Dreamland

We ate and chatted happily. The two asked me about the concert and if I was there, and after I confirmed, they wanted to know more details: did I got there my bruises? Had it been really so bad as the news was making it look like? What did really happen?

I told them a sanitized version: yes, I was there with Joe, and yes, the concert was great until they did that 'hands surfing' thing. Then it became wilder and crazier; I said that I got separated from Joe and went out. Yes, there was a brawl, I got some bruises and... well, that was it.

After we finished breakfast, we separated, they went to the gym, and I went to pick up my bike.

Walking the peaceful streets towards Sweenie's, where my bike was still waiting for me, I thought again about the whole tragedy.

Who, why and how could have made that Mephi fog attack? Was it Mephi himself? It was exclusively Mephi and his handlers doing it in the other world, but... not here!? He could not be here!

If not, how on Earth did that thing appear here? Did somebody create it in the way how I 'got' my inventory box and all those items inside it?

There were rumours that one could find ways to join Mephisto's fraction inside the game, was this proof of it? Never confirmed but never denied. I mean, people having access to that kind of substance? And those people did it now here on Earth?

But why spread it over a bunch of kids? Just for fun?

It did not make sense to me!

What was the description in the game about it? If I remember correctly, it was designed explicitly to incapacitate white magic but had some side effects as a stimulant and hallucinogen for the rest. Something about blocking empathy and unleashing the reptilian brain. People became more violent and were easily manipulated. One needed a solid character to withstand its effect.

So what was the game? What was the reason? Was it a test, or was it an attack?

Have there been white magic casters at the concert beside me?

The more white magic one possessed, the worse the reaction to it. I felt it on my own skin. In the game, as a healer, you need some protection to survive, protection that you get from other team members. Alone you are lost.

If there truly were white mages inside that building, they were probably between the trampled victims. Did somebody target me specifically with that fog? But then, why did they not use the moment when I was incapacitated?

Was somebody else targeted, and I was only some collateral damage? But why not use a smaller charge in a smaller room and not risk driving thousands of kids bananas, like apes on steroids?

More than one thousand of those kids had spread through the city, committing various acts of vandalism. What use would that be to anybody? And I guess the numbers have been played down.

To what purpose has this been done?

Was this a campaign against the Blue Cauldron music group? But to risk killing those kids? No, that would be too crazy.

I had the feeling that I was missing something, not only in this Mephisto-fog story but in the overall picture.

For instance, if I am a witch, why on Earth can I do only Mephisto-related tricks? Why can I spell only through my alter-ego? Why do other people seem to have the same relationship between magic and Mephisto?

I know, I know, my explanation is based on the influence of the dream interface and the game, yes, but now with the genes unleashed, should it still be that case?

These things are linked, there must be some unifying theory, and I was looking at each as a different picture. But how could I bring these together?

Maybe I need to try to tackle my witch story from a scientific point of view. I could do some tests. For instance, to avoid going on a mobile phone killing spree and get a better understanding of how I can interact with computers.

I heard a car honking behind me, and a woman's voice called my name, interrupting my thoughts just when I was about to get a migraine from too much thinking. It was Kate, Matt's mother, who was just in the area. There was an open market that she had visited and was now driving back home.

“Dolores! Are you on the way to us? Don't you want to join me? I know from Matt that you'll be visiting us today, and you seem to be late?! Come on, I promise I'll bring you back, and we can chat on the way!” - said Kate with a bright grin.

Okay. This is weird. It was the first time in my life that the potential mother-in-law offered to drive me to my appointment... with her son. There was no escape; I could not do as if I did not hear her, and nothing came to my mind to say to avoid it. My shocked brain was blocked.

I stood there for another second with a wide, stupid grin on my face, then sighed and tried to hide it.

Chat on the way was something I was not particularly interested in, but I could not say no, so I ended up in her car.

She was chatty and drove extremely slow; I think she was making everybody that had to drive behind her mad. She didn't seem to realize it, or she simply did not care. That was another reason why I love bikes...

She had no clue that Matt had slept by me last night; she was convinced he had been home with the boys. 'Matt is such a goof with girls!' - was her repeated motto. 'Not only with girls, but generally, he is at the level of an idiot in social networking', but she was doing everything she could to help him. Unfortunately, he was stubborn and refused to tell her everything, and she had to learn from others again and again how cumbersome he behaved.

Uh, OK. What could I say? I mean, I may be even worse than Matt at socializing. And she was admiring me! How wise I was to avoid all those sharks that tried to prey on us after our performance!

It went on and on, so I asked White Flower to take over and let me think about my problems. White Flower, at her turn, put Cala in charge, and the result was … not exactly what I wanted to have.

“You know that I was there in the second room and listened to you?”

“Really?” - wondered Cala.

“Yeah! Imagine that I had to do it in hiding; Matt did not know I was there. He is so emotionally unstable that he would blabber nonsense and not let me help him. I wanted to work out with him a set of prepared sketches and sentences that he should tell at the opportune moment. I could signal him which one to say and when, but he simply refused. He also refused to take a headset from me so that I could whisper to him the proper answers. So I said, OK, it looks like you do not want me to come, and you know what he answered?”

“No?”

“If you say so, then don't come. Then don't come! Can you imagine he told me that?”

“Frankly speaking, I can hardly imagine him telling that!”

“True! I did not expect that from him. I thought it was the influence of someone he met” - she glanced at me shortly - “but it must be his hormones playing crazy. Hey! What are you doing!”

We were already in the drive before the house, and Cala simply unlocked her belt, put a hand on the door and the other on the chair and jumped out of the cabriolet.

“Wow! That's dangerous! That was crazy!” - protested Kate stopping the car dead.

Cala simply laughed, cartwheeling away. I now know why she likes cabriolets; it's so easy to jump out!