It’s a chilly day in the office break room. Xiao idles in there, over-stirring a cup of coffee with clearly no intent to actually drink it any time soon. He wears a suit but has a thousand yard stare in the direction of the ceiling, defying how professional he should be. Pameli walks in, wearing the same suit as him, but with a confused gaze in his direction.
PAMELI.
Hey Xiao, are you going to drink that coffee?
XIAO.
Huh?
(Xiao does a double take at Pameli’s words, snapping back into reality to consider what she asked.)
XIAO.
Uh, yeah, probably.
PAMELI.
Might as well have said “no” with such an indecisive answer.
XIAO.
I’m a bit preoccupied with some thoughts.
(Pameli is sipping her own cup of coffee as Xiao says this, so she nods to indicate him to continue.)
XIAO.
You think dreams mean anything?
PAMELI.
You mean, if they’re your subconscious yelling at you?
XIAO.
Yeah, like that.
PAMELI.
If there is a message, wouldn’t you remember it?
XIAO.
Huh?
PAMELI.
If I want to do something, I’ll remember that I want to do it. Wouldn’t it be the same regardless of your consciousness?
XIAO.
I guess that makes sense, but what’s the “sub” in subconscious for if they both let you remember?
PAMELI.
Not an English major, so I wouldn’t know. What was your dream about?
XIAO.
Sorry, classified information.
(Xiao stops stirring his coffee and takes a big chug of it before walking to the sink to pour the rest out.)
PAMELI.
Wait, even after I gave you such good information?
XIAO.
I’ll get you dinner or something.
PAMELI.
You’d rather buy me dinner?!
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