mindstream (1)

8/10/2019 MINDSTREAM (1)

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MINDSTREAM

written by

Derik West

AddressPhoneE-mail


2/30

FADE IN:

INT. WHITE ROOM

A massive white room fills the frame. Absolutely no color. No

form. no walls. Looks like Infinite Nothingness...

V.OWelcome to the mindstream.

A man late 20's walks in front of the camera from off screenwith a "how the fuck did I get here" kind of look on hisface. We see he is wearing PJs. Clean cut. No style. Like ablank canvas...

WRITERWhat is this place?

V.OExcellent question.

The Writer's head is on a swivel. Looking around forsomething to look at...

V.OThis space. Think of it as aplayground for your imagination. Ablank canvas if you will as vastand infinite as space itself. Emptyas this page was one hundred andtwenty one words ago...

WRITERWait. how did you...who are you?

V.O(sigh) who I am isirrelevant. But if I mustbe personified...

A person appears out of thin air. Sharp dressed. Looksidentical to Writer. If writer were to hire a stylist thatis.

LOGOSYou may call me Logos.

Writer walks towards Logos...

WRITERLogos? You look... like me?


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2.

LOGOSIndeed. Does this appearance notsatisfy you?

Writer touches Logos as if to confirm that Logos is actuallyreal..

WRITER(smile with a chuckle)

No no. All good. A bit weird butit's whatever. so...

Writers eyes scan the infinite emptiness...

WRITER...this place. is like a dreamworld?

LOGOS

Precisely. Here in this space youcan do whatever you want. Haveanything you want. Be whoever youwant. All you got to do is..

WRITERUse my imagination right?

LOGOSExactly. Go ahead. Give it a try.Don't be shy.

WRITEROk imagination. Let's do this. Ican have anything I want. What do Iwant?

We close in on Writer squeezing his eyelids tight and --

POOF -- a tan leather recliner chair appears.

LOGOSInteresting....

Logos rubs his chin as if pondering.

WRITERI did it!

Writer begins to celebrate like he just won the lottery.

WRITERIt actually worked.


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3.

The Writer proceeds to leap into the chair. It's time to getcomfy sit down and figure out what to materialize next.

BUT the illusion shatters. The chair can not hold any weight.It explodes into dust the second the writer touches it.

The Writers gluteus maximus hits the ground with a thud.

WRITERWhat the..

LOGOSTell me. When you closed your eyesDid you think of a chair? Or what achair looks like?

The writer stands back up brushing off dust.

WRITER

I guess I just thought of what thechair looks like....

LOGOSAhh you produced a figment.

WRITERA What?

LOGOSA figment. An optical illusion. Butno matter. No matter. This wasexpected. No one ever produces aproper thought form on their firsttry.

Writers enthusiasm is suddenly replaced with a look ofthinking "this was harder then I expected"

LOGOSAgain. Make the figment appear.just like before.

The writer closes his eyes and another chair appears.

LOGOSExcellent. The rate ofmaterialization is impressive. Makeanother figment appear.

WRITEROk another chair....

When the writer attempts to make another chair appear theprevious one disappears.


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4.

LOGOSThought so.

WRITERHold on. let me try thatagain...two chairs

Same thing happens. When The chair materializes in adifferent spot...the previous one vanishes.

WRITERWhat's going on here?

LOGOSTry to materialize several figmentsat once

WRITEROk. A bunch of chairs....got it.

Writer squeezes his eyelids tight and --

WOOSH -- A bunch of tan leather recliner chairs appearscattered about in no particular fashion.

LOGOSIt appears you can only produce andsustain a single materialization.

WRITERIs that bad?

LOGOSNope. Don't fret. It takes practiceto produce a thought form out offigments. Lots and lots ofpractice.

WRITER...this is definitely not as easy Ithought it would be.

LOGOSIndeed. But If it were easy...that

would defeat the purpose of thismindstream. would it not?

WRITERTrue that.

The Writer looks around at all the chairs curious as to whyhe can't sit down in one...


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5.

WRITERSo these chairs. they are...notreal?

LOGOSYou misunderstand. They are quite

real. As real as real can get.Subjectively speaking. No. It isnot a matter of perspective. It'stechnical. The reason you can't sitin one of these chairs. Isbecause....

Logos walks up and karate chops a chair which shatters intodust.

LOGOS....they have no parts.

WRITEROh..

LOGOSThese chairs are figments.Holographic reflections broughtforth from your memory. Anexpression of color and formwithout any function weight norproperty.

WRITERI get it. Like a video game withouta physics engine?

LOGOSI prefer to think of it like theproduct of an inexperiencedsymphony composer.

Logos waves his hand palm facing towards the ground. all thechairs break into pieces as if they were built out of Legoblocks.

WRITER

Yo what gives?

LOGOSYou want to sit in a chair right?

WRITERWell yeah that was the whole idea.I don't really know what I want tomaterialize.


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6.

WRITERso I thought I would make a chairappear sit down and think about it.

LOGOSAre you not capable of thinking

while standing?

WRITERWell yeah but I usually write err Imean think while sitting down.Besides sitting is morecomfy...right?

LOGOSI see.. If you really want to sitin a chair. You will have toassemble one from all of thesefigments.

WRITEROh. Right. Got it.

The writer proceeds to grab a figment but they shatter whentouched.

LOGOSNot with your hands. With yourmind!

WRITEROoh. Gotcha. With my mind. Ok.

The writer attempts to assemble a chair through telekinesis.Chair Legs start to fly around haphazardly. As if writer istrying to pull random parts together with invisible puppetstrings.

LOGOSConcentrate!

WRITERI'm trying...

Chair parts still flailing about chaotically.

LOGOSIt does not appear like you arefrom my perspective...

WRITERGrrr..

Frustration. The writer gives up. all the pieces stopanimating and fall to the ground.


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7.

WRITERI can't do this. It's too hard.There's too much junk in the way.

Writer plows through figments kicking them shattering theminto dust. Throwing a somewhat productive tantrum.

LOGOSCalm yourself. These are figmentsof your imagination. They respondto your call. Why are you havingsuch difficulty moving them?

WRITERI don't know! I've never movedanything with my mind before. Soforgive me for being a bit horribleat it.

LOGOSThere's your answer.

WRITERMy what? Yo Logo what am I doing...Oh..

LOGOSYes.

WRITERPractice right?

LOGOSIndeed.

WRITERYou know what. Fine. I'll justthink while standing. I didn't wantto sit down anyways...

LOGOSGiving up already?

WRITER

No no. Im just pouting...ok. Giveme a moment.

LOGOSTake your time. Shall I give you abit of advice?

WRITERYeah sure. That would be superhelpful...


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9.

The writers hand touches the chair. It worked like a charm.The writers face lights up like a Christmas tree. His handgliding across the leather like this chair is his mostvaluable possession.

LOGOS approaches writer who is currently sitting the chair up

on its legs.

Close in on writer sitting down in the chair.

LOGOSCongratulations. You just producedyour very first thought form.

Continue to close in on the writers face. ear to ear smilenow

LOGOS (O.S.)So tell me. What do you really want

to materialize?

or

LOGOS(O.S.)So tell me... what will youmaterialize next?

Close on huge smile....

CUT

EXT. ZEN GARDEN - DUSK

SUPER: Three weeks later...

A traditional zen garden illuminated by a setting sun comesinto view. We walk by a Koi pond, turn to see a rock gardenwith raked swirls then pan to gaze at sakura trees before wecome to close in on Writer who is meditating on a mat near abamboo water fall thing.

We pull out to see Logos standing near writer. As if it wasLogos that was walking through the zen garden.

LOGOSVery good. Now... slowly open youreyes.

The writer opens his eyes. A big smile. Then --

TIME LAPSE MAYHEM -- The sun starts rising and settingwildly. Fish from the koi pond glitch out and start swimmingin the air.


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10.

Random objects in the scene disappear then reappear indiscombobulated ways. Gravity flips and --

WHITEOUT

CUT TO:

INT. WHITE ROOM

Infinite nothingness.

Writer walks in front of camera from off screen wearing Boardshorts, a muscle shirt and flip flops. Looks like he isheading to the beach with a disappointed look on his face.

LOGOS (O.S.)You are certainly capable ofproducing very complex thought

forms already...

WRITER...But I can't sustain them forlong. The second I observethem...they fall apart.

Logos appears in the frame. Sharp dressed. Suit and tie.

LOGOSIndeed. Let's try a differentapproach shall we?

WRITERSounds good. What do you have inmind?

LOGOSIf your intention is to use themindstream to merely observe andexpress thought forms....

Logos rubs his chin as if pondering something...

LOGOS

You may require a point ofentry....

WRITERAn entry point? What do you mean?

Logos snaps his fingers. a huge treasure chest appears.


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11.

LOGOSIt is very difficult toexplain...much easier to show.

Writer walks up to the treasure chest.

WRITERWhat's inside?

LOGOSOpen it.

The writer opens the treasure chest cautiously. We are in themindstream. Anything can be inside. Light beams shine outfrom it when the top opens. The writer looks in and --

WRITERWhoa...

LOGOSAwe inspiring is it not?

WRITERDefinitely. What is this? It's likebigger on the inside...

LOGOSIt is a point of entry. If you wantto find out. Jump in.

WRITERJump in? Are you serious? Wait asecond. I got to think about this.I'm not mentally prepared...

LOGOSNo thinking. just fall...

Logos pushes writer into the chest and --

EXT SKY

We are falling.

WRITEROmigod. Holy shiiiiiiiit

Logos appears from off screen gracefully gliding side by sidewith Writer

LOGOSCalm yourself. There is plenty oftime left until we hit the ground


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12.

Loud sounds of wind as we whoosh past clouds...

WRITER(yelling) quickquestion....

LOGOSI cant hear you speak louder...

WRITERIs it possible to die in themindstream?

LOGOSOf course it is possible. all yougot to do is imagine yourself...

Logos flies off

LOGOSFlying(audio trails off as iffading out)

Writer still flailing about while he is falling

WRITERNot fly...i mean DIE

Ground approaching...

WRITERIm going to die..im going to dieOMIGOD IM GOING TO DIIIIIIIIE

BOOM

We observe what looks like a meteor impact

INT. HOLE IN THE GROUND

We looking down a huge whole. Writer coughing and brushingdirt off of himself at the bottom. Writer sits up and --

WRITERIm alive?

LOGOS (O.S.)Of course your alive.

Eyeline cut? We look up to see Logos standing at the topledge of the hole


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13.

LOGOS(kneeling down)

You can't die in the mindstream...

WRITERRight. I knew that...

LOGOSQuit dawdling. Get up here. Thereis something I want you to see.

Logos walks off...

WRITERAlright.. be up in a sec..

The writer attempts to climb out of the hole he finds himselfin with his hands but slips and falls.

LOGOS (O.S.)Hurry up.

WRITERok ok.

The writer leaps up and flies out of the hole with a hugesmile on his face

WRITEROh That's right. I can fly.

Writers jaw drops...

EXT. JAPANESE LANDSCAPE

Mountains. Rice fields everywhere we look. Up ahead We see apath leading towards a Japanese mansion.

WRITERIs that my..

LOGOSYes.

WRITERIt wont fall apart this time?

LOGOSNope.

WRITERNiiiice


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14.

The writer and Logos fly towards --

EXT ZEN GARDEN

Koi ponds, rock gardens and sakura trees fill the frame.Writer and Logos land right in front of us. Writer is stoked

looking around with glee.

LOGOSSo what do you think?

WRITERThis is incredible. Just like Iimagined it would look.

WRITERWait a second...

Time freezes.

LOGOSYes?

WRITERThere's something i need to dofirst.

The writer claps his hands and --

Instant WHITE OUT

CUT TO:

INT WHITE ROOM

And We are back to infinite nothingness.

Writer walks in front of the camera from off screen instantlymaterializes a comfy leather recliner chair leaps in it frombehind lands then leans forward.

a massive touch screen display appears in front of him.floating in mid air.

Logos appears next to the chair as writer begins to interactwith the display.

LOGOSWhat are you doing?

Que music...


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15.

WRITERI like to listen to music whilewriting.

LOGOSBetter?

Writer makes the display disappear...

WRITERMuch better....

LOGOSShall we proceed?

WRITERYup. let's do this.

Writer stands up. the chair disappears...

WRITERSo my point of entry is a treasurechest? Neat...

LOGOSActually it can be whatever youwant it to be. A chest, a door,a...

WRITERA Treasure chest works for me. Wellfor now anyways...

LOGOSYou want to have a go at it?

WRITERAbsolutely.

Logos snaps his fingers. a treasure chest appears.

LOGOSThis chest is empty. You canMaterialize what ever you want to

explore... in here.

WRITER...And this will help me learn howto sustain my thought forms longenough to observer them?


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16.

LOGOSNot Exactly. The reason you cantobserve your thought forms is amatter of cognitive dissonance.

WRITER

Cognitive What what?

LOGOSYour right and left brains are outof phase with one another. Thepoint of entry allows you to focuson using one side at a time...

WRITERThat made no sense...

LOGOSYour mind lacks harmony..

WRITEROoh.

LOGOSNow focus. What do you want toexplore? Where do you want to go?Make the answer to those questionsappear in this chest.

WRITERGot it.

Close in on Writer pondering what to materialize in thechest.

The writer closes his eyes.

Close in on treasure chest. Let us watch it start to glow andshake building suspense then --

WRITERNo wait. Wait. Tempting. Verytempting....but I'm not readyyet...

The treasure chest stops glowing..

LOGOSNot ready? How come?

WRITERI want to study narrative formulasand character arcs first...


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17.

LOGOSI see...

Logos waves his hand and the treasure chest disappears.

LOGOS

Very well. Until next time then?

Logos slowly disappears.

WRITERI will be back soon. I promise.(yelling so Logos canhear)

When I return... I will be readyto write a story!

Writer disappears.

Why are we still looking at infinite nothingness?

CUT

INT. WRITER'S HOME - AFTERNOON

Observe The writer's natural habitat. A small two bedroomshotgun house. Very warm and welcoming. As we walk a straightshot from the front door to the back of the house we spotwriter in the kitchen preparing a cup of coffee. We followwriter about to the back where the computer is located. Weset up a tripod camera and hit record.

Cut to tripod POV -- On the computer screen in front of us wesee a blog article. We watch as writer sits down and startstaking notes. Then --

FAST FORWARD -- hyper-lapse of two days condensed into 30seconds? We watch writer presumably studying narrativeformulas and character arcs off and on as the sun rises andsets. Then rises and sets again.

Is he ready to write a story? Did he study at all? We areabout to find out....

CUT

INT. WHITE ROOM

Back to infinite nothingness.

We watch Writer walk in front of the camera from off screen.casually dressed. Jeans and a hoodie.


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18.

LOGOS (V.O)Welcome back

Logos appears. Writer nods

LOGOS

You ready to use the mindstream forit's intended purpose now?

WRITERNot sure...We are about to find outthough.

Logos snaps his fingers and a treasure chest appears.

LOGOSIndeed

Writer closes his eyes. The treasure chest morphs into a door

that looks like an entrance to a Starbucks.

LOGOSInteresting.

We follow writer. The door opens. Writer walks through and--

CUT

INT. STARBUCKS - DAY

Welcome to Starbucks.

LOGOS (O.S.)Impressive.

Logos walks into view

LOGOSBut It appears to be a bit lonelyin here....

Huge smile on Writer's face.

WRITERYup. I have a whole Starbucks allto myself. No distractions. All thefraps I could ever possibly want.for free. Oh and....

The writer rushes around the counter full of enthusiasm. Wehear blenders whirring then --


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19.

WRITERI get to make my own fraps! I havealways wanted to do this. Hey Logo.Want one?

LOGOS

No thanks.

WRITERSuit yourself.

The Writer emerges from behind the counter with Frapp in handsits down and...

WRITERGreat. Might need a straw..

Writer closes his eyes and a straw appears.

WRITERPerfect.

Writer Takes a sip.

WRITERMmm. Not strong enough... I wonderif..

The writer closes his eyes. disappears then reappears behindthe counter.

WRITERHey that worked. Oh wait. WAIT. Noit didn't. It didn't work. GAAH. Myleg is stuck..

LOGOSTo lazy to walk in the mindstreamnow?

WRITERThis feels soo weird. My leg isstuck inside this thing. LOGO whatdo I do?

Logos waves his hand and gets writer unstuck.

LOGOSPlease try to refrain fromteleporting...Until you can projectthought forms properly...


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20.

WRITERright sorry about that. Now...Where's the espresso machine. It'sgotta be around here somewhere.

Writer searches around behind the counter and --

WRITERAhh here it is. Extra shot ofespresso. That should get somebrain activity percolating..

Writer adds a shot of espresso to his frap, then leaps overthe counter and sits down. Closes his eyes and materializes anotebook and a pen.

WRITERNow Lets get started.

LOGOSVery well. I shall take my leave.If you require my assistance. Callout my name.

Writer nods. Logos disappears. Writer sips on his frap then --

An elderly gentleman early 50's appears

ELDERLY MANI was wondering when you would callme here again.

WRITERHa funny. You knew I would call onyou....

FUTURE WRITERPerhaps...

WRITERSo Hows life treating us in thefuture?

FUTURE WRITER(smile with a chuckle)You will have to find that out foryourself.

WRITERFair enough. So... stories. Iwonder. Which one should I startwith?


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21.

FUTURE WRITERIf I remember correctly...You stillhaven't finished Polarity. And Youstill haven't even startedMetaverse.

WRITERYup yup...and I got a bunch ofvague ideas and thoughts. perhaps Ishould start a story from scratch?Create a character then run with itfrom there..either that or just doan adaptation...

FUTURE WRITERPerhaps...

WRITER

Ahh you're no fun at all.

FUTURE WRITERDon't stop writing. The next 10years of your life are going to bevery exciting.

WRITERFor better or for worse?

FUTURE WRITERA bit of both i suppose. Butexciting nevertheless. I have togo.

WRITERBack to the future huh?. I willcatch up to you in a bit.

FUTURE WRITERDefinitely

The elderly man disappears. Writer takes another sip of thefrap

WRITERWell so much for being ready towrite a story. I got nothin'...

Writer attempts to take another sip of Frapp but gurglingsounds of emptiness are heard.

WRITERAnd I'm out of frapp


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22.

The writer walks up to the counter. Standing there as ifwaiting to be helped.

WRITERPerhaps i should just do anadaptation? Its all for practice

anyways. I don't know.(sigh)I'm not putting enough thoughtinto this. Or maybe I am puttingtoo much thought into this?

STARBUCKS EMPLOYEE (O.S)Hello. Welcome to Starbucks. Whatcan I get for you today?

Angeline appears. Early 20's brunette. Short and cute.

WRITER

Whoa where did you come from?

ANGELINEI work here silly...

WRITERI know but..never mind. VentiVanilla bean frap. With an extrashot of espresso please.

ANGELINEIt's cheaper if you get the frenchvanilla...expresso is like a dollaper shot.

WRITERNo worries. Money is of no concernto me here.

ANGELINEOk. That will be five sixty

WRITERMhmm

The writer closes his eyes and a 10$ bill materialize in hishand.

ANGELINEOut of ten.

WRITERYup. Keep the change...


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23.

ANGELINEThanks. It will done in just asecond

Writer nods. Angeline goes off to make the frappachuno

WRITERAt least I am not procrastinating.Well not completelyprocrastinating.

ANGELINEI'm sorry?

WRITERTalking to myself. Don't mind me.

Frap is done.

ANGELINEHere ya go.

WRITERThanks

ANGELINEYour welcome.

Angeline disappears. Writer returns to his seat. Sips on somefrapp and finally notices what just happened.

WRITERWait. Angeline? Angeline! Where didshe go?

Writer looks baffled...

WRITERDid I just produce amaterialization without thinkingabout it? Oh wells...I need tofocus. Story characters plot andnarratives. Lets do this

Writer sips on some frapp. A man appears in a jumpsuit withtwo katanas on his back.

FALCONTarget acquired.

Falcon walks up to the counter.

WRITERWhere's hawk?


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24.

Another man appears in a heavy armor suit welding a massivemachine gun.

HAWKYo.

Hawk aims his machine gun at writer. it whirs up --

WRITERLovely. Two of my characters fromButterfly Dream are leaking throughinto my mindstream now....

HAWKdo we kill em'

FALCONNegative. That is not the target.

HAWKRoger that

Hawk drops the machine gun and walks to the counter next toFalcon.

Angeline appears

ANGELINEHello. Welcome to Starbucks...

Ding Ding --

A metro sexual possibly gay male mid 30's dressed in acolorful lab coat walks in. This is Xavier. Closely followedby his unnamed assistant.

XAVIER(takes a big whiff)

Make a note.

His assistant rushes to his side, ready willing and able tojot down Xavier's mental notes.

XAVIER

I absolutely love the smell ofcoffee.

ASSISTANTNoted.

They get in line behind Falcon and Hawk


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25.

WRITERAnd there's Xavier. From Soul cube.Yet another screenplay I have yetto finish...

Writer takes a sip from his frapp

WRITERThought it was pretty interestingat the time. A socially awkward madscientist character that forces hisassistants to take a bunch ofmental notes. Most of them obviousnonsense but I was going to havehim bust out some deepphilosophical quotes with his notesfrom time to time...

We direct our attention to the counter...

FALCONLatte

HAWKFrap

ANGELINEWhat kind of latte?

FALCONPlain.

ANGELINEAnd what kind of frap

HAWKMocha

ANGELINESo a plain latte and a mocha frappanything else?

Falcon and Hawk look at each other...

FALCONNo HAWKNotta

ANGELINEOk that will be eight fifty three.


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27.

Writer looks at the Ipad and repairs it with his mind, picksit up and hands it to Xavier

WRITERYou gotta learn to let go man. Sitback observer and let it flow.

Xavier ponders the wisdom. And nods in agreement.

XAVIERPerhaps you're right...

Xavier turns to his assistant...

XAVIERYou're fired get out of my sight. Ihave decided that...

Xavier turns to look at writer

XAVIER...you will be my new assistant.

WRITERNot interested...

Xavier makes a snobby "hmph" expression turns then walksaway. So full of himself....assistant looks around with a"what do I do now" kind of look. Then chases after Xavier

Falcon and Hawk are served grab their coffees and disappear.They are wearing temporal shifting suits. They can teleportwhere ever they please.

ANGELINEOhh..mygod. What just happened?

WRITERMy subconscious is fucking withme...you ok?

ANGELINEYea i think so.

WRITERGood. Well hang in there ok. I willbe over here if ya need me. Morecharacters might show up...

ANGELINEGreat...

Writer returns to his seat.


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28.

WOOSH -- a black tetrahedron about 6 feet tall appears out ofthin air right in front of the counter. floating slightingabove the ground.

ANGELINEHi welcome to Starbucks

Writer Face plants the table.

TETRAHEDRONWe are the Priori. We have come todestroy the throne of the facelesskings...

The tetrahedron opens up revealing a black hole which sucksAngeline and everything but the walls floor windows andwriter into it.

The tetrahedron disappears...

WRITERLogos

Logos appears

LOGOSYes?

WRITERWhy is my subconscious projectingthought forms into the mindstreamwithout my consent?

LOGOSTo spice things up I suppose. Thinkof what you said to Xavier. Perhapsit is you who needs to let go ofcontrol?

WRITERLovely...this was very productive.Ive had enough randomness for oneday.

The writer claps. And we --

WHITEOUT


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mindstream (1)

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