Oneironaut

I dreamed I was a robot

Part One - Oneironaut

It was only on reading the brochure that Isaac realised how experimental the procedure was. Of the limited options available to him, this was the one the oncologist believed had the greatest chance of success, so he'd at first thought it was a cruel joke when, on asking to see a brochure, he had received by way of an indifferent courier, this mess of notes and diagrams. Almost exclusively hand-written, apparently by a lunatic, and seemingly never copied, the manuscript made immediately clear to Isaac, just how desperate his situation was. He began for the first time to realise that of the ever decreasing number of options available to him, none was the right one. For the time being, the easiest option seemed to be avoidance - an option Isaac fully embraced, as he increased the level on his morphine drip, and swiftly felt the welcome disorientation of opiate-induced sleep. 

The confusing familiarity of dreams reassured Isaac. The lucidity convincing enough to feel real, while the unconsciousness coupled with the drugs allowed him to forget his current predicament. 

With no clear destination, Isaac began walking along the path at his feet. In the distance, silhouetted in front of the setting sun he saw the ruins of a city that triggered vague recollections and feelings of nostalgia, but distracted by the spectacle of the sky on fire, he could not place it. 

He suddenly became aware that the music he had thought was in his head, was actually emanating from just over the next hill. Following the sound, he discovered two robots apparently deep in conversation. As Isaac raised his hand in greeting, he noticed that he was himself almost entirely mechanical, and realised that that must be the reason why he no longer felt the pain that he only now realised was missing. Isaac heard himself asking the question, before he even realised he was thinking it. 

"Why do you employ melody, and harmony in your communication? There are much more efficient, more mathematical ways to convey ideas". 

The robots conversed briefly, in their melancholy accents and then replied to the human: 

"Because it's beautiful"

Looking from the robots to the iridescent sky, and back again, he felt the wave of calm wash over him, as he fell deeper in to sleep, and was aware of nothing more. 

It was the pain that eventually roused him. Sitting up he became simultaneously aware of the burning inside him, and the immense calm that came with his decision, and the realisation that there had only ever been one real option.