‘Sit down, Mr Williams,’ came the stern voice inside Oliver’s head.
He complied, putting himself onto the smooth chair before him. He rested his hands on the empty metal desk and leaned forward in anticipation, sweat dripping down his sides.
That instant, the augmentation ran, and the blank room was transformed before his eyes. Vibrant wallpaper trickled to the floor, and the table turned to lush wood. Oliver ran his fingers across the surface. It remained icy to the touch.
Oliver blinked, and a man appeared opposite. He wore a plain grey suit and a plain grey smile.
‘Good afternoon Mr Williams,’ said the man. ‘I am The Invigilator. I will be handling your case today.’
Oliver shifted in his chair. ‘What’s this all about?’
The Invigilator’s face remained impassive. ‘There have been a few anomalies in your sleep animations Mr Williams. We simply need to ask you a few questions to clarify things.’
‘If you insist.’
‘Excellent. First, have you been taking your Sleep Cloud prescribed uploads every night?’
‘Of course.’
‘We have records that some of your scripts weren’t uploaded.’
Oliver wiped his forehead with his sleeve. ‘Maybe I forgot one or two. No harm in that, is there?’
‘Normally no. Enough only to warrant a warning or perhaps a small dock on your data allowance. But the nature of what has replaced them is… disturbing.’
‘I haven’t been replacing them.’
‘I see. Do you know of a person called Heather?’
Oliver froze. His heart quickened. ‘Who?’
‘It’s a name that has been recurring in your dream scripts.’
‘Oh. She’s a friend of my daughter. From her new school. She’s been popping by the house a lot recently. Lovely girl.’
‘Are you aware of her age Mr Williams?’
‘I imagine she’s the same age as my daughter. Around eighteen, I’d say. Why does it matter?’
‘It matters a great deal. Based on what we’ve seen.’
Oliver felt his face flush. ‘There’s nothing to see. My dreams aren’t anything special.’
The Invigilator’s eyes darkened. ‘We’ve seen everything, Mr Williams. There is no use in lying.’
‘Listen, I never did anything to her. Not really. It was just a dream. I can’t control what I dream.’
‘She’s only seventeen, Mr Williams.’
Two sturdy hands clamped down on Oliver’s shoulders.
‘You can’t do this. I haven’t done anything!’
‘You will be removed from the Sleep Cloud and installed with an inhibitor.’
‘But…’ Oliver whispered. ‘I’ll never dream again.’
‘We cannot have your filth on our servers, Mr Williams. In addition, your name will be placed on the Sex Offenders register. C-bracket, medium risk.’
Invisible hands hoisted Oliver to his feet. ‘But… I haven’t…’
‘Eighty-three per cent of dream crimes are actualized if not prevented.’
Tears streamed down Oliver’s cheeks as he was dragged towards the door. His whole body numb. ‘You… can’t…’
‘Good day, Mr Williams.’
The Invigilator scrambled into a flicker of pixels and vanished.