The Dream (chap 2)
Welcome to the Dharmaverse, a near-future scifi world where the Earth has frozen due to a dying Sun, but Humanity survives with the help of powerful AI Metagods. Sacred technology provides everything people need, but to access it one must play the Dharmagames. It is a dark and terrifying world, but therein also lies infinite hope, compassion, and faith.
After my strange conversation with Metatron and inexplicable vision of my father, and the dream, I went back to my capsule and slept for the next 8 hours. When I awoke I stayed in my capsule for a few more hours trying to recall a dream I can vaguely remember, which grew the more distant the more I tried to remember it. I only know that I had been an Angarah, a kind of dragon fly with butterfly wings from another world, and felt the bliss of dancing in the soft breeze, and saw a world through kaleidoscope eyes beneath a sun that shone with all the colors of the rainbow.
And it was more real than any sense-stream I had ever experienced.
Finally, at 4 AM I decide to climb out of my capsule and head to the “the study hall”. This is the part of the communal house where there are hundreds of “office spaces” of different sizes. Most of them come equipped with a single fold-away desk and chair.
The glossy white smart-walls come alive as soon as I enter a room. I peruse through various popular background options, including “Library of Alexander”, “The Papal Study”, “The Eye of Osiris”, all of them breathtaking and overflowing with sunlight. I adjust the time of day to night, and I find myself overlooking a green Nile from a perch on top of a great Pyramid. But I’m in the mood for something smaller. I hit random and find myself next on the “dark side of the moon”, in a glass dome jutting out from the highest point of the Luna HQ.
“Tell me, Spot, if we were on the dark side of the moon, how come I see the Earth, right there?” I point up.
“Yes, the name is highly misleading. Not to mention the Earth is still blue, which means the oceans have not frozen yet. This is a clear oversight since by the time Luna HQ completed, in 2041, the Earth had already turned white. That being said, the fact that we cannot see the Sun means that we are at least on the shaded part of the Moon. Would you like to learn some interesting facts about how the Luna HQ was constructed?”
“Not really, guru spot.” I say laughing while switching the background into “Moonlit Beethoven”, which is a small study with moonlight pouring through the window, and settle into a chair which has taken on the appearance of being made of wood. When I feel the texture it almost feels like wood. “What I really need you to help me with is find out everything you know about my father.”
“What can I tell you about your father that you don’t already know? He’s your father, after all.” Spot quips.
“First of all, I didn’t grow up with him. I only remember him from my childhood, then I was reassigned to him after my mother passed. But by then he already spent more time in the Dream than with me. He was a completely different person.”
“Hmm… I find no mem-recs of your time before.”
“Yeah, I didn’t record that much when I was little. And whatever I did record I deleted after he — he vanished.”
“Permission to go through your old vizzy-mail records.”
“Permission granted.”
“Hmm… Here’s something. A vizzy message you never sent…”
“Wait, before you show it to me, promise me two things. First, that it will help me get to the bottom of what happened to him. And second, it won’t make me cry.”
“It’s quite irrelevant, in that case, Camil.”
“Let me see it, then, I don’t remember anything about it.”
“Oooh, here’s something interesting. Did you know there’s a shrine of your father, along with with 777 Dreamers who disappeared along with him, on L5?”
“No way, a shrine? What kind of shrine? That’s pretty awa. How do I not know about this?”
“It was only created two years ago, by a petition from a private citizen, apparently.”
“Who?”
“A woman by the name of Evangeline Everfield. Apparently her husband was one of the 777 as well, a Chase Everfield.”
“What happened to my father, Spot?”
“What do you remember?”
“I just remember Ajna Truthseekers finding me at the Commune, and asking lots of questions, like… when was the last time you talked to him, what was he like, stuff like that. I let them know I barely talked to him anymore. And when I asked them what happened they went all hush.”
“Yes, like me, Truthseekers are not allowed to make unjustified claims. I hear they are not even allowed to tell jokes.”
“You might be right right. Anyway, they simply said there was no instance of foul play, that it may be a case of death by flesh-eating nanobots, or not, because flesh-eating nanobots leaves no trace. Honestly, I always thought he and the 777 people were part of a suicide cult.”
“Camil, you do know that death by flesh-eating nanobot is the most likely cause for their disappearance, right? It is the only plausible one, at least, unless you believe in spontaneous rainbowfication.”
“I know, I know… But I saw something. I felt something yesterday that, I can’t explain. I don’t have full-metamersion upgrades, you know, but yesterday I felt it. I was an Angarah.”
“You’ll have to explain what that is to me.”
“It’s from the dream. Spot, I want you to download all the knowledge base of creatures in the Dream, whatever you can find.”
“None of it is public.”
“The forums. The gray web.”
“I’m sorry but I’m not permitted to dabble in such things. They are not reliable sources of information, you know that. I’m restricted to authenticated and real-time streamed information. Even your anon streams are off limits to me.”
“Ugggh. ICON protocol is so annoying.”
“What I can do is connect you with people who are domain experts.”
“What about information about my father’s disappearance? Any official records?”
“The official records still say persons missing. Walla made no official statement about it. But here’s something interesting. Take a look. It’s a broadcast that happened on the day they disappeared.”
A vizzy record plays, Walla speaking. “As per metacode, I would like to conclude today’s message by saying that we as Metagods are barred by the Metacode laid down by the Origin Gods themselves to NOT speak about phenomenons concerning miracles, transcendence, instances of spontaneous enlightenment, and that the reason, my children, is for the greater good of all sentient beings. Those subjects fall under the realm of tantra, and are only to be discovered by individuals themselves. Goodnight, my children, may your dreams be full of dharmic significance.”
“By the way, this is the only instance in over 40 years that she has ever signed off with that phrase: may your dreams be full of dharmic significance. Walla is known for being the Goddess of abundance and practicality, after all. She doesn’t like to use spiritual terms like that. Very out of character.” My metasprite commentates.
“So, that’s it!?” I ask with frustration. “777 people go missing in the most secure, most high tech captitol of the entire World Alliance, headquarter to the Futurist Government, chief altar on Earth of the chief among the Metagods, Walla herself, and no explanation given… Leaving all the unauthed news channels, all the sense-streams, and myself, to come to the conclusion that it is a clear case of unauthorized use of transcription nanobots, while the technology itself has been banned for nearly 20 years.”
“Yes, ever since the Dragon Emperor used it on his wife, and watched as her body was eaten away by trillions of nanobots, capturing her biological information but not her soul, and turning her psychic husk into a meta-ghost that haunts the nether reaches of the Darkweb to this day.” Spot says with morbid flare.
“Aren’t you supposed to only deal in truth?”
“Hey, I’m not saying it is true. It’s a rumor and it’s not from the gray web weither. There have been many reliable sources who have gone on record to suggest that is what happened. The flesheating nanobot part, not the meta-ghost part. Ahem...”
“Let’s stick to my father, ok? I need to focus right now, I want to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.”
“Yes maim.”
“Oh, you know what, I’m still part of the survivor family group. Maybe I can reach out. Although, what would I say?”
“By the way, did you know that someone from your survivor group streamed your feed recently? A Benjamin Everfield.”
“No way. Wait, which stream?”
“Your missing the point. His name is Benjamin Everfield.”
“He’s… That woman’s son, the one who constructed the shrine?”
“Bingo!”
“Let’s hit him up.”
“It’s 5 AM right now… but… it appears he status is available. He’s playing Etherealm, your favorite game.”
“Ring him”
A moment later a popup appears. Benjamin Everfield is trying to beam into my room.
“Hey, which stream did he watch again?” I ask nervously.
“You know, the one where you try to… ahem… and fail.”
“Wait, what!? This is so awkward!” I protest.
“He’s our only lead.”
“Uggggggh! Why does he want to beam in anyway? That’s very forward of him. Why doesn’t he just text me or voice me.”
“We’re the ones who rung him, dear. He’s metamersed right now, which is why he’s beaming into our space.”
“Ugggh! Alright.” I quickly pull up a vizzy mirror to brush myself up into a presentable condition.
As much as it is even possible in my current condition. At least I still have a cute smile.
Then, I swipe to let him in. A shaggy haired boy appears in my room, wearing meta-ware that indicates that he’s a member of the enemy clan in Etherealm.
“Hey, you rung?” He asks with familiarity that instantly annoys me.
“Do you know who I am?” I return with a question.
“You’re looking for a Dream Buddy, right? Yeah, I don’t mind. We can team up.”
His arrogant tone is highly triggering, but first, how the heck does he know about the Dream? “Are you some kind of meta-stalker? How do you know I just joined the Dream?”
“Oh, it’s on your status. I just joined too. I’m trying to figure out how to get to the next level. Tops recommended me to reach out to you- ”
“Who’s Tops?” I ask, confused already.
“Oh, he’s my sprite. Here, lemme beam him in. Can I aura-link?”
“Sure…” We aura-link, which allows both of us to interact with each other’s metasprites.
“Hi, I’m Spot.”
“I’m Tops”
Both me and Benjamin laugh out loud.
“You do realize…”
“Yes…” I say.
“Hey, your name is the same as mine spelt backwards!” Spot says.
“Yes, that is a fact, although from my perspective, it’s your name that is mine spelt backwards.” Tops responds.
“Anyway,” I try to turn-on my serious face. “So, your telling me, you also just joined the Dream?”
“Yeah, I always wanted to, but my mom didn’t allow it, because something happened with… my dad... nevermind, it’s a long story.”
“Ok, so- that’s actually why I reached out to you. I know what happened to your dad.” I said.
“Really? How?” He asked, with a look of genuine surprise.
“My dad’s name is Daniel Shwartz. Does that ring a bell?”
“No, not really.”
“He was one of the 777!”
“Ooooh. So your dad attained enlightenment too?”
“Well, I always thought he was eaten alive by nanobots.”
“Oh I see… So, is that why your mom also keeps you from the Dream until now? That makes a lot more sense than my mom keeping me from enlightenment.”
“Something like that... Anyways, what’s this the deal with the Dream partner anyway? I haven’t looked into it.”
“Well, Tops, why don’t you explain?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Chawa! You make him call you that?” I laugh.
“He’s just joking,” Benjamin responds.
“I am, m’lady. But actually-”
“Hey, Tops, focus.” Benjamin stops him mid-sentence. Is this boy Benjamin actually blushing? I can’t help but notice his face turning red.
“Yes,” Tops continues, “here’s the sitch. In order to level-up to level-2, we have to find someone who played the same soul type as we did, in our first life, which in both your cases was an Angarah. In fact, the two of you are the only one’s from this beginners cohort who were lucky enough to land an Angarah, a rather advanced lifeform in the Saga.”
“You don’t say…” I mused.
“Since you both completed your first Dream life, you can now join souls with someone of the same soul type, in order to reincarnate into something more advanced. So, instead of soloing your next life, and most likely remaining as an Angarah, for god knows how many lifetimes before being able to upgrade into something else, joining souls allows you both to advance into, perhaps a Droopal — a toad like amphibious creature, or even better, a Lumpa — a small bird-like creature.”
“Oh… Does that mean we get to earn more $PRANA?” Spot asks, ever the pragmatist.
“Yes!” Tops confirms.
“Well, then count me in. I’m in serious need of more $PRANA to keep my Etherclan afloat.” I conclude with more honesty than my usual self likes to admit.
“Oh… About that…” Benjamin says hesitatantly.
“What?” I ask, but I already have my clan-dash open. “No… I’ve been wiped out. Who could have done this!?”
“Yeah, about that…”
As I glare at this blue haired boy wearing- I now recognize that he is wearing armor which indicates that he is the king of the clan which has just wiped out my own clan, the one I have been building up for the past 5 years. I’m in tears, at a loss for words. I don’t think my life can get any worse than this. First, I lose all my investments. Now, the only way I can earn back all my lost $PRANA, is by working with the enemy.
FML!
