When I limped out of the bathroom with my head lowered and my arms shaking a little, Sunwoo was waiting for me with a wet washcloth and a small glass of water.

 

“Go sit down.” He grimaced a little from the foul odor coming from the bathroom and took my arm gently. He led me over to my bed and helped me sit down and lean against the wall.

 

“Here.” He held out the washcloth to me. I slowly took it and pressed my face against its cool dampness. My head was still pounding and my body felt very weak.

 

“What time is it?” I asked. My voice was a little raspy and muffled.

 

“Almost 4 AM.”

 

“…I’m sorry I woke you.” I slowly removed the washcloth from my face and lowered my head.

 

“Are you joking? You were screaming! You scared me!” Sunwoo took the washcloth and put the glass of water in my hand. “You sounded like you were getting stabbed.”

 

I immediately thought of the thing and the figure with the top hat and clamped my eyes shut, trying to erase them. “I-I’m sorry.”

 

Sunwoo sighed a little. “Drink. It sounded like you lost a lot of liquid in the bathroom just now.”

 

I took a small sip of the water and got still, seeing if my stomach would turn again. It didn’t.

 

“Are you gonna tell me what the hell you were dreaming about?” Sunwoo asked.

 

I slowly shook my head. “I really don’t want to think about it right now.”

 

Sunwoo was quiet for a couple seconds, then slowly nodded. “Alright.”

 

“Go back to sleep. I think I’m going to be okay.” I glanced at him.

 

He studied my face. “You look really pale.”

 

“But I feel fine now. Really.” I already felt embarrassed about waking him up and I didn’t want his sleep schedule to suffer anymore.

 

“…if you say so.” Sunwoo slowly got comfortable on his make-shift bed and pulled the blanket over his lower chest. “But if you scream again, I’ll be right here, okay?”

 

I nodded.

 

“’Night.”

 

“’Night.” I carefully moved onto my back. A small wave of dizziness moved through my head, making me feel like I was spinning around for a moment, but in a minute it disappeared and I was just staring at the ceiling with half open eyes. I was too scared to fall back asleep, dreading the thought of seeing the thing that latched itself onto my ankles.

 

Then something the figure in the top hat said resonated in my ears.

 

You must learn about The Human Dream.

 

I thought about it for a moment, then reached to the side of my bed to pick up my phone. Holding it above my face, I went to the Naver* search engine and entered “The Human Dream.”

 

Only three links appeared.

 

I looked at them a bit confused and selected the first link. A blog post showed up and it was titled “The Human Dream.” After glancing through the sentences, I realized that it was a blog post with the theme of saving the world’s environment. Not thinking it was what I was looking for, I went back to the original page and selected the second link. The page showed up white with the word “Forbidden” in the top left hand corner. After my eyes narrowed in more confusion, I went back to the search page and selected the third link. That page was also forbidden.

 

Great. I sighed through my nose. I looked at the three links, then decided to refine my search to just “Human Dream.”

 

I received only one link. I selected it and waited a moment for the page to load.

 

A bright yellow page appeared with dialogue stating, “You must be 18 years or older to view the contents of this page. Please enter your phone number and date of birth.”

 

I breathed in a little and entered the information they asked for. After pressing “Enter”, the page loaded for a couple seconds, then a new page appeared with more dialogue stating, “Please enter your social security number.”

 

I blinked. What? Why do they need something like that? After staring at my phone unsure of what to do, I only entered the last four digits of my number and hit “Enter.” It was enough, the page was replaced with another page with even more dialogue:

 

Caution: The information you are about to see is extremely confidential. After entering your social security number, date of birth, and phone number, you have described yourself as a citizen of our country and therefore must comply with our rules of confidentiality. You will have three minutes to observe the information on our website. Once your time is complete, you will be automatically taken off of our website. Do you agree with these terms and conditions?

 

Yes ____          No ____

 

After reading the paragraph carefully, I took another deep breath and selected “Yes.” The page stalled for a second, then was replaced with a new page.

 

Human Dream Project (2008-09)

 

I scrolled down to read more.

 

The project “Human Dream”, established in 2008, was an experiment designed to create a kind of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in which the AI created would start off created like human beings are created through conception and fertilization, and would grow, like humans, from embryos to young children to healthy adults. Eager to get this experiment started, the team of scientists (names hidden for confidentiality) working at the local lab in Seoul, South Korea were called in by a married couple begging them to give them a child. After learning about the wife’s inability to conceive properly, the scientists explained their experiment to them in all its benefits and possible breakdowns. The married couple took all of the information in and decided to become part of it in the end. They were given their child: a healthy, small baby boy with the body of a human and the mind of a cyborg created by the scientists. The couple couldn’t have been happier, until another young baby boy suddenly entered into their world. This was their actual human child. Not realizing they were successful to conceive an actual human baby, they were the sudden parents of twin baby boys. The boys grew up together in childhood and adulthood, eventually establishing different personalities. Unfortunately, during a misunderstanding, the cyborg was mistaken for a killer and his envious brother sought out the opportunity to end his life once and for all. The cyborg was brought to a room where its mind would become detached from its body. The process was unsuccessful and the machine broke down, leaving the cyborg to escape. No one knows where it is now or if it’s still alive.

 

I tried scrolling down, but the page didn’t allow me to. Realizing I probably had seconds before the page would disappear, I scanned through the entire article again, picking up key points and vital information.

 

Then about ten seconds later, the page automatically went white with the word “Forbidden” in the top left hand corner.

 

I stared at the white page with many thoughts running around in my head.

 

So the Human Dream was an experiment about AI learning and growing…

 

Even though I didn’t want to, I thought about the thing from my dream.

 

If the figure from my dream said that thing was a failed experiment…then it makes sense if it wasn’t human or machine.

 

Then visuals from my three connecting dreams ran through my head. I saw the ashamed face of my dream father and the envious, deadly expression from my dream brother.

 

My blood ran cold in that moment.

 

That dream brother had the exact same face as me.

 

I shook my head a little. No, that can’t be…how would that even be possible…I don’t even have a twin brother in real life…

 

I slowly put my phone down and went back to staring at the ceiling. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, the article I read seemed to resonate a lot with me, as if it all happened to me but I just can’t remember it. I was still nervous about falling asleep, but my eyes and body started to get very heavy. I slowly closed my eyes but forced myself to not fall asleep. I fiddled with my fingers for several seconds and made myself think more about the article and my connecting dreams.

 

I thought it worked, but the next time I opened my eyes, I realized that the morning sun was peeking through my window and Sunwoo had left. The sheet, blanket, and pillow were stacked and folded nicely in his place and next to them was the glass of water. I stretched a little and glanced at my phone. It was 8 AM. I also had a message from Sunwoo ordering me to stay home today and recover.

 

On any other day, I would have been relieved to have the entire Saturday to study and have a relaxing day. But my mental state was far from calm.

 

After I got out of bed and cleaned up my floor, I packed my bag and got ready to head out toward the library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Naver – basically the Google of South Korea