Dreamer's house

The **Dreamer's house** is a regularly-recurring location in *ZED*. The player visits it at varying times throughout the Dreamer's life and even thereafter.

## Scripts

### Hospice

[SFX]: \*incoherent murmuring\*

[Doctor]: Memory is comprised of three aspects:

[Doctor]: Encoding, storage, retrieval.

[Doctor]: Encoding: the acquisition of information.

[Doctor]: Storage: packing it, piecemeal, throughout the brain.

[Doctor]: Retrieval: accessing that information.

[Doctor]: You're father's problem? Retrieval.

[Doctor]: It's there, he just can't...reach it.

[Daughter]: Is there anything we can do?

[Doctor]: Some...games have proven effective in preserving cognitive function.

[Doctor]: Even untangling recollection.

[Doctor]: ...Especially if there's a goal.

[Daughter]: My father—he's an artist.

[Daughter]: He's making a picture book. For my daughter, Charlotte.

[Doctor]: Good, good! Now, tell me...

[Doctor]: What are your most important memories?

[woman singing]: Hush little baby—

[boy's voice]: —get this: he's fully aware the whole ti—

[woman's voice]: —I actually have to tell you, uh, family-related...

[woman's voice]: I'm pregnant! We're pre—

[man's voice]: —never should have signed that c—

[SFX]: \*vehicle skidding\*

[SFX]: \*heavy crashing sound\*

### Childhood

[SFX]: \*school bell ringing\*

[Young Mal]: Check it out! Peanut's got some talent.

[Young Mal]: Never knew we had an artiste in our midst.

[Young Mall]: Who's this character? Looks like a...ZED.

[Young Mal]: I write, you know. We should totally collaborate! Maybe, like, a comic?

[Mr. Id]: That's when we met Mal.

[Mr. Ego]: That's where we met ZED.

### Lullaby

[woman singing]: Hush little baby, don't say a word...

[Mr. Ego]: Augh...seriously?

[Mr. Id]: Mom... She'd sing this. At bedtime.

[Mr. Ego]: So much for subtlety.

### Giant Bathroom

[Mr. Ego]: The reunion tour rolls on.

[Mr. Ego]: Knew we'd get here sooner or later.

[Mr. Ego]: Here lies Thaymer Malone, born February 2nd, 1930.

[Mr. Ego]: Left the building March nineteen, seventy-five.

[Mr. Ego]: A mostly meaningless life, cut short by ignominous end.

[Mr. Ego]: No points for style or creativity.

[Mr. Ego]: Philanderer. Deadbeat. Drunk.

[Mr. Ego]: Heh. Can't say we're not a stickler for family tradi–

[Mr. Id]: Have some respect.

[Mr. Ego]: Hit a berve? ...Something to say on his behalf?

[Mr. Ego]: Speak now or forever hold your peace!

[Mr. Ego]: Look, no eggs, no omelettes, right?

[Mr. Ego]: ...Hello? Anyone? Anyone else in here?

[Mr. Ego]: The silent treatment? ..Seriously? \*scoff\*

[Mr. Id]: Hold up. Do we...hate each other?

[Mr. Ego]: Name one artist who's not full of self-loathing.

[Mr. Id]: ...You know we need to work together to survive.

[Mr. Ego]: Course I do, I'm the practical one.

### Back Home

[Mr. Ego]: "You can't go home again." Not unless it's up for sale, I guess.

[Mr. Ego]: Tacky decor... Should fix that wh–if we get the chance.

[Mr. Ego]: Wonder if this is before or after the divorce.

[Mr. Id]: Probably both.

[Mr. Ego]: And these toys, think they're Rosie's, or...um...uh...

[Mr. Id]: Or...or the boy's?

[Mr. Id]: Probably both.

[Mr. Ego]: What a mess.

[Mr. Ego]: Well, never much for putting things in order–inside or out.

[Mr. Ego]: Never much of anything other than the work.

[Mr. Id]: Sleeping late, out in the studio 'til dawn. Heh... I'd have divorced...me.

[Mr. Ego]: Let's not forget the drinking! Drinking and the occasional...dalliance.

[Mr. Id]: Not much of a role model, huh?

[Mr. Ego]: Hehe, what'd Burroughs say?

[Mr. Ego]: "Anyone who hasn't made mistakes–and paid for them? They don't know the score."

### Mission Accomplished

[Dreamer]: I remember everything.

[Dreamer]: Everything I need...

[Dreamer]: ...To create the book for Charlotte.

[Dreamer]: Who I am now, is the sum of all the mistakes, all the choices I've made in the past.

[Dreamer]: Everything I've learned. To pass on.

[Daughter]: Thank you, dad. I'll read it to Charlotte. Every night.

[Dreamer]: I can go now.

[Dreamer]: ZED and I have finally found our home.

### Charlotte

[Charlotte]: This is it, Charlotte. End of an era.

[Charlotte]: And you're talking to yourself. Again. Stanford is definitely not ready for you.

[Charlotte]: "Charlotte Malone: Rocket Scientist"–it's got a nice ring.

[Charlotte]: "Elbow grease and a healthy ego."

[Charlotte]: Mom says I've got both. From Grandpa.

[Charlotte]: Pretty sure that's a compliment.

[Charlotte]: Mom says he was...at odds with himself.

[Charlotte]: Like half of him just wanted to create.

[Charlotte]: And the other half...didn't know what he wanted.

[Charlotte]: Definitely wasn't that movie.

[Charlotte]: So much wasted potential...

[Charlotte]: I get that he wasn't exactly a...model parent.

[Charlotte]: But I still wanna hear Mom's stories–good and bad.

[Charlotte]: And we've both gotta looong drive ahead, so...

[Charlotte]: Plenty of time to ask.

[Charlotte]: It's weird, I know. I should be more excited.

[Charlotte]: Mom put everything on hold–just to get me here.

[Charlotte]: And a good career's important, I get that. But...

[Charlotte]: Leaving everything behind...?

[Charlotte]: Well, you know. Sucks.

[Charlotte]: Well, maybe not everything.

[Charlotte]: Some things are with you for good, and that's...okay.

[Charlotte]: I can't expect to have it all figured out. I mean, I'm still just a kid.

[Charlotte]: But at least I've...got a pretty good guide.