Dreamscape Adventures, Inc, page 2
Luke knocked on Gary’s glass door a few minutes later, his mouth etched in a frown. He saw Gary glance up at him from whatever he was red-lining, and beckon Luke to enter with two fingers. When Luke did so, Gary tossed the pen on top of the tome before him, running a hand through his thinning gray hair with a sigh.
“Lemme guess,” he narrowed his eyes. “You’re here to try to get out of your dreamscape.”
“Well—” Luke frowned. He hated being predictable, but at the moment it was the lesser of two evils. “Yes.”
Gary shook his head at him. “I can’t believe it. Charlotte was right.”
Luke’s frown deepened into a scowl. “About what?”
“She told me the first thing you’d do is come in here and tell me that I could just as easily send a more junior exec to do this, because your time is too valuable for something so ‘frivolous’… right? Was that about the gist?”
That was exactly what Luke had been about to say, but he wasn’t going to admit it. Instead he tried, “What about Kelsey? This sort of thing sounds right up her alley…”
“That’s precisely the problem, I don’t think she’d be objective,” Gary told him. “Dreamscape Adventures could be huge for us! I hope to underwrite them, but I am very concerned about the potential for liability claims. I need my best guy to review it, and you and I both know that’s you.”
Luke narrowed his eyes at his boss. “You need your biggest pessimist to review it, you mean. Don’t try to butter me up, I know what you’re doing.”
Gary grinned sheepishly, one cheek deepening into a dimple. “Charlotte told me to use that line on you. But I guess it’s not quite as effective, coming from a chubby old man.”
“Sir, all due respect—why don’t you go?”
“Because I’m up to my eyeballs in the Firelights account, and the deadline is next week. I’d love to go, but I can’t get away right now, and Eli Mendolssohn is understandably unwilling to wait. I’m sorry, Luke, but you’re not getting out of this. I told Eli that I’d be sending you, and that Charlotte could go with you, if you felt the need for a second pair of eyes.”
Luke glowered at him. “It would be inappropriate for me to go on vacation with my assistant.”
“Well, it’s a working vacation, isn’t it?” Gary said rhetorically, shaking his head. “Honestly, Luke. What’s the phrase? ‘Youth is wasted on the young?’”
Luke chose not to understand him, and Gary glanced at the clock on his wall.
“You’d better get going, Charlotte said she booked your initial meeting with Dreamscape at ten.”
Chapter 2
At ten o’clock, Luke stepped into the high rise building in downtown Manhattan that Charlotte had indicated. The receptionist told him that Dreamscape Adventures, Incorporated was on the top floor.
The heavy mahogany door to the office was unmarked, though, and Luke wasn’t sure at first if he was in the right place. He tried the handle and it was unlocked, so he let himself in. He was startled to see a dark-skinned, middle-aged man with a profuse shock of salt-and-pepper hair and a matching beard sitting behind a desk. He didn’t appear to be doing anything but waiting for him.
“Luke Darringer, I presume,” said the man, rising and extending a hand.
“Yes,” Luke blinked, still annoyed, but taking the hand and shaking it. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Mr.—”
“Elijah Mendelssohn. But please, call me Eli.”
“Oh!” Luke’s eyebrows shot up as they both sat. “I—wasn’t expecting you personally.”
“Well, as you presumably gathered from my letter, this meeting is… rather important.”
Luke nodded. “Indeed. Important to Dreamscape, at least.”
“Without underwriting,” Eli opened his hands to the sides, and then clapped them together again, “Well. We’re dead in the water.”
“My assistant and my boss more or less coerced me into meeting with you,” Luke admitted, “but before we go any further, I need to make something clear. I can’t take three weeks off of work. I can’t even take one week off. If I do this ‘dreamscape’ of yours, it needs to be no longer than… say, five days. And, I’ll need to take my phone and laptop with me to stay connected with my clients. Business doesn’t stop just because I do.”
Eli watched Luke for a long moment, and almost a flicker of a smile crossed his face. “I see. I… believe we could arrange that.”
Luke gave a brief nod. “Good. Then we can proceed. I understand you have a questionnaire for me or something?”
“To start.”
Eli stood, grabbed something off of his desk, and beckoned Luke to follow into a second room. Warily, Luke rose to follow, and hesitated when he saw a chair connected to a lot of wires, and a monitor nearby. Eli gestured for him to have a seat, and handed him a tablet with the questionnaire pulled up.
“We’re gathering information from you in three main ways,” said Eli. “The first is what you voluntarily choose to share with us about the kind of adventure you wish to have. The questionnaire may take anywhere from thirty minutes to three hours to complete, depending upon how thorough you wish to be.”
Luke still stood, even though he took the tablet from Eli and took another step toward the chair. “And… what’s this thing for?” He gestured at the chair, wary.
“I call this my Electromagnetic Decoder, EMDC for short. It was actually my first invention, and brainstorming how to use it was what sparked the idea for Dreamscape Adventures in the first place. The easiest way to explain it is that it reads your mind—”
Luke choked a little. “Excuse me?”
Eli grinned, but went on, “But, it can only pick up on conscious thoughts you are currently entertaining at the time, which is why we need you to answer the questionnaire while connected. The tablet is synced to the EMDC, and it may trigger different questions based on what it picks up from your thoughts.”
Luke couldn’t keep the grimace off of his face. “Aw. Hell no.”
“Anything you tell us in the questionnaire or on the EMDC is protected under HIPAA laws, since this is technically considered part of your medical records,” Eli assured him.
“So it’ll just be between you, me, and the entire IT staff putting together my dreamscape adventure?”
“No,” Eli said patiently, “the IT staff does what the psych team directs. They don’t have access to these records. The psych team will have to have access to them in order to tailor your dreamscape to you, yes, but they are medical professionals.”
Luke regarded him with a frown. “What about you?”
Unperturbed, Eli opened both hands in a placating gesture. “I will send your records straight to the psych team if you wish. I don’t need direct access myself.”
Luke considered this. “And the third information gathering method?”
“Dream analysis,” said Eli. “Literal dreams, in this case. We’ll send you home with a miniature version of the EMDC on loan, and it will transmit data that will help us fill in subconscious thoughts to round out our picture of Luke Darringer. Then, with your permission, we will call in those closest to you and repeat a more limited process with the EMDC, though their questions will not be about them; they will be about you, and their relationship to and experiences with you. Who would you say are the three to five closest people in your life?”
Luke blinked. Hesitated. “Well, there’s… ah…” He swallowed. “Charlotte. I guess…”
Eli tilted his head to the side, but did not otherwise react. “Your administrative assistant?”
“She’s worked for me for a very long time,” said Luke defensively. “She knows me better than anyone. Probably better than I know myself.”
“I see. Anybody else?”
“Well, there’s… some other people at work, but they’re mostly acquaintances.”
Eli shook his head. “No good. We’re looking for people with an intimate knowledge of you, and ideally an emotional connection. A longtime girlfriend would work well for this, or family members especially—”
“No,” said Luke shortly.
Eli’s eyebrows shot up. “You have no family?”
“None to speak of.”
“None that you want us talking to, you mean.”
“That’s what I mean,” Luke affirmed, teeth gritted.
Eli pursed his lips. “Understood.” Luke didn’t like the way he said it, but he gestured at the chair again. “Please. Have a seat.”
Luke hesitated a long time. He didn’t like the idea of a stranger reading his thoughts, but Eli promised not to look at the records himself. Sharing them with the psych team would be like talking to a counselor—which he would never do in a million years—but less awkward, because he’d presumably never meet them face-to-face.
“I want my dreamscape to involve rock climbing,” Luke said, his tone guarded.
“Fine,” said Eli, gesturing to the chair again. “Tell it to the EMDC.”
At last, Luke took the tablet, and sat in the chair, allowing Eli to affix the electrodes to his scalp.
“We’ve found that test clients have been more honest when there is no one in the room with them while answering the questionnaire. So, I will leave you to it,” he said, and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
The tablet’s questions started off straightforward—name, age, weight, hobbies, profession. But from there they became more invasive, and borderline inappropriate.
“What has been your longest term relationship, and with whom? If you are not still together, how did it end?”
“With whom do you feel the deepest emotional connection?”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Is there anyone whom you resent? If so, why?”
“What was the most traumatic experience of your life?”
When Luke gave perfunctory answers to each of these impertinent questions, his thoughts betrayed him, calling to mind the real answers that he had no intention of sharing. In response, the EMDC asked him details about the faces that popped into his mind; who they were, what they meant to him. It wanted to know about every old girlfriend, every one-night stand, and why he kept them all at arm’s length. It harped on Charlotte.
No, we have never been romantically involved, he told it. No, I have never wanted to be romantically involved. No, she has never wanted to be romantically involved with me, either. No, she is not involved with anyone else. Yes, I am sure I have no interest in her that way. No, I am not lonely for companionship.
“Good grief, give it a rest!” he muttered.
After that, the tablet harped on his broken relationships with his parents. It wanted to know all about his mother cheating on his father and leaving the family, even though Luke never actually told it she had—it must have just read the pictures in his mind.
No, I do not forgive her. No, she never asked for forgiveness. No, I have not spoken to her since. No, I am not close to my father. Why? Because he’s bitter and angry and wants nothing to do with me. How do I feel about him? None of your business!
“All this for a virtual rock climbing vacation?” Luke muttered to himself. “All I want is a tall, blonde, Swedish model waiting for me on top of my virtual reality mountain, with virtual reality champagne and caviar! There! Your job is done!”
But the tablet ignored him, instead launching into traumatic experience questions. None of your business, Luke wrote again, but the machine responded, “Tell me why you fear caves.” When Luke gave the same response, the tablet asked who the man was whose face floated into Luke’s mind in connection with those caves. None of your business, Luke wrote again.
“Why do you resent him?”
None of your business!
“He is not your father, but you knew him when you were a child. Who was he to you?”
Luke sighed. The stupid thing wasn’t giving up. NONE. OF. YOUR. BUSINESS, he wrote, wondering if the program understood the significance of all caps.
All in all, he finished the questionnaire in almost record time, as he had intended: thirty-five minutes. After all, he had a meeting with another client at eleven-thirty.
“Well?” asked Eli when Luke reemerged from the room. “How did it go? You look a little… disgruntled.”
“If your machine was a person, I’d punch it right in the nose,” Luke informed him.
Eli grinned. “Sounds like it went well then.” He handed him a zipped canvas bag by the handles, bearing the Dreamscape Adventures logo on the outside. “This is the portable version. Instructions for positioning the electrodes are inside. Please follow the instructions to sync the device to our portal, and wear it for the next two nights at minimum.”
Luke heaved a put-upon sigh, but took the bag. “This better be one hell of an adventure.” He turned to go, and startled to see Charlotte sitting in one of the plastic chairs in the entryway. She gave him a little shoulder bounce and a grin in greeting.
“Eli said time is of the essence. They require EMDC information from me too, so my appointment is next.”
Luke arched an eyebrow at her. “Is this just to tell their machine what a great guy I am, or are you still trying to get a free dreamscape out of this? I already told Gary that I don’t need assistance.”
“From what they tell me, a candidate’s dreamscape needs to incorporate at least three people who know the person well to make the adventure perfect. I figured you wouldn’t have three other people, so here I am.” Luke narrowed his eyes at her. In response, Charlotte tossed her hair over her shoulder, and batted her eyelashes in obvious parody. “So what if I do want a fabulous vacation? You can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Behind them, Eli chuckled. “Come on back, Charlotte. I can tell this is going to be interesting.”
Chapter 3
Luke wore the portable version of the EMDC for the next two nights, as instructed—but only because Gary insisted. He had no idea what information it gathered from those nights, since he never remembered his dreams. All he knew was that he typically woke up around three in the morning and then couldn’t get back to sleep, distracted by his to-do list for the next day.
Another two days passed. Luke was up to his eyeballs in paperwork for a new account that Friday afternoon. He had all but forgotten about Dreamscape when Charlotte poked her head through his glass door and told him, “Oh, by the way—you’re scheduled for your dreamscape adventure all next week. Don’t worry, I’ve already cleared your schedule.”
Luke scowled at her. “Now’s really not a good time for that. Juniper Oil—” he gestured at the paperwork on his desk.
“—has been informed of the situation, and Kelsey will take over the case in your absence,” Charlotte continued, naming another attorney in the firm.
Luke’s scowl deepened. “That’s not necessary. I told Eli that I would be taking my work with me…”
Charlotte entered Luke’s office without invitation then, closing the door behind her and seating herself on the plush blue couch just beyond his desk. “And that would short-change Dreamscape Adventures, because you won’t really get an idea of what a dreamscape can offer if you’re working the whole time!”
“I’m not giving them an endorsement as a client, Charlotte, I’m just trying to determine the safety of the place. I don’t see why that requires my full attention.”
“Maybe you should give it your ‘full attention’”—here Charlotte made sarcastic air quotes—“because I happen to know that your blood pressure has been creeping up. And you’ve been getting all those headaches lately, and not sleeping past three in the morning!”
“How do you—” Luke narrowed his eyes. But then his expression cleared, and he sighed, remembering that Charlotte relayed messages from his doctor, too. “Never mind.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had a headache right then.
“Luke,” said Charlotte. “I’m serious. Working all the time isn’t healthy. Let us handle your clients, and just go rock climb for a week!”
“And that’s another thing, how did you know I used to rock climb?”
“Because I listen. That’s why I’m so good at my job. You mentioned at one point that you used to go canyoneering all the time, and compete in climbing competitions. But I manage your calendar, so I know you haven’t climbed in at least the five years since I’ve known you.”
“It takes too much time,” Luke muttered. “But I do run every morning. I’m not out of shape, contrary to what you think. And I do cross-fit on weekends…”
“I know,” said Charlotte, exasperated, “but that’s because a) you know you’re more focused at work when you work out, and b) you’re very vain, and you like to have the option of sleeping with any of the wannabe supermodels crawling all over this city whenever you happen across them—which, I also happen to know, occurs less often than you would like.” Luke snorted, and Charlotte continued, “But when was the last time you did something just because you enjoyed it? Not because you had some ulterior motive?”
“You think I don’t enjoy sleeping with wannabe supermodels?”
“You know what I mean.”
He sighed again. “Fine. Fine. Forward anything from Juniper Oil to Kelsey in my absence—but I am taking my laptop and phone, just in case.”
“If you do that, you’ll be checking email and voicemail seventeen times a day…”
“Hey. That’s why they pay me the big bucks,” Luke shot her a self-complacent smile. “How do you think I ended up with the biggest office in the firm, with this million-dollar view?”
“Well, I hope you enjoy that view as your youth slips away at double-speed.”
Luke blinked, all smugness gone. “Are you saying I look old?”
Charlotte winked. “See what I mean? Vain.”
Luke worked most of the weekend to try to get his accounts in order, such that he could afford to take a semi-week off. He had Charlotte alert his clients that he would be on vacation, but he insisted that she tell them he would still be reachable for emergencies. Then, on about five hours of sleep, he packed his bags and showed up at the airport at six a.m. on Monday morning. A beautiful blond flight attendant—perhaps one of those wannabe supermodels Charlotte had teased him about—led him to a small shuttle plane, where he was to be the only passenger.
