El Archivista de Sueños Ajenos
(The Archivist of Other People's Dreams)
A Sofia Velarde le habian asignado el turno de noche en el Archivo Central de Sueños.
Sofia Velarde had been assigned the night shift at the Central Dream Archive.
El edificio, construido hacia apenas una decada, ocupaba una manzana entera en las afueras de Sevilla, y su funcion era almacenar las grabaciones oniricas de toda la poblacion andaluza.
The building, constructed barely a decade ago, occupied an entire city block on the outskirts of Seville, and its function was to store the dream recordings of the entire Andalusian population.
Desde que el gobierno habia aprobado la Ley de Transparencia Cognitiva, cada ciudadano estaba obligado a registrar sus sueños mediante un dispositivo implantado detrás de la oreja.
Ever since the government had approved the Cognitive Transparency Act, every citizen was required to register their dreams through a device implanted behind the ear.
Sofia llevaba tres meses en el puesto y todavía no se habia acostumbrado.
Sofia had been in the position for three months and still had not got used to it.
Cada noche, mientras revisaba los archivos que habian sido marcados como anomalos por el sistema, se preguntaba si aquella vigilancia era realmente necesaria.
Every night, while she reviewed the files that had been flagged as anomalous by the system, she wondered whether that surveillance was truly necessary.
Sus superiores le habian explicado que los sueños podian revelar tendencias subversivas antes de que estas se manifestaran en la conducta, pero a ella esa logica le parecia profundamente injusta. <<Nadie elige lo que suena>>, le habia dicho a su compañera Rocio durante una pausa.
Her superiors had explained to her that dreams could reveal subversive tendencies before they manifested in behaviour, but that logic seemed deeply unjust to her. <<Nobody chooses what they dream,>> she had said to her colleague Rocio during a break.
Aquella noche, el sistema detecto una anomalia en el archivo de un hombre llamado Ernesto Gallego, un maestro de escuela de sesenta y dos años.
That night, the system detected an anomaly in the file of a man named Ernesto Gallego, a schoolteacher of sixty-two years.
Sofia abrio la grabacion y vio un sueño extraordinariamente vivido: Ernesto caminaba por una ciudad donde todos los edificios estaban hechos de libros.
Sofia opened the recording and saw an extraordinarily vivid dream: Ernesto was walking through a city where all the buildings were made of books.
Las calles olian a tinta, y los semaforos cambiaban de color segun los estados de animo de los peatones.
The streets smelled of ink, and the traffic lights changed colour according to the moods of the pedestrians.
No habia nada subversivo en aquel sueño; era, sencillamente, hermoso.
There was nothing subversive in that dream; it was, quite simply, beautiful.
Sin embargo, el protocolo exigia que cualquier sueño marcado fuese revisado por un supervisor.
However, the protocol demanded that any flagged dream be reviewed by a supervisor.
Sofia sabia que, si lo reportaba, el expediente de Ernesto seria abierto y su vida quedaria bajo escrutinio durante meses.
Sofia knew that, if she reported it, Ernesto's file would be opened and his life would remain under scrutiny for months.
Se le habria ordenado asistir a sesiones de reeducacion onirica, un proceso que, segun habia sido denunciado por organizaciones de derechos humanos, causaba insomnio cronico y ansiedad severa.
He would have been ordered to attend oneiric re-education sessions, a process that, as had been denounced by human rights organisations, caused chronic insomnia and severe anxiety.
Sofia miro la pantalla durante varios minutos.
Sofia stared at the screen for several minutes.
En la grabacion, Ernesto habia llegado a una plaza donde los libros se abrian solos y las palabras flotaban en el aire como pajaros.
In the recording, Ernesto had reached a square where the books opened by themselves and the words floated in the air like birds.
Un niño le preguntaba: <<Señor, si los sueños fueran libres, ¿que historia escribiria usted?>> El maestro, con lagrimas en los ojos, respondia: <<Una en la que nadie tuviera miedo de sonar.>>
A child asked him: <<Sir, if dreams were free, what story would you write?>> The teacher, with tears in his eyes, answered: <<One in which nobody was afraid of dreaming.>>
Sofia cerro el archivo.
Sofia closed the file.
Abrio el formulario de revision, donde deberia haber escrito su informe y marcado el caso para investigación.
She opened the review form, where she should have written her report and flagged the case for investigation.
En cambio, pulso el botón de <<Sin anomalia detectada>> y envio el registro al almacen general, donde seria enterrado entre millones de sueños inocuos.
Instead, she pressed the button for <<No anomaly detected>> and sent the record to the general warehouse, where it would be buried among millions of innocuous dreams.
Sabia que lo que habia hecho podria costarle el empleo, o algo peor.
She knew that what she had done could cost her the job, or something worse.
Pero mientras apagaba la pantalla, penso en el niño de la plaza, en aquella pregunta que resonaba como si hubiera sido formulada para ella.
But as she turned off the screen, she thought about the child in the square, about that question that echoed as if it had been formulated for her.
Y por primera vez en meses, Sofia se pregunto que sonaria aquella noche si se atreviera a dormir sin miedo.
And for the first time in months, Sofia wondered what she would dream that night if she dared to sleep without fear.
Key Vocabulary
el turno de noche night shift
onirico oneiric, relating to dreams
el dispositivo device, gadget
la vigilancia surveillance, monitoring
subversivo subversive, undermining authority
el expediente file, dossier, record
el escrutinio scrutiny, close examination
inocuo innocuous, harmless
atreverse to dare, to have the courage
resonar to echo, to resonate