A note:
I tend to dream very weird dreams...they're often long, vivid, and more often than not, seriously screwed up...and the more screwed up they are, the more I seem to remember them...
This particular dream popped up after my third viewing of
Sunshine, and hasn't left since (maybe because I ate a pint of ice cream right before going to sleep that night...
never do that...).
So, anyway, here it is, and forgive me if it seems too long-winded...
…Cassie bolted from her bed, breathing sharply. She had just experienced another nightmare, this one worse than the one before that, and the one before
that, and so on. Placing her head in her hands, she shook her head in frustration. She had never considered her nightmares to be a serious problem, always attributing them to the stresses of the mission. However, that all changed the night that Dr. Searle had been killed. That night, it seemed that everyone began suffering from strange and violent nightmares…except for Capa, who had always claimed that he never dreamed, and who inexplicably disappeared shortly after Searle’s mangled remains were found scattered around the Earth Room.
Initially a prime suspect, Capa, who had been the very last person to see Searle alive, had been cleared (to Mace’s undisguised disappointment) when video surveillance showed him to be working in the Stellar Bomb at the time of the murder. Also, a chance visual sweep of the Earth Room by
Icarus II’s security cameras at that precise moment managed to clearly capture the event: a very bizarre scene that showed Searle, his body receiving wounds that seemed to appear from nowhere and reacting as if he had been attacked by a vicious animal. To the horror of everyone watching, whatever was attacking Searle suddenly lost interest in just wounding him and decided to literally rip him apart. Mercifully, the visual feed did not include audio, so they were spared having to once again hear Searle’s horrified, pain-filled shrieks. Too traumatized by the video to do anything, they all retreated to their individual rooms to reflect on a future course of action. The nightmares began later that night, and the halls of
Icarus II were filled with terrified screams. In the days to come, the situation would only worsen. Nobody slept anymore, and tensions ran high.
In the here and now, over two months after Searle’s violent death and Capa’s strange disappearance, the nightmares have taken a toll on everyone. Nobody cared about the mission anymore, or the fact that Capa hadn’t yet resurfaced, nor had they attempted to solve the mystery of Searle’s murder…all they really cared about was the fact that their nightmares were keeping them from sleeping, and that tempers were quickly spiraling out of control because of it.
She sat in the darkness of her room, conflicting thoughts about Searle, Capa, and her own twisted nightmares racing uncontrollably through her mind. She was so engrossed with her tangled thoughts that she failed to notice the person sitting on the other end of her bed. It wasn’t until she heard a harsh, raspy breathing, that Cassie noticed the other presence. Quickly turning her head towards the sound, her mouth dropped in disbelief when she saw who it was. “My God…R-Robert?!” To her shocked surprise, Robert Capa, who had vanished without a trace for over two months, was sitting on the edge of her bed, his body motionless while his deep blue eyes darted wildly in every direction, as if unfamiliar with his surroundings.
If Cassie was shocked by Capa’s sudden reappearance, then she was completely stunned when she saw his condition: his entire face was covered in dark bruises of various shades, the ones around his eyes being darker than any of the others; an open cut down the middle of his open left eye was slightly oozing a clear liquid lightly tinged with blood, although the eye itself was undamaged; there was an angry scratch on his right cheek, a series of bleeding slashes on his left, and his lips were covered in small cuts. The rest of his body fared no better. His left leg looked oddly bent out of shape, and Cassie could tell immediately that it was broken when she saw a thick knife-like piece of bone jut angrily out of his skin in two places. The flesh in the immediate area around the bones was green and oozing bloody pus, as well as a thick sickly-green colored liquid: clear signs of infection. His right pants leg was torn and bloodstained, while the leg itself was covered in slashes and puncture wounds.
As she continued to look him over, she noticed that the worst damage had been inflicted on his hands. As far as Cassie could tell, Capa’s hands, which were tightly clenching his chest, had been completely shredded. It was as if someone had taken each of his fingers and violently quartered them. Loose strands of thick bloody flesh hung from what remained of his fingers. Each fragment was greenish and oozing with rot, and a few of them seemed to quiver as if they were alive. The movements, as well as the smell of rotting flesh, made Cassie feel extremely nauseous. Trying to keep her mind off the smell, she moved towards him, reached out and gently pried his hands away from his chest by pulling his arms, surprised that he didn’t resist or even react to either her presence or the pain she instinctively knew he was feeling. Cassie’s face fell when she saw that she had uncovered a deep, jagged gash that was bleeding heavily, soaking the rest of his clothing in blood.
Feeling like her body was moving on automatic, Cassie raised her hand, lightly placed it on Capa’s cheek, and gently turned his head towards her. “Robert...? Robert, where have you been? What happened to you?” His eyes stop darting around and land on her when she talks, although his gaze is blank and unfocused. He doesn’t respond to her for a long moment, but when he finally does, he speaks with a cold, distant tone that sends chills down Cassie’s spine: “You needed to move on. You’re not supposed to be here…”
She froze, Capa’s words frightening her in a way she couldn’t articulate. “I – I…don’t understand…what do you mean, ‘move on’? Move
where?” she stammered. His gaze remained unfocused, and his blank expression turned sad. “It was my fault. I underestimated it… It got to Searle first…I couldn't reach him in time… I wasn't -- I wasn't ready to fight against it…it made me watch while it – it…“
Cassie, mindful of the bruises on his face, lightly stroked Capa’s cheek while saying “Come on, Robert,
talk to me.
What did you underestimate?
What killed Searle?
What did you mean when you said ‘move on’?” He shook his head gently, and then raised his decaying hand to place it on her arm, the fleshy strands gently flopping with his movement. She blanched when he did so, causing him to lower it again. With his next words, her body turned as cold as ice, and she desperately wished that she hadn’t heard him: “Don’t you understand yet? You’re dead, Cassie. You’re all dead…”
-- Unfortunately, the dream seems to end here every time.
Personally, I would really like to know what happens next, but I guess...either my brain doesn't know, or it just won't tell me...
Well, that was my dream...such as it was...