I’m still a day behind but this morning I woke up after a dream with an unusually strong narrative. My dreams tend to have stories to them because I think like a writer, but this one was even more story-like than usual. That’s not to say that it was perfectly linear and self-contained; it was, after all, still a dream stitched together from various feeling and images.
Phone Quest:
My youngest nephew, Max, and I were playing around with video conferencing. We were in a lab and installing flat-panel monitors onto swing arms. The monitors had cameras built-in and we were testing them from opposite ends of the room. I could see his face on my monitor but there was a problem and he wasn’t getting video on his end. After some tweaking we finally got it worked out, though. And then my monitor cracked in half, which was a disappointment.
However, shortly after that we got a package in the mail, along with an explanation: because of our success we were invited to test out these new phones. They were sleek and black; the entire front face was a touch screen. They were sexy - not Apple iPhone sexy, but sexy in a conservative consumer electronics way. The phones also did video conferencing, on top of other cool features. Also in the box was a series of maps and instructions for a road trip. To Canada.
Off we went!
I let Max drive, and while he did I watched the scenery and played with the phone. We chatted about various topics I don’t remember, until we reached the city on the map. Locating ourselves at the intersection that was marked, we looked around. There was much construction around us, and to our right rose the skeleton of an enormous shopping mall. By my interpretation of the map, we were supposed to go in.
As we explored the several levels and many shops inside, we were also using the phones. I worried about losing track of Max, because as we got further and further into the mall, the more built-up and finished it became, and more shoppers and other people appeared, making it quite crowded. Max was excited to find out what was at the end of this quest, and he kept hurrying ahead. Sure enough, my fears were realized when he ran around a corner and down an escalator, taking the stairs two at a time. I tried to keep up, but couldn’t. I had lost him.
But I could still see him on the phone. I tried to ask him where he was, but he got lost and scared and started panicking, and crying. The image on the screen in my hand shook and showed random angles and odd things. As my frustration grew, the view shifted once more, and I was looking at Max on the screen from above and behind. Somehow, my phone had picked up a security camera. Was this a capability of the phone? I scanned the picture for clues and saw a large department store near Max. I looked around me in person but wasn’t able to match up the image with where I was. I rushed around a corner, and up and down stairs. I was close but I wasn’t in exactly the right spot.
A message scrolled down the screen, thanking me for bringing the phones back. The tone of the message was cold and sinister. I watched, helplessly, as people in white jumpsuits surrounded Max and frog-marched him away from the security camera. Then a flash of a face, and my phone went dead.
I had lost him. I had failed him. I fell down, on my knees, crying. I felt a deep despair come over me.
“Uncle Brian!” I heard Max’s voice and looked around; Max was bounding up a stairway hidden by some potted plants. I rushed over to him and hugged him.
“What happened? Why did they let you go?” I asked.
He held up his phone. “They just needed to update their software. We can keep the phones!”
