Zero-Sum Logic
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 06:48
DREAM SEQUENCE
SOMEWHERE IN TIME
A workplace. PETER is looking for someone. People move around him like background noise - except the women.
PETER (V.O.): I have to pick her up to her workplace in good time. Where is she?
Peter scans faces. But every woman's face is blurred. He tries to focus.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No, no, no. I don't want to be late.
Frustrated, something dawns on him.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here is actually her workplace. No, no, no. This is stupid... I know how to fix it.
END DREAM SEQUENCE
Act 2
INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
PETER jerks up in bed.
PETER (V.O.): The dreamy task is a mathematical zero.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Moving a person from a place to another place when they are the same place equals to zero.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Zero-sum logic is an analytical term for an equation that cancels itself out.
He grabs his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But it's intriguing that I can wake myself up to escape a stressful or absurb dream.
Peter researches with his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Dreaming is an internally generated state of consciousness where the sleeping brain constructs vivid, immersive, and sensory-rich realities without receiving any physical data from the outside world.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While it feels completely real while happening, it's a highly distinct neurological state characterized by intense emotion, spatial distortions and a total lack of logic oversight.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Lucid dreaming is a rare exception because it represents a distinct hybrid state of consciousness. During a lucid dream, the brain's logical centers suddenly boot up mid-sleep.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm a frequent lucid dreamer. My brain has a well-worn neutral pathway that allows my conscious ego to override the dream state.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Why my brain chooses waking over changing the dream? It's the easy way out?
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When a dream gets too absurb or challenging, my brain takes the path of least resistence. Waking up requires a simple burst of willpower, whereas rewriting the physics of a dream requires complex mental manipulation.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Dream control to alter a scenario (like turning a monster into a puppy) does not run on physical effort; it runs entirely on expectation, intent and narrative logic.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Use my retirement mindset in the dream? Just sit down or lean against the wall in my dream and say out loud: "I'm retired. This is not my job", and simply walk away from the situation.
Peter's eye lids grow heavy.
DREAM SEQUENCE
SOMEWHERE IN TIME
Roadside. A tourist coach sits idling, Peter stands in a long queue of silent, expressionless people.
PETER (V.O.): The queue isn't moving.
He looks down at his hand. He holds a ticket. It reads: Seat assigned. Seat 13.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Queuing like this makes no sense. The maths is completely broken.
Peter is in pure irritation.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Forget about it! Emergency Exit!
Peter walks away.
END DREAM SEQUENCE
Peter snaps open his eyes. It's 10:48.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I should have turned the coach into my private jet...
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 21:45
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows a parade train highlighting Dream & Lights which is the user-interface of the dream economy.
PETER (V.O.): Frustration doesn't come from a world that makes no sense, it comes from my stubborn demand that it must.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A workaholic mind treats every phantom obligation like a binding contract, forgetting a man working very little in retirement holds the power to cancel the project entirely.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Zero-sum logic is the mind's ultimate mathematic proof that some games are won only by refusing to play.
The END
FADE OUT
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