Eventually, You Always Get The Demon, or No More Chipotle Followed by Cryptonomicon Before Bed

[featherynscale]

Last night I dreamed that I was on a car trip, somewhere in the world where there were huge stone temples. I had made this trip before, many times, but each trip is different. The whole scenario reminds me of the way that Diablo II is set up -- the world is new every time, but every time, you know that somewhere out there is the castle in Hell where Diablo is waiting. In fact, it's very much like that, as I am operating in the dream under the assumption that somewhere out there, there is a particular Temple, and at some point, I'm going to have to walk into the temple and deal with the Demon.

Each iteration is different, but each shares certain elements: I'm on a car trip in a brightly colored Mexican truck/bus creature (of the sort with no windows and really, no top either), other people join me, we explore things. The world is always at twilight and lit by smoky toches. Somewhere in the story, we will do something that offends the Demon. This will set in motion a chain of events that leads to the temple. I don't always know what will offend the Demon - I spend a lot of time trying to find the pattern, but with no success. I alway know when it has happened, though, because as soon as the offense happens, the Swordsman shows up.

The Swordsman looks like an anime character. He walks in a constant swirl of mist, which seems to emanate from his lower legs. He carries a katana and a chop with some characters on it, which I of course can't read, but which he seems to think is Very Mysterious and Significant. Once he is on the scene, I know that I have no more choice. I can try to avoid the Temple, since I always know where it is (or at least have a sense of it, a sort of "oh, no, don't turn left, that's the Temple"). But it doesn't matter. Eventually, I turn a corner and find myself there, with the Swordsman.

Here's the fun part. Sometimes, the Swordsman slays the Demon, and everything is okay. Sometimes, the Swordsman *turns into* the Demon, and I am unarmed - in these variants, he kills me easily and there is nothing I can do.

Also, there is always a moment immediately after the Swordsman arrives in which I can kill him - but I can't predict in any given iteration whether he will eventually defend me or destroy me. So in the dream, I am trying to work out the probabilities of each outcome: 1) I kill the Swordsman, and when I get to the Temple, there is no Demon. 2) I kill the Swordsman and when I get to the Temple, I am undefended and the Demon kills me. 3) I don't kill the Swordsman and when I get to the Temple, he defends me. 4) I don't kill the Swordsman and he later becomes the Demon and kills me. I don't see a pattern. I don't see a clear way to win, and I know that until I do, I will keep repeating the scenario, over and over again.

It is important to remember that I have never had this dream before, and in this dream, only one sequence actually occurred. All feelings of repetition/iteration are a memory in the dream. The dream actually ends just after the arrival of the Swordsman, when I am trying to calculate whether or not to kill him.