Thread: Wildman's submissions

Another submission..

Date: June 17th, 2008
Length: 10 minutes

I start out at my house, in my room, and apparently Agents from The Matrix are out to get me. I think my mom is downstairs stalling them by saying I'm not here. Anyways, I somehow (voice in my head?) get the information that I have to escape the house to go to a place called Ocean Shell or Inner Shell, hide in the bathroom there, and take a bunch of toilet paper for protection or something.

I get out of the house, I think through my window, and the next thing I know I'm in the parking lot of a McDonald's-esque building, apparently the place I was told to go. I step inside, and ask some of the cooks/staff where the bathroom is. One of them, an asian guy, answers that he'll show me the way. We go through several rooms, notably one which looks like a small, degraded theater auditorium. I think a few people were on stage. We go through a door near the front of the room, and end up at the bathrooms. By this time, the guy who led me here has vanished. Going into the first stall I see, I think to myself that it's impossible anyone could know I'm hiding here, so I can wait it out for a few days. I think I take a dump.

However, just as I start thinking I'm safe, someone steps into the bathroom. From his shoes/pants, I recognize it's the Joker from batman, apparently trying to capture me, but not on the same side as the agents. He knows I'm in here, and I realize I only have a few seconds before I have to make a run for it. I remember the advice about the toilet paper, and stash a bunch in my pants. I then get out of the stall, but the Joker is right there and sprays me with something. He tells me it'll knock me out, and then I'll be a combattant in his gladiator arena. A 30 second timer appears in my vision, and though I start feeling tired, it passes and after the time expires I'm fine.

The Joker tells me he didn't expect me to be so resistant, but rather than running away I come back towards him and tell him that fighting in the arena sounds pretty fun, and I propose to come with him on the condition that I can bring a girl that was standing nearby with me. He agrees, and we shake hands or something and are sent through a portal. I end up in a room overlooking the arena.

I end up with three friends, going to college. It's not an entirely normal university however, and has a Harry Potter aspect to it. We end up on the third floor of a large building, which is apparently the only one of the campus. We're looking for our dorms, and I find a sort of large inscription engraved into a wall. It contains some cryptic words of advice, although I don't remember any of the text specifically. Apparently, our entire first year is based around solving some complex enigma, and only those who do so can move on. The words on the wall pertain to this. I keep in mind that this might be useful in the future, and go back to searching for a vacant room. I open a door, but there are already a bunch of people there.

At some point, I'm thinking about the task I have to complete for the year, and someone (Socrates? I wrote this in my notes...) tells me about what the seniors have to do: they have to escape from the building (or a simulation of the building?) as it collapses all around them, dive into water where they have to swim quickly before the water level rises too high, and press a button or something. As the person is telling this, I sort of experience it myself, seeing the building collapsing around me. When I snap back to "reality", I am told that there are more rooms available on the basement floor. I go there with my friends, and end up in a sort of abandoned ghetto-looking place with other students. It's night time now, and a few fires have been lit around us. Apparently we have to go to some sort of ceremony. I end up in a large, dark, circular room, in a seat. We are all watching some sort of screen or images in the middle. There are many swirling lights/colors that flash by quickly. I end up closing my eyes, although the lights make them twitch.

Apparently this is all related to the enigma we have to solve. Near the end of the ceremony, the images start becoming more consistent and actually look recognizable. Three questions are asked, all related to the great riddle. For each question the first person to answer passes freshman year, having solved the puzzle. Supposedly this ceremony will happen each week or so, until the end of the year, when those who haven't answered fail to go on. The first two questions are very strange, and no one is able to answer. The third one shows a drawing of an LOTR hobbit, and everyone thinks they know the answer. They all shout it out, but nothing happens. It seems the answers are impossible to find without having first figured out the enigma.

I leave the ceremony with my friends, and we're determined to find out more. We quickly go upstairs before everyone else to examine the wall inscription again (some people have not noticed it yet). At some point, I tell them we should take the elevator to go faster. I go into the glass elevator before my 3 friends, and press a button. I realize I accidentally activated the emergency stop. The doors start closing, and, afraid I'll be trapped, I dive through them as they close. My friends laugh, making a remark about Indiana Jones. We end up back on the third floor where the rooms and the inscription were, and now the atmosphere is very gloomy and mystical. Everything is dark, and there are a few people around, huddled in corners. I see some people spraying a special dust around the wall inscription and around a map to test for fingerprints. I think to myself that it's going to be difficult beating these people who seem to have a lot of technical expertise. We end up looking at a painting/image on the wall: it shows a few people, on a dark night, surrounded by a devastated landscape. There is a subtitle that speaks of pollution and nuclear chaos: seeing this, we begin to realize that the enigma is related to saving the world from destruction by humans.

We then walk down another corridor, and suddenly see minotaurs with axes appear in front of us. They start running in our direction, slaughtering any students in the way. We're at least a dozen people now, all running away. I see someone near me get killed, and a minotaur charges at me. I end up diving/falling out of the way of his axe, which slams the ground. Sprinting back to the first hallway, I see sunlight in the distance, even though it's night time. The hallway seems never-ending, but I eventually reach the light, and as it reaches the minotaurs they vanish. I begin wondering if the minotaurs were just a test, and if those people who were killed aren't actually dead.

At this point, everyone has vanished and I'm alone. I suddenly realize the building is collapsing around me, just like in the "simulation" earlier. I start thinking that I've accidentally been trapped in a training exercise for the seniors. I start running again, away from the falling debris, and as I near the end of the corridor I see a large pool of water. I jump into it, and see a small tunnel nearby underwater. The water starts going up, filling up the tunnel slowly. I see thousands of fish suddenly appear and swim by me, signalling danger. I quickly go through the tunnel, and end up at a sort of small altar where I press a button, apparently stopping everything.

I end up in this sort of glade, with a couple of other students. Some sort of guide is there with us, there to help us in figuring out the enigma. The entire atmosphere is very solemn. Crystals of different colors (blue, orange, green, purple) start appearing. At first unsure what to do, I decide to take a blue one. My vision turns sort of blurred and blue, and I hear voices or something giving me information. Specifically, I'm told to go to Rover Hill (I think?) to find out more. I think to myself that I was stupid to not have gone to the hill when I was close to it, back when I was at the restaurant where I hid in the bathroom. The effects of the crystal end, and everything returns to normal. I see other people trying out crystals. More and more of the crystals, just sort of fading into reality, and sometimes making a large chunk of crystals glued together. I ask the guide if we're just supposed to take whichever ones we want, or if each crystal is destined for a specific person. The answer is something like: "Choose whatever you want, but at your own peril."

I wait for a while, and a girl asks me what I've tried. I tell her blue, and that I'm thinking about green now. She tells me she tried purple and blue, if I recall correctly. Apparently, the orange crystals are the ones that are directly related to our "objective", and the last ones we should take or something. A kid nearby talking to the guide asks a question involving a spanish word and green crystals, and the guide seems puzzled. He talks about how green crystals are closely related to the origin of the Earth, and says he will have to do more research.

I eventually take a green crystal myself, at first just grabbing it and then eating it like a mint. Suddenly, everything around me changes. A sort of green veil slightly blurs my vision, and instead of dirt the ground is covered with beautiful grass. The glade is surrounded by many more trees, and I see a deer in the distance. Everything is peaceful, and I'm in awe. I think to myself that this is what everything looked like before devastation struck. I realize that the enigma is about either a huge disaster that's coming, or the damage humans have already done. Seated in a rotating seat, I feel the grass brushing against my hands and just bask in the beauty of everything. It's one of the most vivid and stunning moments I've ever had in a dream. I think someone tries to talk to me, but their voice is almost completely muted. Looking at my hands, I see they're not quite normal but instead covered with this sort of tattered white cloth/gloves. I have a few thoughts about dreaming, even though I'm not really lucid. I think to myself that if I had dreams like this forever I almost wouldn't mind giving up life. Eventually the effects of the crystal wear off.