Bubbles

Saw Daniel in my dreams again. There seemed to be a few less of those dream bubbles floating around. Daniel was kneeling on he ground, holding one of them and staring into it intensely. Well, I say "holding", but he wasn't actually making contact with it. It was sort of just hovering between his hands.

"Hey, man," I said. "Watcha lookin' at?"

He glanced at me briefly before returning his gaze to the bubble.

"This person," he said. "You know him, but you have no idea who he is. What he dreams about..."

"Wait, is that... the Hooded Guy?" I asked. "Where is he?"

"I can't say," Daniel said.

"Well, what's so interesting about his dreams?" I asked.

"I can't tell you," Daniel said. "This kind of knowledge can be dangerous or rewarding and it's impossible to tell which one until it's too late."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"look, dude," He said. "I'm stressed out right now. I haven't slept in weeks, and these visions of... these dreams of his aren't making it any easier. And neither are all your questions."

"Sorry," I said.

One of the nearby bubbles vanished. Daniel winced as it happened.

"Another one bites the friggin' dust," he muttered.

"Did that person just die?" I asked.

Daniel laughed.

"OH, yeah he fucking did!" He said. "And I can feel I every time! You know what it's like being connected to all these minds?1? I fuckin' SUCKS!"

That last word seemed to reverberate through the empty space we were in.

"I'm sorry, man," I said. "I promise this'll be over soon. Once I regroup with Hooded Guy, I'm gonna find a way out of-"

"There is no way out," Daniel said. "You have to either win or lose. No other options are available. Your in the Game Maser's game, and now you have to play. You have to either win or lose, and I'm stuck here until you do."

And then I woke up.

So, yeah. Daniel. Not doing so good...