If this happens to you, I'll carefully shut access to this area of your memory, so it won’t bother you. You have to tell me if this happens.”

  I shivered and frowned, not willing to experience any new interventions in my poor mind. I'd rather try to accept all the new information without losing my normal attitude. In attempt to avoid any further unpleasant discussions, I asked:

  “Hulk, what are these realities? Are they like parallel lives? Do they have the clones of us that live and behave differently?”

  A long time ago I saw a sci-fi movie where the characters were constantly intersecting with their second selves, trying hard to avoid any changes in the space-time continuum - that's how convoluted all this was called. But Hulk, for better or for worse, didn’t confirm my theories.

  “No, Shereen. These realities exist outside of space and time, and they are not parallel to ours. They don’t have our “clones”; there are different people, cities, systems and regulations, and different places.”

  “So, those are worlds?”

  “They can be called “worlds”, but they aren’t located in space, they are very close to us and they interact with each other. We don’t see it. This is a completely different level of knowledge, not available to us.”

  “Is it available to the Commission?”

  “Of course, it is. Otherwise, how would they have created an entirely new place? Moreover, you’ve seen the oddness of the place, but never questioned anybody about that – nobody did, because that’s just how it is, and, nevertheless, you’ve seen that there are no births or ageing people at the Levels. Time doesn’t exist here. People come here from different places, but no one knows exactly how or where they’d lived before.

  Now I was puzzled.

  “Right... For some reason I never thought about it, but really - there is no getting old here. But there is time - there are watches we wear on our wrists, there are days, months, and years - calendars... So strange. Do you really think I came here from another world? And Jenny did? And you?”

  “Yes, we all lived somewhere else before.”

  “But I don’t remember my world before, it seems like I’ve always lived here.”

  “It seems this way for everybody. Yet you can’t remember being born here.”

  I shook my head.

  “Because you came here from another place, where you were born.”

  “How did I come?”

  “I don’t know, baby. It’s different for everyone - only the Commission knows how and where.”

  Feeling confused by what I’d just heard, I was still trying to build up some kind of a logic chain.

  “Why would I agree to come here? Was it bad for me there?”

  “I don’t know, maybe. Or, perhaps, you just wanted some changes in your life. Anyway, all of us were given a choice, and we all willingly crossed the border. I’m certain about that.”

  Something pinched me.

  “What about you, Hulk? Do you remember your world?”

  He paused, inhaled and released a cloud of smoke, and then he said:

  “No, frankly I don’t and I don’t want to. Whatever made you say “yes”, it must have been a good enough reason; and if there was a reason, I made the right choice to move here. I don’t regret anything in my life - in general, not in Tally, of course.”

  It was my turn to be quiet, thinking about everything he’d said. The picture that my mind had created was strange, but spellbinding. So, all of us - all who live in these cities, once lived in other places, until the Commission offered us a chance to move. Greg, Jenny, Tabitha... And what kind of world could produce Hulk – a beautiful one or a mean one? Or Alex, Elmer... every face I saw on the streets came from a different place...

  “Hulk, it is possible to recall where I came from?”

  “Do you want to?”

  I thoughtfully wrapped a long curl around my finger.

  “I don’t know... I’m curious, but scared. What if I want to get back or remember something terrible?”

  “Anything can happen, but I have to disappoint you - I won’t touch the door of the forbidden area of your past, otherwise, I’m quite certain, the Commission will take some action as soon as I do that.”

  “Then don’t do it.” I easily refused this idea, “Wherever I lived, I don’t remember it, so what’s the point? And here I have you.”

  I knew that, Hulk smiled, as if the air around got warmer.

  “Don’t you regret asking about all this?”

  “Regret? No. It’s amazing to know that we live in such a place we know so little about. On the other hand, it makes it even more interesting, and the fact that there was a time when I was a different person and lived in another place - yes, it is surprising and somewhat shocking, but when I think about it, I really don’t want to go back. Let the past remain in the past. I’m more curious about the Levels - who are those people in the Commission and how...”

  “You are thirsty for some knowledge, aren’t you?” Hulk chuckled. Then his clothes rustled as he got up from his chair, “But leave your questions for another time. My cigar had finished as well as my whisky and I do want you closer than across the table.”

  His warm palm squeezed my fingers.

  “Shall we go?”

  Hardly being able to restrain the sensual shiver that ran up my spine every time this man touched me, I allowed myself to forget about all the questions, and got up from my seat.

  A strong, attentive, caring man, smelling of whiskey, a warm southern wind, filled with aroma of flowers, a warm and friendly night - what could be better than all of that? Wherever these Levels and cities existed and whoever those people in the silver uniform were - they allowed me to be here, enjoy life and experience moments of true happiness. Therefore I didn’t care that there were more puzzles than solutions and I’ll never find some answers to my questions, but those people have made my happy with someone, who was now standing by me, and I was grateful for that. All the rest can wait.

  Over the next couple of days I often thought about the story I’d heard from Hulk.

  Who was I before? Where did I live? Why did I decide to move here? But since my memory was not particularly helpful (thanks to the Commission), I dropped these futile attempts, and remained busy with other things. By now my vision was completely restored.

  Now I was looking at everything in a completely different way - with love, maybe... The reddish mountains were so picturesque, the fields eared with green grass, and all seemed oddly bright, unusually vivid and alive, as never before. To some extent, the loss of my vision became a gift that allowed me again, as if from scratch, to appreciate the beauty of the world.

  Whenever I wasn’t questioning my memory about my past, I was thinking about how to help Hulk. It became obvious that living on the ranch for the rest of our lives was not an option, since it wasn’t the right place for “happily ever after”. I simply couldn’t imagine myself being a farmer’s wife for years to come, not because I was too demanding - Hulk’s presence guaranteed my happiness, but I wasn’t sure that he - a trained member of the Special Squad and a former killer will ever agree to live here for another couple of dozen years. As I understood Hulk was in a difficult position and couldn’t influence the situation much, so it was totally up to me to find the way for us to get free.

  But genius ideas don’t come easy and no matter how hard I tormented my brain, trying to plot any sort of acceptable plan, I still couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel; but the final destination could only be reached if I kept on walking, so I kept on thinking.

  All former duties from my life had disappeared. Completely. Whereas before I was brushing the yard, washing the floors, delivering food to the stone-pit or translating the book,
now nobody asked me to do any of that. I was still allowed to do the translation if I wanted to, but there was no more scrubbing or cleaning tasks. Last time I touched the foam was when I was helping Tabitha to rinse the dishes after lunch. So my life suddenly became unexpectedly easy and I couldn’t decide whether this was good or bad. In order not to feel useless or lazy I would sit with the notebook and the Tueric dictionary hoping that this information will become handy one day, if not for Hulk (somehow I felt that he won’t stay in Tally for much longer), but for someone else, who’ll be his successor.