New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

12/03/13

A Father's Betrayal
I am standing out in a parking lot at night. I am not myself, and I am completely non-lucid. My name is Amelia. I keep thinking about mistakes I made. I shouldn't have gone outside the safety of the walls of the military base. But I'd just felt so cooped up. I'd longed to feel the ocean breeze instead of smelling the stagnant exhaust of the military vehicles. And the zombie infestation had been cleared from the area. So what could be the danger? I'd forgotten about the biggest threat of all... Alex Mercer. But even if I had thought of that, what interest would he have in a 25 year old college student? I was supposed to be off at school, but I'd gotten stuck here when I had been visiting my father at the time of the outbreak. Yet here I was, in the middle of a parking lot with a strange tendril wrapped around my waist like a tether, waiting for my father's response to Alex's terms for my safe release. Alex just wanted some dumb serum. Of course my father would turn it over, I was the most important thing in his life. Sure, he had been preoccupied with his work lately, but nothing would come between us. Wow... if Alex keeps his word and releases me I will get hell for leaving the base. I'll never hear the end of it. I am mindlessly playing with the tendril on my waist, secure but not uncomfortable, interesting texture, wondering what is taking so long. What if they don't have the serum Alex wants?

Then I hear my father responding, I'm sure not much time has really passed, it just feels like that. My father is saying someone will be right out with the serum... but that's not what he said! Did he just tell Alex to go fuck himself? For a bit there is no response from Alex. My father must have a plan. That must be it. I can tell Alex isn't happy with the response. The tendril around my waist tightens uncomfortably, but only briefly, then it relaxes again like it was just a reaction to Alex being annoyed. Alex asks my father if he really wants to watch his daughter die. My father responds that Alex can do whatever he wants with me. Kill me… eat me… fuck me if that's what he wants. Alex would get nothing from him. He wouldn't turn over last week's shopping list. I am in shock… did my father just say he doesn't care if Alex kills me?

I feel like my knees are about to give out, but before I collapse I feel the tendril around my waist pulling at me, pulling gently, though. Soon I am standing beside Alex. Somewhere in my mind I am thinking he's probably going to kill me now, hoping he will at least make it quick, but the foremost thought in my mind is how could my own father betray me like that. I am silently crying, my knees give out completely, but I don't collapse. Alex is holding me up. The tendril around my waist is withdrawn, now I feel Alex's arms around me. Is he hugging me? No… he must be consuming me, that's how he's going to kill me. But nothing happens. I am crying on Alex Mercer's shoulder. I hear his voice in my ear, but it sounds distant and I don't understand what he is saying. What I do realize is that he is speaking in a comforting tone. Maybe he's not going to hurt me? Then I hear him talking to my father again, saying maybe my father would reconsider when Alex started sending me back to him piece by piece. So much for not hurting me… Immediately after he finishes saying that, however, it's back to the comforting whispers again. I strain to hear what he's saying. He doesn't mean it. He'll keep me safe. He promises. He keeps repeating that while he holds me close. I hear him mutter something about sending my father pieces of a dead body, but that won't hold up if they test DNA. Damn, he'll have to get the serum some other way.

Then my father's voice drowns out Alex's whispers. He repeats that he doesn't give a shit what Alex does to me. He says I am of no use to him. Maybe he thinks if he convinces Alex I am worthless to him that Alex will just release me and go away? That seems like an awfully risky thing to assume… My father is yelling at his own people now. He asks them what they're just standing around for? Mercer is right there in the open! Kill him! There are some voices that aren't loud enough for me to understand what is being said, then my father yelling again. What part of "she is of no use to me" did you not understand?! Open fire! I feel a quick movement as Alex turns away from my father and the base, bending both of us over and standing hunched over me. I look and see a shield has formed on his back that looks a bit like a spiked turtle shell. Bullets are ricocheting off of the shield. There is a lull in the gunfire, they are probably reloading… or preparing larger weapons. Alex is muttering some expletives and I think they are about my father. He tightens his hold on me and tells me to hold on to him as tight as I can. I wrap my arms around behind his neck. He seems to be tensed up as if about to spring, but he says to hold on tighter, as tight as I can manage. So I do, holding on so tightly that I would think it would be hurting him. But he doesn't seem to notice. Then he launches into the air, practically flying up the side of a building as I hear more gunfire and explosions around us. A couple more jumps and we are well out of range of any weapons at the base.

Alex has stopped running and jumping, so I let go of him. I try to pull away from Alex, I really just want to get away from him and find someplace I can be alone. Alex holds on to me. Of course. What had made me think he was going to just let me go? My father had failed to meet his terms… flat out refused to even consider it. I try a bit harder to pull free, but it's clear I won't be able to do it. Alex holds me closer and says to just relax, he's not going to hurt me. He says the things he told my father he would do to me was all talk, trying to shock the bastard into cooperating. It hadn't worked. He says not to worry, though, he is not going to hurt me. He says I had better stick around, though… there have been some zombies moving back into the area, but they won't get anywhere near me as long as he is there. He lets go of me now, and then paces around the roof we are on for a few minutes. He seems to be thinking about something very hard. He stops and looks over at me. I don't like the look on his face. But he quickly looks away, shaking his head and muttering something, I hear him say there has to be another way. He seems very upset about something.

I can't help it any longer and I ask what the serum he wanted is for. He looks over at me as if surprised I'm still there. He then says he needs it to cure his sister Dana. He says without the serum she will die. He goes back to pacing around the roof. Oh… his sister is sick… I guess maybe a lot of people would do whatever it takes to save a loved one. I stand there in silence for a bit. So it looks like both Alex and I will be losing someone we love. Without the serum Dana would die, and I as I feel right now my father is dead to me. I hear his voice in my mind again saying I am of no use to him. I think about it a bit longer and then something occurs to me. My father has always been a bit paranoid that someone would steal or sabotage his work. To prevent that, he has always kept a backup copy of all his data on a hidden hard drive on his home computer. Surely he has the data on the serum Alex needs. I ask Alex if the chemical formula for the serum would be helpful. My father has always said as long as he has the chemical formula, the samples are just extra insurance. Alex stops pacing and looks over at me again. He asks if I have that formula, I see a glimmering of hope in his eyes. I tell him I don't have it, but I can get it. I just need a computer with wireless capability. Alex says he knows a place and comes over to me. He crouches down and says I should get on his back and hold on at tight as I can. I put my arms around his neck and hold on. He is holding onto my legs so I am riding piggy-back. He says to hold on tighter. I hold on a little tighter, but after all I have my arms around his neck… He asks if I am actually concerned about holding on too tight… because if I am, don't be. It would take someone much stronger than me to choke him. Ok… so I hold on as tight as I can, and he launches into the air for what turns out to be a very exhilarating ride.

A short time later Alex lands on top of what looks like an apartment building. There is a hole ripped in the wall of one of the apartments and we go in through there. There are several computers along one wall along with bulletin boards filled with notes and maps. The notes and maps mean nothing to me. I sit down at the computer and turn it on. It boots quickly since it had been in standby mode. Whoever had used it last had left it on when they left. Once online I go to the wireless connection. I wonder at first if I'll be able to access the network. But I needn't have worried, Blackwatch has turned all of New York into a wi-fi zone so they can communicate. And there aren't many civilians left who would know how to access it. Once on the network I have no problems navigating to my father's personal computer. As long as he isn't in the office, he won't notice the computer receive the remote power-on command. And he is surely still on duty. There is a password to get into his computer. I think about it for a bit and then use my mother's name. Access denied. I enter my mother's name and birthday. Access denied. No, he wouldn't make it that easy. So I enter my mother's name backwards and then her birthday. Access granted. Yes! Now to access his hidden drive. Finding the drive is easy, but it has another password. I use the same password… access denied. I guess it couldn't have been that easy. Then I realize it is just looking for a number. I use my mother's birthday. Access denied. Her birthday backwards. Access denied. Shit! It says one more failed attempt results in the system being locked down. Gotta make this one count. I am a bit too aware of Alex looking over my shoulder. Even though he hasn't done anything to hurt me and it doesn't look like he will it makes me uneasy. And I need that password…

I fiddle around on the computer. I find a C# compiler. I fiddle around with code. Too bad I haven't studied code… But I find I know it anyhow! Somehow the information is just there, in my mind, like I've known it all along. (I know programming in my waking life, so that is probably where the knowledge came from.) I write some code quickly to sequentially search through numbers to identify a password. It then compares the number with the password in the database to determine if it is correct without submitting it and counting it as an attempt. I run the program, keeping my fingers crossed that it'll work. After a pause that is too long for my liking the computer finally flashes up the Access granted message. There is a list of directories that I don't understand. Alex points at one that says Batch 250 and says that's the one. I click that and he points at one that says 256b. I click on that and it opens up a list of files containing all sorts of information from the chemical composition of serum 256b to the results of experiments done with serum 256b. There is a final note on the bottom that said 256b was being terminated as a failed experiment. I stare at that word for a bit. Failed. Alex says something but I don't hear what. Right now I am thinking how my own father was willing to give up my life to protect a failed experiment. A fucking FAILED experiment! Alex carefully rolls my chair to the side and pulls another chair up to the computer. He types a quick email to a Dr. Ragland and sends off a couple of the files.

Alex leans back in his chair and sighs. He says he hopes that will allow Dr. Ragland to create an antidote for Dana. I tell him I hope she is ok. An email comes back from Dr. Ragland. It says that the files Alex sent are exactly what he needs, he will create and administer the serum right away. He says he will send another email when she is awake. I look through the broken wall into the night, which is now brightening into dawn. Now that the action of hacking into my dad's computer has passed, I am just depressed again at the way he betrayed me. I slump down in my chair, feeling like crying but no tears actually come. Alex moves his chair closer and says if it means anything, he'd never had any intention of hurting me. It doesn't mean much… I say there's no way my sperm donor could have known that. I don't want to call him my father. He gave up that title when he told Alex to go ahead and kill me. I look over at Alex, right into his blue eyes which look a lot more caring than I would have expected after the horrible things I have heard about him. But it's looking like maybe I can't believe everything I hear, especially from sources such as Blackwatch and Gentek. Alex puts his arms around me and holds me close, trying to comfort me in my depression over my father's betrayal. And it is helping. It feels nice to be held. I somehow feel safe here, and suddenly very tired. I drift off to sleep in Alex's arms and wake up in my own bed.

02/11/13

I am flying over the Nile River in Egypt. I see movement down on the ground, but I already know what I want to do with this dream so I don't pay any attention to that. I focus on opening a portal to find MoSh. A portal opens and I go through it, ignoring some voices calling to me from behind. The portal closes and leaves me in an open field. I look around to see if MoSh is around. I don't see anyone there with me at all. I wonder why I have been brought here if MoSh isn't here. There is a Templar there, a woman with long red hair. She is watching me closely. I ask her if she has seen MoSh. She says no, she was looking for me. I really have no interest in talking with a Templar, so I look around for MoSh a bit more. The Templar says she knows someone with the cure for depression. She asks if it is not yet obvious to me that the Assassins have no intention of helping me. She has something in her hand. It is a pill of some kind.

She hands it to me, but I don't take it. I tell her I am just looking for MoSh, not doing a drug deal. I wander away from the Templar, looking into the distance across the green field. I see someone else is there. I head over to that person and I find it is MoSh. I call to him and ask if he is ready for a Dark Tower dream. The Templar has followed me and asks if the Assassins have come through with any single promise they have made. I tell her I am heading for a Dark Tower dream… takes place in the Land of No Templars. No Assassins, either, for that matter. Just Gunslingers. I open a portal, focused on a Dark Tower dream. A portal opens, and I lead MoSh through it. We are on a bridge that crosses very high over a river. The bridge is in terrible condition, looks like it could fall down at any moment. There are already some parts that have collapsed, the center portion is connected only by the support cables.

It looks passable, but only for someone with no fear of heights and good balance. MoSh doesn't seem to notice that we are high up. At the place where crossing looks possible I see there are some people. Roland, Eddie, Susanna, and Jake are all there. Jake has a small animal hanging off of his hand, and is holding onto the support cable with the other hand. I hurry over towards them. An ugly man is approaching from the other side of the bridge. I see that Roland and them have things in hand, so I fly over the gap and land in front of the ugly man that looks diseased.

I remember the ugly man is there to kidnap Jake. He has a grenade in his one hand. He says to stay back or he will make it go boom. I tell him if he does, he will be going to hell alone, it won't hurt me any. He says it will bring the bridge down. I look back and I see MoSh is helping get the others onto the semi-solid ground of the bridge. I tell the ugly man to go ahead and throw the grenade if he is in such a hurry to die. He says if I thought he wouldn't do it I am wrong. He throws the grenade. I use telekinesis to grab it from the air and hold the pin. He doesn't seem to know how to respond to my impossible catch. I throw the grenade off of the bridge, throwing it hard and it blows up in mid air at a safe distance from the bridge. The ugly man pauses and then runs away. I look to see where MoSh is, but then I wake up.

12/12/12

Simpsons
I am in a toy store of some kind. I look around and find the store seems to specialize in Simpsons items. I also realize I have no money. But I want to get a present for my friend who is really into the Simpsons. So I find a container of small Simpsons figures and I figure I can help myself to them. They aren't very expensive, and they are small, and the container is on the lower shelf of an aisle in the back. So I dig through the toys and pocket one of each of the Simpsons figures except for Bart.

I am having trouble finding Bart. I keep digging and I finally find Bart. I have just slipped Bart into my pocket when I see the store owner is right behind me glaring at me. Shit. I should've been more careful. He says I have to pay for those. I tell him I have no money, hoping that if I return them and never come back to the store that will be good enough. He doesn't give that as an option. He says I have to work it off. We go to the back and it turns out he has been making pirated Simpsons merchandise. I have to help him make illegal Simpsons rip offs. That or he calls the cops. The fact that calling the cops would be worse for him than for me doesn't occur to me. So I start painting small Simpsons figurines in the appropriate colors. I get bored with the proper colors, and I am painting Bart blue when I wake up.

Once Upon a Beach
I am on a beach. There are a few other people there but they aren't bothering me at all, so I start walking on the beach. It is a very relaxing scene. I soon find I am alone on the beach. The sand is surprisingly soft on my feet. It feels more like flour than sand. I keep going, watching some colorful birds in the sky. I look out over the ocean and see there is one strange person there with me. It looks like Rumplestiltskin from the Once Upon a Time series. I stop for a minute, thinking, then I remember getting a potion from him that was supposed to help with depression. Since it has been an epic failure I wonder if it might have been a scam of some kind. I tell him his potion sucks ass. He says his potion can't possibly work when I want so badly to be depressed. I tell him no one wants to be depressed. He says I do. Otherwise why would I keep bombarding myself with negative comments even if I'm not feeling that way? It's a bad habit. Besides, how would he know about my negative comments? He says if he didn't know before he knows about it now! I just give him a dirty look. He says he has a stronger potion. If I'll stop attacking myself maybe it can work. He takes out a potion that looks like a disgusting black fluid. What the fuck is that? He says it's a concentrated form of the first potion.

He holds it out and then pulls it away. He says nothing is free. I am not in the mood for games. I tell him to fuck himself. He asks if I'm not even going to hear the price before deciding against it. Some prices are very reasonable. I ask what the price is. He seems to think about it for a minute… then says a hair. My first thought is a hare. I summon a rabbit. Not a hare, he says laughing, a hair. My hair. I look around for a bit trying to think of what he could want with my hair. I turn back and see he is right in front of me. He plucks a hair from my head, apparently taking my silence as an agreement. He hands me the potion and slips the hair carefully into a small vial. The potion smells like chocolate. Well that settles that… I drink it… it tastes like liquorish… I hate liquorish… I almost puke it back up. But instead I wake.