This week's macabre dream happened last night:

The first thing I remember is me playing some future Halo game where I am actually in the game, like virtual reality or something. I was playing a game type that isn't in Halo today, called "Territory", where it's sort of like the Tony Hawk gametype where you claim parts of the map by doing tricks on it. In "Territory", you have objects in the map (any object) where you basically imbue a kind of shield on the face of an object to claim it. To claim an object, you can shoot or melee attack it, but it works better if you use the actual tool given to you for this purpose. I was a noob and didn't know the controls yet (or because I was dreaming, my subconscious hadn't formed a way to do this yet) so I just walked up to items and shot them up. I came across another player's claimed object, which was a mailbox sized container. I found that shooting it did less damage than melee, so I just melee'd it until the damage counter went to zero; at which point I started putting my own claim up on it.

At this point, I was about halfway into the match, when I noticed something that shouldn't be in Halo. I seem to remember it being some creepy anime girl (probably Aura from dot hack) floating around. When my eyes caught another glimpse, she had torn a window outside of the bounds of Halo and into some connecting universe between it and a bunch of other man-created entertainment media franchises, represented as constellations in the sky. She went to another one, and I followed.

She went to the "Betelgeuse" constellation, and... yeah, it was Beetlejuice. I didn't see him, but I did keep going looking for her. The setting there was an abandoned city, and I hardly began walking down the road when Beetlejuice found me looking for the same thing he also noticed. I ignored him, and he seemed to think that finding this girl was some kind of competition. He didn't bother me at first, and didn't say anything to me, but he kept his distance. As I walked down the roads, he was always there, visible and hanging off of buildings and facades. I came across an abandoned, half-way completed building where I was almost certain I could "feel" she was there. Beetlejuice seemed to sense that, and he became more agitated with my persistence in "his" goal. To me, he didn't show any kind of anger or evil, but went on in a mischievous manner to challenge my presence and determination.

I paid him no heed. I began to climb the building, by hand, since there were no other ways to ascend. Beetlejuice started to climb too, when I saw him climbing faster. He was slightly above me, when he started climbing down in front of me. And then he farted right in my fucking mouth! I then said something like "Come on, man, I'm not here for you, get out of here." Then he laughed, and climbed higher away from me, and around the corner, away from view.

That was it, I woke up, confused... and I could swear I could taste a bit of shit in my mouth.

So last night was kind of strange... I didn't really get much quality sleep, and didn't dream much last night, until about an hour before I was supposed to wake up for work. (Figures.) But, the dreams that I did end up having were pretty interesting. I've been playing this game called Elite: Dangerous that involves flying around the galaxy doing things like trading, bounty hunting, mining, exploring, and stuff like that. I have to say that I don't doubt this is what influenced my dreams.

In the first dream, I was exploring different types of planets and stars, when all of a sudden my ship just drops all power and a gigantic crimson-colored capital ship drops out of hyperspace. This thing was massive; large enough to house an entire planet's populace AND its ecosystem. As the massive ship's systems pulled me into one of its myriad docking bays, I could do nothing but stare in awe at the type of knowledge required to build something like this. (How does the brain come up with stuff like this?)

As I exited, I realized that the people who lived here were a unified race, but also the cultural melting pot of the entire galaxy over the course of what was supposed were eons of civilizations. The area of the ship I was taken to was no accident; I was in a type of marketplace where cultural information, about, in this time, ancient Earth's existence was being traded and shared. To them, it must have seemed like a sort of library or museum. I saw one of them watching a television program; ironically it was Star Trek Voyager. I was eventually intercepted by an unknown figure as I wandered the enigmatic, ornate halls on the ship I called the "Knife in the Wind".

This figure was like myself in appearance, and explained to me the origins of this crimson obelisk of wonders that I was aboard. He told me of the collection of knowledge and level of evolution it has brought them to. The way of life was whatever they wanted it to be, so long as it was under the pretense of self-preservation, individually and as a species. Every type of government was present in some form or fashion, in various places in the ship; each of them being a nation. All of the governments were governed by a singular entity, a perfect and all-encompassing AI driven by the infinite entropy of the ship's power source: a singularity.

Before I could have the thought to ask a question, I was told to continue to generate the knowledge that their species' insatiable desire for diversity can assimilate. It was their way of life. Everything else had been mastered; all they could do was watch. Observe. Drift through space like a "knife in the wind".

After this encounter, I was returned to my ship in an instant, and I found myself with more questions than stars in the cosmos. As I watched the ship's systems whisk me away silently from their docking area, all I could do was ponder the nature of the future of man. Soon, the ship slipped away into hyperspace, disappearing without a trace.

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The second part of my dream came, as I continued along my trade route among the sea of stars. I was headed to a remote corner of the galaxy, exploring the planets of systems as I jumped from star to star. One of them, an orange gas giant, caught my eye as I scanned it. My curiosity grew as anomalous as the puzzle that was to be the subject of my attention. I drew closer to the celestial body, and dropped out of faster-than-light travel.

I should have been more careful. The anomalies that stole my attention had me drop out of FTL directly beneath the upper layers of the rusty cloud banks of the gas giant. I could not gain altitude. No matter my efforts, I was losing control. As my ship no longer responded, I realized that it was also not violently shaking or spinning as I would expect. It was as if I was being guided, or conveyed by some unknown force. Again, I found myself in a situation where all I could do was observe. Usually, there wasn't much to look at but through my ship's canopy into an orange haze. Occasionally, as I descended, I would break away from opaque cells of clouds to catch a glimpse of another layer of clouds below me. The scale of it all was vast; as if it had been another world. These layers of clouds were thousands of miles thick, and the descent seemed like hours. Eventually, layer after layer, I descended low enough that lightning had become a constant observance. The lower I descended, the more intense and frequent the lightning, until it was a constant brightness; without any flicker or even sound.

I passed through this layer harmlessly. It was then that I realized that this was the last layer. I was astonished to discover that beneath all of the majestic clouds through which I had traversed was a planet. Above me was a white void, lit by the power of the perpetual lightning in the gas giant's atmosphere. If there was anything else happening within this white void, it was imperceptible to the naked eye. The planet below was still several hundred miles beneath; yet I descended, down into the planet's own independent atmosphere. The white void gained a blue hue as I neared the surface; a sign of a nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere.

Suddenly, my ship jolted and control was restored. A message flashed on my HUD that simply read "Welcome to the Jupiter Brain."

I never thought about trying to escape. My curiosity was too great. I spotted an outcropping of trees and decided to set down in a clearing there for a closer look at this "Jupiter Brain".

As I completed terrestrial landing procedures, I confirmed that my sensors were reading out a breathable, healthy atmosphere. I grabbed my expedition gear from the utility closet behind my seat and punched the airlock decontamination code into the keypad. I heard the sterilizing emitters whirring as the inner door of the airlock opened. As it closed, I sat down on the bare metal bench. I could not sit still as I began the decontamination process within the airlock. Finally, the process ended, and the pressure began to equalize with the outside air. I could smell the sweet scent of blossoms and other aromatic flora and fauna native to this wondrous world. As the emitters powered down, a green indicator light signaled the go-ahead to open the door. Again, I entered the decontamination code, and the door opened with an ungraceful clank and screech.

I stepped onto the soil, gazing at my surroundings. I took in a deep breath, chasing after some notion of proof of reality I had suddenly found myself. There was a deep, azure blue sky above the greenest field of grass that covered the hills with such uniformity that made it impossible to believe wasn't tended to in some way. After realizing that I had been standing there for nearly five minutes without taking a step, I snapped out of my blissful daydream and picked a destination to which I should journey. After walking a few hundred feet across the field of grass, I became aware that someone had been walking beside me. I felt a knowledge that suddenly came into my mind. I was not startled, because the Jupiter Brain had implanted some kind of memory and awareness that he was there.

Another traveler. He was also discovering new things. An entire encyclopedia about this place had been instantly transferred to my consciousness. The traveler was an avatar of the Jupiter Brain entity. The planet itself was a means of self-identity for the entire galaxy. I recounted the words of a great man, speaking from the dust-- "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

Then I knew that the gracefulness of everything around me was by design. It had remained that way for several solar lifetimes. An Eden for Eternity. Why was I now permitted to arrive? Under what manner of luck or influence did I fall to deserve to be brought to such an astonishing place?

The traveler answered without saying a word. My gratitude and presence was but a simple byproduct of the Jupiter Brain's curiosity. Interesting, I thought. Curiosity attracting curiosity, and now, here I am. This gleam of understanding I had just received was exactly the subject matter of the Jupiter Brain's education. The intelligent brain has within it, by nature, a specific and infinitely complex language to subconsciously prod and test the structure of reality. Connections that are made are a lesson, victory, and success for the Jupiter Brain.

As I continued to walk with the traveler for several hours, we spoke, through this newly formed connection, or language, of the brain. Each connection drew us closer. Each communication exponentially and mutually increased our understanding of the collective infinity that is the universe.

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Then my alarm went off.....