Daydream Notes

Chapter 23 So Jason has his identity and fame back. Mary and Jason arrive at her apartment, and her living room is arresting in its use of color, and has several vases on display. Turns out Mary is pretty darn talented. Jason immediately starts scheming to get Mary on his show, dreaming up musical-pottery related numbers and whatnot, and drops the vase he is holding as he's so besotted with his dreams of the future. To break the tension there Mary launches into a story about her mother, who was always saying she was at death's door with kidney problems, and when I die it'll be your fault, etc. Once Mary leaves home she forgets about this. A few years later her mom comes to visit, and it's the same complaining sphiel until she says "I have to go grocery shopping". Once there, her mom confesses her kidnies are done and she's getting an artifical replacement but she may die. So Mary goes to the deli counter and asks for a steak and kidney pie....

After dropping off the packages, Jason and Mary sit in a nice coffee shop, "a clean and attractive place with young waitresses and a reasonably loose patronage." A jukebox (man, when did those stop being a thing) plays music. Mary asks about those records Jason is carrying, "oh, you made these?" when she reads the name on them. They start talking about music; Mary isn't much of a fan of modern, but likes old stuff, like Buffy St. Marie. Jason agrees with that, but rather understandably is obsessing over what happened back at the mansion. Mary can see something is heavily weighing on him, but Jason doesn't say much. Mary reads the bio on the back of the record, and discovers Jason Taverener is apparently big, with a show on NBC. Jason is amused when Mary asks how it feels not to be recognized. Mary then wonders if the jukebox in the corner would have anything by Jason. Mary goes and returns, saying "Nowhere Nuthin' Fuck Up, it should pl...

Jason is coming down and sweating in the police general's sunken living room. He wants to find Alys. He enters the door Alys went through; it's a long hallway with soft heavy carpet. At the end of the hall is a staircase with a black iron railing. Climbing that, there's another long hallway. The house is silent. He discovers an empty bedroom. Off of that, he spots an antique tub through another door. It is a bathroom. On the floor is a skeleton. This skeleton is old, yellowed with age, with any flesh it had returning to dust eons ago. It is, however, dressed in Alys's pre-punk clothing. Jason wonders if this is the mescaline. He touches the clothes, and they feel new. So that's weird. Panic hits Jason. Alys is dead somehow. He runs, pausing only to collect the records, putting them in their paper sleeves and jackets in full fight or flight mode. Bursting outside, chest heaving, Jason meets the brown cop. A short conversation happens, which ends w...

The mescaline washes over Jason like a wave at the beach. The ceiling became a skybox, colors shift and overlay, Alys' hair writhes like a nest of snakes. Jason feels fear, Alys completely ignores him, talking about Felix and his various goddamn collections. Jason says he can't get away. Alys says it's just the mes, chill. She then says her collections are in the next room the library, while this is the study. She then gets on how Felix is also a lawyer and capable of doing good things. Apparently, when he was in charge of 1/4th the forced labor camps on terra (back when there were way more 'blacks' in them so they were more death campish) Felix discovers a series of obscure laws that allow him to shut down the camps. Jason sees a hat. Felix also tried to de-escalate things with pols and students when they would come hunting for food as they didn't have any underground. So by studying reports Felix discovered he could ID what campuses were failing, ...

I watched a thing and have thoughts, specifically how knowing the person behind it was a gigantic asshole changes how you view something. The asshole this time is Michael Crichton, one of the most successful novelists of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. He was also a drawstring shitbag of a person. You can consult his wiki entry for specifics, but he was a person who basically got cancelled before the term existed entirely by his own efforts. My suspicion is that he was ruined by big success early on in life. By the time he finished his undergrad at Harvard he had accomplished his childhood dream: being a successful author. Dude then went to Harvard medical school, but was so successful by that time he did a residency but never practiced.  Maybe because of this, he seems to have decided personal growth was for other people. The fact that his BA is in "biological anthropology" which was the name "scientific racism" had been living under likely doesn't help, th...

The quibble lands on a round asphalt spot in front of the General's mansion. This is confusing: the craft lands in the great lawn in front of the house, but then the house is surrounded by a wall, with a fence guarded by a brown-suited private police. So it is really unclear if the quibble landed in a public or private space. Alys waves Jason through. Jason, of course, wants to know how the hell do you know me. Alys as per her character refuses to respond directly, saying she's been a big fan for years. When they reach the house, Alys asks if he recognizes the place. Jason says no, and Alys says "Really? You've been here before." This is another depth charge on Jason's leaky submarine of sanity. Because while he's not at his best, he's really sure he's never been to this house before now.. The house is modern and tastefully appointed, with soft carpets and egregious use of space as a demonstration of luxury. Finally getting to a sun...

Chapter Seventeen [This chapter is a page and a half] The uniformed policewoman, Peggy, has come to collect the now sleepy Jason, as the General walks him to the door of this section. The General reminds Jason that he can't do anything if somebody voids his police pass, and he is going to have to re-apply for all his IDs, which apparently requires "invasive interrogation." He gives Jason a friendly punch on the shoulder, assuring him "a Six can take it." Back in his office, Felix orders Jason bugged, some sort of killswitch installed on him, and a microphone installed in his throat, if they can do it without Jason noticing. He also orders 24 hour surveillance on Heather Hart, 24 hour surveillance on all known Sixes in whatever his jurisdiction is, and asks Herb to pull all the files on all Sixes. This is just in case the Sixes are politically organizing again.  Chapter 18 Jason, free in the morning sun, takes a breath of smoggy air. To his side...