Mr. Johnson, a troubled man who worked in a warren of offices at the Department of Acute Analysis of Trends and Energy Quotas, sat in the familiar quiet room of his therapist, Dr. Bright. Another weekly session.

Bright: What is it today, Johnson?

Johnson: Well, Doctor, I had a dream.

Bright: About what?

Johnson: I dreamed I was free.

Bright: Free? What does that mean?

Johnson: I don’t know. The word came to me. It rang a bell in my thoughts. I tried to understand it, but I failed.

Bright: Perhaps because the word means nothing.

Johnson: I considered that. But I couldn’t dismiss it.

Bright: You’re doing the State Meditation? You’re taking your medication?

Johnson: Of course. But in the dream I was excited.

Bright: Excited. That’s another vague word. We’ve gone over this before. Certain words give rise to feelings. You therefore pursue a path and you wind up in a dead-end.

Johnson: I know. In the dream I was flying.

Bright: You were what?

Johnson: Flying. Up in the air. I was circling a structure. I was looking at it. It was black and gray. It had many sections. It was stretched from where I was all the way to the horizon.

Bright: You were up in the air. Unsupported.

Johnson: Yes. The more I tried to come down, the higher I rose.

Bright: You were flying.

Johnson: Yes. Moving in the air. I could go here and there.

Bright: Were you afraid?

Johnson: Not really.

Bright: It’s a rare condition. Flying Disorder.

Johnson: I’ve never heard of it.

Bright: Because it’s rare. The patient believes he’s above the ground. Of course he isn’t.

Johnson: Not even in a dream?

Bright: That’s correct. You were suffering from a delusion in your dream. You thought you were flying. But you weren’t.

Johnson: What was I doing?

Bright: Deluding yourself.

Johnson: Why would I do that?

Bright: Because you have a disorder. When a person imagines he’s doing something he can’t do, that’s the very definition of a disorder.

Johnson: What causes Flying Disorder?

Bright: The specific cause is unknown. You have a deep-seated issue. You’re fighting against the structure you saw in your dream. The structure is Unity.

Johnson: Then how can you help me?

Bright: Help is not the objective of our therapy. I’m here to keep making assessments of your condition. I have now, finally, made my judgment. You have Flying Disorder.

Johnson: What happens now?

Bright: You will be treated. You’ll be repurposed.

Johnson: How?

Bright: By becoming a therapist. The immediate national goal is to enlist at least half the population in that line of work. One half analyzes the other half. By focusing on other people’s disorders, you’ll forget your own. You’ll “come down to Earth.”

Johnson: Interesting. You think I’m suited to be a therapist?

Bright: Yes. You’re inquisitive. Instead of wondering about your own dreams and about this “flying,” you’ll immerse yourself in other people’s troubles. You’ll understand that every human has at least one disorder. We need to get all this out in the open. We can’t hide from our own delusions. We have to expose them.

Johnson: What happens to the people I diagnose?

Bright: You see? That’s a good question. You’re thinking about the situation. Ultimately, those people will be turned into therapists, too. When they’re ready. And finally, everyone will be a therapist. It’s the only possible outcome of our work.

Johnson: We’ll all be cured of our delusions by analyzing other people’s delusions.

Bright: Exactly, it’s the only way.

Johnson: What’s your disorder, Doctor?

Bright: I don’t have it anymore. It used to be Freedom Hallucination.

Johnson: What?

Bright: I used to believe I was free.

Johnson: I see.

Bright: I used to believe I had a future I could shape myself.

Johnson: Sounds dangerous.

Bright: Oh it was. I was put under constant surveillance. But all that’s in the past. I’m all right now.

Johnson: So you do understand my dream about flying.

Bright: You thought you were free.

Johnson: Yes.

Bright: Terrible.

Johnson: It was wonderful while it lasted.

Bright: But that’s the whole point, Johnson. A disorder has to have some attractive feature. It’s the lure. The trap. The sensation of something positive.

Johnson: I see.

Bright: Good.

Johnson: What symptoms did you display, Doctor, when you were suffering from Freedom Hallucination?

Bright: I traveled. I went from place to place to see new things. I had certain spontaneous reactions to new experiences. I felt optimistic urges that had no focus. At one point, I was even thinking about starting a new political party. I was a difficult case. But you see, it eventually made me a better therapist. I knew what it was like to go off the rails.

Johnson: Do you think I have enough problems to become a good therapist?

Bright: I do. You’re certainly not the most troubled patient I’ve ever worked with, but you know what a delusion is. You may cling to it a while longer, but your resistance will stand you in good stead, when you become a doctor. All patients resist. You bring them around at their own pace. You can’t rush it. You keep playing out the line, and then you reel them in.

Johnson: Empathy.

Bright: Perhaps. You wait and watch. You assess. Then at the right moment, you make your diagnosis. Just as I did today. You see? You’re ready to take the next step.

Johnson: We’re all patients who become therapists.

Bright: If you truly grasp that, you perceive the direction in which society is heading. You know why you’re here. You’re stabilized.

Johnson: I want to be stabilized. I don’t want troubling interferences.

Bright: Of course. There is no need to keep having problems. Destabilizing influences are the bane of existence. At one time in history, they may have been useful, as motivations. But now we’re in another age. We’ve matured as a civilization. We need to consolidate our gains.

Johnson: I like that picture. Once I’m a therapist, will I continue to receive therapy myself?

Bright: Of course. The process never ends. But the need for it diminishes over time. Eventually, you’ll be a patient simply because it’s the right thing to do. You see? Doing the right thing is paramount. It flattens out the emotional responses. Never too high, never too low.

Johnson: That’s the vision of the State.

Bright: Yes, but we are the State. Keep that in mind. We’re the people who maintain the structure.

Johnson: When I was flying in my dream, I felt I could rise higher and higher and eventually leave the planet. I could go on indefinitely.

Bright: That’s a key symptom of the disorder. It’s also included in the Delusion Index.

Johnson: What’s that?

Bright: You’ll learn all about it in your training. Your particular symptom is listed under the Infinity category. People have hallucinations regarding the “endless properties of experience.” They imagine there is no boundary. They believe they can extend their energy without limit.

Johnson: Yes. I think that does describe my peculiar feelings.

Bright: I’m confident you’ll bring it under control.

Johnson: I sometimes dream I can create something gigantic. I don’t know what it is, but I sense it.

Bright: Yes. Gigantism. Another symptom. Another road to disappointment.

Johnson: I need to turn down the volume of my energy.

Bright: It’ll come to you. You’ll solve the problem in pieces, over the years ahead. All the high, wide, expansive feelings that divert us…they can be brought to heel. The wild horses can be trained. And then the disappointments will diminish.

Johnson: I’m glad to hear that.

Bright: You can hear it from me, but when you learn and know it yourself, then you’ll be settled.

Johnson: I look forward to that day.

Bright: But don’t look forward with too much enthusiasm. It could set you off on yet another round of unsuitable delusion.

Johnson: I want to be like you, Doctor.

Bright: You are like me, as I was many years ago. Your future work will take you into the muck of human problems. That is the ultimate teacher.

Johnson: Good. Very good.

Suddenly, Johnson wondered how it could have escaped him that the national goal was to turn the population into therapists—from patients into therapists. It must have been public knowledge, yet he knew nothing about it. And Dr. Bright seemed to have sensed this. Johnson was puzzled.

It occurred to Johnson that perhaps he was cut off from essential and basic knowledge. Perhaps he was living in a compartmentalized space. Perhaps other people were, too. Perhaps there were many compartments.

He had a vision of a nation divided into sub-sections. Different realities for different people. According to some plan. In his sub-section, life was all about the therapeutic approach. Maybe that was not the case in other spaces.

Johnson: Doctor, what space are we in? Does it have a name?

Bright: That is above your pay-grade, Johnson. Suffice to say, every space is the total space. I know, it sounds like a contradiction. But think about it. People need to believe they are existing in the overall zone, the zone that encompasses All. This is vital.

Johnson: But such a belief would be a delusion.

Bright: There are useful and deleterious delusions. They are not all the same.

Johnson: Is it possible to move from one zone to another?

Bright: Under certain conditions, with the proper licenses.

Johnson: And how would I obtain a license?

Bright: You don’t apply. If you’re deemed worthy, people will approach you.

Johnson: I want to be worthy.

Bright: First, we have to be convinced that your desire to travel among zones isn’t a manifestation of your disorder. We’re very insistent about that.

Johnson: And if I want to fly above all the zones and look down and see them?

Bright: Too much, too soon. Stick to the zone you’re in.

Johnson: I like flying.

Bright: Of course you do. That’s your problem.

Johnson: Are you sure?

Bright: It doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what you think.

Johnson: But you have the final word.

Bright: If I didn’t, things would fall apart. Somebody has to make the crucial evaluations and decisions.

Johnson: Can you travel between zones, Doctor?

Bright: I can do anything I want to.

Johnson: What do you want to do?

Bright: Fly.

(To read about Jon’s mega-collection, Exit From The Matrix, click here.)