spellbee2

I’m on the set of Jeopardy!, practicing some questions with Alex Trebek. The software used to show him the questions* is incredibly buggy. Random clicks just bring up more windows that mess up everything else. The entire practice show is at a standstill because I can’t get the program to work. Alex finally walks over and says he might have a better job for me. He takes me over to the question board and tells me to stand there and basically be the Vanna White of the show. We start an actual show taping, and my job is to press the screens for each question. One question involves filling in the missing letters from a chemical formula. After no one rings in and Alex reads the answer, I chime in with my own commentary: “Worst Wheel of Fortune puzzle ever.” This warrants about 5 minutes of laughter from everyone on the set, and they had to stop the taping to give everyone a chance to recompose themselves.



I’m now working at this large arena in Los Angeles. There’s a basketball game going on, currently in overtime, but a lot of the staff are getting anxious, since they have to convert the court into a hockey rink before Game 7 of the Stanley Cup the next day. One of the staff presses a button that makes the clock on the scoreboard tick down faster than normal, and finally the game comes to a close. Just then, the court starts to fill with water, and everyone clears out of the area. One of the staff flips a switch, and all the water instantly freezes into a nice thick layer of ice.

I walk outside the arena to a big open courtyard area, where there’s a ton of people having a huge celebration. I’m helping restock the food tables, when my mom asks if I can bring her some cake from another table on the other side of the crowd. I make the long trek through the crowd, grab the cake, and attempt to carefully take it back. I make it most of the way, but about 10 feet away from my destination, a rather large lady backs into me, and I spill the cake all over the front of my body. I’m slightly disappointed, but I’m much more mad at the lady who wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. However, I don’t have long to voice my frustrations, as I receive a message through an earpiece in my ear that there’s a situation a few blocks away.

I run off to the location of the emergency, and I see several other of the staff members running the same direction. As we run through the streets, I see billboards of propaganda everywhere. I begin to remember that I am part of a large group of resistance members attempting to start a revolution against the corrupt dystopian government. The whole scenario has a very Mirror’s Edge feel to it, as my run involves taking passageways through buildings and leaping to distant ledges.

I finally reach my destination, and there’s a large uproar from a crowd of about 300 people. Me and the other agents try to seamlessly blend into the group and join the riot. After a few minutes, a bald man with a goatee silences the crowd to speak.

“Too long have these menaces to society been allowed to oppress us. They threaten the peace we know so well.”
The crowd starts cheering, and I join in.
“They are pests, and must be dealt with if our government is to succeed.”
The crowd starts cheering again. Wait, what?…
“The Resistance must be stopped, for the greater good of our society.”
The crowd is now ecstatic. This isn’t good.
“Remember, they wear earpieces. If you see someone with an earpiece, take them down immediately and report them to the authorities.”
Nope, definitely not good. I hear a voice on my earpiece, “Blues are approaching the scene, get out of there, now!”

I quickly try to maneuver my way out of the crowd, but everyone in my way is jumping up and down, making it impossible to get through. I hear sirens getting louder, and soon several police officers in cars and on motorcycles arrive on the scene. They start throwing out tear gas into the crowd, and the group quickly disperses. I make a break towards a clearing, dodging tear gas canisters as they land all around me. It’s utter chaos around me, as I see people running every direction, trying to find shelter from the gas. One of the canisters bounces off my leg, but luckily I don’t breathe in any of the fumes and am able to keep running.

I pass by an alleyway, when I hear someone shout, “Agent!” I turn to see a lady with an earpiece motioning me to follow her down the alley. She walks over to a brick wall and pushes a secret button, revealing a small hole just big enough for me to fit into. I jump down this slide inside the hole, and eventually slide into a river running behind some of the buildings. I start to swim towards a nearby dock, but the scene goes black.



I find myself in some sort of flashback. I am seated at a table in this small interrogation room with a small whiteboard on the wall. I try reading what’s written on it, but the letters keep changing on me. Just then, the lady from the alley walks in and places some papers down on the table.
“Well, unfortunately, you failed the microexpression test. We noticed that when you tell a lie, the right side of your mouth raises a little…” She pauses for a bit. “Interesting…”
“What is it?”
“Well it appears the side of your mouth doesn’t raise when you’re told a lie, kind of like the lie that you failed the microexpression exam.” I look up at her confused. “Congrats, you passed. Welcome to the team, agent.”
She extends her arm, and we shake hands, but then I wake up.

*Fun fact, there isn’t actually any software that Alex Trebek uses when he reads the questions. He just has a sheet of paper with the questions, and he crosses them off as he goes. I’m great at parties.