I Dream of Joust!

Once again, I made a post on my main blog. This time I drew some pixel art!

"Round-up", a dream, Part 4

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4

I'm back at my office, but I can't focus on my work.


I want to pull my hair out.

"It's so unfair," I rant. "They can't do this to us! They can't grab everyone like this!" I'm crying now. "They can't! They can't just grab us for something that, what, like 90% of people do?"

"Well," offers my coworker, my coworker who's the only other person still left in the office. "The aliens have a bit of a point... I mean, everyone they catch has technically broken the law..."

"No!" I wail. "No, they don't! They don't have a point!" I'm furious now, pounding my fist on the table. "The aliens can't just round up everyone who violates copyright law!"

"Round-up", a dream, Part 3

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4

I follow the crowd to a dolphin show.


Wait, there are sharks in the tank, too! Is that safe? One of the trainers dives into the water, and the crowd cheers him on. I've got to save him! I find a valve and drain the tank, but then the dolphins start flopping on their backs, so I fill the tank back up.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. The alien has returned, and he tells me it's time to go. How did I get so distracted by the dolphin and shark show? I still haven't found my dad! I've wasted all my time! "One second," I stall, and I grab the first stranger I see.

"Please help me find 4MV-48G," I plead.

"But there won't be any way for him to contact you even if I do find him," the stranger complains.

The alien starts pulling me away from the terminal. "4MV-48G!" I scream as I'm dragged away. "Just let him know his son is looking for him!"

Continued in Part 4

"Round-up", a dream, Part 2

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4

The alien waves at a terminal screen, and and the terminal stand crawls over to us. He hands me a joystick and tells me that this is a tele-presence device connected to a similar unit on one of the prison worlds. People on the other side can see and hear me, and I can even move the remote terminal around with my joystick.

"But there are hundreds of prison worlds!" I protest. "Is this the one my dad is on?"

The alien ignores me and walks away.

I turn to the device. I see a dimly-lit cave. Everyone there wears parkas and anoraks. They seem oddly full of energy. Rather than moping in agony, they're constantly darting to and fro. I drive the remote terminal around and try asking about my father, but hardly anyone stops long enough to even let me finish my question. The ones who hear me just shrug and move on.

There are probably millions of people here. How the hell am I supposed to find my dad just by walking around?!

Eventually, I catch the eye of one man who turns to me and stops running. He nervously scans the area. "I've seen your father," he whispers. "4MV. Ask for 4MV-48G. That's his serial number!"

I want to ask him how he knows me, and if he knows where I should look, but a mob of people rushes between us, and they sweep him away, toward a railing.

I hear a splash.

Continued in Part 3

Day 14: Sleep paralysis, lamp and jazz edition

Have you ever suffered from sleep paralysis? It's a state where you think you're awake, and you're lucid to some degree, aware of being in bed and asleep, but you can't move. You can't move partly because you're mostly still asleep, and partly because your body produces chemicals during sleep to paralyze you (and prevent you from sleep walking or tossing and turning too much). In this state, people tend to get paranoid delusions, and it's quite possibly where many UFO abduction fantasies come from, as well as visions of, say, incubi in the olden days.

The first time I got it was in college, and I felt that I was in my bed in my dorm room, and two men in black suits were sitting very still in chairs to my right, silently watching me. I tried everything I could to move or to wake up, even trying to spit on myself, to no avail. Freaky as hell.

Anyway, sometimes when I drive long distances and get drowsy, I pull out at the next exit and take a brief rest to refresh myself before getting back on the road. Today I did that at a parking lot, rested my eyes a bit, and I guess I actually kinda fell asleep... and then suffered from sleep paralysis while trying to wake up.

I thought that I was home in bed, and that my bedside lamp was on my chest for some reason. I could only open my eyes half-way. I could sort of barely move my arm, but not enough to push the lamp off. Meanwhile, it seemed I was actually in some sort of college dorm room or apartment, because through an open window to my left, I could hear the faintest jazz playing.

When I finally woke up, there was no lamp on my chest, I was still in my car, and the jazz I thought I heard was actually the drone of nearby machinery.