Garote's
Dream Asylum

I don't pretend to understand them.

17-nov-97

Being chased by police, I escape into the side of a building by climbing into the air duct. It widens out into a maze of pyramid-shaped rooms, linked by parts of walls. The sloping floors and ceilings, and the cross-beams, are all made of light, polished wood. Ambient light gives the place a churchy glow. I think I hear my pursuers scrambling in the ducts and ramps close behind, so I endeavor to get deep within the puzzle. I find an out-of-the-way tunnel that bends at the bottom to an alcove. I have to climb two opposite walls horizontally with hands and feet in order to get in without falling to the floor of the alcove, which is made of an opaque glass plate that might break, dropping me some unknown distance to the hard floor of the church. In the alcove is a small bag containing notepaper, some old keys, and some metal jewelry. A brief inspection makes the notepaper out to be a map of the church, including the secret alcoves behind all the windows, pointing the way to a treasure. I stuff these items into my pockets and climb out of the alcove.

I work as a secretary to a minister who owns a company. I make an illegal move of funds, transferring money to a snack machine in another room. A pile of candy bars spills out, which I put into a bucket. I pour the bucket out on the floor next to my computer. As I share the candy with Skot, I begin to think about the repercussions of what I've done, and realize that there is evidence that could implicate me. I scoop the pile of candy bars into a bucket and run around, eventually hiding them under a blanket. Hiding the candy bars will not help, though, as the evidence is in a bank computer, thousands of miles away.

A bunch of young people are milling about in what looks like a vast indoor mall with a road snaking around in it. I wait for someone, walk somewhere, and then on my way back I hear someone call my name. I stop and look around at the crowds, but don't see anyone looking at me. I turn back around and continue walking aongside the road, and a small truck drives up. Inside is Shannon, but as I look at her, I notice that her face is very similar to Torrey's. She opens the passenger side door and I duck down and squeeze into the car. We start talking, but I can't remember the dialogue.

My spaceman friend and I are clinging to a satellite shaped like a beach-ball, metallic gray, about the size of a small car. As we try to repair it, we are interrupted by another, smaller satellite that keeps bumping into ours. It glows, and there is a single button on the front, resembling the button I'd seen on the top of the toilet at Kinko's yesterday. At Kinko's, the toilet flushed when you thumbed the button. In space, I know that if you press the button on a satellite, it will detonate with a nuclear explosion and vaporize you. Part of Star Wars, or some other defense initiative gone haywire. We are also botherd by a space monster, humanoid robot that shoots lasers from its eyes. It burns the airlock to our ship and we can't get in. My buddy finds a switch underneath the monster's skin on it's shoulder that makes it malfunction and twitch. We take the opportunity to escape.