Dream World

Roy Hill used to love his job, after all he was concidered one of the top ten privet eyes but things had changed and not for the better, he was older now and a lot more miles on his body and he wondered when the hell he stopped being the best at anything. He rang the bell at his friend and mentor Professor Trent Thorton, invetor and teacher now put out to pasture by his university for unspsified transgresions.

"I'm not really sure," Roy said as he sat across from his old professor. "I was sitting at my desk and something seemed to tell me that I had to come and see you."

"Really? How interesting for I was thinking about my old favorite student just this morning. I find that strange as well as any after all we don't usually get visit and play chess except on Thursdays."

"Do you remember the mind control experiments of ten years ago?" Roy wondered as he toyed with a chess piece, in this case the Queen. "There was some rumor going around that it was happening again."

"Of course I do dear boy, I was a big part of it back then and it was because of it that I had to retire in a hurry." Professor Thorton said as he poured his friend a glass of Bushmills. "It got out of hand when one of my assistants Kevin Webster started messing with the mind of a number of female students."

Roy sipped his drink giving himself time to think. "Yes, I remember the name now and I remember what he did," he paused for another sip of his drink. "He used the machine to create erotic dreams for the women and nightmares for the male students."

"He did much more than that," Thorton said pounding his fist agains the arm of his chair. "He used the women, he got one pregnant before he was stopped by me and a few others who finally caught on to what he was doing."

"Mmm, I know he went to jail but I don't remember for how long." Roy said frowing at his half-empty glass.

"He got twenty years," Thorton said shaking his head sadly. "He could have been the best of us. He managed to escape last year and there has been no sign of him since."

"That might be why I was called in on a job." Roy said. "I recieved a call from Chief Pardo that just maybe the events of the past are coming awake again."

"I thought you were through dealing with the police." Thorton said brushing a bit of cigar assh from his tattered bathrobe. "Being burnt once by them wasn't enough for you I take it."

"The money is good, very good," Roy said while refilling his empty glass. Those that knew Roy, kne that he was brave and even when he pretended not to be he was often curious about things that seemed out of place that was why he became a private eye. "I was bored sitting at home waiting for someone to call about trailing someone for a divorce case or even a missing person." There were days when he felt so damn old and beat up that being retired was a good thing. "Besides, I'm not a big drinker and my wife left me a long time ago so what would you expect me to do?"

"Good point my friend, you do need to get out and meet some healthy young woman." Thorton said. "Look at me, I have two women in my life and they are both eager to do my bidding." He laughed and puffed on his ever present cigar
being his usual fun-loving self.

"What can you tell me about the machine? How did it actually work?"

"Let me think," Thrton said blowing a cloud of cigar smoke at the floor. "It worked something like a laser ray only less dangerous, the machime emited a beam of light invisible to the eye unless you wore special glasses then you would see a yellowish-green light that could be focused on a person or persons body." Thorton paused to sip his brandy. "Most times we aimed for the head and thereby effecting a dream-like state in the subject and they could experiance anything at all that we programed into them."

"Did the effects last long?" Roy asked. "I was off on another case when all this first happened."

"No, the effects were temporary, it was supposed to be a dream remember."

"And yet it became something else all together." Roy mused. "If I miss my guess your friend Kevin Webster has gone to ground to start up the project again and create more victims."

"The hallucinations were so real that many of the victims carried the program into the waking world." Thorton said. "I fear that Webster has become a very dangerous person and he will kill if he thinks he has good cause."

"It's days like this that make me wish I had moved out of town when I had the chance." Roy said softly. "The Champion Agency hired me after talking to Pardo
and they pay well; I just think there is more to them than meets the eye."

Thorton heaved a big sigh and said, "You have no idea, Champion is actually a fron for the covert operations of our government."

"My guess would be that they want this machine to use as a weapon."

"Got it in one." Thorton said. "I knew when I started working on the damn thing that someone would want to use it for something other than honest research."

Roy left his friend's house with a lot on his mind, the government was using him as a stalking horse or a fool and he didn't like either idea very much. He thought that he would call Alison just to see if she wanted to get together for a drink or two.

"Oh Roy, I really wish I could but I have a client and you know how much I need money these days." Alison said her voice sounding rich and full of promise
but not for him this night. "A girl has to make a living darling and pay the bills."