[ voice ]

[philosopher]

Siren's Port, it's Dale Cooper. We've spoken once before, albeit by accident. You'll have to be patient with me; the technology around here is a little ahead of my time.

Something is troubling me and I thought perhaps to take a moment to discuss it with all of you. You see, technology isn't the only thing that's different between this world and mine. While there are a great many mysteries in my world, strange and supernatural, the Darkness is a phenomenon I have only observed in this city. And on the recommendation of my doctors and others I've spoken with, I've yet to explore the Darkness personally because I am not in peak physical condition... yet.

And so it is with an admission of ignorance that I come to you today for answers. I trust that many of you have the expertise to decipher a little puzzle I've been facing.

On Monday, June 4th, at approximately 3:30 a.m., I awoke from a dream. In that dream, I had been walking, shortly after high noon, near the baseball diamond where I first appeared. I noticed that, as the sun inched toward the west for its descent, the shadows began to grow. But these shadows were no ordinary shadows. Seeping from them was a decay... Where a shadow fell over a pipe, it rusted - and over sidewalks, cement cracked and turned to dust. It was a decay like I've only seen at night, peering out from my window. But in the dream, it was everywhere, in every shadow, even with the sun shining overhead.

The following night, I had the same dream, only I began to run. I ran as far as my legs could take me, but no matter where I went, the shadows were full of death. In the long shade of the company towers, I could see the grass dry out, and the flowers shriveled, and the brick walls crumbled.

On Wednesday the 6th, I had the same dream again, but there was more. I gave up on running and stopped at a coffee stand. I ordered a coffee - black, as always - but I received a pale liquid... white, but not milky. And when I tasted it, it was sweet. A sickly sweet flavor. I spit out the drink, but instead of falling to the ground, the drops floated into the air. I heard a man's laughter and suspected I was the target of a practical joke, but when I looked around, I failed to find the source. I began to walk again, searching, but became more and more disoriented. The colors of the world around me began to invert, so that I couldn't tell if it was night or day, whether I walked through sunlight or shade. Out of the corner of my eye, I would catch flashes of something - an electric blue plasma, something amorphous... But I never did catch up with it.

This dream has been recurring every night since, but I'm no closer to understanding its meaning. I wonder if anyone has seen anything similar to what I've described, in dreams or in reality? I would very much like to hear your thoughts on it.

Comments

[ Video ]

[deathknellgrell]

It sounds like an undiscover'd country, from whose bourn no traveller returns.

[philosopher]

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all...

[deathknellgrell]

What're you afraid of, hmmm?

[philosopher]

A beetle creeping in my ear to burrow into my brain... or a high-speed electric drill in the hands of a dentist probing violently instead my mouth.

Neither of which seem particularly relevant to the problem at hand.

[kryptonianclone]

My guess? You're just having really weird bad dreams, dude. The Darkness doesn't come out during the day.

[philosopher]

That may well be the case. It's just that I have a feeling it's significant in some way.

[kryptonianclone]

For everyone's sake, I really hope it doesn't come true. Bad enough we have to deal with it every night.

[philosopher]

There's no cause for alarm yet. Maybe it's symbolic.

[Private]

[bestseller]

Dreams. Reality. I've been chased by shadows in both stages, but not in Siren's Port. Sure I've been stalked by the Darkness here- several times in fact- but I've only ever encountered what you're describing before I came here. But these shadows didn't make objects decay; they possessed them. Brought objects to life like some kind of poltergeist controlling them.

That's not the worse of it though; the shadows had the ability to possess people. Touch them, influence their actions, control them like puppets. And when it was done, it'd kill them and bring them back as formal ghosts of themselves; The Taken.

But the shadows were only minions to some greater force.

[Private]

[philosopher]

A greater force... What was it?

[Private]

[bestseller]

It's called the Dark Presence. When I encountered it, it took on the appearance of an older woman. She thrived in the dark, could control the shadows, control the Taken, and she came from somewhere called the Dark Place.

I'm still at a loss as to what it is exactly, but its very dangerous and I'd been fighting it for years.

[Private]

[philosopher]

Do you believe there's a connection here?

[voice]

[ace_of_knaves]

Sounds like the ravings of a madman to me.

[philosopher]

I was under the impression that dreams are a fairly common occurrence and not particularly indicative of abnormal mental health.

[ace_of_knaves]

I was under the impression that dreamers often lie.

[philosopher]

[Flatly:]

In bed. Asleep. While they do dream things true.

permatext

[reassures]

It's Dale, right?

It sounds like the world in your dreams is coming undone-- doesn't it?

permavoice!!

[philosopher]

Yes.

Yes, that does seem to be the case.

[reassures]

Hello again.

It sounds like a frightening thing to dream about. Why do you want to know if other people have seen anything similar?

[inthejunk]

I've heard of white coffee before. But the rest of that just sounds like nightmares.

[philosopher]

The white coffee was certainly nightmarish.

[inthejunk]

[That gets a bit of a chuckle.]

It's Malaysian, I think, so I guess it's supposed to be sweet.

anonymous text;

[playthings]

Do you always ask other people to solve your problems for you?

Think. Think. Think. Think. Think.

-Anonymous

[ He's perfectly ok with his Winnie The Pooh reference; he think's it's completely appropriate imagery under the circumstances. ]

still voice, you sassy texter you

[philosopher]

Not always.

talking is overrated, the sass is just a bonus~

[playthings]

Just when the solution is obvious?

-Anonymous