With a subtle flick , the lights are switched on.
The sudden brightness disturbs my peaceful rest.
My eyes open of their accord.
They blink for a moment or so before my pupils adjust .
After having lived in the darkness for so long , the light is now blinding.to me
My eyes focus as I drink in my surroundings.
I am seated on a metallic chair which is firm enough to support my weight without creaking even a little . In front of me lies a long table , devoid of any adornments to cover up the surface , correction there is indeed something on the table though it strictly does not belong to it ; cuffs , handcuffs that bind my arms securely to the table so that I may not make a move at all.
How firm are they ? A short test reveals that the strength is satisfactory.
Clearly someone has done his homework .
A short glance downward reveals the fact that my legs are tied just as securely.
In short I'm no different now from a trussed up chicken waiting to be served for dinner.
How depressing.
I look around at the pristine surroundings I find myself in ; with the dazzling white walls and the lingering smell of disinfectant it seemed no different from a sanitation chamber .
There was one crucial difference though.
A sturdy door made of some sort of steel alloy was there at one end.
They don't use that kind of doors in hospitals.
I sigh and lean back on my chair as best as I can.
Unfortunately this action causes some of the hairs in my copious beard to dislodge and enter my nose.
I sneeze of course.
What a pain.
I wish that whoever is in charge would send a barber in ; keeping long hair is not pleasant at all .
Especially when they turn into a structure akin to a rat's nest.
Fortunately I don't have to wait for a long time since the door swings open with a soundless creak unfortunately it is not the barber.
The one who enters is a woman.
She is slim and attractive , dressed in a professional suit with her long obsidian hair clipped back. The delicate glasses on her nose complete the picture of an intellectual beauty.
Once I would have jumped at the chance to have a conversation with a beauty like that , coffee would have followed naturally as a matter of course.
I have sufficient confidence in my skills and all though time may have affected them some what, I doubt that my instincts have dulled entirely .
I make no attempt to find out .
All I do is smile as I watch her sit down on a chair she brought with her into the room , extra precautions I see.
She pulls out a clipboard from the handbag slung around her shoulder. She removes her glasses and puts on a serious expression as she faces me.
It seems that the interrogation is going to begin.
How lovely , just as I was getting bored here.
"Mr Bai Yuan " , she begins .
"Yes ? " I respond quizzically.
"Mr Bai Yuan , I'm sure you are aware why you are here ."
I sigh in response .
Is this how the interrogation is going to proceed ?
How cliche.
It appears that I have to turn it on its head.
I lean forward as best as I can until my eyes are inches from hers though sadly I'm unable to move my arms it would not affect the outcome at all.
A smile lights up on my face as I observe her face.
I know now all that there is to know.
"How is your father doing ? Has he been removed from life support yet ?"
The look of surprise she shows momentarily is all I need.
Her face relaxes back into the stony expression prior but I can see those gears turning deep inside her head furiously , trying to figure out how I know what I should not.
After all , I have been isolated from all contact from each and every one of my fellow humans ; I have been sedated continuously for a long while , and regarding any external requirements I required she would be surprised to find out that I need none ; which meant that no one had any particular reason to come in contact with me .
Of course , she would have been informed of that through a different reason . Much less troublesome for the guys above.
I'm sure I have been a god-send as a prisoner since the only thing they need to take care of is that I'm being properly sedated.
After all I need no food to treat my stomach nor do I need any water to wet my lips.
Unlike you , I am not bothered with the regular rigours of excretion whether they are of the liquid or solid kind.
Neither the pain of disease affects me nor do the overwhelming rage of the elements.
All I need to do is just breathe.
Breathe in deeply so that I might ingest the world around.
Breathe in deeply so that I may know who you are.
Breathe in to realize who you will become some day.
By now she must have realized that the fact that I know regarding her father's condition is absolutely illogical since as per protocol she has already sanitised herself to ensure no external contaminant appears inside . Her clothes , the bag she carries , her hair everything right down to the tiniest of details have been arranged so that I would be unable to deduce anything regarding the outside world.
How naive.
If I were but a Mortal Deductionist , then it is certainly true that with such a jumble of random data assailing my faculties I would surely be hopeless to deduce something positive.
Without sufficient data no matter how powerful the mental prowess , reasoning can only take so far.
Perhaps even to the point where water with the origin from the same tap might look completely different.
Unfortunately for them , I do not deduce .
In some sense I'm like a magician pulling things out of thin air to regale my audience.
Like I said earlier I am able to pull things , literally out of thin air .
It doesn't come without its cost though as I have found over time ever since I stumbled upon this crooked path . Nor is it invincible.
Still It does provide an advantage in several situations.
What I do is simple .
I look at everything from a higher perspective.
I watch as she comes to the conclusion that I wish her to reach.
All that remains to do is to just give her a little shove in the right direction.
My face takes on a sympathetic look and my eyes become as gentle as possible.
"I hope that your father recovers soon , after all there are not many left who believe in the Origin ."
Her face twitches in response .
She takes in a deep breath to calm herself and prepares to respond.
It is time now for the denial.
"I don't know what you're talking about " , she says as evenly as possible.
The smile on my face widens as I put on my best face to convey my earnestness.
"The thing is you do , Miss Mu . You really do don't you ? "
"That is what the Origin is all about , using the universe around us to achieve the impossible ."
"It's something your father understood really well ; I'm a huge fan by the way .Some of those books ", my face contorts into an expression of enjoyment ," are just awesome !'
I can feel her struggle from here.
Even though her occupation and the world around her has forced her to place her belief in rationality there's no denying the faith she has on her father and his work.
She could close her eyes when there was nothing to suggest otherwise but now when I open her eyes to the 'real world' , she cannot deny once again.
Never again.
The dilemma is ripping out my psychological assessor from the inside.
How cute.
Being of a hopeful sort , it falls on to me therefore to release her from her suffering .
"Over there , that clipboard , I'm sure that it has all of the information regarding my life ; to be more accurate a sizeable chunk which seems like a distant fantasy now."
"What do you mean ? "
I can feel her anxiety , her indecisiveness acutely.
"Look " , I say with a smile .
A strand of my hair takes flight from my head on its own and slowly floats in an exaggerated manner all the way downward to the surface of the table .
With a sudden plop it explodes , leaving miniscule embers still smouldering on the table.
Her breathing becomes rapid , her eyes are transfixed to the ashes.
I am satisfied that I received the effect that I wished for even though such parlour tricks have long since ceased to amuse me.
The fervent expression she makes when her eyes meet with mine convince me that I'm all set.
Time for the last little push .
"Like I said earlier that board over there is everything that you need to know about me , use that to collaborate what I'm going to tell you" , I say.
She tilts her head inquiringly as she does her best to make sense of what new game I'm playing.
The truth is I'm not playing any game .
Not this time at least.
"What I'm about to tell you is the absolute truth and when you hear it it will change your world forever" , I say.
"What do you mean ? " , she gasps . Her pounding heart is clearly audible to my sharp ears.
"Trust me " , I say.
She hesitates for a bit before eventually giving a little nod.
I make a satisfied smile.
"Have you ever wondered whether all those old bedtime stories are real ?" I ask rhetorically .
She doesn't answer of course.
I move on .
"I will provide the answer to that , they are indeed as real as you and me ; alive and kicking is the particular phrase I believe but not exactly as you would tend to believe ," I say .
"The world is far more complex than that "
"Apart from the beings endemic to our land there are also those who come from the 'outside' . We call them 'others' . It's such a poor name but there you have it , it is not as if I was the one who decided on the name."
"Some of those 'others' are quite special in a regard. They will look identical to us and they would have 'appeared' to have lived here since birth , " I say.
I pause for emphasis.
Her breath quickens as she realizes she is in for a major revelation.
What can I say ?
Today is certainly not April Fool's day which means that I'm duty-bound to speak the truth.
"But it's a lie ," I continue matter-of-factly.
"Well not a complete one at least , their bodies have indeed lived here since the beginning but the stuff that's inside was swapped out after some time."
"Excuse me ?" , she interrupts. Clearly she is lost here.
I realize that I have to make a better attempt this time.
" The original souls have disappeared only to be replaced by those from a different world."
"Oh " , she says . She doesn't get it still .
No worries. By the time I'm done she would understand.
"For some reasons these 'others' have a strange outlook regarding our world ; not only are they aware of some of the 'big events' that have passed and are taking place , worse still to some extent they are aware of the future . To the common man they are practically omniscient."
"How is that .." , her mouth opens for a bit due to astonishment but closes rapidly as she sees my rhetorical smile.
"Are you ..." , she trails off ; her meaning is quite evident so it makes no difference.
"Nope" , I say calmly .
"Because of some reasons I came to possess a similar skill but it is just a mockery of the real deal."
"Oh" , she says calmly ; traces of suspicion remain in her eyes still.
I just smile in response .
Everything will be clear soon.
"That is just for starters , there are also those who claim to have been 'reborn' from the future , others who think they are 'playing' a game , I can go on and on but it is immaterial to our discussion,"
, I say.
"What is important is to make you understand that the world you see is not real at all ,", I say softly enunciating each word to make my point clear.
Her body shakes subtly in response , my whispers it seems have pierced the very fibre of her being .
Her hopeful eyes turn towards my own .
I hold them back confidently .
Slowly the last remaining traces of hesitation disappear and a confident brilliance radiates from them.
" There is an ancient saying , " I say , "which goes something like this ",
"Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true;
Real becomes not-real where the unreal's real."
"To understand the truth it is thus necessary to strip down the veil that fiction that has cast over your eyes . The best way to do that is to watch the veil unravel before your eyes , one fold at a time."
"Are you ready to witness the real world that can transform a completely ordinary man without any skills whatsoever into someone who has transcended the barrier of mortality itself ?"
She nods her head eagerly , the deep-seated madness in her eyes being all to visible.
"Check from the board when I'm speaking to assure yourself that whatever I'm about to say is based on fact and fact alone."
She nods and holds the clipboard in a manner that would be befitting of a schoolgirl taking a lesson from her teacher not a famous psychologist who has impressed the entire scientific community with her prowess.
I can't help but smile at the observation.
I take a deep breath to collect my thoughts before I begin inevitably.
"Hear then , My story."
"The way in which the ordinary world I knew was shattered to pieces one night revealing the mayhem on the other side."
The way it looks I'm going to stay here for a long while.