The underground cultist dream.

I just had this... dream.

It started out in this run down city. Where the grass grew up through the cracks in the sidewalk and all the buildings were leaning, leaky and old. Like Baltimore, only the buildings had better roots.

Our story starts when we go to a run down dilapidated building. Magnificent arches, big enough to drive a car through and tall enough to walk an elephant under, sat on each side of the place, complete with little arches on the sides. The ceiling was vaulted, like in the old cathedrals, with cracks and dust coating everything. The room was free of pillars, so all of the space in the large entry chamber was open. There was a sad feeling to this place, it was truly a tragedy that such a beautiful space had fallen into ruin and regret.

All life was not lost however, because as I watched twilight came over the city, smoothing out the edges, I saw a group of cloaked figures making there way into the building. They passed though the great room, and though a narrow arch down a series of winding corridors. Finally they reached an ugly circular door set into the stone work. Rust had taken over the door, and stained the white rock on each side of it, making it look like some sort of unsightly growth. An old man with crazy eyebrows was there, and he would open the door to admit people, sometimes whole families, into the narrow hallway beyond.

It turns out these people were part of a secret cult/religion and believed that their gods lived under the earth. So beneath this building they had dug a series of tunnels, so they could meet in secret and worship. The earth around them was warm, probably clay, and they had work lights strung up, giving the whole space a warm cheery feel. I distinctly remember the warm walls being bathed in the yellow light, the effect was beautiful. I could see why these folks would leave the concrete city of dust and decay and come down here.

Then the robots showed up.

It turns out there cult/religion/whatever the fuck was illegal and the city did not take kindly to them digging around under their shit. Unfortunately the local authorities felt the best way to deal with this was to take their robots and attempt to murder everyone. So as the people were coming out, unawares from their underground sanctuary the robots and the police/military/angry people made a ring around the building. If your thinking this doesn't go very well for the people inside, your right.

This bit wasn't too clear, but I remember the robots were black, with a big glowing red eye thing in the center of their heads. They were at least ten feet tall, with big arms, and I think smaller legs. Like maybe big robotic gorillas, but it wasn't very clear. They proceed to lay waste to this building, ripping it apart and crushing it. They did not appear to have guns, or at least I couldn't tell if they did, but you would think if you have the technology to make robots you sure as hell could make guns, but maybe they were forbidden or some shit. I dunno.

Anyway I was treated to a montage of the building falling in while people frantically ran though the dust, coughing and screaming while robots crushed everything around them. Their were families where the father was carrying his children out of the ashes. It was pretty fucking sad here people. I was treated to another view of outside where a smug looking commander was surveying the damage. At least he seemed happy about all this.

Afterward, when the robots had cleared off, we see the survivors meeting in a small room, lit by a single sputtering flame. They decide to leave the city, and move out to the country. Finding a good spot with a few houses on it, they decide to park it, and build a few more. Being busy as bees, they start a new life, carefully secretly, began to dig a new tunnel inside the corner of their town hall. Everything is right as rain.

I began to know some of the individual people, Crazy eyebrows is like there wizard/shaman guy who leads them, and there are a few individual families that are really the heart of the town. There is also a pretty young girl, with reddish blond hair that forms lovely ringlets all down her back. She is not yet old enough for marriage, but all the young boys have their eyes on her.

Well one day the king, yes they have a king, no he's not a robot, was riding though his Kingdom. When I say riding I think he was in a car, but I'm not sure, but he definitively had some robots with him. He sees the girl when she's out and about in her village and decides right there that he has to marry her. So he goes back to his giant well maintained palace and tells his magician/shaman that he wants this girl. So in a move that surprises no one, the magician orders the village burned to the ground and the girl captured. All the soldiers are made to memorize a picture of the girl, so as not to accidentally kill her, and off they go. There are no robots this time.

They proceed to burn down the village and kill everybody that isn't her. She freaks out and makes a break for it, running into the town hall, and hiding down the tunnel. Like an idiot she doesn't secure the door after her, and the magician starts poking around until he finds it, having been startled at not seeing her at all earlier. He follows her down and proceeds to drag the terrified girl out of there. The village is gone, everyone she knew and loved is dead, she's just having a really shitty day.

They take her back to the place where the king gets her cleaned up, and tells her he wants her to be queen, because having a queen that hates your guts is the best move ever. It also doesn't help that he's old enough to be her father. He gives her a grand set of rooms and some rich girls her own age to be her companions, but they act a little afraid of her because at this point she has like PTSD hard core. Also it becomes rapidly apparent that the magician has also fallen in love with her, and keeps finding reasons to just drop by and chat. Well, things are getting really sticky, and she has no idea what to do. Should she run away with the magician, who burned down her village, or marry the king who hates her religion?

Unfortunately I did not get to see what happened next, as it was time to wake up and I have to pull a bunch of nails out of boards today.

I can't help but feel sorry for her, even though as soon as I woke she doesn't exist anymore. Which is even sadder. I'm just going to stop talking now.