I was walking around what seemed like a college campus, and joined up with a tour group. There was some discussion of a ventilation system which had been made out of bombs. The tour guide unlatched a connection in the vents and let people look in it. I got the feeling I hadn't signed up for the tour, but I was trying to get my bearings. I introduced myself and looked into the vents.
me: "So these were installed...by a guy who made weapons? They were demilitarized first, right?"
The guide looked at me, puzzled.
me: "Well, I'd assume so."
Our small group continued and seem to hook up with a larger group. As we walked I got in a discussion with a girl who had just learned about the idea of using magnets to hold notes. She was thinking up sing-song phrases for it, like "pin your memo with a magnet".
me: (laughing) "Yes that might be the next big thing. I may just steal your idea. I'd change it subtly though, like... 'put a magnet on your message'"
girl: (angry) "That's not as good!"
me: "Maybe not, but it's close enough. Think of the 80/20 rule. And if I stole it outright you'd sue me."
Somehow I wandered onto what I thought was a staircase that turned out to be an incredibly steep ledge. I panicked and turned, but couldn't climb back up. Realizing I could sort-of hold on, I decided it would be better to call for help instead of lobbing myself back over the shaky rock. A man saw me and approached.
me: "Help!"
man: "You're in quite a situation, there. But right now I'm an uninvolved party. What happens if I come over and pull you up and it goes wrong, and you fall?"
me: "I'll absolve you of that responsibility."
man: "Shouldn't you be more specific? If I don't have any responsibility, what's to stop me from just knocking you off?"
me: (frustrated) "I absolve you of responsibility IF you pull me in the direction away from the ledge and it incidentally goes wrong?"
man: "Nah."
me: "Oh, fuck you."
I decided to just drop, which caused my consciousness to shift and I found myself in a conversation with a man who identified himself as Kerrek. We got on a tangent of whether that was taken from the Homestar Runner cartoon, but he said they'd taken it from the same place. He was strange looking, and he had a strange looking woman who was like a doll with him.
me: "Okay, so what's my name?"
kerrek: "We're not going to name you just because you showed up here."
me: "What do you mean? What happens when I leave?"
kerrek: "Your energy will leave, and you'll be back where you were before this."
The conversation sort of took a few turns, including what may have been a joke about something called a "worn porn" store. Eventually I was walking with the woman through a somewhat odd kitchen.
woman: "You and the paint...you're always so bleak."
me: "Paint? Bleak? You mean like I notice entropy?"
She looked confused.
me: "Like...decay. Rot. Death."
woman: "No, I mean you have this...what might be called millionairism. If something is there, then that's what you do."
me: "Isn't that the state of nature in general?"
woman: "For insects and the like, maybe. But most people are different."
me: "What can they do besides what is there for them to do?"
woman: (sighing) "Oh, you know. Making decisions based on things like what is right and wrong, what they believe in. That sort of thing."
me: (annoyed) "I do that!"
woman: "In a way, sure. But you are distracted. And it's hard to blame you, as this is extremely difficult."
me: "I'll say. Does it get worse?"
woman: "No. What you take for granted is true, pretty much. This beginning is the hardest. It will be easier for you after the return."
me: "When is the return?"
woman: "It will be soon."
She showed me some strange fruits, that she was using in cooking, and offered that I try them. I walked around and tried to ask some more questions but wound up abruptly waking up, though I tried to thank her for being nice while I was doing so.