Fish Dreams
by Carolyn VanEseltine (2013)


action: %
response: Dream Fish was written for Ectocomp 2013. This game contains
coarse language, gore, and disturbing imagery.
action: Y.
response: Motion disturbs the water. Something falls from above, sinking down a long path down from sunlight to deepness. A second something falls, overtaking the first, landing in the weeds with a force that stirs the sand.

With no greater predator about, you rule these depths, and you are curious. And hungry.

Only sporadic shafts of sunlight penetrate to these lonesome depths. Long weeds rise from the sand to drift and tangle in the current.

A dead human has come to rest among the weeds.

A massive box lies on the sandy floor. Several layers of rope wind about the box, binding it closed.
action: About you
response: You are scaled and finned, well suited to your environment. And hungry, as almost always.

Muffled vibrations come from within the massive box.
action: You look at the box
response: It's more than three times your length, with similar proportions in width and depth.

Muffled vibrations come from within the massive box.
action: Bite rope
response: Your powerful teeth slice neatly through the layers of rope, and the remanents fall easily away.

A sharp vibration comes from the massive box, followed by a roiling mass of bubbles. The bubbles send you spinning away, but you are nonetheless aware that a second human has emerged from the box.

The new human is still alive. Thrashing awkwardly, it propels itself up toward the sunlight.
action: Bite human
response: You sink your teeth into the human's meaty limb, severing hunk after tasty hunk with joyous abandon. And you dream....

In his final moments, there was nothing but rage, red and angry.
He drew back his fist, snarling a threat that even he barely heard.
The commander went pale beneath her rouge. He was certain that he would never strike her, but wondered (beneath that certainty) whether he really might this time - he could not remember being so angry before, so desperately, burningly angry. The lips skinned back from his teeth in a snarl and

SMASH! across the back of his head. He never even saw where the
blow came from. There wasn't even pain, not really - just impact, and the ending of a life.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: Look around
response: Only sporadic shafts of sunlight penetrate to these lonesome depths. Long weeds rise from the sand to drift and tangle in the current.

A partially eaten human has come to rest among the weeds.

A massive box lies on the sandy floor. Its lid gapes open to reveal the empty interior.
action: You eat human
response: You push past the human's weak coverings to make a first foray on the soft, tasty innards. And you dream....

He thought, if he could trust anyone, he could trust Roselle -
until he looked to the bottom of his glass and saw the residue, the rust-red powder inflaming the wine.

When he stood, the deck reeled under him, and he couldn't tell any
more whether it was inside or outside his head. His skin felt
flushed, his head ached, the room spun. What had she dosed him with? What would it do to him?

And yet he struggled for control. She had forfeited her share of
the profit, that was for certain, and her right to move freely about the cabin. But perhaps things could be remedied, somehow - if he
could think through the gathering haze -

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: You eat human
response: You burrow deeper, wriggling with delight as you gulp down mouthful after mouthful. And you dream....

"Over?" he echoed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said - " Gene looked sweaty, round, uncomfortable,
not at all like a man who had just played him for the better part of twenty-three million. "I need someone on board who listens. Someone who's got his shit together. Someone who won't touch the cookie
jar."

And by their contract, under these circumstances - the contract he
had pushed for himself - Gene could take the company with him, and Jerry was screwed, screwed, screwed.

"What are you going to do, Jerry?"

"I'm going to kick your ass. I'm going to wreck your car. I'm
going to take a fucking cruise..." All the fight suddenly went out of him. "I'm going to go home," he said, and he did.

Oddly, on the drive home, he thought: A cruise might not be a bad
idea.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: You continue
response: You turn your attention higher up the body, to the flappy cheeks and lips and nose and eyes. You bite and tear and chew, savoring each delectable mouthful. And you dream....

"I could kill for a fix," he said, and then he didn't say it but
he thought it, and days and weeks and months later he stopped thinking it. One day he realized he didn't know when he last thought it, and that was the day Gene said, "You know, you really got your shit together in there. I need someone like that, someone focused, organized, under control. But someone who understands me, too. I got this idea,"

and he listened, and his heart said no, no, no until his mouth
said yes.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: About you
response: You are scaled and finned, well suited to your environment. And hungry, as almost always.
action: You examine the human
response: You've gnawed most of the meat off the limbs, hollowed the innards out completely, and eaten the fatty meat off the face.
action: You eat human
response: Exerting your powerful jaws, you crack the human's skull and nuzzle away at the cavity within.

Somewhere beneath it all, he was always fourteen. He was always
at the top of the stairs in his skeleton costume for Halloween, and
the teachers were always walking past below, with the conversation always drifting up the stairs like an evil spirit. He was always listening, even though he didn't want to hear. He was always just learning that they couldn't tell him apart from anyone else in the
same costume. That he was just another kid, here one year and gone
the next. That he was not special. He was always just realizing that he would never be special.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.

You nose your way across the bones one last time, but there's nothing left to eat.
action: Y.
response: Dream Fish was written for Ectocomp 2013. This game contains
coarse language, gore, and disturbing imagery.
action: Y.
response: Motion disturbs the water. Something falls from above, sinking down a long path down from sunlight to deepness. A second something falls, overtaking the first, landing in the weeds with a force that stirs the sand.

With no greater predator about, you rule these depths, and you are curious. And hungry.

Only sporadic shafts of sunlight penetrate to these lonesome depths. Long weeds rise from the sand to drift and tangle in the current.

A dead human has come to rest among the weeds.

A massive box lies on the sandy floor. Several layers of rope wind about the box, binding it closed.
action: You eat human
response: You sink your teeth into the human's meaty limb, severing hunk after tasty hunk with joyous abandon. And you dream....

In his final moments, there was nothing but rage, red and angry.
He drew back his fist, snarling a threat that even he barely heard.
The commander went pale beneath her rouge. He was certain that he would never strike her, but wondered (beneath that certainty) whether he really might this time - he could not remember being so angry before, so desperately, burningly angry. The lips skinned back from his teeth in a snarl and

SMASH! across the back of his head. He never even saw where the
blow came from. There wasn't even pain, not really - just impact, and the ending of a life.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.

Muffled vibrations come from within the massive box.
action: You eat human
response: You push past the human's weak coverings to make a first foray on the soft, tasty innards. And you dream....

He thought, if he could trust anyone, he could trust Roselle -
until he looked to the bottom of his glass and saw the residue, the rust-red powder inflaming the wine.

When he stood, the deck reeled under him, and he couldn't tell any
more whether it was inside or outside his head. His skin felt
flushed, his head ached, the room spun. What had she dosed him with? What would it do to him?

And yet he struggled for control. She had forfeited her share of
the profit, that was for certain, and her right to move freely about the cabin. But perhaps things could be remedied, somehow - if he
could think through the gathering haze -

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.

Muffled vibrations come from within the massive box.
action: You eat human
response: You burrow deeper, wriggling with delight as you gulp down mouthful after mouthful. And you dream....

"Over?" he echoed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said - " Gene looked sweaty, round, uncomfortable,
not at all like a man who had just played him for the better part of twenty-three million. "I need someone on board who listens. Someone who's got his shit together. Someone who won't touch the cookie
jar."

And by their contract, under these circumstances - the contract he
had pushed for himself - Gene could take the company with him, and Jerry was screwed, screwed, screwed.

"What are you going to do, Jerry?"

"I'm going to kick your ass. I'm going to wreck your car. I'm
going to take a fucking cruise..." All the fight suddenly went out of him. "I'm going to go home," he said, and he did.

Oddly, on the drive home, he thought: A cruise might not be a bad
idea.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.

Muffled vibrations come from within the massive box.
action: You eat human
response: You turn your attention higher up the body, to the flappy cheeks and lips and nose and eyes. You bite and tear and chew, savoring each delectable mouthful. And you dream....

"I could kill for a fix," he said, and then he didn't say it but
he thought it, and days and weeks and months later he stopped thinking it. One day he realized he didn't know when he last thought it, and that was the day Gene said, "You know, you really got your shit together in there. I need someone like that, someone focused, organized, under control. But someone who understands me, too. I got this idea,"

and he listened, and his heart said no, no, no until his mouth
said yes.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.

Muffled vibrations come from within the massive box.
action: You eat human
response: Exerting your powerful jaws, you crack the human's skull and nuzzle away at the cavity within.

Somewhere beneath it all, he was always fourteen. He was always
at the top of the stairs in his skeleton costume for Halloween, and
the teachers were always walking past below, with the conversation always drifting up the stairs like an evil spirit. He was always listening, even though he didn't want to hear. He was always just learning that they couldn't tell him apart from anyone else in the
same costume. That he was just another kid, here one year and gone
the next. That he was not special. He was always just realizing that he would never be special.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: Bite rope
response: Your powerful teeth slice neatly through the layers of rope, and the remanents fall easily away. As you nip off the last bit of rope, a roiling mass of bubbles emerges. The bubbles send you spinning away, but you recover your equilibrium promptly and return to investigate.

You discover a second dead human inside the box.
action: You eat self
response: (first taking yourself)
You are always self-possessed.
action: Bite human
response: (the dead human)
Having consumed all the flesh off one human, you turn your attention
to the other.

You sink your teeth into the human's meaty limb, severing hunk after tasty hunk with joyous abandon. And you dream....

In her final moments, she pounded against the inside of the wooden
box, strove against it, screamed against it, using up the air so fast. She used it up on purpose. She knew she was going to die and she cursed her captor's name. And when she died, it was no surprise at
all - just the aching capstone to a useless life.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: Bite human
response: (the dead human)
Having consumed all the flesh off one human, you turn your attention
to the other.

You push past the human's weak coverings to make a first foray on the soft, tasty innards. And you dream....

Betrayal was barely a word she knew. She was shocked when she
walked into the cabin and Jerry rounded on her, screaming, "What have you done to me!" She didn't lift a hand to stop the blow, though it drove her glasses into her face and knocked her sprawling into the dresser.

His hands were so strong, lifting her up like a child, dropping
her down on a rough wooden surface. The darkness was almost comforting, before awareness registered - and by then he had slammed the lid down, and she heard something scraping on the outside of the box, over and over.

"You can stay there until La Ceiba," he snarled, ignoring her
protests. And then he was gone, and the lid would not open, no matter how she tried.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: You examine the skeleton
response: This dead human has been skeletonized.
action: You eat
response: (the massive box)
Light investigation shows your teeth cannot penetrate its hard substance.
action: You eat human
response: (the dead human)
Having consumed all the flesh off one human, you turn your attention
to the other.

You burrow deeper, wriggling with delight as you gulp down mouthful after mouthful. And you dream....

They had the same cabin, and they slept in the same bed, but
chastely, rarely keeping even the same hours. And Jerry accepted it, and his simple acceptance made her smile.

He was in love with something else, of course - something darker
and fiercer than she could ever be - and she felt sad for that, though relieved that it kept his attentions at bay.

She thought about that as he laughed above his wineglass, all
white teeth and sparkling eyes, and thought about it as she smiled back.

She didn't want his love. She wouldn't have minded if she could
have it, if she could be capable of stealing it, but she didn't want it. But could she break his other love? That might make his life
even better. She didn't have the synthesis equipment with her, but
she could at least analyze her options. Methadone, naltrexone, diamorphine - every treatment plan started somewhere.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: You eat human
response: (the dead human)
Having consumed all the flesh off one human, you turn your attention
to the other.

You turn your attention higher up the body, to the flappy cheeks and lips and nose and eyes. You bite and tear and chew, savoring each delectable mouthful. And you dream....

The fire started after she cut the phone lines, and the house
burned to the ground. Her sister's voice was higher-pitched than she had ever heard it - "My god, Roselle, what were you thinking?
Whatever were you thinking?"

She'd been thinking, it would be so easy to make sure your awful
boss never calls you again on a weekend. She'd been thinking, all it takes is scissors. She'd been thinking, I have scissors.

The cargo pants had giant pockets, and the scissors were still in
her pocket. If she slipped, they would go straight into her thigh.
She didn't slip, or even move. She stood quietly, instead, and listened to her sister, and watched the scorched rubble smoke
softly.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.
action: You eat human
response: (the dead human)
Having consumed all the flesh off one human, you turn your attention
to the other.

Exerting your powerful jaws, you crack the human's skull and nuzzle away at the cavity within.

Somewhere beneath it all, she was always twenty-seven, and she
never had her glasses because of the stupid bunny mask. She was
always standing at the end of a stranger's driveway while the costumeless partied inside, always watching the cars drive past, squinting through the miserable blur in hope of seeing the van that would rescue her. She was always standing by the grinning pumpkin until the partygoers started leaving. She was always twenty-seven,
and the van never came.

The dream fades, and you are once more aware of the depths and the currents.

You nose your way across the bones one last time, but there's nothing left to eat.