[ WP ] You gain the ability to read minds after having a strange dream . Describe what happens in the dream .

Cog sat across from Rettie in the small office The Councillor used on his visits into the school. He wasn ’ t here as evidenced by the strewn files and old coffee-rings on the desk. The air had a stale scent of damp paper and cold mould. 
 
 “ I can do it, honestly I can, I know what you ’ re thinking because I understand your scepticism. Test me – think of a number between one and… ” 
 
 “ A million? ” 
 
 “ A million, sure, it makes no difference to me. ” 
 
 Rettie folded his arms in triumph. There was nothing Cog could do here. The premise was simple, if he could read minds then he would know that he was going to change his mind, so the best course of action ( like most courses of action in Rettie ’ s life ) was to cheat. 
 
 Cog stared at Rettie with a dim grin on his face. Sighing with a nonchalant air of labour he snapped out the numbers. “ Three-hundred and fifty-nine thousand, two-hundred and eighty on- two- one- seven? ” Cog raised an eyebrow at the man across the desk. “ Care to make up your mind dude? ” 
 
 Rettie stood up quickly and backed into the wall, disturbing The Councillor ’ s files and causing the computer on the desk to boot up from standby mode. 
 
 “ How the ff- where ’ d you learn that?! ” The clarity and pitch in his voice made known his confusion. “ You been reading those NPL books again? ” 
 
 “ It ’ s *NLP* Rettie, and no, I haven ’ t. ” 
 
 There was silence in the room for a while as Rettie approached his previous seat and sat down on it in the same way one descends into a bath that ’ s beyond a reasonable temperature. For a while the only sound in the room was the fan from the computer clipping on some wire or other internally. There were frequent intakes of breath as both men passed on talking. 
 
 “ Then, how? ” Rettie ’ s voice sounded dry from all his sharp breaths. He cleared his throat. 
 
 “ I ’ m not sure Rettie. ” The exasperation in the tone of the response perfectly summed up Cog ’ s own confusion on the matter and Rettie felt rapport flooding back into the room, knowing it wasn ’ t a trick. “ I think I know, but it ’ s hard to pinpoint. I had a very vivid and real dream last night and when I woke it ’ s just, kind of been happening. “ 
 
 “ God-fucking-damn Cog! We should get you to- “ 
 
 “ I can read thoughts Rettie, I ’ m not psychic, the horse-races wouldn ’ t work. ” 
 
 “ Ah, shit. ” He slumped. “ Is this how our conversations are going to go from now on? ” He glanced sideways with narrowed eyes. 
 
 “ I don ’ t know man. It ’ s all been different since this morning ”. 
 
 Leaning back, he looked up to the ceiling and covered his face with both hands, wiping them down, his body slouching on the exhale. 
 
 “ I had a dream last night where I became to be outside of my body. It didn ’ t start that way. First thing I remember was that I left my house and started walking down the street, well, it wasn ’ t *my* street, I guess it was my dream-street. ” 
 
 “ Standard ” 
 
 “ A few doors down I came to my Aunt ’ s house. Everything was fucked up inside, y ’ know, nothing wrong with it, it just wasn ’ t my Aunt ’ s furniture or layout or anything, but I knew it was. It felt familiar. I reached out to her with my mind and wondered where she was, and this, presence, came before me. It told me that I was a lucky person and that * ’ even after all these years there is still a strain of gods left ’ *. I asked it, or should I say, I felt I asked it what it meant. At that point my point-of-view came away from me, ascended above me and kept going. I left earth, said goodbye to the moon and watched Jupiter rush past. Losing the sense of time, distance and speed I once had, I saw an object rushing up ahead. I can ’ t remember this part visually because the haze is quite heavy, but I felt the original presence from my Aunt ’ s speak to me again. It said I wouldn ’ t be ready to see it again until I could prove to them they can trust me – that I can trust myself. ” 
 
 “ And? ” 
 
 “ And that ’ s it. At that point I realised I was dreaming and the dream became hard to hold together. I came back to myself and woke up. Since breakfast I ’ ve heard everything everyone ’ s said to themselves. Every thought. Everything. ” 
 
 “ You lucky mother fu- “ 
 
 “ I ’ m not lucky. So far I ’ ve heard nothing worth passing on to anyone, it ’ s all selfish. I actually came to see The Councillor. We ’ ve been training together recently and I thought I ’ d confide in him about this. Usually we discuss all of this over the after-training meal at his, but- “ 
 
 The computer beeped and the hard-drive whirred into life. Both men turned to look at the screen by way of automatic reaction. There was a document open and the cursor was blinking patiently. In bold letters it said: 
 
 **Enlightenment Programme – DMT Flooding – Cog Dennis** 
 
 Rettie broke the silence with his standard opener, “ what the ffuuck man!? “ 
 
 Both men stared at the document. It seemed to be talking about a substance, DMT, and forcing it into people in order to affect a dream-like state. It was too much for them to take in at that moment. The repetition of dream and dream-like had stunned them both. 
 
 “ Rettie, I think he ’ s coming, right now. I can sense him. It ’ s not good - *he ’ s* not good. We don ’ t have time. Let ’ s get out of here! NOW! ” The panic and alarm in Cog ’ s voice jolted Rettie back to normality. “ Sure thing man, this guy can go- “ 
 
 At that moment the door flung inwards. 
 
 `` Fuck''
