The Destiny Of Solaris(Book 2 of "The Planets In Exile")

Nightmare - A Boon or Bane

An empty street, abandoned buildings on either side, dried brown-coloured leaves scattered everywhere on the ground, burning automobiles as if a riot had taken place or a war, carcasses of humans and animals with insects buzzing around and feeding off their flesh, and the flaming sun; it appears like the aftermath of a catastrophe.  

In the middle of the road was a man, in his mid-twenties, strolling with his hands tucked into his pockets as if he had turned a blind eye to the chaos and debris around him. The sun was at the zenith position and the heat radiated from it was so fiery that the man was sweating all over and his back was clenched to the shirt, but that didn't bother him. His pale yellow-coloured shirt now turned into a transparent one, revealing the scars or tattoos on various positions of his body. The only action he performed was to comb his strand of hair which was hanging and blocking his view partially. His walk signified no determination, unsure of the destination. His impassive face; eyes, in particular, were dead, analogous to a person who had lost everything, and who have no reason to live anymore. He just kept moving forward hopelessly.   

 Every now and then, he could feel the breath of someone at the back of his neck, as if someone was following him, yet he doesn't turn to look. He knew for sure that someone or something was following him, but he waited, thinking to notice them when they overtake or walk abreast, which never happened. Whoever or whatever that was, it seemed to lurk behind. The reason he was not checking it is not clear, it can be due to his indifference to his surroundings or something else. 

 The meaningless walk continued, after a couple of minutes, he was free from the breath of the stalker, although that didn't provide him a sense of relief, because it didn't bother him in the first place. It's like it didn't even matter to him that he was being stalked.          

                         “    How could he possibly be valuable to someone?  

                                        When he doesn't consider himself worthy.   “ 

The moment he was free from the pursuit, he started to hear a vehicle racing soon after. Since it was the only road, it should definitely be coming from behind him, yet he didn't care to move aside, and continued to walk at the center of the road. He must either be deaf or deliberately wanted to get hit by the car.  The accelerating sound of the car boomed and by the sound of it, the driver made it clear that he had no intention to slow down. It's like the two people with equal egoism were made to face each other, with either of them thinking, " Why should I compromise?" 

 The car raced and the sound intensified as it came closer and closer and hit him directly causing him to elevate in the air for a split second, with blood coming out of the mouth, nose and he fell to the ground in an instant. In a minuscule, he was covered in a pool of blood, gasping for his last breath before turning into food for the arthropods and micro-organisms. 

                                                                                        ----*---- 

 With a rush of adrenaline, Tron's eyes were wide open in an instant. 'Ah, not again,' he sighed. 

 In a world where people either use alarms for waking up or use other people to wake them up, Tron is the only one who gets woken up by the dreams, to be precise, nightmares. But the dreams appear so lively that they scare the hell out of him almost everyday. A single day doesn't go by without Tron experiencing undesirable dreams. He always thought that he would get habituated to this, and the nightmares wouldn't be able to scare him anymore, but he is no where close to that, yet. Sometimes, he had wondered if there was any reason for this constant occurrence or were these somehow linked to him or were they trying to tell him something, but couldn't find any viable solution. He searched the whole internet looking for answers but all he could find was " Dreams help to get rid of unimportant memories and sort through complicated thoughts and feelings. " 

He worked very hard for weeks to figure out a pattern, but in vain. How could he? This was something that no one had answers to. And the internet turned out to be useless. Out of desperation, when he came across some sites dedicated for occult and black magic,  he wanted to believe in those things, but a chill of fear shivered his body and he brushed it off immediately because the mere thought of occult made him feel uneasy. As time passed, his zeal to uncover the mystery faded and he started to embrace these ordeals as a part of him.

                                                    " If you cannot get rid of it,

                                                         accept and embrace it. "  

Tron had completed his studies a few years ago and is currently working in a banking firm named "Gold Bank" in the field of marketing. As the name itself suggests, it is one of the most fortune and a successful firm. Though his academic record was not top-notch, he was always good when it comes to socializing with people. That explains his exponential growth in his professional career in the span of just three years. The way he handles things surprises his employees all the time.  

 The Gold Bank is the parent company of many reputed Multi-National Companies, spreading over all the sectors. Luckily for Tron, the people he graduated with also landed jobs in the sister companies of Gold Bank. His closest friends were Ash Bertrand and Izumi. Tron and Izumi always mock Ash because of the irony in his name, Bertrand means adventurer, whereas Ash's parents were overprotective, so they never allowed him to do anything that involved risks and as a result, he didn't get to experience Scuba Diving, Para Gliding, Bungee Jumping and what not. Frankly speaking, they never allowed him to take part in sports too like football, Krav Mega, etc.. Just like Tron, Ash also learned to adjust with the demands and restrictions imposed by his parents.    

 Ash realized in his college days that he wasn't interested in computer science or electronics or anything that involved technology, so he started to focus on other things to explore his hidden talents, thereby opting for a career in that particular field, not minding how small or huge the pay is as long as he was happier. After exploring many hobbies, he finally recognized that he was good at arts. So he practiced and practiced till he gained perfection. Even though he couldn't master it completely, he was a better artist compared to many other people at the time. Arts was not something that had high value at that time, but his parents were relieved that it was a stream which is risk free. Receiving acceptance from his parents was really a big deal for him, so he continued his passion and tried to excel in that particular field. 

                            “     Humans have very little control over their minds. 

                           The things they fancy now would repel them in the future.   “ 

Ash's mind also underwent a similar trend during his graduation year, when the Army Generals of the United States visited their campus on a special occasion and gave an inspiring speech about how the soldiers of the army is facing danger every day so the people of America would be safe and cherished by their loved ones. He told them about the bond that soldiers form with their fellow ones, and their selflessness. As a final note, the generals persuaded the students, who were patriotic, who loved the country more than they loved their families, to join the U.S army. Ash's mind, heart and body suddenly filled with love for America. An intense urge to join the Army developed in his mind. Despite knowing that it was impossible to convince his parents, he couldn't shake off the feeling. He tried relentlessly for months, but the words "OVER MY DEAD BODY" from his parents shut his mouth permanently and he never spoke about the army again.  

 Prior to the Army, he mentioned to his parents about opting for a career in the arts sector. His parents were on cloud nine since it incorporated no danger. When he proposed joining the army, his parents not only rejected it right away but also suggested taking an art job instead. The moment his parents prioritized arts over the army, out of the blue, Ash started to hate arts. It's not that he hated arts but he started to hate it because his parents started to love it. However, he had no other options to choose from, so he reluctantly pursued the arts career. Gradually he cracked a position in the Gaming sector for the role of Game Designer.  

                                                                                      ----*---- 

The story of Izumi, however, is both interesting and dreadful. He was born in Gion District in Kyoto, Japan. His ancestors belonged to a line of legendary storytellers, who believed in supernatural creatures, now called Yokai. The tales they narrated ranged from creepy monsters to mysterious phenomena, which spooked the listeners, and yet they were fascinated by the dread and dire brutality of the creatures present in the tales. Some believed in the legends, while some viewed them as fiction, despite their opposite notions, everyone was captivated by the tales. The reason the people loved to know about Yokai was, a portion of them believed those beasts to be Gods. Even though they were brutal, they helped mankind at some point in the history.

                                                     " Faith is good, but

                                        blind faith has its repercussions. "

 Izumi grew up listening to these tales, as a child who was still unintroduced to the world of science, he believed them to a great extent. The thought of those savage monsters kept him awake many nights, but it didn't diminish his desire to know about them. One day, he asked his parents if all the legends were true or not. His parents simply smiled and said, "  

                               “ It all depends upon ourselves. If you believe it to be true, it 

                                  is true. If you believe it to be fabricated, then it is fake. But  

                                 remember one thing, keep an open mind, and only then you  

                                                          can explore a lot of possibilities  “ 

From that day onwards, Izumi had never been skeptical about anything. No matter how crazy something might sound, if there is even a slightest chance for it to be true, he showed faith in that.  As a child, he witnessed many people saying that their beloved had become a vessel for a ghostly entity, which is refusing to leave the host. The one who got possessed acted so strangely and peculiar that some of the incidents were imprinted in his mind. He couldn't tell if that was genuine or an act of tom-foolery. If that was really acting, they surely do deserve an Oscar. At that time, he wasn't equipped with enough tools to uncover the truth. At that moment, he promised himself that he would mold himself in such a way that   the truth can never be hidden from him. The thought of not being able to know the reason for the occurrence of a phenomenon bugged him.   

 As promised, he had become a psychotherapist, simultaneously carrying out research on unnatural aspects or mysterious phenomena. But often, his friends doesn't believe in what he say,  on the contrary, they loved hearing what he says.

                                                                                   ----*---- 

 Every day the three of them meet in the morning before they get carried off with their works and if they missed the morning meet, they'd surely meet for lunch in the afternoon. This is possible because their companies were located in the same area. It's not that they didn't have any other friends, but that was the importance they gave to each other.

 Tron was already waiting in the cafeteria of Gold Bank because he didn't want to spend much time in the house after the unnerving dream, which happens every day without fail, and hence he arrives at the place ahead of his friends everyday. Because of the quotidian of dark dreams, he even stopped drinking dark coffee. Instead, he orders an espresso and sits with both of his hands over his head. A hand from behind gently touches his shoulder, thereby startling him. When he turns to look, it was Izumi.  

 Being a researcher, Izumi was always punctual. By the look on Tron's face, Izumi understood that he had a bad dream again.  

' Another bad dream, I suppose. And I guess you have not yet lifted your ban on dark coffee. ' 

' Yes and yes. ' 

' You should consult a doctor or let me help you. ' 

' You are not a stranger to my struggles, Izu. No one understood how to treat it or how to approach it even. They ended up saying, " diminish your stress," and everything would be alright. Don't you think that's the first thing I would have done? And my work isn't that stressful or at least I don't feel it that way. '  

' I'm sure you are not going to like what I am about to say, but there is a dream spirit called "Yume no seirei" which is responsible for causing nightmares. It is highly unlikely that you are affected by it, but it's a possibility. ' 

'Thanks for making me feel like crap. I'd like to stay from these supernatural crap. ' 

 Ash arrives by this time and he too recognizes the look on Tron's face. Even though all of them were best friends, Ash was the only one who could lighten up the gloomy vibe spread around. He had been doing that since they met in the freshmen year.   

 Ash's eyes meet the attendant's and he orders an espresso for himself and then shifts his attention back to Tron. 

 Ash: What did you dream today, seer. Alien invasion or vampires and stuff?

Tron: Well, I saw a guy in his mid-twenties, who got dashed by a car and was soon dead only to be eaten by the scavengers. 

Ash: Did you recognize the person?  

 Tron looked up for the first time and glanced at Ash. The yellow-coloured shirt he was wearing resembled the one the person wore in his dream. Tron panicked which was evident in his expressions.  

 Ash: What's wrong, seer? Was that person, me? 

 Tron: I.. uh,... I didn't pay much attention to the person but when I think about him now, he appears to be much more like you. The dress was similar, I guess, I don't remember the details clearly.

 Izumi: Well, well, well. So now you are saying your nightmares started to make sense?   

 Tron: Of course not. But trust me, Ash and the guy in my dream are identical in many ways. The dress, the body structure, and all. 

 Izumi: Before you go completely crazy because of the dreams, let me help you. I believe I can treat you, either by medicine or psychologically. You know how exceptional I am in hypnotherapy. 

 Tron: Hell no. I don't want you in my head. I have seen many movies in which how hypnotism messes with people's brains. Remember the movie "Get Out?" 

 Ash: Oh, poor Tron, you are exaggerating your importance. No one would even buy you as a slave, who is afraid of his dreams and I also think your wang is not that big. 

 Tron: f**k off, both of you. I'm off to work now. See ya soon. 

Ash: Well, before you take off, tell me what happened to that person?

Tron: Well, he got hit by a car and he died.

Ash: I now wish, I hadn't asked for the details.

 Izumi: Chill, Ash. Tron's a mad man. Off you go, now.

The three of them departed in their respective directions to their respective offices. When they are together, they feel free from the things that haunt them. They are liberated from the shackles that constrain them. However, when left alone, the discomfort resumes and creeps inside them. It is not possible to fight with something that is invisible and unknown. Tron is tormented by the never-ending nightmares, and is not close to any solution. Izumi continues to search for the answers to all the mysterious occurrences he witnessed as a child when he was in Kyoto. It is going to be a long quest, and Izumi is relentless and persistent and would only rest from this obsession, after discovering the credibility of these undesirable events. He wouldn't find peace until then. Ash, on the other hand, is a victim of disappointment. He is dispirited by the idea that,  

                                    " Were we born just to eat, grow old and die? Do our lives 

                                            possess no meaning? No higher purpose to serve? 

Ash, who had sacrificed many things for his parents, always felt incomplete and alone. He could never participate in certain activities, while his friends did. So, he always felt abandoned, and sometimes he also wondered if he there was something wrong with him and that's the reason his parents act in that way. As time passed, he learned to be happy with what life had offered him, but failed many times. His friends are one of the reasons which lifts up his spirits. He is waiting for some miracle to happen in his life that would provide him with an exit from this uncontended life. But the question is would he be able to leave his entire life behind to explore what he always sought?

                                 " Everybody is a victim of something that eats at them. Some might be

                                    aware of the reason, while some suffer from unknown causes and then 

                                     there are people who don't even know they are suffering, until it's too late. '