Virtual Reality

I had a dream last night involving a plot to take over the world, and I was powerless to stop it. My loving husband's comment was, "Oh, they've already done that. The movie's called 'Surrogates.'" I think this dream was based loosely on the movie "Inception," with influences from the movie "Wall-E" and the various detective/spy television shows I often watch.

In my dream, I found myself wandering a virtual world, familiar spaces mashed together in impossible ways, like various malls I've visited attached to Disneyland, city parks, and zoos. I've visited quite a few zoos. The whole place was jam-packed with people, all enjoying some exciting experience or other, whether whooshing down roller coasters, shopping for luxury virtual items at rock-bottom prices, getting massages, or eating exotic virtual foods. 

As each new experience occurred, I could see the names and prices of each event hovering in the air next to the participant, appearing as misty white numbers as they purchased their new "apps," fading after a few seconds. That way anyone watching another participant, or "guest," could know how to look up the app for themselves or how much their account would be charged for that experience. It was difficult to see the crowd through the misty numbers constantly appearing in midair, but there was still plenty of noise.

I was excited when I first arrived. The numbers were distracting, but the attractions quickly drew my attention, suppressing my urge to calculate how much money was left in my bank account. Little did I realize, and little did most of the participants there realize that once your checking accounts were emptied, Jobs had a line of credit available for each guest to utilize. And each credit account had no limit. Each "guest" would keep trying and adding new applications to their original virtual reality experience, never realizing they were getting deeper and deeper into debt.

I had a companion, I can't remember who now, but it was a young man sent to guide me through my first visit to the virtual world. As he walked me through each new level, an uneasiness crept over me. I couldn't get those prices, all those numbers out of my head. I knew none of these people had the money to pay for these experiences. I kept trying to get my guide's attention, asking if we could go somewhere private to talk, but he ignored me. That was another red flag; something was terribly wrong with this wondrous world.

In the shadowy corners, I began to catch glimpses of a short, white man, his glasses flashing reflected light out of the darkness. It was *Steve Jobs.

I sped up, my guide calling after me, and then I started running through the crowds, shouting and waving my hands, trying to get anyone's attention. Most people ignored me, others looked up from their activities for a moment, a bemused look on their faces as they wondered how Jobs kept coming up with such crazy apps. I stumbled across members of my own family, but they just thought I was caught up in all the virtual excitement. Nobody would listen to me, and worse yet, I noticed a few figures separating from the crowd to follow me. Guards. Jobs knew what I was up to, and he wasn't about to let me interfere with his grand scheme... 

Unfortunately, I woke up before this dream could conclude. It's funny, but most of my life I feel like I've had a hard time getting people to listen to me. Very frustrating, and probably the basis of my dream. (When interpreting dreams, the overall feelings are usually what matter most, not the smaller details.) Do you think I got away and saved the world?

*I wanted to include a note about the Steve Jobs in my dream. One, he looked nothing like the actual Steve Jobs, and two, I highly doubt the real Steve Jobs is trying to take over the world. (I like to give people the benefit of the doubt; if anything he's just trying to earn more money and leave his mark on the world, nothing more malicious than that.)