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BRENDAN BAKER SCHMIDT ENG 501 – FALL 2008 WORD COUNT:

DayDreamer

"Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible." - T. E. Lawrence

I have no plans to publish my writings. My Independent Major requires me to write a fictional short, adapt it to script and then direct it as a short film. This is the 1st draft of my thesis.

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PointofthePresent Men have long since forgotten the ways of the past and the freedoms we held. In the

absence they struck a deal with their morality, purging all foreseeable emotion to entertain a

new rationality of peace and freewill. Freedom – a word whose meaning has been skewed,

becoming a synonym for justice and fear. In its place stands the bias imposter, steadfast on the

conquest for domination – righteousness.

A man lays static amidst the weightless air, floating around the star constellation,

Pegasus, the winged-horse. He draws with his index finger a line connecting the stars of Markab

and Scheat. Many scientists believe a type of pseudo-earth can be found within these systems.

That Pegasus, holds the key to human expansion – dozens of new worlds ripe for humanity to

practice their ever-extending benevolence. “Commander Christian,” a soft robotic voice chimes,

“Your presence is needed on the bridge.”

The commander shifts attention from the astronomic constellations and refocuses it on

the voice. “Thank you, EYESIC.” He pauses briefly, his gaze upon Pegasus once again. He

releases a light sigh, “EYESIC, end JAN protocol.” The scattered stars amongst the room begin

to glow more intensely, over exposing the commander’s eyes. The glare fills the entire room

until it’s one solid gaze, absent of all difference. Abruptly the white haze sharply flashes, colors

of red, blue and green coat the room in a dizzying fashion. Realities begin to blur and mesh

together as chaos ensues within the chamber. The mind of the captain loses all rationality as he

feels the rewiring of his mind occur. The simple disposition of his subconscious mind returns,

infusing his higher functions with the violent nature of uncontrollable thought. All within one

moment in time the captain experiences every sense humanly imaginable, from excruciating

pain, to divine pleasure – anything longer than a moment and the brain would experience a

paroxysm. The commander could feel his muscles meeting resistance as he spasms, but he has

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yet to regain control. The moment lasts for what seems like an eternity. The more relative time

passes during this transition the more violent the spasms get. He feels his body going completely

haywire; his mind shutters ancient memories. Blinding his focus he sees his wife, and two

children. Pain begins to set in. His arms flurry against something solid and cold. His legs tied

down unable to move against his relentless motion. Stop! The lids that blanket the commander’s

soft blue eyes open – the pain becomes a memory – reality ensues.

“JAN protocol terminated. Return cycle end”, EYESIC slightly pauses, “Welcome back

Commander.”

“I will never get used to that. That was the most intense return yet”. The commander

leans forward from his chair. He reaches to his forehead and pulls off a small round device that

glows blue. There are no restraints, no metal bars – he is completely free.

“I noticed no unusual signs during transition, commander. Shall I run diagnostics?”

“Go ahead, EYSIC, it should take several hours for those to complete.”

“Affirmative, Commander”, EYESIC pauses, “You attention is needed at the ansible. I

have received a tellink from command. Priority, urgent.”

“Thank you, EYESIC.” The bridge was completely void of color. The only bits of light

that could be seen were those on the main terminal. Buttons ranging from hues of blue to red lay

scattered across the visual touchpad. One button flashes rapidly. The commander reaches from

his chair and presses the flashing surface. A screen appears from the darkness located directly

above the visual board. The screen begins to play a video message sent from one Admiral Dent.

“Greetings, Commander. This is a priority red message. Recently the enemy has attacked

the providence region of Leblanc, your hometown. We regret to inform you that during the last

encounter your wife and two children were severally injured. Katharine, your wife, passed away

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this morning at 0700 hours; your son followed soon after. Lisa, your daughter resides in a coma

with no positive signs of regaining consciousness. I understand this must be hard to hear.

However, we encourage you to utilize the JAN protocol to further help your understanding with

this emotional turmoil. Good luck, and Gods bless. Command Out.”

There are no words to explain how the commander feels after hearing such harsh words.

The weight of the galaxy, and all its mass, collide in his mind. Meeting at the center of what

seems to be an emotional vortex.

Pilots of extended stealth interplanetary travel are ravaged with psychological

examinations that probe every facet of the mind. None came close to preparing him for the loss

of his wife and two children. No parent should ever have to bury his or her own child - a fate

worse than even the deepest levels of hell.

“Commander, I am detecting an increased level of adrenalin and a spike in your heart

rate. Shall I administer a sedative?” Captain Christian decides to sit there and ignore EYESIC. A

computer couldn’t very well understand the magnitude of sheer turmoil he feels. “Command--”

“Negative, EYESIC. I am just going to sleep. Bedroom, EYESIC”, in a fading fashion a

light on the floor begins to glow. Leading the commander from one room to another. The

hallway is completely solid black aside from the glowing path light. He enters his bedroom

chamber and the door automatically slides shut. A small and dim light fades on to reveal a large

bed in the middle of the room. On the walls: stars from the surrounding vacuum of space grant

the illusion of sleeping amongst the heavens. “EYESIC, lights”, they slowly fade to match the

pitch black emptiness. I am truly alone. Goodnight Katherine, Aaron, and Lisa. I love you all,

with all my heart. The commander lies there, eyes open for several moments, and then he drifts

into the vanity of his very own nightmare.

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DreameroftheNight

I was given a golden box when my grandparents died. They too were killed in a bombing

years ago. An old flat map of earth laid stretch across the top. Every time I held it I remember

the times before the war — I used to play soccer. I could feel the grass beneath my feet tingling

my toes. We weren’t even done with our warm-ups when I heard the sound of a Titan 42 buzzing

overhead. A sound so deep it could vibrate the core of your soul. They came without warning,

and without mercy. They took my grandparents that day — spare the rod.

A woman sits on a bed, her blue eyes fixated, gazing into the abyss. She’s still. In her

smooth hands, grasps a box, golden in trim. It has a worn, but noticeable, flat map the top. It

looks beaten and aged — the family stories it could tell. Her eyes yield to nothing, not even her

urge to blink. She sits and contemplates with a purposeful posture.

Sharply, she shoots to her feet. The box falls to the hard wood floor, smacking the surface

with great intensity. The sound echoes throughout the house. “Aaron… Lisa…” she mouths to

herself as her children enter her thoughts. Quickly she exits the room, “Lisa! Lisa where are you

honey?” Making her way down the hallway, entering each room in search for her daughter.

“Lisa!”

“Mommy?” A tired voice cries.

“Lisa.” She makes her way toward the child’s bedroom. Lisa stands, door open, inside

her room. She’s wearing a white lace nightgown. “Honey, there you are. Come with me,

quickly.” In great pace, she sweeps her daughter off her feet and into her arms. Carrying her out,

she makes their way downstairs. Passing the front door into the living room, the woman sets Lisa

down on a couch. “Stay here sweetie, ok? Can you do that for mommy?”

“Yea…”

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“Thank you! Have you seen your brother?” The girl nods her head side to side. “Aaron!”

She yells while making her way to the front door, vigorously opens the old wooden door, and

exits the house — all the while screaming for her son. She reaches the outside. The brightness of

the sun forces her to squint as she looks around the neighborhood for her son. The sound of

thunder courses through the sky as jets scour amongst the clouds. Meanwhile, sounds of warning

sirens can be heard. Their screeching causes the mother to raise her voice to an even greater

level. “Aaron!” A moment passes. “Aaron!”

Deciding to give up and go inside, she makes her way back into the house. She reaches

the door, looking through she sees Lisa standing just on the other side of the door. She flings the

door open and sweeps up her child, clinging to her, pulling Lisa’s head into her chest,

whispering, “I love you.”

“Mom!” Aaron storms in from the back door screaming for his mother. She sets Lisa

down and steps towards the back door.

“Aaron!” He enters the room, grasping his mother with both arms.

“Mom, they let us go from school early — they wouldn’t tell us what’s going on.”

“It’s ok, Aaron.” She motions to Lisa to partake in the family hug. Lisa embraces her

mother and brother. Suddenly a large flash blinds the family. The house begins to shake

viciously. Painful screams can be heard growing in the distance — a screaming that can break

even the strongest man.

The commander wakes from his slumber, heart pounding, to realize that it was only a

dream — vanity telling the truth of the universe.

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InsideJAN

“Jed?” Losing his distraction Jed looks to the women.

“Yea?”

“You were talking about your dream, then stopped.”

“Yea. I was just thinking about them?”

“Your family?”

“Yea. I can’t seem to forget their faces. I know it was just a dream but it felt so--”

“Real.” The commander nods at her reply. She continues, “Do you know why you are

here Jed?”

“Command’s orders — a simple precaution in time of psychological turmoil. I guess they

want to make absolutely sure I won’t defect.”

“Do you think you could?”

“I won’t.”

“That didn’t answer the question, Jed. Could you defect?”

“Why do you think you’re here?”

“I was created to see that pilots of long-term interplanetary travel stick to their orders.

Tracking their psyche to determine them capable of command.”

“This protocol already divides my consciousness from my subconscious, doesn’t that

already give you access to my psyche?”

“Affirmative. However, I am here to bring about awareness to your subconscious so that

you carry out the directive.” She pauses; a lull fills the air, “I have an idea. Might I try

something?” The commander shifts in his seat.

“Sure.”

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The scenery from an old stuffy shrink office changes on cue to a table setting inside an

old house. The dark wooden table is set with plate wear. Red patterned wallpaper covers the

walls. Two candlesticks sit neatly in the center of the table; both are lit, their flames dance. The

mashed potatoes already sit, steaming on the table.

“Kid’s, dinner!” A voice cries from the other room. Footsteps can be heard pattering

through the halls, bumbling down the stairs. Lisa and Aaron enter the dinning room without any

hesitation of seeing their father - as if everything was normal.

Jed flabbergasted, “What‘s the fuck!?” He looks to Jan.

“This is one of your subconscious memories collected by my database”, said Jan who sits

two seats down, plucks the spoon from a dinner dish and begins to serve herself.

“Jed? Who’re you talking to?” A voice cries from the other room. Kat’s shoes clack as

they walk from the kitchen to the dinning room. Jed begins to panic. He shoots up from his chair,

it falls to the ground. Katherine. His mind swells; erratic thoughts of seeing his wife again send

him into a state of trepidation. Everything being too much to bare the commander bails on the

simulation, “EYESIC, end JAN Protocol!”

Stop! Reality ensues…

Jed returns to find himself alone, onboard the bridge of the EYESIC Spaceship. A blue

flashing device drops from his head, onto his lap. He breathes heavily, he’s anxious, nervous,

relieved. Relieved to have escaped that nightmare… Wasn’t it a nightmare?

The JAN Protocol was developed to help isolated persons deal with emotional turmoil.

Why did it show me that? His thoughts are inconclusive. Tears begin to fall from his eyes.

EYESIC, silent, observes the captain, recording his doings.

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Suddenly, the commander calms himself. His posture becomes ridged, erect with

confidence. He picks up the device from his lap, and slaps it back on his forehead. Taking a

deep breath, then, “EYESIC, run the JAN Protocol.”

Jed returns to the table, picking up the chair and placing it back at the table. The clacking

of Kat’s shoes softens as she enters the room, stepping onto the carpet that covers the floor. Jed

looks up from his seat, the air escapes his lungs. It has been 264 Days, 4 Hours, and 36 minutes

since he last saw his wife.

Kat enters the room and looks at Jed as if not even a day passed them by. His eyes widen

and body becomes numb. With her, Kat carries in a casserole dish and plops it on the table. The

kids begin scooping out large sums of chicken, broccoli and cheese. Jed slowly stands from his

seat and makes his way steadily towards his wife. He grabs her and pulls her close, kissing her

passionately. The kids giggle. To Kat the kiss was unexpected, but to Jed it was much more.

Everything seems to real for Jed. The feeling of her soft wool sweater tickles his neck. Every

synapse in Jed’s head fires and for the first time in nearly 265 days, he feels alive. Kat pushes

him away after several minutes of kissing.

“Ok… Okay.” She giggles, points to the table and glances at her husband. “Not in front

of the kids, Jed... Later.” She gives him one last kiss and finds her seat. Jed sits, locates the

nearest dish and begins to serve himself. He occasionally glances at his kids, and unknowingly

forms a smile. Everything’s perfect.

Back onboard the spaceship, a blank terminal boots up. Lights flicker as the EYESIC

control system begins recording the JAN protocol from the viewscreen. The scene changes from

the table, to a park.

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Sitting on a blanket, Jed feeds Kat some cheese and crackers. The sun paints a beautiful

setting, as it descends towards the horizon. Lisa runs around attempting to catch butterflies with

her net, collecting them in a jar. Aaron sits off by himself playing a futuristic game-boy. Sounds

of explosions resonate from the device. He’s deep inside a different world, unresponsive to his

surroundings. Perfect.

EYESIC begins a complex process of evaluating the commander’s responsiveness. It

determines the current set of environmental variables isn’t helping.

Jan suddenly appears. “How are you feeling?” Jed looks at his wife and kids. “They

cannot hear you nor me right now.”

“This never happened. This isn’t one of my memories.”

“Affirmative. This is a scenario generated to invoke a response.”

“Jan, how can I do this? Delivering this payload would only cause more pain for billions

of people around the galaxy. Is this war worth the suffering?” Jed looks at his family. They are

perfect.

“I do not have a response.”

“You’re a computer, how could you know. You can’t even comprehend the meaning of

life, why should I think otherwise.” He pauses, looks at this family, and sighs. “I know none of

this is real, but I cannot help but think…”

Meanwhile, EYESIC sends a recording of the conversation of Jed confessing his

uncertainty. Minutes later command responds, message reads as follows: EYESIC AI, priority

one. By any means insure directive integrity. Command Override Grated.

“…Everything just seems perfect…” Jed notices a blank stare in Jan’s face. She begins to

flicker and suddenly disappears. An overcast crawls overhead, blocking the sun. Thunder booms

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in the distance. It begins to pour. The family rushes, packing up all their possessions. Lisa setting

the butterflies free, and Aaron guarding his game device from the rain. They make a sturdy run

for their car.

Once inside the car Jed powers it on activating the radio, music beings to play. Over the

music Jed speaks, “That was odd.”

“It was, but we had a wonderful da…” Kat’s sentence is cut short. She becomes static,

unmoving. Jed looks at his kids, they’re frozen, stares absent of their bountiful livelihood. The

music gets replaced by an announcer.

“Ladies and gentlemen we apologize for interrupting your broadcasting but we have

some urgent news. In an unfortunate event Earth has retaliated to Martian threats by attacking

several of their planetary settlements. Mars responded by bombing critical military forces.” The

announcer went on, words of death and destruction anger Jed. He changes the channel. “Mar’s

has attacked a settlement on Kappa 6…” Again. “Earth’s forces push forward across neutral

space in an attempt…” Again. “Its rumored Mars is preparing a planet bomb.” Again. “The

settlement Regenstein was attacked, killing 10 thousand.” He turns off the radio. Flash.

DreameroftheDay

It is said we all experience a moment inside our dreams where reality becomes skewed,

and our perception is lost to vanity. Inside this moment, however small it might be, our mind

overcomes the heart, drowning out every last bit of will, stopping it cold. And in this fraction of a

second our connection to humanity, and its infinite wisdom, is lost — lost to the selfishness of the

human imagination.

The scene changes and Jed finds himself standing outside his old house. The cloudless

blue sky overhangs the mid day sun. He walks up the concrete walkway, stepping over cracks

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and broken rock, towards the stairs — solid as the day he molded them. The door, green in color,

slightly hangs open; only a crack separates it from the frame. He places my hand upon the soft

wood and pushes it open. Inside the smells of chicken chili and broccoli casserole hang in the air.

There is nothing like Katherine’s cooking. It wasn’t till he heard the sound of wood smacking the

upper bedroom floor that he realizes the origin of this memory. “Aaron, Lisa!” Katherine begins

to frantically yell. My dream.

“EYESIC!” I yell.

“Yes, Commander?”

“End JAN Protocol.”

“Negative Commander — mission directive in jeopardy. Captain suited incapable of

proper mental psychosis.”

“Lisa! Aaron!”

“EYSIC, override command 1424, Commander Christian.”

“Negative, Command override unauthorized. Directive in jeopardy.”

“What are you talking about, EYESIC. I am commander of this ship, and you will obey

my orders.”

“Orders from command, full computer ride given to EYESIC terminal under the

circumstances of directive goal. EYESIC terminal may carry out JAN Protocol until directive is

met.”

“How do I get out?” A moment passes, “EYESIC?” After a long sequence of variables

and processes EYESIC derived the most probable way to regain the Captain’s integrity…

“You must watch them die”.

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“Aaron! Aaron!” Kat is now running down the stairs holding Lisa, still franticly

screaming for her kin. She passes the Captain without notice and places Lisa in the couch. He

falls to his knees and shuts his eyes. “Stay here honey.” Kat walks out the front door. Lisa gets to

her feet by scooting off the couch and walks towards the front door — Kat shutting the door

behind her, closing Lisa inside. The little girl stands, staring at the door for a few moments, then

turns around.

“Love is something we whisper to another.” The captain lifts his head in confusion.

“Aaron!” The door flung open, missing Lisa. Kat scouring inside shuts the door and picks

up the child. Jed doesn’t move.

“Are you sure you haven’t seen your brother?” The girl replies with a simple nod side to

side. The backdoor flies opens and the sound of panic carries with the breeze.

“Mom!” Yells a familiar voice.

“Aaron?” She turns setting down her daughter.

“Mom, they let us go from school early — they wouldn’t tell us what’s going on.” Aaron

embraces his mother.

“It’s ok, you’re home now.”

“What’s going on?”

“It doesn’t matter, point is we are a family and no war can take that away.” Kat extends

her hand to Lisa, inviting her in. The commander loses it.

“EYESIC, please! Don’t!” The commander reduces to tears. “Please, EYESIC.” The

commander grasps his hands together and begins to pray. “I promise, god, please forgive me.

Regardless of how much training, it can never take away my love for my family.” A hand, soft in

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texture, touches the commander on his shoulder. He looks up with teary eyes to see his only

daughter looking into his them — she hugs her father.

“Daddy, it’s ok.” She leans in to the commander’s ear and whispers, “I love you.” Jed

looks to his daughter, then to his son, and lastly his wife. All of who are gazing down at them.

Lisa pulls Jed to his feet and wraps her arms around her father. She invites Aaron and Kat to

join. For the first time in memory Jed Christian beheld his family with all their love and joy. The

warmth from their bodies seems so real, who is he to question their relativity? He is with his

family again, and as quick as everything began, a flash blinds the family beholden to one

another. Their sights dare not leave the gaze of one another, for they are a family, regardless of

how many planets separate them. Screams become the only thing noticeable. The feelings of pain

overtake the rest. The ground shakes and the explosion gets closer. Stop…

Commander Christian opens his soft blue eyes and returns to reality. “JAN protocol

terminated. Return cycle end. Welcome back Commander. Directive destination reached. Shall I

prep payload launch?” The commander sits forward from his chair — he is completely free. He

begins to cry, venting the anger and sadness. “Commander, shall I prep payload launch?”

Christian hears the computer, but decides to ignore it. He reaches out to the visible terminal

towards a flashing green button spiraling in the center. Placing his finger on the button — it turns

red. “Manual command given. Preparing payload delivery. Target acquired. Sequence delivery

time, T minus 5, 4, 3, 2… Payload away.”

The commander whispers, “I love you Lisa, Aaron, and Katherine. It’s time for this to

end, no matter the cost. This is for you.” The commander presses another button upon the control

board, which activates the visible screen. He looks upon the screen and sees a desolate grey

moon floating in tandem with Earth. “War’s over.” It explodes.

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