NCT : The Dream Lab

XIII : The 7th Sense

Seoul, South Korea. 2016.

Thanks to the Jalja serum, Taeyong was given two weeks of break : 12h of uninterrupted sleep every night, which allowed the Neos to organize their discoveries and progression.

Johnny notably managed to convert the neo-waves into computer codes. In the long term, he hoped to create a video game-like simulation of Taeyong's dream. That way, he might somehow create a 3D visual map of the Neozone. For this brand new project, Johnny needed to hire a technician for the basic tasks that were currently taking him too much time and an experienced computer engineer to help with operations that required more expertise. Therefore, he posted a job advertisement on various websites, hoping to receive a few interesting CVs and then proceed to job interviews.

Mark put his pride aside and learned from Jaehyun the secret of the Jalja serum. He also studied Taeyong's case from a strictly neurological point of view. He noticed that his stages of sleep were quite different from those of an average person. From what he observed, Taeyong had six different wavelengths with different properties that he couldn't precisely point out yet.

Now that Taeyong recovered and was both mentally and physically steadier, the time to experience lucid dreaming came again. Everyone was curious to discover the consequences of time dilatation on the Neozone. Taeyong was literally thrilled ; he made sure to give his all during Johnny's sports session so he would come back completely exhausted and fall asleep like a baby.

Indeed, later in the afternoon, Jaehyun found him collapsed on his desk, so he carefully carried him to the experiment chair and warned the two scientists.

***

Stage 4 : Empathy phase.

The landscape of the seaside had changed, as if ten years had passed after the previous visit. The greenery had grown wilder and very abundantly. Moreover, his animal species successfully proliferated, maintaining the ecosystem safe and healthy.

He walked along the beach for some time before heading to the dog house at the top of the hill. What he feared had happened : the little wooden hut was getting swallowed by invasive weeds, completely abandoned. No trace of the puppy's existence was left. Taeyong's heart stung a little, but he didn't worry too much : if a few years had passed in the Neozone while he was awake, then the dog probably made friends with other animals and lived a happy life. Perhaps it was even still alive but settled somewhere else, who knows.

Still, he wanted to repair the house a bit in case another animal needed a shelter but strangely enough, no matter how much determination and reflection he put into the act, he never managed to transform it.

His heart raced in his chest : had he lost all his power ? Wasn't he the master anymore ?

Concerned, he continued his meticulous inspection of the site. Soon, he approached the ruins of a brick house he had started building before becoming too weak and therefore never finished. The place looked desolated, but in a serene way. As he was taking a closer look, Taeyong heard a loud explosion.

On the defensive, he turned around just on time to witness the appearance of blinding yellow flashes.

He was scared, especially since his powers seemed to have disappeared, but nevertheless, he headed nonetheless towards the origin of the ruckus, guided by burning curiosity. He didn't have the time to make a few steps that he glimpsed the silhouette of a man running as if his life depended on it in the horizon. He was getting closer and closer until Taeyong could distinguish his features more in detail. His hair was black and short with black locks dancing on his forehead. He wasn't very tall but well built. His face was graceful despite being contorted in a distressed expression. His clothing seemed odd to Taeyong : he was dressed in a Chinese traditional outfit featuring various shades of blue, ripped and covered with dirt on the lower part.