Post by TheLovecraftFactor on Sept 28, 2008 4:04:45 GMT -5
Yeah, that's right. I'm back...again... (Everyone: Oh, no... ) God, I totally missed this place... Anyhoo, let's move on to the real reason why I'm here: I had another Sunshine dream, and this one was WEIRD!!!
[begin rant - reading optional]
As for how this dream came about...earlier this month, I was very sick, and had to be hospitalized for about a week or so. I'm not going to go into most of the boring details, but I needed surgery, and I passed the three days before the procedure constantly alternating between watching Sunshine and 28 Days Later (thanks to my sis being kind enough to lend me her portable DVD player). They lifted my spirits immensely.
Anyhoo, I finally have the surgery in the morning, and I wake up in intense pain...so, first, they flooded me with Morphine, and then I spent the next three or four days recovering under the influence of Percoset. (read: my normally effed up mind has been seriously drugged...and it became even MORE EFFED UP than usual...) This dream appeared the night of the surgery, and even more, in the subsequent two weeks it took to get that crap out of my system, it kept repeating itself...
Sooooooooo...Morphine and Percoset: YOU ARE CLEARLY AT FAULT HERE!!! I FULLY BLAME THE BOTH OF YOU FOR THIS ONE!!!!
[end rant]
I'm sitting on a sofa in my living room, reading one of my Judge Dredd comic books. I continue reading while my mom is sitting on one of the other sofas, watching Live Free or Die Hard. My sis is on the computer, talking to one of her online friends. My other sis is in her room, listening to her radio, but I can't make out what she's listening to. I continue to read for another minute before I put the book down, took my baseball cap and MP3 player, and just left the house. Nobody asked where I was going...in fact, nobody noticed me leave.
Outside, it's a scene of utter chaos. People are fighting in the streets, beating and killing each other, firing guns in every direction. Many of them look really sick, not that it's affecting them in any way...houses are burning everywhere, wrecked cars litter the streets, and yet...our house is completely unharmed. I ignore them as I walk to my mailbox. Looking inside, the only thing there is a large book sealed in heavy plastic. Taking it out, I see a small slip of paper attached to it with the words 'Congratulations!! You've just won our yearly raffle. Enjoy your prize.' typewritten on it. Unwrapping the plastic, I see that it's a comic book. The title reads 'The Akira Legacy: Lost Tales from Neo-Tokyo.' Thumbing through it, I see that the characters have word balloons that are completly blank. Shrugging, I put the book back in the mailbox and start walking. As I do, I notice that the throngs of angry people act as if I'm not there. One person even ran towards me and pushed me aside on his way to attack somebody else.
Eventually, I reach the end of the block. Parked neatly on the curb, I see a large car in a bright shade of yellow that's so ugly it isn't even funny. Going over to peer inside, I notice that it's almost completely filled with Game Informer magazines. Opening the left door, they come spilling out, burying my ankles. As I take fleeting glimpses at each cover, I notice that they all feature titles of strange video games that I've never heard of. One in particular catches my eye. I take the cover and look at it. It shows a nondescript stone archway leading into a dark corridor. The title reads: The Labyrinth of ShadowDark. Without opening it, I throw the magazine back on the pile, and walk away from the car. The game's title lingers in my head, and I can't figure out why.
The next thing I know, I'm in the middle of a carnival with no idea where this is or how the hell I even got here. It's now very dark outside, and the sounds of people partaking of the various games and rides mingle with that of the persistent sounds of the continued rioting. Some of the game stalls have been ransacked and a few of them are corpse-littered, but they are largely ignored by the small groups of people.
I walk past a large, dimly lit stall with a long table in the middle and two people sitting on each end. The darkness of the stall prevents me from identifying them. A bunch of decorated playing cards are spread out in familiar patterns near each person. Immediately recognizing the game that's being played, I approach the table. The two people at the table pay no attention to me as I take a decrepit folding chair from a nearby stall and sit at the middle of the table. That's when I notice that they're not alone. More folding chairs are placed near the back of the stall, and shadowy figures with softly glowing red eyes are sitting there, completely motionless.
As I watch the game, I come to realize that the two people aren't really playing. They're just holding their cards close to them. After a indeterminate amount of time, the person to my right says "Are you going to play, or are you so afraid to accept the fact that you're about to lose?" with a sarcastic tone, although the deep, raspy hiss of the man's voice made it almost unintelligible. Sharp coughs and sniffles immediately punctuated the stall, along with the nauseating sounds of hacking and spitting.
A long silence followed, occasionally broken by gurgling coughs from the man on my right. Finally, the man on my left speaks. His voice is rough, with clear overtones of anger and cruelty: "I wouldn't be so overconfident, sick man...Those cards of yours won't help you as much as you'd like to think. This game is all but over, and I'm clearly the victor--" He stops talking as he notices me for the first time. "Well..." he says gleefully. "Finally, someone who actually shows a real interest in our little contest."
At that moment, the stall brightens slightly, but it's just enough to identify the two men. On my left was Mace. His face was pale to the point of grayness, and his normally blue eyes were red from constant coughing and rubbing. He had uneven stubble across his chin, most of which was covered in the mucus that was constantly dripping from his heavily reddened nose. He was wearing a gray T-shirt encrusted with dried mucus, and a pair of ragged black jeans. On the floor next to him was a partially dried pile of bloody mucus and spittle.
Behind him, Searle sat on a dark wooden chair in his best Thinker pose. His eyes were unfocused, and his nose had been split into three separate parts. They flopped gently every time he took a breath, blood flowing freely between them. He took no notice as he leaned towards Mace and whispered in his ear. In response, Mace turns to me. With what could barely pass as a wry grin, he says, "After all this time, a visitor? Well, friend, feel free to watch away. It's just about over anyway, and I'm the winner--"
"Tch...hardly. Stop deluding yourself, Mace, and admit that you've lost...quite miserably, if you ask me," an angry voice came from my left. Turning in that direction, I see Capa leaning forward on the table, grinning widely. His eyes are a deep blood red tinged with light yellow streaks. His eyes, nose and mouth are bleeding freely. His clothing is soaked in blood, most of it staining the cards that lay on his end of the table. Behind him, Corazon is doing a slow dance. She's wearing a belly dancer's outfit, which does a poor job of hiding her starved appearance. Her attention is focused only on her dance.
Capa stares at Mace for a long moment before finally turning to me and saying, "We really should apologize to you, friend. You're watching this without knowing what's going on here. You see, Mace and I represent two groups of people. Now, we each have the same goal in mind, but use completely different methods to achieve it. We've been fighting over this for some time, but neither of us have been able to gain any ground. So, Mace and I decided to use this game to settle our dispute once and for all."
I nod in understanding as I ask, "Who do you both represent, and what exactly are the stakes?" Mace hmphs as he says "Well, the anger management poster boy over there represents something that he calls 'The Infected', who are nothing more than people with blood-swollen heads who are pissed off 24/7 and spit buckets of blood on anyone they encounter. My group, however, is much more numerous, and we've been around longer. Our chosen weapon is rather subtle: you know it as the flu."
I frown in confusion. "...'Chosen weapon'? What exactly are the two of you trying to accomplish?" Capa smiles, blood flowing down the sides of his lips as he does so. "Don't you see? This world is dying. The purpose of our game is to determine exactly how it dies, whether it's through my Infected, or his weak, flu-stricken followers. It's quite the stroke of luck that you arrived when you did. Since Mace and I are at --dare I say it-- loggerheads, it now falls to you to decide the world's doom." With that, he held his cards towards me. "Look at them and choose my next move...although I really don't think that it's going to matter, since my victory is already assured..."
Mace scoffed at Capa's words. "Assured?! You have only one creature on your side while I have three, and you have the balls to stand there and say to my face -- and hers -- that you've already won this thing?! Bullshit!!" His rant set off an intense coughing fit. After around five minutes of coughing and spitting, Mace finally calmed down enough to grab his cards and point at me. "Hey, I wouldn't bother with angry boy over there. My cards are far superior to his weak ones. If you don't believe me, come over here and take a look."
I stood between them, unsure of who I should choose first. Capa still had his cards thrust towards me, waiting expectantly for me to take them. Mace just sat in his chair, wiping mucus from his nose with a noisy sniffle. After a long moment, I finally reach over and take Capa's cards. He smiles and says, "Okay, friend...make your move."
Looking at each of the cards, I frowned because they were almost completely blank. In the spaces where each card's illustration and spell descriptions were supposed to be, dark squares took their place. In the center of two of the cards, the words 'Creature Type: Infected Rager' were written. Capa grinned while saying "Didn't I say that they were great cards?" "..." was my only response. Capa didn't react as I returned his cards and went over towards Mace. Taking his cards, I saw that they were no different from Capa's, with the black squares still obscuring any identifying features. On one of his cards, I saw the words 'Creature Type: Flu Wraith.' Automatically, I took that card and laid it down on the table. Mace grinned. "Now THAT'S what I'm talking about," he replied smugly. I then moved over to Capa's side, took his cards again, and laid one down, not bothering to look at which one it was. He frowned when he saw what it was, although I still saw a blank card. "...Unexpected...of all the cards..." Capa said glumly. Mace was energized now, for Capa's grim expression told him everything. He put down one more card from his hand and said "Okay, loyal creatures, let's truly bring this game to an end. ATTACK!!" However, he was completely unprepared for what happened next.
"Not so fast, sick man..." Capa sat up and wagged his finger in a <tsk tsk> gesture. His glum expression became one of triumph. With a psychotic grin on his face, he took a card from his hand and threw it down. Mace saw the card, and his jaw dropped to the floor. "No... You--you wouldn't..." Looking at the card, it still had the squares, but this one actually had a name: The Labyrinth of ShadowDark. My mind immediatly went back to earlier in the day(?), when I saw that title on the Game Informer magazine cover...I suddenly regretted not taking the time to read it. Before I could do anything else, I felt a steady trembling. Everything started to grow dark around me. I heard Mace and Capa shouting as the shaking grew even stronger. Finally, I'm plunged into total darkness as the shaking finally stops. It stays that way for some time until I finally wake up.
-- Tch...here I was, thinking all this time that my 'Event Horizon' and Capa-as-Sith Lord dreams were weird... I pray that I never get that sick ever again...being high on Morphine and Percoset: NOT...and I repeat...absolutely NOT RECOMMENDED!!!
[begin rant - reading optional]
As for how this dream came about...earlier this month, I was very sick, and had to be hospitalized for about a week or so. I'm not going to go into most of the boring details, but I needed surgery, and I passed the three days before the procedure constantly alternating between watching Sunshine and 28 Days Later (thanks to my sis being kind enough to lend me her portable DVD player). They lifted my spirits immensely.
Anyhoo, I finally have the surgery in the morning, and I wake up in intense pain...so, first, they flooded me with Morphine, and then I spent the next three or four days recovering under the influence of Percoset. (read: my normally effed up mind has been seriously drugged...and it became even MORE EFFED UP than usual...) This dream appeared the night of the surgery, and even more, in the subsequent two weeks it took to get that crap out of my system, it kept repeating itself...
Sooooooooo...Morphine and Percoset: YOU ARE CLEARLY AT FAULT HERE!!! I FULLY BLAME THE BOTH OF YOU FOR THIS ONE!!!!
[end rant]
I'm sitting on a sofa in my living room, reading one of my Judge Dredd comic books. I continue reading while my mom is sitting on one of the other sofas, watching Live Free or Die Hard. My sis is on the computer, talking to one of her online friends. My other sis is in her room, listening to her radio, but I can't make out what she's listening to. I continue to read for another minute before I put the book down, took my baseball cap and MP3 player, and just left the house. Nobody asked where I was going...in fact, nobody noticed me leave.
Outside, it's a scene of utter chaos. People are fighting in the streets, beating and killing each other, firing guns in every direction. Many of them look really sick, not that it's affecting them in any way...houses are burning everywhere, wrecked cars litter the streets, and yet...our house is completely unharmed. I ignore them as I walk to my mailbox. Looking inside, the only thing there is a large book sealed in heavy plastic. Taking it out, I see a small slip of paper attached to it with the words 'Congratulations!! You've just won our yearly raffle. Enjoy your prize.' typewritten on it. Unwrapping the plastic, I see that it's a comic book. The title reads 'The Akira Legacy: Lost Tales from Neo-Tokyo.' Thumbing through it, I see that the characters have word balloons that are completly blank. Shrugging, I put the book back in the mailbox and start walking. As I do, I notice that the throngs of angry people act as if I'm not there. One person even ran towards me and pushed me aside on his way to attack somebody else.
Eventually, I reach the end of the block. Parked neatly on the curb, I see a large car in a bright shade of yellow that's so ugly it isn't even funny. Going over to peer inside, I notice that it's almost completely filled with Game Informer magazines. Opening the left door, they come spilling out, burying my ankles. As I take fleeting glimpses at each cover, I notice that they all feature titles of strange video games that I've never heard of. One in particular catches my eye. I take the cover and look at it. It shows a nondescript stone archway leading into a dark corridor. The title reads: The Labyrinth of ShadowDark. Without opening it, I throw the magazine back on the pile, and walk away from the car. The game's title lingers in my head, and I can't figure out why.
The next thing I know, I'm in the middle of a carnival with no idea where this is or how the hell I even got here. It's now very dark outside, and the sounds of people partaking of the various games and rides mingle with that of the persistent sounds of the continued rioting. Some of the game stalls have been ransacked and a few of them are corpse-littered, but they are largely ignored by the small groups of people.
I walk past a large, dimly lit stall with a long table in the middle and two people sitting on each end. The darkness of the stall prevents me from identifying them. A bunch of decorated playing cards are spread out in familiar patterns near each person. Immediately recognizing the game that's being played, I approach the table. The two people at the table pay no attention to me as I take a decrepit folding chair from a nearby stall and sit at the middle of the table. That's when I notice that they're not alone. More folding chairs are placed near the back of the stall, and shadowy figures with softly glowing red eyes are sitting there, completely motionless.
As I watch the game, I come to realize that the two people aren't really playing. They're just holding their cards close to them. After a indeterminate amount of time, the person to my right says "Are you going to play, or are you so afraid to accept the fact that you're about to lose?" with a sarcastic tone, although the deep, raspy hiss of the man's voice made it almost unintelligible. Sharp coughs and sniffles immediately punctuated the stall, along with the nauseating sounds of hacking and spitting.
A long silence followed, occasionally broken by gurgling coughs from the man on my right. Finally, the man on my left speaks. His voice is rough, with clear overtones of anger and cruelty: "I wouldn't be so overconfident, sick man...Those cards of yours won't help you as much as you'd like to think. This game is all but over, and I'm clearly the victor--" He stops talking as he notices me for the first time. "Well..." he says gleefully. "Finally, someone who actually shows a real interest in our little contest."
At that moment, the stall brightens slightly, but it's just enough to identify the two men. On my left was Mace. His face was pale to the point of grayness, and his normally blue eyes were red from constant coughing and rubbing. He had uneven stubble across his chin, most of which was covered in the mucus that was constantly dripping from his heavily reddened nose. He was wearing a gray T-shirt encrusted with dried mucus, and a pair of ragged black jeans. On the floor next to him was a partially dried pile of bloody mucus and spittle.
Behind him, Searle sat on a dark wooden chair in his best Thinker pose. His eyes were unfocused, and his nose had been split into three separate parts. They flopped gently every time he took a breath, blood flowing freely between them. He took no notice as he leaned towards Mace and whispered in his ear. In response, Mace turns to me. With what could barely pass as a wry grin, he says, "After all this time, a visitor? Well, friend, feel free to watch away. It's just about over anyway, and I'm the winner--"
"Tch...hardly. Stop deluding yourself, Mace, and admit that you've lost...quite miserably, if you ask me," an angry voice came from my left. Turning in that direction, I see Capa leaning forward on the table, grinning widely. His eyes are a deep blood red tinged with light yellow streaks. His eyes, nose and mouth are bleeding freely. His clothing is soaked in blood, most of it staining the cards that lay on his end of the table. Behind him, Corazon is doing a slow dance. She's wearing a belly dancer's outfit, which does a poor job of hiding her starved appearance. Her attention is focused only on her dance.
Capa stares at Mace for a long moment before finally turning to me and saying, "We really should apologize to you, friend. You're watching this without knowing what's going on here. You see, Mace and I represent two groups of people. Now, we each have the same goal in mind, but use completely different methods to achieve it. We've been fighting over this for some time, but neither of us have been able to gain any ground. So, Mace and I decided to use this game to settle our dispute once and for all."
I nod in understanding as I ask, "Who do you both represent, and what exactly are the stakes?" Mace hmphs as he says "Well, the anger management poster boy over there represents something that he calls 'The Infected', who are nothing more than people with blood-swollen heads who are pissed off 24/7 and spit buckets of blood on anyone they encounter. My group, however, is much more numerous, and we've been around longer. Our chosen weapon is rather subtle: you know it as the flu."
I frown in confusion. "...'Chosen weapon'? What exactly are the two of you trying to accomplish?" Capa smiles, blood flowing down the sides of his lips as he does so. "Don't you see? This world is dying. The purpose of our game is to determine exactly how it dies, whether it's through my Infected, or his weak, flu-stricken followers. It's quite the stroke of luck that you arrived when you did. Since Mace and I are at --dare I say it-- loggerheads, it now falls to you to decide the world's doom." With that, he held his cards towards me. "Look at them and choose my next move...although I really don't think that it's going to matter, since my victory is already assured..."
Mace scoffed at Capa's words. "Assured?! You have only one creature on your side while I have three, and you have the balls to stand there and say to my face -- and hers -- that you've already won this thing?! Bullshit!!" His rant set off an intense coughing fit. After around five minutes of coughing and spitting, Mace finally calmed down enough to grab his cards and point at me. "Hey, I wouldn't bother with angry boy over there. My cards are far superior to his weak ones. If you don't believe me, come over here and take a look."
I stood between them, unsure of who I should choose first. Capa still had his cards thrust towards me, waiting expectantly for me to take them. Mace just sat in his chair, wiping mucus from his nose with a noisy sniffle. After a long moment, I finally reach over and take Capa's cards. He smiles and says, "Okay, friend...make your move."
Looking at each of the cards, I frowned because they were almost completely blank. In the spaces where each card's illustration and spell descriptions were supposed to be, dark squares took their place. In the center of two of the cards, the words 'Creature Type: Infected Rager' were written. Capa grinned while saying "Didn't I say that they were great cards?" "..." was my only response. Capa didn't react as I returned his cards and went over towards Mace. Taking his cards, I saw that they were no different from Capa's, with the black squares still obscuring any identifying features. On one of his cards, I saw the words 'Creature Type: Flu Wraith.' Automatically, I took that card and laid it down on the table. Mace grinned. "Now THAT'S what I'm talking about," he replied smugly. I then moved over to Capa's side, took his cards again, and laid one down, not bothering to look at which one it was. He frowned when he saw what it was, although I still saw a blank card. "...Unexpected...of all the cards..." Capa said glumly. Mace was energized now, for Capa's grim expression told him everything. He put down one more card from his hand and said "Okay, loyal creatures, let's truly bring this game to an end. ATTACK!!" However, he was completely unprepared for what happened next.
"Not so fast, sick man..." Capa sat up and wagged his finger in a <tsk tsk> gesture. His glum expression became one of triumph. With a psychotic grin on his face, he took a card from his hand and threw it down. Mace saw the card, and his jaw dropped to the floor. "No... You--you wouldn't..." Looking at the card, it still had the squares, but this one actually had a name: The Labyrinth of ShadowDark. My mind immediatly went back to earlier in the day(?), when I saw that title on the Game Informer magazine cover...I suddenly regretted not taking the time to read it. Before I could do anything else, I felt a steady trembling. Everything started to grow dark around me. I heard Mace and Capa shouting as the shaking grew even stronger. Finally, I'm plunged into total darkness as the shaking finally stops. It stays that way for some time until I finally wake up.
-- Tch...here I was, thinking all this time that my 'Event Horizon' and Capa-as-Sith Lord dreams were weird... I pray that I never get that sick ever again...being high on Morphine and Percoset: NOT...and I repeat...absolutely NOT RECOMMENDED!!!