DEF CON 30 Short Story Writing Contest https://media.defcon.org/ 1st Place Winner! WarDreamer written by Serum --------------------- Darren and Marcus - August 10th, 2022 --------------------- The pressure and pain behind Darren's right eye felt like a pulsing hot fireplace poker being driven repeatedly from the top of his head straight down behind his eyeball. Searing pain. The triptan would kick in at some point but making it to the obscenely large oxygen tank in the closet at the other end of the hotel room was all he could focus on. Once there, he rotated the small knob on the tank that he had shipped on the plane and began pulling a long breath through his mouth through the oxygen mask to empty the air contained in the small bag. He repeated this over and over for what seemed like an hour to him but in reality, was no more than 10 minutes. The sharpness of the pain began to slightly recede, and he knew, finally, that relief was on the way. And sleep was just about all Darren welcomed these days. Summer vacation was here, DEF CON 30, but the cluster headaches were back with a vengeance and finding relief for the few hours between each attack was all that mattered. Prior to checking into the Luxor, he felt things were calming down, but that first night attending Black Hat almost floored him, and he had barely been able to leave the room for the two days that followed. Darren heard the doorknob rattle a bit and was relieved to see his good friend Marcus walk in. "I was about to hit the pool, and wanted to see if you were up for it?", Marcus took one look at Darren and knew the answer to his own question, "oh, another bad one, eh? Need some help getting back to bed?" Marcus was concerned, he'd seen this before, but usually not up close and personal, and never at DEF CON. Marcus and Darren met at the very first DEF CON. Darren Deveraux, (D-Squared) a 49-year-old, white, slightly balding man from the middle of Iowa, and Marcus Lomax (Maxlow), a 48-year-old, slightly overweight African American from the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. Each presented a different topic that year to the small crowd who made the trek to Vegas. Darren delivered a talk on social engineering and Marcus had released and demoed his newly developed, easy-to-use wardialer named "LowDialer" which quickly became a favorite of the community. They also collaborated on more than a few tricks on hotel staff that first year, from finding ways to order movies and place telephone calls free of charge to taking control of the television information system and sending messages out to hotel guests. Some were funny, others not so much. But in the end, that experience bonded them far more than any high school friendship ever could have. Darren had always been the fast talker with a good memory and Marcus could code circles around most. The two made a formidable duo, winning a couple CTF's over the subsequent years, and continuing their tradition of finding ways to pull off some really fun and mostly harmless hacks when they got together. Early on, the two made every attempt to meet up on an annual basis at the con. A few years had passed between DEF CON visits this time, however. The last time they both made it was five years prior. Everyday life, careers, and families began to make it more difficult. And now, finally back together to experience all DEF CON had to offer, Darren was being hit hard with headaches. "Feel free to hit the pool," Darren said. "I'm not going to be able to make it." "Nah, it's the first night and I'm a bit jet-lagged," said Marcus. "I think I'll get some sleep as well and hit it hard tomorrow morning. I must be getting old." Darren chuckled a bit and looked out of his window while Marcus got ready for bed. Darren had arrived early for Black Hat, and with the headaches raging, wasn't in the greatest shape to make it out too often. Marcus had decided the two would simply stay together at the Luxor rather than moving to the other side of the strip for DEF CON. "Listen, it's all right, Darren. Besides, there is a certain amount of symmetry staying in a hotel that opened the same year that DEF CON began, and we first met. Now, no more! Lights out!" Marcus exclaimed. "Good night, Marcus," Darren made a weak attempt at a smile. "It has gotten a lot worse even since arriving," Darren thought. "And when I DO get to sleep, the dreams have been so vivid, it's almost too difficult to get out of them and actually wake up." His right eye felt very heavy now, as if the poker had transformed into a giant weighted bean bag, pulling at his eyelid. Sleep was coming, and with it, a dream. --------------------- Dream 1 August 10th, 2022 --------------------- A rolling fog and a slight chill greeted Darren and then quickly began to pull back as sleep fully took hold. A gray hallway materialized, nondescript in nature, the kind you would see in a standard apartment. There were 4 doors on the left and 3 on the right. Most were plain wood with a brass lockset. But towards the end of the hallway as he proceeded, he noticed a red door with a giant knocker in the shape of a lioness. Across from it, he noticed a smaller blue door, no more than 3 feet tall, with the number 44 inlaid with diamonds on it. He tried the handle but noticed it was locked, and he crouched down to look at how the lock was built. "Simple enough, he thought as he reached into the inside pocket of his black corduroy suit and pulled out his trusty lockpick set. Choosing the rake, Darren moved quickly and felt the familiar click that indicated success. Opening the door, he crawled on his hands and knees and entered, his vision once again clouded by a heavy fog that guarded the back end of the doorway. The coolness of the fog was beginning to fade, and his vision began to clear. The first thing he noticed was the carpet underneath his hands and knees. Slightly weathered, green, and mustard colored, the kind of gaudiness you'd expect in a place like Las Vegas, but something seemed off. In the middle of the room was a pair of double beds directly across from an old tube television. The desk between the two beds held a corded phone. "Odd," Darren thought. The window next to the second bed had blinds that were partially open. Light wisps of the last remnants of fog still hung in the air, but a soft light was breaking through and Darren felt himself slowly shuffling over, still slightly discombobulated, but wanting to look outside. Through the window and on the building next to him stood a giant poster of Mike Tyson that read, "He's Back." With the date of 8.19.1995 across the bottom of the poster. Still a bit hazy, he realized he was somehow looking at the MGM Grand from a time that had long been gone. The setup of the room was a run of the mill hotel room. The small doorway he had entered from had been replaced by a standard hotel door. Just then, he heard some fumbling at the door. The door popped open, and Darren was more than surprised to see a 20-something-year-old version of himself walk through. "Hey Marcus! Want to go back down to the Con?" his younger self asked. "Give me a minute!" Darren felt himself responding without thinking, but the response felt as if it came from outside of his own head. The bizarreness of seeing his younger self coupled with what felt like competing thoughts and emotions was making him feel a little dizzy. Still not quite sure what was going on Darren felt himself being pulled along, unable to control or even affect the body he was in. "He called me Marcus," thought Darren, as the two exited the room and headed towards an elevator. On the way to the elevator, Darren noticed that his arms certainly were not his. Beyond that he was also able to feel another set of thoughts and emotions, not his own, but yet still familiar. "I must somehow be Marcus?" the weirdness of the thought made it difficult to concentrate. "Hacker Jeopardy tonight!" exclaimed young Darren. The floral patterns on the floor and the electronic voice on the moving walkway jogged his memory, "Be careful Island Guests! You are approaching the end of the walkway" said the voice in a cheery Jamaican accent. "I'm back at the Tropicana?! DEF CON 3!", Darren thought to himself. "Only I'm watching it through Marcus' eyes." The two were heading towards the main room which Darren remembered so well. He saw that the room was filling up with people from his past. A corkboard with laminated cards that featured dollar amounts in the form of a makeshift Jeopardy board were waiting for the contestants as the con goers filed in. "I gotta hit the head before this starts," Darren heard himself say, "I'll be right back". Darren watched from inside Marcus' mind as he opened the door to the bathroom, relieved himself, then washed his hands under the faucet. He looked up at the mirror and began to feel nauseous. The face staring back at him did not make sense. Darren felt exposed inside of Marcus' head. Darren's 49-year-old face sitting on top of Marcus' 21-year-old body. The pain behind his right eye was coming back and he felt the tears beginning to well up inside of it. Just as he was trying to make sense of it all, the dream ended. Darren bolted upright from his slumber, looked to his left and saw Marcus lying on his side facing him from the other bed, awake with a confused look on his face. Darren was about to say something, but Marcus rolled back over, not really noticing Darren and closed his eyes again. The pain of the cluster came back, not as pronounced as before, but lurking behind his eye, an ever-present unwanted guest in his head. Shadows danced across the far end of the wall where Darren was lying. Moonlight tickled faintly through the window, dispersed by a thin, white curtain which struggled to hold back the brightness of the full moon. "That felt so real," Darren thought, "Sleep won't come easily tonight," he mused. --------------------- Darren and Marcus Morning August 11th, 2022 --------------------- The night slowly crawled towards the dawn. A dreamless slumber had ensued for Darren, but not very restful. He rolled over and realized he hadn't shut off the O2 valve on his tank. After doing so, he looked back at Marcus and was surprised to see that he was sleeping peacefully. "Linecon will be starting soon, we'll want to head over to the other side of the strip soon," he thought. "Marcus," Darren whispered, "Marcus!", still no reaction. Darren decided to give him a nudge and move him. Still nothing. "Weird". "Hey, Marcus!" Ö this was getting to be a little more than strange. "Hey!" and started shaking. Finally, Marcus' eyes began to flutter open. "Dude, what time is it?" he asked. "9:00" "Whoa, I slept longer than I intended. And I feel like absolute shit. It literally feels like I have been hit by a truck." "You were definitely out of it," Darren stated. "I was having the greatest dream though," Marcus said with a wistful look in his eyes, "A return to DEF CON 3" That got Darren's attention, "Oh, was I in it?", he asked. "As a matter of fact, you wereÖ weird thing was at one point in the dream I looked into a mirror from a restroom and saw you staring back at me," Marcus shook his head once and raised his eyebrow. "Really?", Darren asked. "My body, your face. Weird stuff." Darren started filling Marcus in on his own dream, which eerily matched much of what Marcus remembered from his. "What did the dream look like? What about the door? Were there other doors? Could you do anything?", rapid fire questions were flowing out of Marcus. Darren did his best to answer, knowing that one of Marcus' best hacker qualities was his ability to get to the heart of an issue quickly. "Could I do anything?", Darren paused for a second, "I didn't really try, but it felt like I was just hitching a ride. It was *your* dream. You were the shark, and I was merely the remora." "HmmÖ what about thoughts? Any access to those?", Marcus continued to press. "Not that I'm aware of. I had my own thoughts while in your head. I do think I could sense a slight disconnect or disturbance though, almost as if your dream state thoughts weren't quite all there. My control seemed to dissipate the moment I exited the fog of the doorway," recalling every detail of the dream was proving difficult for Darren. "The door thing is weird, what was on my door again?" Darren thought hard about what the door had looked like, "44Ö he said. The number 44 was on the outside of the door. Ring a bell?" Marcus shook his head, "Nothing I can think of. But you saw other doors, right? Maybe it doesn't mean anything, but the fact that I felt and saw you in my dream makes it feel like everything in your dream is something that requires a little dissection. The door thing makes me wonder if you had options in terms of what dream you were going to experience. Maybe you had a choice of dreams to enter?" "I really don't know about that; I had some control in that hallway though. I wouldn't mind checking out a few more doors to see what's out there," Darren grinned. "Wardreaming," Marcus smirked, "you were basically wardialing, only with dreams." "Well, I'm awake now and my headache is gone, so why don't we pick this conversation up later after getting in line and registered? I'll take a hit on the oxygen and have the pills with me, so let's go," Darren cast a wry smile towards Marcus and began slipping on his sneakers. --------------------- Deb Torrence Luxor Hotel & Casino Director mid-morning August 11th, 2022 --------------------- Deb looked up at the massive monitor in the middle of the operations and surveillance room. Today was the day she was given the keys to the kingdom. After years of being the Vice President of Security at the world-famous hotel and casino, her time had finally come. It was a bittersweet moment for the 46-year-old as her father's recent passing had enabled the promotion. Having been raised in the casino business, Deb grew up amid the sounds and money of Vegas. She knew what made Vegas tick, but even she wasn't sure how to account for just how successful the take was at the Luxor. Sure, the house always wins, but at the Luxor it felt like the house kept winning and the people kept coming back. No slow down at all. Her job consisted mainly of tracking big-winners and marshaling her security guards to ensure they were in the right spot at the right time to take care of issues. But today, today she was the Queen. She spotted Frank Mills, the former lieutenant to her father, and current "Special Projects" coordinator at the casino. Deb never actually knew what those special projects consisted of, but also knew not to ask too many questions of her late father's confidant and friend. Frank was someone who would stick out like a sore thumb anywhere else, but in Vegas, he blended right in with the scenery. Impeccably dressed in a white and blue pinstripe suit coupled with a bright white goatee and blue-tinted glasses, topped off with a white bowler hat that covered a head full of bright white hair. "No, Vegas is where Frank belongs", she thought. "How is BES doing Frank?" Deb asked. "That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about today, but first, I have a gift for you to start your first day running the ship!" Frank pulled out a small jewelry box and handed it to Deb. Inside, Deb found a beautiful gold inlaid pendant with an onyx stone set in the middle. The stone itself was painted with the image of what looked like a lion priestess of some sort. "What is it? Or rather, who is it?" "That is Sekhmet, my dear. Your father and I picked this up when we first visited the pyramids for some marketing ideas to implement here. Over the years as you grew, I felt it was something that just belonged to you. Her name means, "She who is powerful", The strong woman thing, you know?", Frank smiled. "It is beautiful Frank," Deb unclasped the chain and looked back at Frank, "can you help me put it on?" Deb waited for a moment, wondering why Frank was taking so long as he paused, oddly lingering behind her. "I would be delighted to, my dear," Frank finally answered and carefully placed the necklace around Deb's neck, just underneath her raven black hair against her olive skin. "Now, about BES?" Deb queried again. "BES is running okay, but there have been some strange blips occurring over the last few daysÖ I'd say it was the full moon, but you'll understand it a little more soon," Frank responded. BES stood for the Binary Envision System, a "do everything that's needed" computer system. From entertainment delivery to the rooms, security, and the financials. It was even used for controlling when the Sky Beam would light up, and perhaps most importantly, predict the right mix of offers and gambling promotions needed on a per-person basis at the hotel. BES was the secret sauce, no other casino had anything like it. BES had an uncanny knack for finding the exact itinerary that a hotel guest would need to keep them gambling. "Come this way Deb, there is something you need to see in order to understand how things really work around here", Frank looked her way. "I've been here for some time. I don't think there is much that will surprise me, Frank," Deb smiled. "You haven't seen this," Frank motioned her to follow him to a small closet at the back of the surveillance room where cleaning supplies were kept for the janitorial staff. At least, she had always thought it was just a closet. Frank opened the door and shuffled inside, Deb following closely behind. At the back of the closet was a large sign hanging on the wall which read "465 days since last accident". Frank placed two fingers on the "cc" letters in the word ëaccident' and pushed. The sign moved inwards with a click and then popped back open revealing a small dimly lit room with a staircase going down. Frank led Deb down the stairs to a large room which hummed with the sound of computers and television screens, LOTS of television screens. "How did I not know about this?" Deb wondered aloud. On the television screens were hazy, somewhat difficult to see videos with very odd content. Videos of all kinds, some looked like real-life movies, some looked like cartoons, others appeared to be a little bit racy. "What am I watching here Frank?" "Dreams, Deb, dreams. More specifically, the dreams of our guests." "You've got to be kidding me, Frank" she looked at him with a sidelong glance. "I'm deadly serious, Deb." Frank replied without a hint of deceit in his voice. "You're able to see what our guests' are dreaming? I've been around the block a few times Frank, I'm not buying this one." "You don't have to buy it Deb, it's the truth. The architect of this hotel, Volden Sampson, had a vision and a belief in what is known as the ëPower of the Pyramid'. The unique construction of this building acts like a kind of conductor, if you will, but for psychic energy. BES was constructed as part of the bedrock of the hotel. It harnesses the dreams of our guests and transmits them into BES through the girders and steel that was built into the foundation of the building back in the early 90's. Those dreams, in turn, are processed by BES for our most effective personal itinerary program that has ever been created. The true nature of the system and what it was going to be used for was hidden from everyone but a close circle including myself, your late father, and Volden." "How in the world does that work?" Deb didn't know if she should laugh or take this proclamation seriously. "I'm not fully sure HOW it works, I just know that it works. It's also true that a full moon seems to amplify the dream effects, causing some unforeseen consequences at times," Frank tailed off. "Unforeseen?" "As in people sleeping in, even longer than typical for Vegas, odd, touchy behavior from guests, and what can only be described as a lack of focus from many of the guests staying with us. That's what happened the last time we experienced a full moon, maybe it won't happen again, but I'm not going be unprepared." Both sides of the room had large servers humming, black with green and orange lights turning off and on. Not too much different from what the server room looked like on the floor above, but what really drew Deb's attention were where half of the cables were connected to. In the center of the room on the floor appeared to be a miniature pyramid about 6 feet long on each side. She walked around the pyramid to really take it in. On one side, what appeared to be the Eye of Ra was drawn, on another a Lioness, and on the last side what looked like a small rather unsightly dwarf creature with large eyes and a protruding tongue. The cables appeared to go below the pyramid. "What the hell is that Frank?" "That is where the magic happens my dear. Within that replica pyramid is a power system that taps into the very heart of the Luxor itself. Connected from here all the way up to the Sky Beam where it draws the power necessary to pull in the dreams. The Sky Beam is the key, it needs to keep shining every night without fail. I don't know all of the details but think of it as an "outgassing" of sorts. The psychic energy builds up overnight and needs to be released. If it doesn't happen, it can influence the sleep patterns of anyone staying here." Deb wasn't quite sure how she felt about this, it felt like a parlor trick, but she was intrigued. "We shouldn't be down here too long, the rest of the staff will wonder where we are," Frank looked slightly anxious. Deb agreed and the two went back up into the closet and exited back into the main surveillance room without any fanfare. "I need to go to a dinner, Frank, but this was mind-bending to say the least. It still feels a bit over the top, but we'll chat more later, thank you for showing me, and thank you very much for this pendant." "Nothing other than a way to see some dreams, Deb. And really, isn't Vegas all about dreams?" Frank tipped his hat towards her. Deb smiled back and made her way out into the casino. As she exited, Frank's eyes followed her every step, "This is how it must be. If there were another way, I would have found it my dear. I have grown so fond of her, but it must be this way, our future awaits", Frank thought to himself, "Now to take an afternoon nap." --------------------- Dream 2 mid-afternoon August 11th, 2022 --------------------- "You've got to try this again, but a different door Darren," Marcus had that same glint in his eyes that he did 30 years earlier the first time they met, thought Darren. "I don't think I can control this," Darren looked exasperated, "not to mention, it is the middle of the afternoon." "Sounds like the perfect time to give it a try in a place like Las Vegas. Hell, there are probably more people sleeping now than in the middle of the night. Speaking of control, why don't you see what you're allowed to do in there," Marcus sounded almost a little giddy with excitement. "All right. I'll give it another try, but no guarantees." Taking another triptan and turning on the O2 tank, Darren began taking long breaths to relax. His eyes began to feel weighty, and he fell asleep. Once again, a low fog covered the now familiar hallway. Only, this time the numbers on the doors were now accompanied by Egyptian hieroglyphics. Darren saw Marcus' "44" door but noticed that it was no longer shining. He looked at the lock and noticed that a deadbolt had been added as well. "Perhaps because he's awake," thought Darren. The lioness door also seemed impossible to breach. The eyes of the lioness were closed, also with an imposing deadbolt in place. A bit further down was a smaller white door that looked as if it might be the oldest door in the hallway. Egyptian glyphs covered this door, along with the Eye of Ra. At the center of the eye was a button. Darren reached out and pressed it. The eye split into two and opened from both sides to reveal a small platform embedded in the door that had a keypad on it with three buttons. Another Eye of Ra, a small dwarf, and the lioness. "Time for a little brute force," thought Darren. "Dwarf, Ra, Lioness?" after pressing the buttons a loud buzzer could be heard. He looked around, he felt especially weird about the giant lioness head on the door behind him and to the left. "Ra, Dwarf, Lioness?" Again, a loud buzzer, he looked back at the door again, this time he could swear he saw the lioness' left eye peek open quickly and close. "Ra, Lioness, Dwarf?" Finally, a loud "click" could be heard and Darren was able to push through the door. Once again, Darren found himself crawling through a smaller and smaller hallway after entering the door. This time, however, instead of fog, the way was icy cold, with his breath being the only fog around. He made it to the end of the small hallway and noticed he was standing in what looked to be a basement, a middle-aged white man who resembled a professor was talking to him. He was being pulled along, again with no control that he could tell. "Öthis is where you connect." "Connect what?" "Have you been listening to a word I've said? Connect THAT" the man pointed to a group of small limestone bricks that were fashioned into a small pyramid. "Lodged behind the middle brick that holds the picture of Bes is where I've connected the Bes statuette to the BES system. It's where the connection should be most potent. Bes can interface with the energy derived from these stones. You'll be able to tap into people's dreams here Frank. But you need to be careful." "I must be riding along with a ëFrank'," Darren thought. "Careful why?" Frank pressed the matter. "You're dealing with mystical Egyptian forces, Frank. These stones aren't just limestone, they're taken straight from one of the pyramids of Giza. I don't fully understand it myself." Darren felt Frank's anger bubbling under the surface, "When is this going to be finished?" "The hotel and casino should be done by the end of the year." "This year?" "Yes, 1993" "I want my wife back Volden. Julie was gone too soon. When do I place her into the box and who do I give the pendant to? I don't want to wait any longer." Frank pointed to the sarcophagus in the corner of the room. The head of the sarcophagus was the same lioness that Darren had seen on the door, with what looked like the sun, shown above her face. Darren felt a slight twinge of pain behind his eye and focused on relaxing, employing techniques he had learned over the years dealing with his headaches. That focus enabled him to listen more clearly to his hosts' thoughts. "This guy is dealing with a painful loss," he thought, "But I need to know more." Darren began concentrating harder, trying to break through into Frank's mind. "How do you know that this will even work? Tell me the details," Darren felt a rush of excitement, his question had been asked! Volden continued, "Above all you must have patience Frank. The connection we have with Bes is weak right now. The statuette of Bes is old. It was entombed next to the sarcophagus and with the pendant. We think the sarcophagus contained the remains of a priestess or royalty from the Pre-Dynastic Nile Valley area. I took the statuette for myself and, as luck would have it, started having the strangest dreams beginning the first night that I had it with me. It talked to me Frank. It gave me the vision to build this hotel, and it told me that I could awaken the ancient Gods of Egypt and become something more, someone capable of great things. To do that requires waiting. Bes needs dreams to strengthen, and he needs strength to call Sekhmet. Sekhmet not only has the power to bring your wife back, but to fulfill ALL of our dreams. You'll put your wife's ashes into the sarcophagus, and we will place her under the pyramid, connected to the Bes system. As far as who you give the pendant to, I'll leave that up to you. But remember, according to the visions I've received from Bes, this process could take up to 30 years to complete. So, choose your vessel wisely. The beacon will draw her back when the time is right." Volden took a breath. "I want to bring her back Volden. I need to bring her back." "There are no guarantees my friend." Frank looked around the room again and Darren noticed a broken mirror at the far end just behind the gentleman he was talking to. Frank's attention was drawn to the mirror. Darren could finally get a glimpse of Frank and saw that he was wearing a white suit. The face that stared back at him was an odd combination of his own face and that of Frank's. The pain behind his eye sharpened. "What the?!" he heard Frank say. With a start, Darren woke and found himself back in his bed. A sliver of red sunlight pushed through the slightly cracked curtain at the far end of the room. Breathing was difficult, and he was so thirsty. With tremendous effort he reached for the half-filled water glass that was on the nightstand next to him and sat up. Marcus piped up, "Darren! Darren! Are you ok? What happened?" "I think I was spotted," he replied. Darren relayed the details of his dream to Marcus, including his discovery of having some level of control within the dream. "But, I was able to ask a question that I wanted to!" "That's some exciting stuff, adds a level of value to this skill you've found yourself with. Frank doesn't sound too nice though," Marcus said. "I do have some familiarity with Egyptian myth, but this sounds off the rails. Of course, the fact that you've been able to do what you're doing is also off the rails. Maybe your headaches are giving you connection to this power?" He smiled, "Did you see the pendant?" "No, it was only mentioned, not shown," responded Darren. "Well, I'd say we have a few search terms to look for. Bes, Sekhmet, 30 years, visions from an Egyptian god. You know the drill D-Squared." "I certainly do MaxLow, I certainly do. Let's do this while I can still think straight." --------------------- Darren and Marcus Early evening August 11th, 2022 --------------------- Laptops were open and connected to the 55-inch television in their hotel living room. Chips and salsa were broken out. Darren cracked open a 2-liter of Mountain Dew and Marcus followed suit with a can of beer. A small whiteboard that Darren had thought to bring was coming in handy. "Almost as if 30 years HAD just disappeared," thought Darren as the first couple hours of research went by, "Slightly different jokes, more trips to the restroom, less hair, and more lines around the eyes, but damn if this doesn't feel good." Darren was researching the hotel history and management while Marcus was taking on the challenge of deciphering as much of the Egyptian mythological connection that he could. "So, it says here that Bes is the God of Dreams in Egyptian lore," Marcus cast an image of Bes to the big screen. "He didn't win the looks award in the God department, did he?" Darren laughed out loud. "Says here he is mostly harmless and that he did a good thing for Egypt. Not saying you can trust everything you read on the internet, but at least it is a start," Marcus shared his findings. "What about Sekhmet?" Darren questioned. Marcus continued, "That's a little fuzzier in terms of the good/bad thing. Sekhmet was a powerful goddess, really powerful. Capable of infiltrating one's dreams and pulling off some pretty crazy stuff. Crazy as in she was used as a weapon by Ra to clean the planet of humans crazy." "Oh, that's not good." "No, not at all. There is some good news here though, she was stopped by beer," Marcus chuckled as he raised his can in a mock toast. "Beer?" asked Darren. "Yep, apparently they got her drunk and it made her stop." "That works on humans too," Darren laughed. "Says here she can breathe fire as well. We might need a plan to deal with her." "We honestly don't even know if these dreams are real, but I agree, it might be prudent to plan for this," Marcus said. "I found a few interesting tidbits myself," said Darren as he took over the screen casting and put up a diagram of an organizational chart that included pictures of the management at the hotel, "Frank Mills, special projects Manager of the Luxor. This is definitely the Frank from the dream, he's even wearing a white suit. He's been with the hotel since the beginning." "Looks like he reports straight to the Casino Director, Deb Torrence. She looks fairly young for the role, or maybe I just assumed all casino directors would be old white men that looked more like Frank," stated Marcus. "According to her bio, she has just started in that role. Looks like she took over from her father who recently passed," Darren noted. "I'll see if I can find this Frank fellow. He must be somewhere in this hotel," Marcus said. "As for you, with your headaches and the fact you said that Frank spotted you in the dream, it might be a little dangerous. Why don't you stay here and rest up. I'll do a little real-life sleuthing while you do the wardreaming thing. Try expanding your reach a bit, see if you can find anything else out about what is going on here. Maybe see if you can read the thoughts of your host's dream too if you get back there. A little "Dream Privilege Escalation" so to speak," Marcus smiled. "Sounds like a plan, let's make it work," Darren said with resolve. --------------------- Deb Evening, August 11th, 2022 --------------------- Deb was on the casino floor when she felt the buzzing from her phone in her pant pocket. She noticed that she had missed two previous calls and that Frank was calling her a third time. "Hello?" "Where have you been? We need you down in the basement, something weird is going on with BES and we need all hands-on deck. I'm not too sure that the Sky Beam is going to operate if we don't figure out what's happening," Frank sounded almost frantic. Deb hurriedly made her way back across the casino and found herself back in the small room underneath the closet that held the replica pyramid. Frank was waiting, "I'm so glad you are here. The videos from BES have been slow too. I wanted to show you the process for fixing these kinds of problems. You have to start with the pyramid in this room and check the power source." Deb approached the pyramid and asked, "Now what?" "Follow the cord," Frank's eyes followed her as she began tracing the cord towards its source. She began to feel a bit groggy, "I may need Ö sit down," Deb could barely get the words out. "Why am I so tired?" she thought and tried fighting through the fog. Deb's eyes started closing, and she felt herself slumping to the floor. Soon after, Frank pulled open the sarcophagus with his wife's ashes inside and began to lay Deb's sleeping form inside. "It's almost time," he thought, "it is too bad Volden isn't around to see this. Rest in peace my friend." --------------------- Marcus --------------------- Marcus hit the casino floor and started to look and ask about Frank. "Hard not to look conspicuous when asking questions in a casino," he thought. "Especially about someone that high up in the food chain. I'll have to do this a little cautiously." Marcus did a loop around the blackjack area, playing a hand or two and seeing if he could get any information out of the dealers in terms of the management at the hotel, hoping to figure out where Frank might be. --------------------- Sky Beam --------------------- Light shot towards the sky from the tip of the pyramid, just as it had done each night for the prior 30 years, looking as if it were connecting directly to the bright full moon so high above. Tens of thousands of locusts bathed in its warmth and sought solace from the night, comforted by the hum of their fellow neighbor. The light seemed to pulse with the shimmer of translucent wings, and the sound began to grow. At first, it was no more than the buzz of a few drones, but soon it began to sound like the engine of a jet, and it was not showing any signs of receding. Far below, beneath the light, the hotel and casino guests, Sekhmet was stirring. Frank could sense a palpable buzz from the Sky Beam far above and felt a shift in the area around the sarcophagus. A faint blue light began to emanate from the replica pyramid and envelop the ancient coffin. He heard movement, and then scratching. "Could this be it?" he thought with excitement, "All this time and preparation, is this finally it?" Frank had to look away as the light intensified and the volume of the buzzing from high above grew. Suddenly a crashing noise filled the room, and the light shot upwards towards the ceiling, blasting a circular hole about five feet in diameter and shooting straight up through the many levels of the hotel, joining the Sky Beam in a single beam of white-hot light piercing the darkness of the night sky. Frank could faintly hear the screams of guests on the floors above as they joined the buzzing. The lid of the sarcophagus began to open. Frank felt rooted to the floor, unable to do anything other than stare and hope that the soul of his long-lost love was going to be with him forever, albeit in the form of his best friend's daughter. Deb sat up, not showing any emotion and turned her head towards Frank. She blinked once, then blinked again. A look of recognition passed over her and she smiled at him. She then reached her arms out towards Frank. "Julie?" Frank almost whispered the name, caught up in the euphoria of the moment. Deb's smile opened wider. The light from within the room seemed to be filling Deb from the inside. The temperature was also increasing, the source of which seemed to be coming straight from Deb. Frank was still enraptured from what was happening and took a step forward. "Sekhmet," Deb's voice sounded strangely monotone, not what Frank had expected. Her mouth opened impossibly wide. A low moan escaped her and began to escalate until it became a savage scream. The source of the light and heat within the room became clear to Frank in that moment. He stepped back, eyes wild and searching as if he had been snapped out of a dream and dropped into a nightmare. White hot light flew out of Deb's mouth in a focused laser-like stream, hitting Frank square between the eyes and ripping a quarter-shaped hole straight through his brain. Frank fell to the floor, dead. --------------------- Marcus --------------------- "I'm sorry sir, but you can't lay down on the Blackjack table, sir!" the dealer looked more than annoyed, but also a bit tired. Marcus was struggling to stay up, in fact all the players at the table were starting to lean forward. "What is going on?" An explosion rocked the casino floor, and he heard the screams of his fellow guests. But the intensity of those screams died out quickly and was replaced by a buzzing noise that sounded like a jet airplane. He tried to get up and move from the table, but weariness was overtaking him. He found the strength to look around and scanned the rest of the area. Every player, dealer, and waitress on the main floor of the Luxor Casino was sleeping. He realized he needed to get back to warn Darren, but the need to sleep was too great and felt his eyes close as he laid his head down on the table. --------------------- Darren --------------------- Darren felt the pull of sleep, but the pain of another cluster was keeping him awake. It had been a while since Marcus had left to look for Frank and Darren was getting worried. Marcus hadn't answered the text messages he had sent, nor the phone calls he was making for at least an hour. He decided to risk getting up and seeing if he could find him. He walked out of the hotel room and made his way to the bank of elevators at the far end of the hall. He noticed two hotel guests lying on the floor, apparently sleeping. "That's weird," he thought. Every single person he saw was sleeping, every single one. His headache was raging. The stress of what was happening was taking hold and his cluster was responding in the only way it knew how. "Where is he?" he thought, "Where is Marcus?" Frantic with fear, he finally spotted Marcus, head down, at a blackjack table. Darren ran over to his friend, assured himself that Marcus was still breathing, and looked around for the nearest luggage cart near the registration area. As he was wheeling the cart back to the table he spotted some movement and left the cart next to Marcus so he could get a closer look. As he moved nearer, he noticed a woman with raven-black hair walking towards the poker room on the other side of the casino. She appeared to be walking slowly, with what looked like a dark cloud almost surrounding her. Darren was about to call out to her when he realized that the cloud surrounding her was actually hundreds of locusts, perfectly balanced around her. A beam of white light shot forth from her mouth and burned a hole into the sleeping form of a dealer nearby where she was standing. She then turned her head towards Darren and he recognized Deb Torrence from the research they had performed earlier. Deb took a step towards Darren and he ran back towards Marcus. "I've got to get out of here," he thought. Darren pulled Marcus' heavy body onto the cart and began to wheel him towards the exit. He got to the doors and tried to open them, but the entire exterior of the hotel was covered with a hot light that burned to the touch. He looked back over his shoulder, Deb was now out of sight, but he knew she was still in the area. "I've got to get back to our room," he thought. Darren made his way to the nearest elevator bank and pressed the button to go up. The longest ten seconds in his life passed as the door opened and he stepped inside with Marcus in tow. As the doors to the elevator closed, he saw Deb in the distance, slowly moving towards them. Upon exiting the elevator, Darren ran and pushed Marcus forward. He got to their room door, made it inside, and locked it. "The red lioness door must be where I need to go, I only hope I can fall asleep in this mess and that I'm not too late," he thought. Darren darkened the room, popped two triptan pills, and walked back to the Oxygen tank, slipping the mask over his face and began breathing deeply, focusing on stilling his fast-beating heart. The effect was working, and he found himself falling out of the awake world and back into the hallway dream. --------------------- Dream 3 --------------------- When the fog cleared, he noticed the difference right away. Where there had only been 7 doors on the floor he had been on previously, there now had to be at least 20 times that amount. A hallway that stretched beyond his vision. Luckily the red door with the lioness knocker was in the same place as it had been before, and Darren looked closely at the lock mechanism protecting it. The lioness head was sleeping deeply. But directly underneath the knocker was a gray box with three vertical lines etched into it. To the right of the three vertical lines was a hex bolt. He concentrated on the bolt and realized the size was similar to phone box bolts that he had opened back in his phreaking days. "Well, this is a dream," he thought, "it only makes sense that I'd have what I need for this." He reached into his left pant pocket and was rewarded with his 7/16-inch hex-wrench. The bolt turned and the box opened. Still no reaction from the lioness knocker. Inside the box were two terminals. "Just like back in the day," he thought. On his left hip, the weight of his old trusty red lineman's handset appeared. He pulled out the alligator clips and connected them to the terminals, put the phone to his ear, and pressed the button. The old familiar sound of dial tone came through. "What number to dial?" he thought. And then, he knew, the number on Marcus' door was the key. "Four-Four", he punched them in. Suddenly the eyes of the lioness knocker opened, and it spoke, "What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?" It took Darren a moment to gather himself, he had heard this one before, but the situation he was in was making it difficult to recall. "The Riddle of the Sphinx?" Darren remembered. He spoke into the handset, "Man". The eyes of the knocker closed, the mouth opened wide, and a key dropped from its mouth. Darren quickly picked up the key, inserted it into the now visible keyhole and turned the key. The door opened on its own, showing a bright white hall behind it. He was able to walk upright this time and went right in. The brightness of the hallway caused Darren to squint and look down at the floor. He concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and reached out with his right hand to feel for any obstructions. The heat of the hallway had to be in the high 90's Fahrenheit, and Darren began to sweat. It was taking much longer to reach the end of this hallway. He risked a glance ahead and was both relieved and frightened to see pitch black sphere, 10 feet in diameter, not more than 20 feet in front of him, hovering just a foot off the ground. "Not stopping now," he thought, and he quickened his pace. As he approached the sphere, he felt what he could only describe as a kind of gravity pulling him towards it. He tentatively reached his hand through and noticed that it was cool to the touch within the sphere. Closing his eyes, he stepped through, darkness briefly overtook him and a sensation of falling which lasted for a moment caused him to briefly lose his balance. He felt dizzy, a similar feeling he would have before the onset of a nasty cluster. But the feeling only lasted for a moment, when suddenly he found himself sitting in a chair, a nice cushiony one. He also noticed the air conditioning almost immediately. A loud cheer erupted from nearby which startled him. His host had jumped up and Darren found that he was looking through a large opening that provided a view of a baseball stadium. "Not just any baseball stadium," thought Darren, "this is Dodger stadium from the look of it." "Deb! Debbie, I brought some popcorn, nachos, and a pair of Cokes. Who just got that hit?" Darren felt his hosts' head turn, a broad-shouldered olive-skinned man with dark hair smiled at him. "It was Piazza, dad! He crushed a fastball off the wall in center for a double," Deb responded. "He's basically a rookie, that guy is going to be great. I think tonight we'll have a little PiAzza to celebrate!" "Dad!" Deb shook her head and Darren could feel the love and contentment from Deb. "I must have found Deb. She's having the time of her life at this game," he thought, "My hands are going to be full getting her out of here and waking her up. Need to find a mirror." Darren was a baseball fan himself, so had some familiarity with Mike Piazza, "I'm thinking this is the early 90's," he thought, "smart phones are a no in that case. This would put Deb in her mid to late teens, based on what I saw of her picture. So, what would a girl that age have in her purse?" "Dad, thanks for bringing me to this game, I really appreciate it. I know how busy you are getting ready for the Luxor opening." "Pumpkin, I know I haven't had a lot of time to spend with you over the last few months. That will change, I promise you. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the game. We'll do this again. In the meantime, I'm planning on having you work for me when it opens. We'll have a need for someone who's sharp like you Debbie!" At that moment, a feeling of wrongness came over Darren. "She's getting closer in real life. I haven't got much time left." Darren concentrated with all his might to send thoughts of mirrors to Deb, but the dream just kept going, with no break in the baseball game. "What would make a 16-year-old girl look into a mirror? The better question is what would make one NOT look in a mirror I suppose, but I don't see one around." He decided to change tactics and started sending thoughts of appearance and insecurity around her face. Darren felt a perceptible shift in thought process from Deb's mind. She reached into her purse, found a small compact and opened it. "Yes!" Darren felt triumphant. The face staring back at her seemed almost blurred, and it began to shift shape. Deb drew in a quick breath, she was frightened. Her cheeks looked more angular, and her eyes, her eyes looked like the eyes of a cat. She looked away from the small mirror, shook her head and looked back. This time she saw the face of an older man staring back at her. Both images disturbed her, and she sank back into her chair. "Frank!" she remembered, "Frank has me," and Deb began to waken. Darren also broke free from the dream and immediately looked towards his door. He noticed that the doorknob was missing and ran out to the hall. Deb stood right in front of him at the door, not moving, staring straight ahead, with a tear running down her face. Darren noticed the pendant hanging around her neck and he reached for it. You don't become a powerful goddess by letting mere mortals take things from you. Whether it be her vessel or the pendant, Sekhmet wasn't ready to relinquish her new shell. Deb's hand shot up and grabbed Darren at the wrist. Deb cried, "I can't keep her from doing what she wants for very long! Please help me!" The dual control of Deb's body was also draining Sekhmet's power. People were waking up in the hotel, including Marcus, who was witnessing the interaction at the door between Darren and Deb. Darren's wrist was starting to ache. Deb/Sekhmet was unable or unwilling to let go and the pressure was getting to be enormously painful. Marcus cried out, "Stop this! What are you doing?" This time Sekhmet responded, having asserted control over Deb yet again, "Cleansing this world," a flat, dispassionate voice replied. Marcus connected the dots and realized that he was talking with an Egyptian Goddess. "This has got to be Sekhmet," and he sprang into action towards the refrigerator pulling out three beers. "Darren, catch!" He opened a beer and tossed it through the air. Darren caught it with his free hand. "Drink!" Deb gained control of her other arm and put the can to her lips. At that moment, Sekhmet became aware of the taste as well and both Deb and Sekhmet thirstily drank the beer. Marcus jumped up and brought the remaining two cans over and helped Deb drink. As the last can was being drunk, Darren's arm was freed and with one quick motion, tore the pendant from Deb's neck. Deb's eyes fluttered, and she gasped, her voice shaking, "What happened to my hotel? And the guests?" she began to sob. "Ms. Torrence, please sit down," Darren led Deb into his room and had her sit on a chair in the corner. "Please call me Deb, who are you two and what has happened?" though slightly buzzed, her head was clearing. Darren tried to explain it, and for the most part he was able to. He decided to leave out the part about Deb moving through the casino and blasting laser fire from her mouth. "I knew about the dreams," Deb said, "But what happened to my guests?" "Your guests are mostly fine, but there are at least 5-10 card dealers that did not make it." "Did I do that?" Deb whispered. "It was not you, Deb." Marcus jumped into the conversation. "Any video the police look at will most assuredly say to the contrary," Deb responded with her hands on her face. "Well, I think we have a side project for DEF CON, MaxLow," offered Darren. "Deb, can you lead us down to the video room? We can clean what needs to be cleaned." The three of them made their way down to the video room above the mini pyramid. "You're going to want to destroy a few other things in that basement down there along with the pendant," Darren stated as he looked down through the hole and saw Frank Mills' lifeless body. Darren and Marcus were able to clean up the video. For the most part, the energy that had been coming from Deb resulted in video that could not be viewed, only a small number of minutes indicated that anything was wrong. The police arrived, Darren and Marcus corroborated Deb's story of a Sky Beam malfunction. --------------------- Darren and Marcus -- August 12th 12:01 AM --------------------- Darren and Marcus made it back to their room, having finished their conversations with police and helping Deb piece together the missing couple of hours. Darren put his arm around his friend and realized that the pain and pressure he had been feeling behind his right eye had vanished. "Listen, I do not think there is any way in hell that we can sleep here tonight. Why don't we move to the other end of the strip and stay in a hotel where DEF CON is happening? There's still time to enjoy it." "What about the investigation here? Should we stick around and help some more?" Marcus questioned. "I think this will be a long investigation that ultimately goes nowhere," Darren stated, "nobody would believe the truth anyways." "What, that three cans of beer saved the world?" Marcus chuckled and the two began to pack. DEF CON was still waiting, and the lifelong friends were going back where they belonged.