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things are more complex than they really are. To get people in a state of mind where they are
vulnerable and realize that they may need guidance. Sometimes you wake up and assume that you
didn't have a dream, but I've heard some people say that no matter what, you will dream about
something each night, even if you can swear that you didn't have a dream. You keep trying to
remember what it is you could have possibly dreamed about until you start to make stuff up.

My memory, for the most part, is above average, but sometimes I forget the smallest things.
Sometimes I forget what it is I've done, sometimes it's what I've said. It was worse as a child than it
is now as an adult, but I can only wonder if it will get worse as I age. If it will return back to
"normal." Does your blood get thinner as you age? You want to avoid blood clotting, but you also
wouldn't want your blood to get too thin. You already know that many things in life require a
happy medium to function properly.

Chapter 46:
OPERA OMNIA

A few years going in the opposite direction, I had a dream which mainly dealt with sanity and
survival. After a large percentage of the world population had been defined as "civilized," I had
run into very few others who were considered outsiders, or "uncivilized," and who were also
hiding from the firm grip of the civilians.

Among one of the strangers I'd meet who would later become an ally was a young boy named
Sterling. No more than seventeen years old, no less than six and half feet tall. On his own after his
entire family had been taken by civilians, he looks for guidance, he looks for someone not to show
him where to go in life but where to find good fruit to eat.

Normally I would travel alone, but on a particular day in a particular place which used to be known
as the city of Cape Town, Sterling saves me, as well as two others, from being captured by
civilians.

If you are living the life of an outsider in the eyes of the civilians, the first rule of that life for the
outsider is to run whenever he or she sees a civilian, we all know that, but Sterling doesn't run.
Sterling, he laughs as he taunts the civilians as if this were all just a game. As if he doesn't fully
comprehend what is going on. Sometimes a lack of sanity can be the most powerful weapon, and
Sterling proves that as he tears the civilians limb from limb, one by one.

A few seconds after the last limb is torn, there is a cry for help from another outsider in the area.
Sterling and I rush over, and we find a woman kneeling over a man. Unfortunately the man's life is
lost, but Stephanie's must go on. Sterling extends his hand to her, and he helps her up. "You can
come with us."

Not only does Sterling invite himself to travel along with me, but he invites another person who is
another stranger to me as well. Things get a lot more merrier when Stephanie asks if we can help
her find her brother. Sometimes the word "civilian" can be used to describe someone as "not
belonging." For a while I feel as if I am a civilian when I travel with the both of them.

There's a knock on my door, and as firmly as I believe it will be Tao, I find my beliefs are incorrect