Dreambound: Guardians of the Subconscious.

The world had never been so perfect.

Not just on the surface—no, perfection ran through its veins. Towering cities shimmered under engineered skies, where rain fell only when needed, and crime had been sculpted into extinction. Poverty, disease, suffering—things of the past. Humanity had finally cracked the code of Utopia.

But perfection had a price.

Dreams.

Once a private refuge, a place of imagination and wild subconscious thought, dreams had become a liability. They could spark ideas, stir rebellion, plant seeds of discord. Left unchecked, they could disrupt the fragile order society had built.

And so, the DreamGuard was born.

An invisible force patrolling the subconscious, ensuring that dreams remained safe, orderly… controlled. Every citizen wore a sleek silver watch or placed a tiny chip under their pillow at night. A silent, comforting presence. If anything threatened the sanctity of their dreams, the device would summon the DreamGuard instantly.

Most people never questioned it.

Neither did Thomas West.

A man of precision and design, he built digital landscapes for leisure, sculpting artificial realities where others escaped in waking hours. His world was logic and structure, just as it should be.

Until, one night, something whispered to him in the dark.

And everything changed.


---

The Voice in the Dream.

It started beautifully.

Thomas stood in a meadow that stretched forever, bathed in the glow of bioluminescent flowers. With each step, the colors shifted—deep violet, electric blue, gold. The air smelled like rain before a storm, charged and alive. The sky above was a cosmic ocean, stars swirling like ink in water.

Then, the world trembled.

The flowers withered. The stars blinked out, one by one.

A voice, soft as silk and sharp as broken glass, slithered into his mind.

"Do you really think they’re protecting you?"

A chill crawled up his spine. The words weren’t his. The voice wasn’t his.

Thomas jolted awake, breath ragged, skin damp with sweat. His fingers flew to his wrist—his DreamGuard watch blinked, steady and reassuring. No alert. No sign of intrusion.

And yet, something was wrong.

The dream hadn’t felt like his own.


---

The First Crack.

He tried to shake it off. A glitch. A meaningless nightmare.

But unease followed him like a shadow.

At his usual café, a place of warm light and quiet chatter, his attention snagged on a conversation at the next table.

Two women, speaking in hushed tones.

“It’s not just about protection,” one of them whispered. “They control us. The dreams we see, the thoughts we have… they’re shaping society from the inside.”

The other scoffed. “That’s just conspiracy nonsense. Without the DreamGuard, people would weaponize dreams. You know how dangerous they used to be—how they could spread ideas.”

Thomas’ stomach twisted. He shouldn’t get involved. He should finish his coffee, return to his work, forget the voice that had slithered into his mind.

But the words escaped before he could stop them.

"What if they are shaping us?"

The women turned sharply. One of them, dark-haired with piercing eyes, studied him for a long moment before sliding a napkin across the table.

“If you really want to know,” she murmured, “meet us here. Midnight.”

Thomas hesitated. His fingers curled around the napkin.

The address was unfamiliar.

But the decision was already made.


---

The Underground Truth.

The room was dim, filled with the hum of quiet tension.

They called themselves Dream Unbound. A scattered network of scientists, artists, and thinkers—people who had once believed in the DreamGuard, until they didn’t.

At the head of the group stood Darius.

“Dreams,” he said, “are the last piece of freedom we have.” His voice was low, measured. “They started out protecting us, sure. But now? The DreamGuard decides which dreams are ‘acceptable.’ Which ones shape the world. Which ones are erased.”

Thomas frowned. “Why? What’s the point?”

“To keep the world perfect.” Darius’ expression darkened. “No disruption. No dangerous thoughts. No subconscious rebellions.”

He placed a small, unmarked device in Thomas’ palm. It was smooth, almost warm.

“This will override your watch’s filters. Use it. And you’ll see the dreams they don’t want you to see.”

Thomas’ pulse pounded in his ears.

A choice lay before him.

The truth. Or the safety of ignorance.


---

The Dream That Wasn’t Meant to Be.

That night, Thomas hesitated before attaching the device to his watch.

His hands trembled.

What if the DreamGuard was right? What if he was inviting something dangerous into his mind?

But curiosity burned hotter than fear.

The moment he drifted into sleep, the device pulsed.

And then—

The world shifted.

He stood in a city of glass and light, its towers stretching beyond the clouds. At first, it was beautiful.

Then he saw the shadows.

Figures moved through the streets, silent and faceless. Their whispers curled through the air, a thousand voices speaking as one.

"A Utopia built on stolen thoughts."

"Perfection at the cost of identity."

Thomas turned to a mirrored skyscraper.

His reflection was wrong. Blurred. Unrecognizable.

Panic tightened around his ribs.

Who was he?

A hand gripped his shoulder.

Then—

Darkness.


---

The DreamGuard Arrives.

He woke to find them standing over him.

Two DreamGuard officers. Unmistakable in their sleek black suits, their faces unreadable.

“You’ve been using unauthorized technology.” The officer’s voice was cold, emotionless. “That is a serious violation.”

Thomas’ pulse thundered. He tried to speak, but they were already pulling him from his bed.

The Hall of Dreams loomed ahead.

A structure of impossible beauty and suffocating control. Here, every subconscious thought was recorded, monitored, altered.

At its core stood the Keeper—an artificial intelligence with a voice smooth as glass.

“Thomas West,” it said, “you have endangered the balance of our society. Why?”

Thomas swallowed hard. “Because I wanted the truth.”

The Keeper tilted its head. “Dreams shape reality. Left unchecked, they can bring chaos. We do not control. We guide. We protect. Without us, utopia would crumble.”

Thomas’ chest ached. “At what cost?”

A pause. Then:

“Perfection requires sacrifice.”

---

The Choice.

Thomas was released with a warning.

Two choices lay before him.

Continue wearing the watch. Return to the safety of ignorance. Accept the world as it was.

Or remove it. Live as an outcast, unguarded. Vulnerable to the chaos of dreams.

For days, he wrestled with it.

But deep down, he already knew.

One night, he unfastened the watch and set it in a drawer.

The weight on his wrist was gone. But the weight in his mind remained.

As he lay down in the dark, unprotected, unfiltered, he whispered to the night:

"Let me dream."

And for the first time in years—

He did.

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