I have been sick for the past few weeks. It has gotten much worse the past two days. So, on Wednesday night, I took some Advil, and went off into a very uneasy night of sleep.
I'm walking around the hallways of my school, like I've been doing for what seems to be forever. All the people in my class are laughing at me. I know. I just can't do it. I've been working on it, but I just can't figure it out. My chemistry teacher has given me the toughest assignment left. I must rewrite the interaction protocol for the world. I suppose the old one might be getting too old. So I walk up to my friend...
Jolting awake, I find my muscles all aching. I know it's a dream, but I can't escape it.
I try to talk to him, but all his words are just garbled. The interaction protocol must really be bad. I see some of my classmates, and they seem to be having an easy time talking. Damn them.
I reach into my friend's abdomen. I'm sure it is the for loop that is faulty. Damn for loops always give me problems. Can't have a decent conversation without having to reboot a few times. I change a few of the lines, and try talking to him again. A little better, but still garbled.
I awaken again. I can feel me bed, I can hear the soft drone of the central air. I try to open my eyes but can't. I'm trying to fix another for loop. Why the hell am I doing that?? It's a dream. A dream I woke up from. Still, I've got to rewrite the interaction protocol...
I'm running around the halls trying to find someone to talk to. Maybe they'll help me. I try asking for help from my fellow classmates, but they just laugh at me, moving away at lightning quick speeds. I try to match them, but I can only move imperceptably. It's like moving through a solid mass. I can barely get my muscles to respond, and have to think of each movement of my mouth to be able to speak. All of a sudden, I have control again.
I run around. I have to fix the interaction protocol soon. My teacher will not wait much longer to grade me. How long, I've no clue. I don't even bother thinking about it. I just have the instinct to finish as fast as possible.
I have taken so long, that things are starting to break down further. Colors change randomly. People waver in and out of existence. I frantically try to reprogram them, but I just can't. I've closed the ifstream, but that didn't do a thing. I reach into the closest person, and I delete whole sections of code while writing more elegant variations. Why won't it work? Maybe if I reboot the world...
I wake up again. My body is horribly hot. I beg the fever to break, but it refuses. I know I need to get up, at least take off my pants and my shirt (after stumbling into bed and sleeping fully dressed all night), but I cannot find the resolve to do so. When will the torture end? I can't concentrate on myself, I still need to rewrite the interaction protocol.
I know that I have lost my chance to fix the protocol. I will surely fail my class now. Why am I so hot? I need to cool down. I need to change the for loop. I'm so hot. I've got to run, find what is causing the problem. Can't I have a drink of water first? No. I have to fix the interaction protocol...
I convince myself to get up. I immediately cool down. I take off my pants, and walk into the kitchen to get some water. I feel much better, only I'm still tired, so I go back to bed.
I still need to rewrite the world.