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[jo-powers]

Allow Me to Introduce You to the Future of Personal Development (First Post)

July 4th, 2041

Hey followers, truth-teller and voice of the patriots Jo Powers here, and what you’re looking at is the product of a classified government project that’s been in the works for many years. It’s called “Project Dream Machine”, to which I’ve been given exclusive access. What it does might sound a bit like something out of a tabloid magazine: it allows people who use it to enter their subconscious and do inner work, visually. Tangibly. Like a VR game.

Included with my access to the machine itself, I was also given the opportunity to watch subjects who have used it. How it works is like this: the subject gets into the chair, which consists of the seat, a full suit and airlocked helmet, and is given a tranquilizer.

“The machine’s computer operates at the quantum level,” says Doctor Amanita, the project’s visionary leader, “the subject falls asleep and gets dropped into the world of their subconscious, but it’s just as fully vivid and tangible as the world that you and I are in. It turns out that the subconscious mind is a lot like the physical world, and, according to quantum theory, all of ours are connected. We each have our own dreams, but it all takes place in the same world.” That’s astonishing, and a little over my head, so I probed further about the machine’s purpose. Why would we want to go into our subconscious?

“It’s always been common knowledge that in order to be the best version of ourselves, we need to overcome the dragon within us. The machine allows us to do just that—to go on a journey of self-discovery and kill the dragon that guards the way to our potential. It’s a metaphor come to life, at least for the one in the machine. They don’t know they’re asleep while they’re there, though. It’s all real for them, and by the time they wake up, they’ll be changed people. A lifetime of personal development in a single dream! Whoever wakes up from the dream machine is not the same person they were when they fell asleep in it. They are instead the best version of themselves."

Fascinating. When asked about the dragon: “It’s not a literal dragon. Well, I suppose it could be. It’s whatever the individual struggles with on a personal level. Everybody’s dragon looks different. Yours could be a giant spider. Or maybe it's not a beast for you, but a setting, like a black hole or the deep ocean. We just don’t know until we go in there.”

When asked about how long the process takes: “It could be any length of time, but the subject doesn’t wake up until their dragon is slain. That much is sure. So far, though, the longest a subject has taken is one night. Eight hours.”

The subjects Doctor Amanita is referring to are, at the moment, confidential, but there have been a few of them to pioneer the way, and, according to Amanita, all of them emerged from their sleep as advertised: changed for the better, and happy.

I took an awe-muddled breath and asked, “How long is the time limit?” To which he replied, “There is no limit. You couldn’t wake them anyway, and you might kill them if you tried. It’s safest to wait, even if they take a long time. I'm prepared to feed them and connect drainage bags if it comes to that, and so are they.”

After taking in all of this information, I had one last burning question: “What is your motivation for doing all of this?”

Doctor Amanita’s expression changed a bit, became a little more serious. “Because I was always told I couldn’t do anything. That I wasn't good enough.” Then he smirked. “I suppose I’ve got something to prove.”

It all sounds incredibly science-fiction, but also incredibly too good to be true. Either way, this machine is getting an official unveiling for the public after Doctor Amanita finalizes the product by using it himself next week.

What an honor it has been to give this exclusive exposé! Stay tuned, more trailblazing news to come.

[jo-powers]

What is Happening? (Second Post)

October 31st, 2041

Three months after Doctor Amanita went into a coma while in his revolutionary Dream Machine, a strange phenomenon has taken place: reports are coming in from all over the world, and at an alarming rate, of hallucinations that drive people into an incurable fit of rage and violence, either against themselves or others, or both. The manifestations seem to be taking place primarily in consumeristic societies, but there are some reports of the same thing happening in a few others.

Although nobody seems to recover from the visions, we’ve been able to glean some facts about their nature: they can’t be seen by people who aren’t infected, and they shame the people they infect. We know this because some of the sufferers seem to be speaking the words of whatever it is they’re seeing, as if they and the thing they’re seeing are one being, and it’s all something you might hear at a fire and brimstone sermon: shame on you for this, shame on you for that, you’re going to burn in hell forever. Some have been able to break through the hallucination for brief moments, long enough to explain that the visions appear hell-like, with fire and terrified people all around, but are then thrown back into their trance.

And that’s pretty much all we know, apart from the fact that the number of infected people seems to be growing exponentially. I’ve included a map of the infected areas as of today’s date.

People have tried everything from therapy to drugs, but the only thing that seems to really remedy the visions is for the sufferer to go into a fit of rage and violence. The rage becomes their drug. With that being said, I agree with national safety recommendations and urge that everyone treat this like any other virus and stay away from other people until further notice. Although we don’t know if the visions themselves are pathogenic, the violence they create is deadly for anyone.

Aside from the strange dark visions, it seems that the world’s weather system has also been triggered: wild storms, massive quakes, even species of animals disappearing, namely bees. Officials do not believe that the dark visions and the environmental episodes are unrelated.

We’re all in this together. As long as I’m alive, I’ll continue to cover these frightening stories so that you know you’ll have a reliable source of updates and information.

That’s just how Jo Powers does news.

[jo-powers]

We're Not Ready... (Third Post)

December 25th, 2041

It's been discovered that the source of the worldwide plague of dark visions was right under our own nose. Shortly and frankly put, we created this. We listened to a mad scientist and bought into his vision with what we believed were good intentions, but they weren't. We were puffed up with pride, and we wanted to show off to the world, so without realizing what we were doing, we put godlike power into the hands of a deceitful genius with an insatiable lust for power, and for a promise of glory we funded his satanic crusade.

Who would have imagined that this journey would have led us here? We were so excited with the idea of influencing the world that we disregarded our own tendency toward evil. We saw an opportunity to seize power and glory, to play God, and we took it. We wanted reward without work.

Many people perished because of our foolishness. The world almost came to an end because of our shameful lust for power and status, but although we can't do anything to change what's been done, we can make decisions now to do what we can to preserve what's left of humanity.

Doctor Amanita is dead and Project Dream Machine has been shut down until we come to a better understanding of both the environmental damage caused by our endeavor and our own evil nature. Until we, as a people, acknowledge that we're not as beautiful and innocent as we like to project, there will even be laws that sanction the use of quantum technologies related to consciousness.

We still have much to learn about the quantum world. We’re like children who are dabbling with an electrical outlet, ignorant of the consequences, and we all play our part in the enabling.

God forgive us for what we've done.

This is Jo Powers, and I’m done with news for a while.