"What the fuck happened back there?"

You gulp down lungfuls of air as you try to calm yourself.

"What the fuck happened back there?" you ask consciously trying to even out your voice.

Other John smiles before sitting down roughly next to you.

"So... wrap your head around this - you are in a dream. Mkay? So far, so good?" You nod comprehendingly.

He takes a short breath and continues: "So in this dream, you are able to meet up with other people who are asleep - that French chick was one of them. Got it?"

You nod again.

"So when people wake up - you can't stay with them anymore because they are no longer in the dream. They've left it. That leaves you in one of 3 places:

1. You wake up from your own dream - exactly where you were when you fell asleep.
2. You are ejected from their dream and find yourself back in the Labyrinth - this hallway right here.
3. Or you could be abstracted. Which is what almost happened to you."

He concludes his lecture with a knowing nod and trademark thumbs-up. Weird, you just got a thumbs-up from yourself.

"Abstracted?" you ask quizzically.

"Some people don't wake up nicely, that Frenchy there didn't. What happens is - the brain struggles to interpret information that it doesn't understand. Her mind couldn't cope with your existence - so it attempted to make sense of you. What the brain normally does when it doesn't understand shit - is break it down into smaller pieces. Ya follow?"

You nod and watch Other John's hands excitedly move as he talks.

"So it will break things down into things it easily understands. It breaks it into colors, then into 2 dimensional shapes, and finally it breaks it down into lines - if it doesn't grasp it by then... it straight up erases it." He whistles sharply before laughing heartily.

"You Johnny-boy, almost got broken down into little more than a line when I saved yo ass. No need to thank me."

"W-what would have happened if I got erased? Would I wake up back in bed?"

Other John looks at your grimly before shaking his head solemnly.

"If you are completely abstracted - your consciousness is deleted. Your body back in the bed will not wake up. Essentially... you go into a coma. One you will never wake up from. So uh, try not to get abstracted if you can - eh?"

You swallow down the remaining panic you had and nod vehemently. Other John looks down into his wrist - and shrugs irritatedly.

"Tsk, it's almost time for you to get up."

Wait. What?

Lights fills the room as Other John disappears in the blinding flash. You bolt upright in your bed, sweating and panting.