Dream Stealing and Truman (Part 3)

What would happen if someone dreamed that they were asleep and had another dream?

The people around Schiller fell into thought. He then explained, "When this happens, most people are actually just jumping from one dream to another, like jumping from one point to another on a plane."

"But in very rare cases, one can descend vertically from a single point, break through this plane, and descend into a deeper level of consciousness."

"In the dream you created for him, Hugo wanted to enter someone else's dream. Where would he enter?" Victor murmured to himself.

"That's exactly what I'm going to study."

"Let's look at it again from the beginning. I used the Mad Wine to pull all your consciousnesses into my consciousness space, right?"

"Next, I pulled Hugo's consciousness into my consciousness space as well. Although he is not on the same floor as you, you are all in my consciousness space now."

"And now, a situation has arisen where, while you and Hugo are both in my consciousness space, he wants to connect his consciousness with yours. He has entered your dreams within your dreams. So, could he directly open a passage to your deeper consciousness?"

"This is the topic I've been focusing on recently: how to maintain a stable dream-within-a-dream state and establish a stable channel to the deeper consciousness. If we can do this, then we can solve many psychological problems at their root."

"I don't know if I've figured out your whole plan, but as it stands, you put Hugo into your dream and then used his identity as a psychologist to let him infiltrate other people's dreams. You think you can use this method to open a passage to the deeper consciousness, is that right?"

"That's right. The Consciousness World is a very complex concept. Everything is possible here, and nothing is possible here. There may be ten thousand keys corresponding to one door, or there may be one key that can open ten thousand doors."

"So all the research on consciousness space sounds like a fantasy, but it all really exists. Isn't that fascinating?"

"How boring," Jack said, picking at his ear.

"Yes, it is indeed very boring for you, because your surface consciousness and deep consciousness are all mixed together, like a lump of paste. You can slide down from the surface consciousness to the deep consciousness, and then bounce back up with a spring..."

At this point, the group saw a bubble suddenly appear above the consultation room where Cobblepot and Hugo were. Inside was another space, where an Iceberg Lounge stood. Schiller said with some regret, "This should also be the surface consciousness... It didn't work. Why?"

"The deep consciousness space is not so specific and orderly. The surface consciousness space is often more stable because you are still a normal person, not a complete madman. Those most terrifying memories should be hidden in the deep consciousness space."

"Let's put a few actors in first..." Schiller instructed, adding, "I suspect that Hugo's desire to explore might not be strong enough, and his belief that what he believes in is what he gets isn't firm enough..."

So, one of Cobblepot's clones first came out of the Iceberg Lounge and invited Hugo in. Then, Victor walked into the restaurant, Schiller also walked in. Everything was like a movie in fast motion, and then in an instant, it stopped at Hugo's finger pressing the button.

"What does this mean?" Victor asked from the audience. "What does that button represent?"

Schiller looked at the yellow button and said, "It must be confidence in one's own theory and the desire to manipulate the minds of others..."

The instant he pressed the button, the globe on Schiller's head began to spin rapidly. He said, "The passage to the deep consciousness space has opened... What is that? Fear?"

"It seems to be fear indeed."

Schiller stared at the image of the enormous, blood-soaked old woman wielding a dagger on the screen. He turned his head and saw Cobblepot's figure flicker.

Schiller's figure suddenly grew enormous, then peered into the screen and popped the bubble above the consultation room with a "pop".

Then he turned back and said, "It seems that it came from the deep consciousness space. This method is effective, but it's unstable..."

"Is it my turn next?"

"That's right."

A few minutes later, Schiller popped the storm-filled bubble again and said, "The situation is exactly the same; the channel can be opened, but it's unstable."

Evans raised his hand and said, "It's my turn next, right?"

"I feel that his consciousness can't withstand another drain. If it happens again, he might wake up, just like someone jumping off a tall building in their dream."

Schiller continued, "Never mind, let's try one last time."

When they saw Hugo back down, Schiller concluded, "It's probably his brain's self-protective mechanism at work."

"So? Do you want to try it again?"

"Of course, I think this method will work, but the fundamental reason why the channel cannot be stable may not be the method itself, but a problem with your Consciousness World."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Schiller's globe head spun faster and faster. He said, "Jack, play along with me. You might get some fun later."

Without waiting for Jack's agreement, he snapped his the Snap, and a medical record landed on Hugo's desk. On it was written a name without a surname—"Jack".

The scene shifts again, Jack is sitting in a chair in the examination room, sobbing uncontrollably. He says, "Doctor. Hugo... please save me! That horrible Dr. Rodriguez is constantly abusing me. He forced me to dye my hair green, put on Joker makeup, and perform for him. He's a monster! You have to save me..."

"Don't cry, Jack! Don't cry..." Hugo pressed down on Jack's shoulder and said, "I've also discovered that he may be secretly abusing his patients, modifying their minds. Listen, Jack ..."

"I'll use official business to call him here. Then, before he's knocked unconscious, he won't be on guard against you. After all, you're just a poor little thing he's been abusing. We can..."

Schiller touched the globe model on his head and said, "I don't even know whether to praise your acting skills or... well, it should just be that your acting skills are superb."

"What are you saying?" Jack in the audience also started wiping away tears. "You terrible Doctor, a devil who has imprisoned our minds here and is using us to do your horrible experiments!"

"Don't cry, we're almost at your favorite part."

Jack covered his eyes with his hands while peeking through his fingers. On the screen, Schiller walked into the office, Hugo stood opposite him to attract his attention, and then a green-haired figure hit Schiller hard on the head with a baseball bat...

"Hahahahaha!!" Jack in the audience burst into a series of laughs, tears DC face.

"See that? This is Schiller, an ordinary person! Hahahaha!"

"Do you know what's the funniest part? It's that... hahahahahaha... the way you fell down was completely wrong? A normal person Schiller! You've never been knocked unconscious before, you can't even fake it, hahahahahahaha..."

Victor then turned to look at the globe perched on Schiller's shoulder and said, "Looks like Texas really is the one you rolled your eyes at."

The scene on the screen changed again, Schiller was sitting in the interrogation chair. Then Hugo turned on the light and said to him, "You're awake..."

As Jack leaned against the wall, a mocking smile appeared on his lips just before Hugo closed his eyes.

Zooming in on Jack's expression, he's looking up as if he's seeing everyone in the upper audience from the bottom of the stage, and the smile on his lips isn't mocking Hugo, but more like... self-mockery.

Jack in the audience did the same thing—he looked up at the sky and smiled.

You wouldn't believe it! This is how Anglo-American cultures are! Just sew it up!

Many people previously said they didn't understand it. I didn't explain it before because there might be spoilers. Now that this part of the plot has been written, I think most fans of British and American crossovers should be able to understand it.

If you don't understand it, it's probably because you don't watch many British and American dramas. These are all old tropes, like the concept of the Mind Palace or a space of consciousness. That's why I don't want to go into a long explanation; these aren't particularly novel concepts.

If I really wanted to pad my writing, I'd spend 3,000 words explaining concepts in a 10,000-word article, then write another 4,000-word film review, and have the protagonist replay Dream Stealing or something similar in his mind. Believe me, I used to do this on Feilu, and I'm a pro at it.

But honestly, it still hurts, so I'll focus on explaining the plot. If you still don't understand anything at all, feel free to leave a comment below this author's post, and I'll think of ways to make the earlier parts understandable... (This is so difficult; I don't think there's anything hard to understand here!)