Phase Q/Dream On

Upon awakening from your sweet dreams, you realize the dire situation the world is in.

Only a small handful of rebels seem to participate in this underground activity. The activity of dreaming itself is widely deemed to be highly dangerous. Many people in different parts of society fail to see its socially redeeming side.

You sneak back out onto the street. Working your way through the crowded markets, you see wild beasts roaming freely. Rainbow clouds hover overhead, glowing happily. Smells of divine foods fill the air.

Your mind reels with the possibility now presenting itself to you. Previously you had not been predisposed towards the dreamers, but now having experienced the activity for yourself, you find yourself much more favorably inclined towards the dreamers. It almost feels as if they have some special capability that may be too potent for conditions.

You could try to dream on your own some time, to explore the possibilities. You could also try hooking up again with an underground guild. Your dream guide handed you a holocard. You could even check out the political side, although things there are running hot.

Around every corner you turn, a new set of sights and sounds and smells presents itself. Each scene seems like a play on the last. New forms of food that you’ve never even imagined seem to multiply like bunny rabbits. And glancing in through some of the open doorways, you can’t help but noticing more and more dreamers.

They don’t wear emblems. They have no patches, no badges, no public identity. They just go about their lives without any sort of official existence, or recognition. Yet, within their own circles, they move about freely. There seems to be an interterritorial flow of dreamers, like a river.

As you walk, a figure stalks you stealthily through the streets, then traps you in a dead end.

You reel, looking for an outlet, finding none.

The figure presses up against you, applying a heavy pressure.

You back up against the decrepit wall, feeling fear.

“What are you afraid of?” asks the figure.

“I, uh, er, um--” you stutter.

“I know who you are. I saw you at the dream circle.”

Oh, dark, you think to yourself.

“Look, if you want to dream, there are certain things you should know,” says the figure, in a darkly feminine voice.

“Such as?”

“Well, first of all, don’t be so obvious about it. We can all tell how nervous you are.”

“It’s hard to relax when you’re in the middle of such a situation,” you say.

“Second, you went in all over the place. You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“Um, uh, it was my first time. Anyway, who are you?”

“Me? I’m Selga. I’m a professional dreamer.”

“Oh really?” you say. Relief and curiosity fill your voice.

“Yeah, I came here from the jungles of Ixtharra. It’s much better for me to send back holobucks to my tribe this way,” she says.

“And you find paying dreamseekers here?”

“Oh, that’s easy.”

• Cross over.
• Watch.

Phase Q: An interactive adventure.