INTRODUCTION

This epic dream's a wild adventure much like the action movies Lisa mentions liking. But look under the surface! That girl who stashes the secret chip and leads the way into the underworld is a classic anima; the bad-boy leader of the mutant gang is a classic Jungian Shadow or Gestalt underdog. Wedding him at the end almost certainly means accepting this wild side of herself--a wise move, for clearly it's very strong. Right from the start, she's not afraid to fight goons, use a freeze-gun, risk electrocution, or defy the Voice of Authority. She never gives up.

When Lisa first published this dream in Somnial Times, she mentioned being struck by a dream of mine, Above the White Tower, from the previous issue; and these two adventure/romance dreams do have parallels.

--Chris Wayan

MUTANT WEDDING

I'm at a club-resort of sorts along a river with paths through semi-forested areas. I head up some stairs with a girl; she's distressed and at the top (where it simply runs into a stone wall and roof) she tries to find a secret component she's hid there before. I'd seen someone up here looking recently, and find the chip in a crevice. I hear a bad guy coming up behind us, so I motion for her to follow me and run down the stairs, past him. He's burly looking, but ignores me. I hid the chip in my hand. At the bottom, I wait but she doesn't come.

I call to her, then run down the path. I notice someone 'frozen' at the side of the path (like in [the 1981 film] Looker, where people were frozen temporarily by hypnotic light rays) and then see two guys coming at me with a large light-gun. I manage to grab it and freeze them, than freeze others as I run down a path. I pass where I first saw the frozen person, but he is gone. I continue to stun passers-by in case they are part of the enemy.

I reach the top of the path, where the buildings begin, and see a door to a ballroom. I realize I'm in a black leather dress--appropriate for the evening. A sign says people should check the rips and tears on their clothes with their spouses before entering to make sure the spouse thinks it's decent. [I had just yesterday been eyeing a girl's shirt with several rips, wondering if she had placed them particularly to reveal certain sections or had picked the spots at random.) I know the party doesn't start for a few hours, but run inside. After all, I think to myself, I'm on the EAC (I chair the Employees Activity Committee at work) and can help set up.

One of the enemy is inside--he chases me to a door. Inside is a stairwell and I run upstairs instead of down. Mistake--the stairs stop at an access window for the Pilot Plant (at work this is where the fermentors and other machinery is). I crawl in through the window; there's a narrow crawl path, rather clean, through an enormous amount of brightly colored pipes, wires, and other metallic objects. I manage to crawl quickly enough to lose him, but suddenly get scared as it seems I can't go forwards or backwards. Some of the wires seem live, and I know that many of the pipes are very hot.

I cry out, "OK--you can have the chip if you get me out." A voice comes over a speaker telling me to identify where I am so they can get me. I notice an air-conditioning duct not far from me, and realize I can escape. I tell them I'm not sure where I am, stalling. Meanwhile I inch over and start removing the filters which block the duct. I balance them on a nearby large pipe. The voice tells me to pick up any nearby phone so they can hear me better; I realize they'll be able to pinpoint my location with it. I tell them I'm trying to reach a phone, but continue to remove the filters. One falls and I pause a moment, watching it fall down, down, down. The speaker doesn't say anything so I remove the final piece and climb in.

Looking down, I see a fire has begun in the complex. I wriggle through the duct quickly, reaching an open stockroom with boxes and workers all around. There are many people between me and the door, so I sneak as fast I can but run into one. I smile: he smiles back before realizing I'm an intruder and sounds the alert.

I race to the door and head down the stairs. They're smoke-filled and lined with pole-holding, burly workers who each hit me once on my way past. Sort of like a punishment line. I figure they're upset I burned down the factory, but wonder why they don't simply follow me to safety.

I finally reach the bottom and the girl from the first stairs is behind me. There's a reddish glare all around and a fat, naked woman sleeps in the corner by a door.

I realize it wasn't my fire that caused this, but a nuclear explosion had occurred. The men were angry because they were going to die.

The girl says I should stay with her--she knows the people on the other side of the door, and can handle it.

We go in. The giant cavern glows red and is smoky, but not overly warm as I expected. I see it is full of mutants--small groups off to either side, but a large group in the center has yelling, laughing, and wildness going on. Two guys grab me and start to drag me off saying, "Look--a newcomer!" I yell for help, and a voice orders, "Stop!"

A Rutger Hauer lookalike [I like the movie Flesh and Blood] comes up and says, "Perhaps I'll take you for my wife." I struggle and he says, "or you can become common property..." at which point I realize I have no choice. [In the movie, Rutger's band captures a maiden who he rapes. He then turns her over to his band, but before they hurt her he realizes he wants her for his own and manages to save her.]

We kneel for the ceremony. The rings are two twisted pieces of metal. He repeats his vows after the officiator, then puts a ring on my finger. When I don't respond to my part, he says my lines for me. I look up at him and realize he really does seem to care for me. I finish my lines properly and put his ring on his finger.