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Chapter 32: The Amazing Illusionists
"Are we dreaming?!"
Jake looked around in disbelief. Everything here was so natural, so real: a pregnant woman passing by, a blonde girl walking to school with friends, flashing traffic lights, and cars obeying traffic rules.
He focused his gaze on a tall building, and as his attention reached it, he could clearly see every detail of the structure.
Cobb straightened his posture, leaning slightly forward to look at Jake. "You're currently sleeping in your bedroom at the estate. This is your first lesson in shared dreaming."
The table began to shake violently, and Jake could even feel the ground trembling.
BOOM!
The produce stand seemed to explode, with fruit flying everywhere into the sky, then hovering in the air, as if time had stopped.
Pastries from the bakery also flew into the air, along with cardboard boxes, wooden chairs, students' backpacks, and shopping bags in pedestrians' hands... all bursting like fireworks.
Everyone stopped moving, as if in this world, at this moment, only Cobb and Jake could move.
The explosions continued as the fruit burst a second time, like fireworks erupting into the sky.
Fruit exploded everywhere, shattering into tiny pieces that filled the air, creating a scene like a rain of delicacies.
The buildings were similarly affected; every window shattered, sending countless small objects flying into the air.
Jake reached out and grabbed some orange pieces, putting them in his mouth, tasting their sweetness.
Suddenly, the building above them collapsed, followed by complete darkness.
When Jake opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the bed in his bedroom, while Cobb was organizing some equipment.
Seeing Jake wake up, Cobb began to explain. "Dreams aren't just fantasies. The pain from the shattered glass, and the sweet orange you tasted—in dreams, these sensations feel real. That's why the military developed shared dreaming to train soldiers in combat scenarios, and then they wake up."
This was exactly why Jake needed to learn this ability. If he had more time, many things he couldn't manage in reality could be perfectly resolved in dreams.
"In dreams, the human mind operates differently; sometimes five minutes feels like more than an hour." Cobb placed the device in front of Jake and inserted an IV line. "So, let's do it again."
"Wait a second," Jake gestured for Cobb to pause, then took out a small plastic bag from his pocket containing a small, transparent pill the size of a fingernail.
"I'd advise against taking substances. Entering a dream when your brain chemistry is altered might produce unexpected results," Cobb frowned, looking at what Jake had produced.
"This isn't recreational," Jake put the pill in his mouth and swallowed. "It's a cognitive enhancer that can make me think like Einstein. Want to try one?"
"If you want to take it, go ahead," Cobb shook his head, declining Jake's offer. In his view, being able to travel between different realities was incredible enough; how could there be a drug that could turn someone into a genius?
"Alright then," seeing Cobb's refusal, Jake closed his eyes, indicating he was ready to continue the lesson.
When Jake opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting in a tour bus, with Cobb beside him.
There were many pedestrians and vehicles on the road.
This seemed to be somewhere tropical? But he wasn't certain, because the details were fuzzy.
"You have the basic framework down—produce stands, tour buses, landmarks—everything you need is here. Is this supposed to be somewhere specific?"
"Actually, I was thinking about vacation destinations." Looking at the surrounding architecture, Jake felt incredibly amazed. He had designed all of this?
Stepping off the tour bus, he felt the warmth of sunshine.
"Who are these people?" he asked, pointing to the pedestrians walking past him.
"They're projections of my subconscious," Cobb said, hands in his pockets, walking beside Jake.
"Your subconscious?"
"That's right," Cobb nodded. "You're the architect; you created this dream. And I," he said, pointing to himself, "am the subject. The people in the dream are projections of my subconscious. You can interact with my projections; this is one way to extract information."
"Are there other methods?"
"By observing where the subject's mind creates security, like a safe or a locked room, the subject will automatically place the information they need to protect inside."
"Then we extract it," Jake said, understanding.
The brain, enhanced by NZT-48, displayed extraordinary abilities in the dream. Through a roadside screen, the two could even see local and international news.
Moreover, the changing weather—occasionally a gentle breeze, or a large cloud obscuring the sun—caused Jake's mind to work intensely, subconsciously making the dream feel more like a real world.
Cobb was clearly impressed.
In his dreams, Jake was a god!
If he wished, he could even defy the laws of physics, making gravity disappear, separating elements...
Jake learned rapidly from the dream lessons, or rather, with the help of NZT-48, he couldn't slow down even if he wanted to.
After three days, Jake had become a skilled architect, but to bring a subject into a dream, he still needed specialized equipment, since he couldn't put someone to sleep anywhere, anytime.
"You've graduated," Cobb sighed, inevitably feeling some melancholy. Someone had learned nearly a lifetime's worth of knowledge in just three days; it was impossible not to feel something. "Now I believe that enhancer you mentioned."
"Alright, let's prepare for the next mission." Jake didn't dwell on Cobb's reflective tone; after all, life was a process of constantly expanding one's understanding.
"Who's the target? What are the specifics?"
Fortunately, Jake had studied Now You See Me carefully and knew what he needed to prepare.
However, his next target was in a movie world, and the subject was someone he'd never met, so there was definitely no detailed intelligence available.
As a well-known film, there was one thing they couldn't escape: reviews and analyses!
Jake then produced his prepared research.
"The target is an illusionist, known in that world as one of the 'Four Horsemen,'" Jake explained, sharing what he knew as Cobb reviewed the documents. "Our goal is simple: enter his dream and extract his performance knowledge."
"You want to learn stage magic?" Cobb quickly finished reading, looking at Jake with confusion.
He couldn't understand why Jake would go to such lengths to learn illusionist techniques.
"Not only that," Jake said, taking the documents from Cobb, quickly flipping through them, then pulling out a page and underlining a passage: "He's a master mentalist, an expert in psychological manipulation."
"I think combining his techniques with shared dreaming might have some interesting applications. Of course, I'd also like to learn some stage illusions; that seems pretty useful."
Freed from the limitations of the device, just how powerful could the extraction technique be? A subtle gesture could put someone into a dream state, instead of requiring complicated equipment—how many people could resist?
Many people would have no secrets from Jake.
"You're the boss. Even if you wanted to know a stripper's tax evasion secrets, I'd help you," Cobb, whose mental age was nearly a hundred, even made a crude joke.
"Compared to entertainers, I'd be more interested in how much CEOs really earn. If it were you, Cobb, your daily net income would be enough to buy a sports car."
The two joked around—honestly, both had extraordinary experiences and felt they could be good friends.
After the banter, Jake, carrying his equipment case, initiated the world travel, their destination being Now You See Me.
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