The Dream Machine
WG - SAS - G8
On a late evening night, all you could hear was cockroaches screeching and leaves rustling. The moon shined brightly in the night sky and the stars glittered. Suddenly, a thunderous clap sounded on the top of a hill where the mad scientist lives; a place where no life sprouts, a place where no one dares to go near to.
“IT HAS BEEN DONE!” shouted the mad scientist, “THE MACHINE THAT WILL BRING UPON HAPPINESS!”
“That does not look like anything close to what you envisioned it to be,” his assistant remarked snickering at the ugly invention.
The mad scientist turned around to confront his assistant, holding him up with one hand.
“Say that again and you will end up in the pit of mistakes where you will be eaten alive.”
The assistant was struggling, he waggled his legs gasping for his breath. Just as he was on the verge of fainting, the mad scientist let go.
“It…” panted the assistant, “it’s ok, all we need is a test subject.”
“Specifically,” the mad scientist continued, “a person who is struggling to find happiness.”
“I know just how to do that.”
The assistant grabbed the dream machine and ran downhill, tripping over his own foot from time to time. He arrived at a local television shop in order to put it up for sale. He put the machine down and marked a price with a description: “The new way to alleviate depression.” Secretly putting a tracker on the machine, he left the shop and went uphill again.
“We need more!” the assistant said, “one is not enough.”
“I don’t have the resources,” said the mad scientist, “even if I did, it would take way too long to remake another one.”
“Then all we can do is pray,” the assistant murmured, “pray that the invention is used correctly.”
…
“The machine is on the move! Someone must have purchased it!” the assistant shouted as he saw the little red dot on the tracker move, “Sir, WAKE UP!”
“What? Where? When? Why? How?” said the perplexed mad scientist.
“Sir, how incredible!” the assistant stated, “It is the dream machine you invented a month ago. The one where it makes you dream about your happiest memory and amplifies the details. Remember? We found our test subject! ”
“Oh that,” he said, “it was a failure of an invention, it is insignificant in my invention history.”
The mad scientist lay on his bed again, uninterested in what is going to be a novelty of an invention. The assistant on the other hand had other thoughts on his mind; he believed in the dream machine. He went down the hill to locate the machine.
…
“Brother,” Victor shouted, “guess what I bought for your birthday gift?”
“Another old tablet is it?” Leroy giggled.
“Oh, it is not,” Victor laughed, “it is a dream machine, or so it is called.”
“What in the mad scientist technology is that?” Leroy asked.
“We’ll see,” Victor said as he put the dream machine on his brother’s head. “Lay down and enjoy…”
Victor clicked open the switch and left his brother be. The machine started to whirl and it let out air alongside it. Electrical sparks buzzed all around the helmet, causing little burns on the bed sheet. Then, his brother started to snore. There was a little screen on the top of the helmet, showing the scenes running through the person’s head. The happy memories leverage the realistic life to the unimaginable dreamland.
…
The assistant thought of an idea, to mass-produce the machine. By doing this, he not only earns profit, but he also creates a source of happiness amongst people.
…
The dream machine now runs over the whole town. People use it daily, but unhealthily. It is becoming more of a drug than something to alleviate sadness. It is something used to allow people to run away from reality, to drift into dreamland; maybe temporarily, but sometimes forever…
