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Sleeping Pills - Part 1: Insomnia

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Sleeping Pills - Part 2: Memories

Delta 202's vision starts to blur. While his eyes are still staring into the distance, all surrounding light seems to fade to a pitch black. After a short moment of complete darkness he is overcome with a lifetime flashing before his eyes. Memories, but not his own. Reminiscing the sound of a bustling city, the smell of a muggy forest, the taste of wine and cheese, feelings of love and passion, of anger and deep sadness. Nothing Delta 202 had ever experienced. Things he never even heard of, but that in this moment felt more real than anything he knew before. A truth without proof. Eyes still wide open, tears start flowing down his face. Delta 202 starts to sob, wail, howl uncontrollably, overcome by emotions that are entirely new to him. His body numb and sight empty until the sound of a helicopter in the distance brings his senses back to the pavement in front of his apartment where he crashed after his desperate attempt to acquire a pill to prevent all of this from happening. An adrenaline rush comes over him, he jumps up and starts running as fast as he can, away from the sound, before he even considers why. How long had he been sitting there? Had his neighbors notified security? But more importantly, why was he feeling so good? He never felt more human...

He runs and runs and runs until he realizes that he is running out of breath. As far away from his apartment as his legs can carry him, he seeks out a place to hide. Contrary to the bustling city he so vividly remembered just moments ago, the sectors of The City are extremely tidy, and with everybody sleeping through the night after 10 PM at latest, there is no nightlife to hide in. Luckily he finds an alleyway with a stairwell and several waste collection points. This might be the best spot to stay hidden, at least for a while.

Delta 202 sits down behind the stairwell, his back against the wall of its building. He takes a few moments to catch his breath, meanwhile keeping his ears pricked up for any more helicopter sounds. But the sound is gone. Maybe it didn't turn out because of his cries. It was probably a medical emergency, as is always the case when an unexpected sound shakes up a quiet night. He starts breathing slower and slower until he is calm enough to reflect on everything that happened tonight. He looks up at the sky to guess how much nighttime he might have left before workers leave their apartments to travel to work. A full moon halfway across the sky is promising a couple of hours at least. His mind is flooding with so many questions. But there is now one thing he knows to be an absolute truth: nothing here is what it should be.