**Date: 09.06.1029 PNT // Sunday**
** Time: 01:06 // 1:06 AM **
**Location: Ecosystem Mika // Habitat Melissa // District 5 // Sector 8 // Steinbeck Road 27**
Ellis was dried up and still dizzy. He opened his eyes and the room spun around him like a carousel. He tried to stop it by letting his left leg hang from the bed. But it did not help. Round and round it went until he could not bear it anymore. With a catlike jump he was out of bed and in his bathroom. He spent the next fifteen minutes talking to the toilet about his evening. "Turn on the lights," he muttered, and so it was light. It was a miracle everything actually made it into the bowl. His bathroom was mostly utilitarian, like most of his apartment. No special décor, and other than the shelf with books and the felt board with some pictures and letters, there was nothing to give the room character.
With his feet barely leaving the ground and mostly grinding, he walked towards the kitchen. The tap water flowed through his throat like codeine during a cold. Just what he needed right now. He had another glass and was about to go back to bed. Then the whistling. The same as before. His heart dropped into his stomach. The sweat ran down his forehead. Where did it come from? There was no one around. He checked the door. He locked it and it was still locked. There was no other way in; he lived on the 10th floor. But for some reason the whistling became louder and seemed to get closer. He kept scanning the room frantically. "Where are you, you piece of shit? What do you want from me?" The room answered with silence, and the whistling was gone. Ellis picked a knife from the kitchen and positioned himself into a corner. Then he saw it. Red glowing eyes on his balcony. He blinked and they were gone.
Ellis slowly tiptoed towards the balcony. No one there. He went outside. Still no one. "I should really cut down on the drinking and maybe drugs." Then the tune started again. This time quieter. Ellis looked down and there he saw him again. The tall man in the yellow coat. Staring right at him. He indicated with his hands to come down. "Fuck you, asshole!" But the man did not stop. Now using both hands. A weird warm feeling ran through Ellis's chest and before he knew it, he was off the balcony. Dropping down. Slowly. Like a feather he landed on the ground. The knife in his hands was gone. The yellow coat man turned around and slowly made his way into the darkness. Ellis followed him.
The world around them was gone. Only a yellow light that moved slowly in front of him. Until they arrived at a beach. The man pointed at the cliffs. Ellis slowly made his way there. He turned around to look at the man again. The yellow coat man nodded. Ellis went further.
A corpse. Ellis did not know the man who was lying there, but he was weirdly familiar. "Where did I see this guy before?" He turned around. The man was now right behind him. His red glowing eyes pierced through Ellis's soul. And then he spoke.
"The invisible man did it."
Ellis's eyes opened. He jumped up from his bed and gasped for air. Just a dream.
**Date: 10.01.1019 PNT // Thursday**
** Time: 10:15 // 10:15 AM **
** Location: Ecosystem Mika // Habitat Urahana // District 2 // Sector 1 // Okyoku Avenue 5 **
** Osomi Highschool **
The days passed slowly and it was still five months until summer. Ellis stared outside and watched the swings on the playground, as the wind lightly pushed them back and forth. Dreams about superheroes, princesses and villains clouded his mind. Keeping his attention away from class. The teacher asked him a question. He was too far into his own head to even realize there was a world around him. Lua elbowed him to get his attention.
"What?" He asked with an attitude.
"Greenburg, daydreaming again?" The teacher, Mrs. Bell, sighed and shook her head. "Well, obviously you know enough to ignore class. So tell me: what year was the first Habitat built in?"
"Ehm, I don't know." Ellis shrugged his shoulders.
"Who was the woman who invented the technology for habitat creation?" Again he gave the same answer. The questioning went on for a while. "Well, this is an easy one. Maybe even you can answer that: what class is this?" The rest of the children laughed.
"History, obviously."
"Obviously." Mrs. Bell sat in her chair and pulled out her tablet. "Your performance in class and during the exams is not very adequate. What makes you think you can just shut off mentally?" Again no answer from Ellis. "You have the lowest scores of all the students," she said with a condescending grin. "And now it is getting even lower." She wrote something on her tablet. Obviously another bad grade. "You need to try harder."
"What's the point?" He replied.
"What do you mean, what is the point?" She stood up and her voice got louder. "History is one of the most important classes; maybe the most important class we even teach." She got even louder. "If we don't learn about history then people will keep repeating their mistakes and-"
Ellis interrupted her. "People back in the day had history class." He stood up. "And look what happened. We are stuck in domes. The outside world; destroyed. What, do you think you – we – are somehow smarter than the people before us?"
"Yes I do. And people will only get smarter."
"Yeah, bet that's what the people before us said, too."
"This is the kind of attitude that leads to history repeating itself."
"Yeah, or maybe it is condescending teachers like you, who are so insecure about their life choices, and the path they have taken, they have to let it out on literal 12 year old children."
"What?" She screamed now. "Out with you! I will have a talk with your parents!"
"No need to kick me out. I'll just leave." He threw his stuff into his backpack and left quietly while the teacher continued her rant and seemed to get angrier with every word she spoke.
The school was empty and void of any colour. White with tints of grey. Other than Ellis no one was there right now. He made his way upstairs onto the rooftop, laid onto a bench, and stared towards the ceiling of the dome. After a while he just dozed off.
The ringing of the bell woke him up. He did not think about moving. There was still maths class and he thought about skipping it. Lua appeared next to him.
"That was no good." She sat down next to him.
"Who cares, honestly it doesn't matter." He sat upright and looked into her face. She looked concerned. "Don't worry, it's just history class. Most of my other classes are...fine. I am not flunking."
"Yeah, I know." Lua put her head onto his shoulder. "But you could do much better. I know how smart you are."
"Ugh, I really don't feel like doing more."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. I just don't. I don't like her either. She is a bad teacher."
"I know. But you are not doing it for her. You are supposed to do it for yourself."
"Okay, but I am okay with how things are going."
She put her head up and looked at him. She opened her eyes wider and pouted with a little smile. "Maybe do it for me then."
Ellis laughed and lightly pushed her with his shoulder. "Okay, for you I'll try at least."
"You promise?"
"Yeah, I will actually study for the next test."
Lua smiled and swung her head from side to side. "Haha, you love me."
"Shut up."
**Date: 14.06.1029 PNT // Friday**
**Time: 16:22 // 4:22 PM**
**Location: Ecosystem Mika // Habitat Melissa // District 5 // Sector 1 // Imara Hill Park**
"You shouldn't underestimate dreams like that, you know?" Rosa said as she opened her bag and pulled out a cheap wine and two plastic cups. She held one in Ellis's face. "Some dreams are more important than it seems. And honestly with what you have witnessed that night, maybe this is an important one. And honestly maybe the drugs had some influence. They might have expanded your consciousness. Or shrunk it."
Ellis took the cup. Rosa filled both. "What do you mean?"
"You know sometimes in your dreams you process things that are subconscious. Sometimes literally, sometimes more imaginary and metaphorical." She took a sip from her cup. "Okay look, reality in itself, neurologically speaking, is one big hallucination. We don't recognise things by perceiving them in the present alone. We perceive everything connected to the object. The past we had with it, the relationship we currently have, and multiple images of what is to come. These images past, present, and future are seen through a lens of physical interactions, as matter, associations and context, as the mind, fear and love, as the spirit."
"Okay… I mean I am following you but-"
"Let me finish." Rosa put her finger on his lips. "Meaning a lot of the things we perceive consciously and subconsciously are not necessarily things you can perceive in the classical sense of reality. Some things, things we like to call 'vibe', 'energy', 'soul' are perceived, however exist on a different layer of consciousness. Some very intuitive people can tap into that. That is when subconscious becomes conscious. Some do it with meditation, some do it with substances, or straight up trauma."
"So, the final conclusion being?"
"I think the killer was there. Not just the park, but already at the party. Just like the victim was. Joel bumped into him. You remember when he was running? He was in panic. He knew he was gonna die. You didn't see or hear the killer. However your subconscious mind felt him."
"Yes, all of that makes sense, but wouldn't my subconscious mind take some kind of familiar form? At least something that I have some emotional connection to." Ellis tilted his head and stared in the air. "Yellow coat dude…"
"Maybe you are just going insane." They both laughed. "But seriously, with a lot of these head things, they are there for a reason. Not to hurt you. Usually to protect you or guide you. Let it speak more next time."
"Maybe."
"Not too much though." She poked his arm. "Let's get drunk." Rosa took the hand he was holding the cup with and slowly moved it towards his mouth with a grin. He drank, and they kept drinking.
"How do you get along with Vikka so well?" Ellis asked.
Rosa looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean…" He hesitated. "You two are kind of, extremely different, and sometimes she just doesn't seem as nice, you know?"
She rolled her eyes and put her head on his lap. "You don't know her well enough. I love her so fucking much." Rosa closed her eyes with a smile. "Trust me."
"Okay, I'll trust you on that." Ellis grabbed his pouch. "I'm gonna roll a cigarette. You want one?"
"No, but can we share?"
"Sure." He lit it up, took a few puffs, and placed the cigarette between Rosa's lips. "I would rather smoke a joint."
"Yeah, same." She got back up. "However, we have alcohol." She poured another glass for both of them. And another, and yet another. Until they had finished 2 bottles.
Rosa was about to open another. Ellis, who had already been at his limits, grabbed the bottle out of her hand and threw it into the river. "Hey!" A Peacekeeper shouted.
They both were about to run but could barely stand and pulled each other up until they broke down laughing. "Why did you just do that?" The Peacekeeper asked Ellis.
"I...I don't know." He replied while breaking into laughter. "I don't want to drink anymore, duh."
"He used to be an alcoholic, Officer." Rosa said, barely holding her laughter. "It is my fault, I peer pressured him. You should let him go. He had to do it, to save his soul."
"I can't deal with this right now." The Peacekeeper pulled out his work phone and set up a fee form. After a long back and forth Ellis finally paid the 500 bits fee.
As the Peacekeeper turned his back, Rosa flipped him off. Ellis's eyes got stuck on her. She turned towards him and raised her eyebrows. "Something wrong?"
“I like your face.” Ellis smiled. Rosa pulled him closer and kissed him.
