Darkness Falls(4)

“I came with my little sister.” Jordan turned back to find Maze, who’d attracted another male admirer. “Believe it or not, it’s our girls’ night.”
Vince let go of her hand to raise his flute. “To girls, then.”
Jordan dinged her glass against his. “What about Rêve interests you?”
She wished she didn’t sound so formal. She needed to flirt a little, but it wasn’t her forte under the best of circumstances, and with the scary event fast approaching, near impossible.
He tilted his head in a small shrug and settled into an easy table lean. “I’m looking for control, though it must make me sound like a jerk. I want to make sure that I can be lucid.”
She huffed a relieved laugh. “Believe me, I get it.” Wait. “Not everyone can?”
“From what I’ve heard, no. Takes some people a few tries. Others never achieve mastery.”
Jordan’s enjoyment faltered, replaced with the heavy drag of lead in her belly. None of her online searches had mentioned this. The point of this adventure was to stick close to Maisie, but if neither of them were in control, they’d be separated. She’d thought the lucidity thing was a given. Why else was everyone so excited about shared dreaming if it only worked for some? Yeah, she totally understood Vince’s interest in control.
Where was Maisie? Was there a taxi back to shore?
“Hello, everybody,” an accented female voice came over a speaker. “Welcome to the Envoi. I’m Serena and I’ll be telling you what to expect tonight.”
Jordan, like others near her, looked around to find the speaker. A woman stood on a small dais at the end of the room. She was a petite blonde in super high heels and a bright purple gown with a subtle sheen. A champagne flute in her hand, too.
“Sleep is an alteration in your brainwaves, and Rêve is simply getting everyone on the same frequency. It’s as easy and painless as that.”
Scientist-turned-hero, Didier Lambert had discovered the principles of Rêve, the French word for dream, working from some institute in Paris. It was he who had published the first academic papers on the discovery, though others from around the world, notably UCLA, published shortly behind him. That had been fifteen years ago. Today it was big business.
Jordan felt Maze join her, sidling up close. Lil’ sis caught her hand and squeezed her excitement into it. She’d been wanting to try this since Rêve had become legal in the U.S. two years ago, but supply simply could not meet the clamor of demand.
“We are going to a very exclusive island tonight,” Serena continued. “One that this beautiful ship could never reach, no matter how far it sailed. The island literally exists on a plane dominated by imagination. You may wander it at will—stroll the midnight beach, attend a party under the stars, strike off into the trees for some privacy, or climb an active volcano for an unparalleled view. It is a free place, a place where you are all-powerful, where you can push the limits of experience with no threat to yourself, no pain. While the dream is shared, your interactions with others are voluntary; and if you become agitated or disruptive, you will simply be awakened.”
The shared part was what made Jordan’s stomach cramp. She didn’t want all these people in her head. Truth be told, she didn’t really want to be in theirs, either.
“But of course you all want to be lucid and in control of yourselves.”
Uh-huh. Yep. Absolutely. Those were the key words.
“So you will not be able to enter the party unless, in the dream state, you are able to reach out and open a door to let yourselves in. Likewise, you can leave at any time and simply doze until the time has expired.”
Sounded a little too simple to Jordan.
“No one can read your mind. No one can make you do anything you don’t want to. No one can make you want to do things you otherwise wouldn’t. You are simply experiencing a fantasy constructed by our dreamscapers.”
Jordan gnawed on her bottom lip. Maybe she should forgo the Rêve, just in case. That way she’d be okay if something happened to Maisie and could fight/scream/demand help if something went wrong. That was the right thing to do.#p#分页标题#e#
Screw the money. Stand guard over your sister.
Then again, what if something happened to Maisie during the dream? Her sis was so impulsive, didn’t think before jumping, had zero presence of mind. What if someone tried to mess with her on this island, and she couldn’t call for help? What if… Hell. The what ifs became infinite in the dream scenario, each possibility more twisted than the last.
The best thing would be to go inside, to be there if her sister needed her.