Dream: He's an Old Believer

Dream 20040203, 7:00

I’m with a large group of people, in a building with twisting small hallways. It reminds me of the line to go up on top of the Stratosphere Hotel in Vegas; we are waiting in those long maze-like queues. I ask what we’re waiting on, and someone explains that only a few people at a time can go up on the Observatory. Finally, the line moves through, and the group that I’m standing with gets to go up. The way up to the observatory deck seems kind of home-made; there are plywood walls, and the staircase on the outside seems a little rickety. We can see the lights of town, and someone remarks that we’re asked not to take photos of the trademarked buildings through the telescope. I don’t remember looking through the telescope, just looking around from the high vantage point.

Then, I am in the yard below where the observatory deck is. There is a pool of water here, not a swimming pool but not just a puddle either. There is a piece of machinery that kind of reminds me of an old-school robot; it looks like it has a television screen with arms and legs. The screen lights up, and the guy who works for the observatory is amazed; apparently this thing has never worked in living memory. The machine has a cartoon-like face on the TV screen, and it winks at me. It turns to the man, and says, “Oh, he’s an Old Believer (referring to me, and thus explaining why the machine is working now.) I go through several different training routines with the machine; apparently, I have powers similar to the ones it has. I remember flying around the small yard, mostly at a low altitude in a kind of hover, and I also remember doing some kind of trick where I pour coins and keys back and forth between my hands. I had to borrow someone’s coins to start with, and as I pour them from one hand to the other, there are more and more coins. I wink, and explain that the additional coins are coming out of the yard, and not to worry about them. I hand back the keys that I had borrowed to the owner; apparently, I just needed them to start off with.

I remember looking at a small screen, and watching an image. There are some other people here with me. The screen starts to show a little movie, which is like a cartoon explanation of the history of the alien robot. I watch for a little bit, but the sound is really bad. I say out loud, “Frank (the robot’s name) could you turn up the sound?” The sound level rises, but is strong on one side. I say, “Could you put it on the surround sound?” and then it’s all around us. I smile with satisfaction, pleased that the robot is able to accommodate these requests. It seems like Frank the robot and I are close friends, although all the other people seem concerned about him.

It seems like there was more, but that’s all I can recall.