Although I don’t usually like stories that begin with dialog, this is an interesting piece. The 2nd paragraph could stand to lose the “in turn” Also, the "no reply came is distracting. And “The small office seemed to pulsate with quiet, an oppressive lack of something, most likely lack of progress.” may sound better as “the office pulsated with quiet, as if…” Some of the language threw me off.

Intriguing. This reads like the first page of one of these stories where you end up wondering what is real and what isn’t.

oops, sorry, THX, meant this to be a 5.

I really liked this ficlet. I hope you don’t mind that I used it for a challenge-
“A Certain Point of View”

It sounds to me like he’s going to become a crazy stalker stalking a girl he saw from his dreams.

Kind of feels like an inverse Matrix is the backdrop for our story. Just a gut feeling.