The only part I remember clearly is described below. Everything else either led to or thoroughly explored the aftermath of this event.
I was part of a team of 3 scientists who were abruptly taken into captivity. We were trapped in a tiny room with a single shelf high up. All we had were a few test tubes we had grabbed right before being taken and a glass tank holding three modified gerbils. The gerbils represented all the progress we'd made so far. As long as we kept them alive, there was hope for our research.
One of the scientists drank a concoction that shrank him down to smaller-than-gerbil size. We put him in the cage at his request. He did what he could to improve the gerbil's condition. But the people holding us were not feeding us, and things were starting to go downhill. The gerbils were going to starve to death if things continued.
I remember myself and the other scientist sitting against the wall looking up at a shelf in the wall on which the tank was placed. We saw the tiny scientist prick his arm and place a drop of blood on the mouth of one of the gerbils. "What are you doing?" We shouted. "If they smell blood on you they'll go crazy!"
But the scientist had already taken leave of his senses. He managed another drop of blood on another gerbil. Because of his small size, even a drop really drained him. The hungry freak-of-nature gerbils were getting worked up into a blood frenzy. The other scientist and I stood and tried to open the glass tank to get our colleague out. We were screaming at him to run, but he seemed to think he was perfectly safe.
The gerbils attacked him suddenly and devoured him down to the bones.
Porcelain Portal
This is the last part of a lengthy, detailed, and chaotic dream.
I was infiltrating a large area at night for reasons I'm not sure. No one liked me. There was a massive crowd; the government was holding a feast for all the citizens (but I wasn't invited). The main feast area was raised up on poles like a house in a flood-prone area - but it was so big (like a giant multi-story warehouse) that the poles were actually a matrix of steel girders.
I found myself at the front of the room in the banquet hall. There were rows consisting of 4 long tables covered in spotless white tablecloths. Hungry citizens sat at each table with their forks raised. I was trying to blend in and the government thought I was a servant. I found myself serving a pea-and-carrot casserole, alternating back and forth down my row and scooping it on the nearest plate. There were other servants skittering about serving food too but there was no system; the servants were all terrified and moving too fast. The citizens got disgruntled and started shouting at us and soon the entire room was in chaos.
There was a grumpy older citizen who was rude to me and almost ratted me out to the government.
After the casserole, I did a line of buttery rolls. Every time I got into a groove, scooping back and forth at each table, I would bump into another servant. Soon I was confused and having to stop and look around and figure out who I hadn't served yet. The citizens were all really upset that they didn't have their food. The ones in the back of the room were picky about where I put the roll - not next to the steak, or please on top of the casserole. I was overwhelmed and knew that it was only a matter of time before the government soldiers realized I didn't belong.
Then the rude older citizen pulled me aside. He was going to help me infiltrate deeper! This was a huge surprise to me. He said he had a contact on the inside, and that he was going by the name "Alias." When he said that - just for that instant - I felt like my dream had an audience and they were all laughing at what a stupid code name Alias was.
I followed the citizen out of the banquet hall and we climbed precariously down the steel girders, dropping onto platforms below. It was like descending the Eiffel Tower on a rainy night with no stairs, ladders, or elevators. Finally we hit a large sheltered platform with a door leading into a smaller building area (still part of the banquet hall structure, but further down and smaller). The citizen landed on the platform soon after holding a nightstick. The end was spiky and glowing with electricity.
A voice whispered on the other side of the door. "Alias?" It was incredibly quiet.
The citizen. "Yeah. It's him."
The door opened and the citizen led me down a short walkway, giving me confusing directions about what to do next. Then he opened a door at the end and thrust me in. I found myself in a large theater-style room, with raised seats on one side and a stage in the left corner of the room. The entire room was made of bright white porcelain and illuminated by glaring fluorescent lights. Where the theater seats should have been, there were a variety of robotic turrets reminiscent of the ones in portal. All the objects inside the room were white porcelain as well.
This was a test chamber of some kind - but I had no platforming skills or portal guns. The turrets all started shooting at me and I ran onto the stage, where there was a small wall made of dominoes. It wouldn't last for long under the withering fire of the turrets - some of which had rockets or laser guns. The turrets seemed very intelligent, as if they had their own unique personalities.
Inside the wall of dominoes were several objects, which were apparently the tools I had to use to beat the test chamber. I grabbed the first - a white microphone. The moment I touched it it turned on and my breathing became audible through big speakers throughout the theater. I couldn't think of anything to say. I felt a tangible sense of danger at the thought of more turret fire (which is rare for me; I don't feel like I usually feel fear of injury in my dreams). I dropped the microphone. The turrets were all muttering and watching the wall, waiting.
Careful to keep my head down, I grabbed the next object. It was an old-school plunger - a detonator for dynamite. The handle was a 4-pronged porcelain claw. I reached for it with a deep sense of dread, knowing that it would blow up most of the turrets; maybe all of them and myself as well. I had just made up my mind to press the claw down when my alarm went off.
I was infiltrating a large area at night for reasons I'm not sure. No one liked me. There was a massive crowd; the government was holding a feast for all the citizens (but I wasn't invited). The main feast area was raised up on poles like a house in a flood-prone area - but it was so big (like a giant multi-story warehouse) that the poles were actually a matrix of steel girders.
I found myself at the front of the room in the banquet hall. There were rows consisting of 4 long tables covered in spotless white tablecloths. Hungry citizens sat at each table with their forks raised. I was trying to blend in and the government thought I was a servant. I found myself serving a pea-and-carrot casserole, alternating back and forth down my row and scooping it on the nearest plate. There were other servants skittering about serving food too but there was no system; the servants were all terrified and moving too fast. The citizens got disgruntled and started shouting at us and soon the entire room was in chaos.
There was a grumpy older citizen who was rude to me and almost ratted me out to the government.
After the casserole, I did a line of buttery rolls. Every time I got into a groove, scooping back and forth at each table, I would bump into another servant. Soon I was confused and having to stop and look around and figure out who I hadn't served yet. The citizens were all really upset that they didn't have their food. The ones in the back of the room were picky about where I put the roll - not next to the steak, or please on top of the casserole. I was overwhelmed and knew that it was only a matter of time before the government soldiers realized I didn't belong.
Then the rude older citizen pulled me aside. He was going to help me infiltrate deeper! This was a huge surprise to me. He said he had a contact on the inside, and that he was going by the name "Alias." When he said that - just for that instant - I felt like my dream had an audience and they were all laughing at what a stupid code name Alias was.
I followed the citizen out of the banquet hall and we climbed precariously down the steel girders, dropping onto platforms below. It was like descending the Eiffel Tower on a rainy night with no stairs, ladders, or elevators. Finally we hit a large sheltered platform with a door leading into a smaller building area (still part of the banquet hall structure, but further down and smaller). The citizen landed on the platform soon after holding a nightstick. The end was spiky and glowing with electricity.
A voice whispered on the other side of the door. "Alias?" It was incredibly quiet.
The citizen. "Yeah. It's him."
The door opened and the citizen led me down a short walkway, giving me confusing directions about what to do next. Then he opened a door at the end and thrust me in. I found myself in a large theater-style room, with raised seats on one side and a stage in the left corner of the room. The entire room was made of bright white porcelain and illuminated by glaring fluorescent lights. Where the theater seats should have been, there were a variety of robotic turrets reminiscent of the ones in portal. All the objects inside the room were white porcelain as well.
This was a test chamber of some kind - but I had no platforming skills or portal guns. The turrets all started shooting at me and I ran onto the stage, where there was a small wall made of dominoes. It wouldn't last for long under the withering fire of the turrets - some of which had rockets or laser guns. The turrets seemed very intelligent, as if they had their own unique personalities.
Inside the wall of dominoes were several objects, which were apparently the tools I had to use to beat the test chamber. I grabbed the first - a white microphone. The moment I touched it it turned on and my breathing became audible through big speakers throughout the theater. I couldn't think of anything to say. I felt a tangible sense of danger at the thought of more turret fire (which is rare for me; I don't feel like I usually feel fear of injury in my dreams). I dropped the microphone. The turrets were all muttering and watching the wall, waiting.
Careful to keep my head down, I grabbed the next object. It was an old-school plunger - a detonator for dynamite. The handle was a 4-pronged porcelain claw. I reached for it with a deep sense of dread, knowing that it would blow up most of the turrets; maybe all of them and myself as well. I had just made up my mind to press the claw down when my alarm went off.
