jh-56s, j for short, has a dream.
33rd dream of the 7,651st day of j’s life.
267,786th dream of j’s life.
walking down an empty road, beneath a pink sky.
trees, with thin green branches, no leaves.
house in distance.
house never gets closer, j keeps walking.
278 checks notes on j, one of 278’s 1028 charges.
jh-56s is on short watch list, as dreams show signs of leakage from expiring empire’s past.
the door opens, and y88, 278’s senior officer, appears.
y88 on routine daily rounds, or so 278 thinks.
but how know?
who knows what?
y88 watches scan of j’s brain-dream, says nothing.
278 makes move to move on to next dreamer, y88 holds up hand.
“let us look a little longer,” says y88.
“if you like,” 278 replies. “there has been no change in subject for “ - consults notepad - “17 days.”
“it is the color of the sky,” replies y88. “i just do not like it.”
“a common enough color in scans of this sort,” 278 replies. “perhaps just a slight shade darker.”
“it is the very slightness of the shade of darkness that concerns me,” says y88. “let us watch a little longer.”
“very well,’ 278 agrees.
now 278 and y88 are following j down the road.
j does not look back.
the sky gets a darker shade of pink.
the trees, when they appear, are further and further apart.
at a signal from y88, 278 assumes the form of an orange cat. and y88 the form of a spider. the spider is the same size as the cat.
they move swiftly down the road in their new forms and catch up with j, who turns around.
j has a classic human form with two legs and two legs, a head and an upright stance, but has no face.
now they are within distance of the house, which suddenly looms on the horizon.
there is a path leading off the road to the house, and they take it.
close up, the house has four floors, each with seven windows facing the road, except the ground floor which has six windows, three on each side of a heavy door.
all the windows are dark.
j makes a sudden rush for the door, attempting to leave 278 and y88 behind.
the door opens with ponderous slowness, but 278 and y88 stay back.
they allow the door to open, and j to rush inside the house.
the door closes, even more slowly than it had opened.
the sky turns green, and y88 and 278 enjoy a good laugh.
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