Revenge

Dream Funk, Inc (Part Three)

Miller had his head down over his laptop, headphones on, when Jackson snatched his arm and swung him around.

"He's dead, you idiot! Dead!" Jackson's face was screwed up and bright red, fury and horror battling for supremacy.

Shit! What had happened?

"Calm down, Jackson!" Miller said firmly. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Noah. Noah's dead!"

"How? A reaction to the drug?" Miller kept his voice calm.

"He choked to death on his own vomit!"

"Ah. An accident, then," concluded Miller, unthinking in his relief.

Jackson looked as if he was going to hit him.

Hastily, Miller continued, pasting a look of concern over his features. "What a tragedy! But an accident, Jackson, a terrible accident. It wasn't our fault."

"There will have to be an autopsy," insisted Jackson, gritting his teeth.

"Of course, my dear chap. Of course," agreed Miller, in soothing tones. "By the way, how are the others? It's about time I checked on Julia." He was very careful not to mention Jason and his little experiment. Jackson was worked up enough as it was.

~~~

Julia was dreaming. She was in a garden. White snakeroot, yellow hellebore and purple wolfsbane ran wild. The sickly smell emanating from a cluster of snake lilies, filled her nostrils as she strode along the stone path. Nearby, the ruins of a Grecian folly thrust up into the stormy sky and she could see deadly nightshade and angel trumpets winding their way up the worn columns.

There was an archway in the furthest wall which she couldn't remember noticing before. Although it was still daylight where Julia was standing, it appeared to be night on the other side of the arch. Drawn to the darkness, she ignored the icy wind whipping her hair around her face, and approached the folly.

Then she heard a footstep behind her.

Without hesitating, Julia stepped inside. And waited.

~~~

By the time Miller entered the Dreamer's ward, Noah's body had been whisked away, and the cot made up freshly—waiting for its new occupant. Miller walked along the ward, checking each Dreamer and their equipment carefully, twice. The last thing he needed was another accident! All appeared to be as usual. Jason was sleeping soundly, the lights glowing green on his monitor. Dreaming something exciting, then. That was good.

Rather warily, he approached Julia's cot and looked down at her sleeping form. Nothing appeared to have changed. From her calm appearance, it seemed unlikely she had produced any Dreams worthy of note; still, he'd better put on the helmet and make sure. He picked up the helmet and put it on his head.

Immediately he was transported to the garden, but what a garden this time! Weird plants covered the ground and something stank like rotten meat. He screwed up his nose. If they were going to use this one, they'd have to tamp that stink down after the initial impact. A bit too revolting to have in your nose for the whole dream.

He strolled along the stone path, careful not to brush against any of the strange plants. The folly, which had been so graceful in Julia's dream previously, was now—to him—a far more interesting ruin.

Something moved, at the edge of his vision.

Miller blinked, then laughed at himself. For a moment there he'd thought he'd seen Julia disappearing into the folly. That was impossible, of course. You never saw the person who was dreaming in the Dream. After all, the whole point was that you were the Dreamer for the period of the Dream.

Curious, he approached the folly and peered inside.

~~~

Jackson looked down at the sleeper lying comatose in the bed. An alarming number of tubes connected different parts of his body to various machines, keeping him alive. The white sheet rose and fell gently with each breath.

"Any change?" Jackson asked the middle-aged nurse as she adjusted the nutrient drip.

"No. I'm sorry, Doctor Jackson. Still no response to any stimulus."

"I expected him to wake up as soon as we removed the Dream equipment."

"I did, too. I've never seen a case like this before, and I've worked with Dreamers for years." She studied the patient with clinical detachment.

"Any idea how long this state will last? Will he recover?"

The nurse shrugged infinitesimally. "We might know more after Doctor Wang sees him this afternoon. He's one of the top specialists in coma treatment." She paused, then added, "but to be honest, Doctor Jackson, I wouldn't get my hopes up. After all, it's been a month now."

Jackson nodded in reluctant agreement. "Do you think he can hear us?"

"I'd hardly think so. His brain is showing a very limited activity. Just the same little pattern, over and over."

Jackson shook his head, "What a tragedy, and we've had more than our fair share of those this year! I'm due in the Dreamer's Ward now, but I'll look in again after Doctor Wang's visit."

He hesitated on his way out the door, then turned back for a moment to speak to the patient, with a self-conscious smile.

"Sweet dreams, Miller."

(Author's note: Sub-genre: Dreampunk

Word count: 3000 – 3500 (total 3428 not counting this note)

Prompts: A reference to Nickelback being the greatest band of all time

A reference to Parliament's "Give up the Funk"

You must have some kind of drug being taken

Two images: I chose-

4. Plants growing over ruin

5. Skull with insects crawling in

Plus these two quotes: "Did you hear when I said 'Dragon Slayer'?"

"I'm tempted to say that she has, like, a vanilla personality. But I feel like that would be doing a great disservice to the flavour vanilla. I mean, people actively seek out vanilla-flavoured products. Children clamour to get a vanilla ice-cream cone. Nobody's clamouring for anything Julia-flavoured.")