Dreams for Sale. Oscar Tests His Machine.

Chapter 8

Oscar turned a dial and filled the tube with a gaseous cloud. Four men in suits watched the figure inside who had scratched and clawed at the glass until he stilled. According to the computer monitor on the steel table he was in a deep sleep. Oscar pulled a lever, and the tube darkened, obscuring the man’s face.

He ran his hand across the wires protruding from the bottom of the machine and weaved them into a tapestry of his own design. Someone gasped but he didn’t look up. Next, he pushed a button and as the gas dissipated from inside the tube, the eyes of the form inside flew open, and his struggle began again.

Oscar turned the dial up higher to pump in more gas. Thicker. Darker. It masked the figure inside leaving only the gray shadow of a human form. Oscar tilted his head to one side. No one breathed.

Save for the soft buzz of a single fly, there was silence in the crowded room. Then something snapped. Oscar adjusted a knob and tightened his tapestry of wires. The wires sizzled and caught fire. Flames traveled along the wire into the glass tube. They met the electrodes taped to the temples, chest, forearms, hands, calves, and feet and joined as one unified flame. No one moved. The scent of leather and lemon was now tinged with singed flesh. Blood trickled from beneath the machine and formed a dark crimson pool at their feet. As one they took a step back.

Oscar inhaled and smirked. “Gentlemen, I assure you, we are working out the kinks of my machine. With just a bit more funding, we will continue testing until it is safe for you to join me in the Dreamscape. In there, your wildest dreams can come true. It is what we, you, will make it.” He bared his teeth in a smile, took up his cane, and walked out of the lab.

Four pairs of eyes drilled holes in the back of his head. Then the watchers followed into his office, the windows dark with night, and took their places in front of the fire, their faces an eerie red.

©Lisa Rogers. This story has been written from my head by my hand for more years than I care to count. Completed December 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome, new readers and subscribers! If you’re just catching up, I’ve posted the links to the first seven chapters below.

Chapter 1 - The Silver Feather
Chapter 2 - Lucien’s Visit
Chapter 3 - Callie
Chapter 4 - Oscar
Chapter 5 - Shades of Crimson and White
Chapter 6 - Dreamweaver Training Begins
Chapter 7 - The Mark of Callie

I have gone back-and-forth ad nauseum about whether or not to serialize this book and have decided to rip off the Band-Aid(tm) or plaster, if you prefer.

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