Dreamscape ~ (1 of 3)

 Dreamscape ~ (1 of 3)

By Len Morgan 

In the 2050s the ‘Dreamscape Company’ began producing their mind recording headsets. Created as a medical tool for diagnosing brain dysfunction’s but, was quickly purloined by youngsters for the purposes of entertainment. They began recording their dreams and sharing them with friends. At 81 I had little interest, I’d seen fads come and go. Dreamscape was yet another new fangled fad but, my grandkids insisted that I try it!  The headset itself was similar to the swimming hats used by women back in the 1960~80s.  It was a snug fit with holes for ears. To be honest It felt claustrophobic. But, they plied me with my favourite tipple, Whiskey Mac’s, and suddenly I became more amenable. 

The headset was a little uncomfortable but like all aches and pains, at my age, I got used to it and slept soundly. Apparently the recorder picked up my dreams and sent them to the ‘cloud’.  I wasn’t even aware that I had been dreaming.  The kids’ reactions were disappointing, whatever the headset recorded was ‘boring’ to them; and they said as much. So, I returned to my TV and forgot about the event, knowing the kids wouldn’t be asking for a repeat performance. 

A few days went by and I’d almost wiped it from my mind, getting on with life. I lay on the bed with Linda, my wife, watching reruns of oldies on her ‘wall screen’ TV.  I thought I heard the phone or the door bell.

My old ‘Alexa box’ informed me “There somebody at the front door.”  The dogs were barking, I must have been dozing, because they woke Linda up. “Are you going to answer that Kev?” she said.

I peeped through the spy hole. It was a young woman and an older man in a suit and tie; ‘Jehova’s Witnesses’ I thought, and opened the door… “We’re Muslims,” I said.

“Isn’t everybody?” The young woman replied.

“Whatever you’re selling we’re not buying,” I said.

“We are not sales persons Kevin,” the man said.

 “So what do you want?  I’m in the middle of preparing lunch for my wife and the Rotweillers…”

The young woman smiled, “you appear to be under a misapprehension…”

“Thank goodness, It thought it was a roof…”

“I gather you are both retired,” she continued unfazed, “can we come in and speak?  It’s a little cold out here…”

“At your own risk, the dogs are mighty hungry, as you can hear.”

“I’ll open the side gate and let you through into the back yard, but keep your eyes peeled for messages; I’ll just close the door.”

 I opened the gate and led them down to the summer house. “Now how can I help you?”

“We are a consortium of planetologists, astrophysicists, and cosmologists.  We are all Astronomers, keen to find a planet that could in the future provide a second home for humanity…” she said.

“So, what is wrong with Earth?”

“We are trying to find a second home if needed.”

“There is a danger in continuing as a one planet race. If a catastrophic event, should happen we would all be wipe out,” the man said.

“But what about the cities in space, the moon colony, they would survive,” I said.

“Maybe not!  They all need resources that can only come from Earth.”

“Mars?”

“We just don’t know if it could be ‘self sufficient’ in the long term, without support from Earth,” she said.

“Well, I’m no scientist, what can I do about it?” I asked.

“That remains to be seen Kevin, My name is Clive and my associate is Alesia.  We have AI programs constantly trawling the ‘cloud’ for likely leads, and our attention has been drawn to a recording of your dreamscape. It may prove to be nothing but, we have to investigate all avenues you understand…?”

“To be honest, No!”

“Then let me explain, our research AI’s are looking for dreamscapes with certain parameters.  They are bookmarked for follow-ups,” Clive explained.

 “So how am I involved?  Whatever I dream is my own affair. As far as I know there is no such thing as ‘the mind police’, so I can’t be charged for my thoughts; YET!”

“It’s not like that Kevin, we’ve told you what we do. It isn’t just a job to us, it’s our vocation,” Alesia explained.

“So, I’m at a loss; what do you want from me Alesia?”

“Tell us what you were thinking about before you fell asleep?”

I looked at her, then up at the ceiling. “Mmm.”  My eyes lit up and I smiled. “Yes, I laid back on my left side because that way the headset was more confortable.  I was looking out of the window, at the sky.  The clouds cleared and I could see the stars, a red star was twinkling, as I drifted off I thought it could be Mars…”

She nodded encouragingly.

“Then nothing until I woke up.  Oh, the kids brought me tea and toast but they were disappointed, they said it was just blurry grey mist nothing exciting.”

Clive and Alesia were now looking excited. Clive said “our equipment is a little more sophisticated, we were able to bring those blurry pictures into focus…”

Alesia interrupted him in her excitement, “we were able to see Mars station 1 with familiar rocky cliffs in the background.”

“Ah!  But I’ve seen Mars base 1 on TV…”

“That would not have been a live-stream, what we saw in your dreamscape included a recently arrive rocket from Earth. It was no memory you conjured up from your subconscious, it was the real thing, we weren’t even aware the rocket had reached Base 1 until the morning after your dream was recorded.”

“But, there has to be an explanation!  It must have been a coincidence what can I do to prove it?” 

“There is a simple answer Kevin, we want you to come to our lab for one week, we can try to recreate the same circumstances.  As a test we can start by repeating your Mars dreamscape, then we’ll know if it is or isn’t a coincidence.  If it works we can proceed with Dreamscapes of the moon, Venus & Saturn, all will be in the sky over the next week,” Clive explained.”

“To be honest, I think you’re wasting your time and mine, but I must ask, what’s in it for me?”

“Well, we could pay £500?” said Alisia.

“Make it £1,000 and I’ll do it!”

“Okay it’s £1,000 a day for as long as you stay…”

‘A day?’ I recovered my senses, “That sounds acceptable.”

“If we can repeat the experiment, we will need a month of your time…” she said.

“But there is one problem, my wife Linda is bed ridden, and I’m her carer.  She needs regular attention and the dogs…” as if prearranged a bell rang… “She needs me, I won’t be a moment.” I saw to her needs. I explained to Linda that I had visitors. 

“What’s her name Kevin!”

“Alesia and Clive…”

“Which one is she!” Linda yelled.

“I’ll explain later love, right now I just need to get rid of them.”

I returned to the summer house.  “Sorry about that,” I smiled.

“We can arrange for a 24 hour care nurse while you’re with us, and a handler to care for your dogs?” 

The nurse arrived within two hours, and the dog handler soon after.

I packed a bag with clothing for a week’s stay, plus a week’s supply of meds, just in case.  To my surprise they had arrived in a chauffer driven hire car.

“I’m not impressed by flash cars,” I said.

Clive smiled, “We are heading to Stansted airport.  Our unit is in Scotland. The flight will take about an hour.”

It wasn’t business class either, a private jet with seating for seven passengers.  We were accompanied by two teenagers, a boy and a girl; they ignored us.

“We will be stopping off briefly at Ringway to pick up another gamer,” he explained. 

The pickup was a man in his mid 30s.  We had lunch & drinks; I alone had Pepsi.

“So, what games do you play?” Jason asked conversationally.

“Space Invaders, and Chess” I said, which ended our conversation.

.-…-. 

Their Lab was like a Hospital ward.  White walls and floors, a glass ceiling looking out into the open sky. A clear, dark, cloudless sky, with no reflected light. White gowned nurses, quiet and efficient, knew exactly what had to be done. Each bed was encased in a cube of non reflective smokey glass.  The Headsets were so lightweight, when worn, they could barely be felt; so different from those the kids had.

I lay on my bed aligned so that Mars was clearly visible.  I drifted off to sleep after half an hour, remembering nothing until I woke up.  We were served breakfast, a great variety was available, but I’ve always preferred two soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers, followed by porridge with freshly squeezed orange juice. As I tucked in, Alesia sat down beside me. 

“Was there anything that you did prior to sleeping when you did your first dreamscape?”

“Yes, the kids oiled me with ‘whiskey mac’s.”

“Thank you,” she said.

That night she plied me with several whiskey mac’s.  Once again Mars was prominent in the sky.  Next morning Clive and Alesia joined me at breakfast. 

“We’ve viewed the dreamscape recording from last night, and the whiskey mac’s worked Kevin!” She smiled, “We got detail we would never have dreamed of (excuse the pun).” 

“You are an incredible resource Kevin,” Clive enthused. 

“We need your bank details for your salary, we will also pay your Tax,” Alesia assured me.

That evening I was to look at Venus, but clouds intervened so instead I turned my attention to the moon. Both were delighted with the results.

On the fourth day Saturn was in my sky view. Again I remembered nothing, but Clive and Alisia were delighted with the results.

On the fifth day I again looked at Venus, on the sixth my target was to be the ‘asteroid belt’.  I couldn’t imagine what use that would be but hey, at £1,000 a day, why would I complain?

“We need to establish the limits of your talent,” Alesia said, “can you imagine what an asteroid is made of?”

“To be honest, no…”

“Thank you, good.  So, when you cast your mind out there you will have no preconceptions.” 

.-…-. 

Day seven, at breakfast, I thought I might sample kidneys and coddled eggs for a change.

“Very clear records of several asteroids and some smaller rocks, interesting colours.  How did you manage to light them up in your dream?”

“To be honest I don’t have a clue.”

“Mmm, maybe we could get you to view the other side of the moon. If we aim you at it, you could survey the visible side then skirt round to the reverse.”

“That’s not a bad plan, planting the suggestion in my mind might jog my subconscious. We shall see; or rather you will see, In the morning.”

Day 8, “Alesia how did it go?”

“Quite good. But, you didn’t illuminate the dark side, I think your mind is beginning to deviate.”

“Meaning?”

“It’s not unusual for a subject to wander into other area’s, when divorced from their normal everyday routine, It isn’t uncommon, for their thoughts to wander away from the astral plane. In short, you’re outside life is encroaching.”

“What can I do to correct it?”

“You need to take a couple of days off.  Go home, take Linda out for a meal, take her to a show or the cinema, catch up on local news and family life in general.”

“What should I tell my friends and family about this place; and where is Clive haven’t seen him since we arrived?”

“Clive is on another project, we are building a new Dreamscape viewing dome for stage 2 of our project.  So, go home, spend some time with Linda & the family.  Return refreshed for stage 2.

.-…-.

I returned a week later, refreshed an ready for anything they might throw at me.  I headed to my dorm unpacked and fifteen minutes passed before a new young woman knocked and entered, “are you decent?”

“Well, as you can see I’m totally naked!  Just kidding.  I was expecting Alesia,” I said.

“She’s on another project, I’m Marigold, I’ll be your handler until she returns,” she offered her hand and I shook it.

“Well me flower, I’m sure we’ll get on just fine.”

“Well I’ve never heard that one before; but Marigold is a little formal, most people call me Mari…”

“Okay Mari, so why the change?”

“Horses for courses, we all have our own specialities.” She smiled, “I have a questionnaire for you…”

“Fire away,” I said.

“How is your accommodation?”

“No complaints, the food is excellent, but I do miss a few regulars…”

“If you list them I’ll ensure they are added to your menu Kevin.”

“How do you find the facilities, gym, pool, & games rooms?”

“They are excellent, I use the gym & pool daily, helps me unwind after a hard nights sleep.  I’m not much of a gamer, but the bar is excellent.”

(To be Continued)

Copyright Len Morgan