A Disconcerting Dream

A Disconcerting Dream
Region	Crystaldream Lake
Area	Your Room
Unlocked by	Sleeping after Day 4

Interactions

You go through this entire dream sequence as The President of Shadows, starting as a little girl. As the dream goes on, the President visibly becomes more and more shadow-tainted, her eyes darkening and her hair going wild.

Childhood

• A calendar: October 20, 1902.
• Your diary:

This Diary is property of Margaret <shadowtext> (age 9)

All others got to KEEP OUT under penalty of law!

Dear Diary...

Yesterday, our dog Daisy died. Papa said it was bound to happen becoz she was older than me, which isn't old for a kid but is really old for a dog. He said we'll get a new dog soon but I was sad anyway. Some birthday!!

At school today the teacher askd what we want to be when we grow up. I said I'll be God, becoz then I can make sure all the dogs live a long time and are always happy. Everyone laughed and that jerk Billy Gribbsly said a girl can't be God! So I said I'll be President insted becoz that's nearly as good. He said a girl cant be President either! Well I'll show HIM. I'm gonna make all kinds of laws about being nice to dogs and I'll make being a jerk illegal too so Billy Gribbsly goes to JAIL and cant eat nothing but bread and water FOREVER.

"So there!"

Ocean City Comptroller

• Your desk, covered in Ocean City paperwork.
• Poindexter -- your insufferable bean counter.

Shadow Presidential Campaign

It's time to record the announcement of your candidacy for Shadow President.

• Hit whatever options you like for fun. The first option always advances the conversation.

The stuff Margaret can say
All right. ahem. Attention, peons! Oh jeez, don't call them peons, ma'am! And uh, please try for a less totalitarian tone generally? Right, right. So uh, something like... "My fellow citizens!" Good evening! I, Margaret- <shadowtext> That's weird, the levels went all funny when you said your last name. Don't worry about it. ...hereby announce my candidacy for Shadow President. Vote for me or else. Ah, nope, sorry ma'am, no. Start out by explaining who you are. Most of them probably don't pay much attention to local politics. All right. (proceed) "Howdy, folks!" Too folksy, ma'am. This isnt Arkansas. "What's cooking, my pals?" Wow, no, much too casual. Nobody would buy it.
In my role as Ocean City's Comptroller, I have made it my mission to... "Eliminate waste and graft in the city's finances." (proceed) "Make sure you all get exactly what you deserve." Um... Well, look, I get it. Doubletalk is fun. But it makes you sound kinda sinister. You'd be better off just lying. "Rob you suckers blind for my own nefarious ends." Ma'am, are you funning with me? It feels good to tell the truth once in a while. Won't get you elected, though. I suppose not.
And I am proud to say that I have been completely successful, through my program of shutting down needlessly wasteful civic programs, thereby... "Reserving your valuable taxpayer Meat for the things that actually matter." (proceed) "Ensuring none of you have the time or energy to protest my actions." They... probably don't want to hear that, ma'am. Also, that's more of a convenient side-effect of your policies, rather than their basic purpose. "Forcing you to live in desperate squalor like the rats you are!" ...Okay. Feel better? Swell. Let's get the real one now.
Things like... "Family, prosperity, and freedom." Perfectly meaningless. Love it. (proceed) "Mom, baseball, and apple pie." That's pretty good, but if isn't a cliché yet, it will be soon. "Ultimate power." Mmm, they'll assume you mean for everyone. Oh, ha ha. Yeah no. No way.
Okay, then just a call to action to top it all off, and we're done. "A vote for me... is a vote for you." Oh, that's great! Just perfect. (proceed) "Vote for me, and I'll pay you a hundred Meat." Super illegal, ma'am. "Vote for me, or I'll destroy you." Ha ha ha! Ma'am! Come on!
Good. Is that all? Yeah, we'll add all the legal "This message blahblahblah Campaign for Shadow resident" stuff in post. Great, I'm out of here.

Dam Project

Back in time, talk to Mayor Burbee about the Crystal Valley Dam Project. You bribe him with a briefcase full of Meat to expand the planned size of the dam.

Thanksgiving

You're supposed to pardon the Thanksgiving turkey, but apparently none of your aides know what a turkey looks like. You pardon a Thanksgiving sheep instead.

Magical Interference

Your desk, covered in policy documents both benevolent and malign. There's a note here about going back in time and making the Crystaldream dam bigger. Gotta get on that eventually.

Your ridiculous court wizard isn't taking the situation seriously. Talk with Dark Noël:

• Give me a progress report on the S.I.T. thing. Have you taken care of the problem yet?

  Oh, it's so dreary and un-festive there, all that math and science! It isn't holly or jolly!

• Screw your damn theme! Your entire job is dealing with magical issues. I won't have that do-gooding interloper messing around in the library, there's too much at stake! Get it dealt with, or I'm giving Crimbo's federal holiday status to the frigging groundhog!

  *gasp!* You wouldn't

• Go! Get out of my office!

Presidential Award

Six lockers. Some dumb jock kid you have to give a Presidential Fitness Award to.

• Could be Jeff, from your Fitful Dream three nights ago?

Gatorman King

This miserable beast, a gatorman in a swamp. "PRESIDENT STRONG! MAKE RICH!"

Pure Tedium

Duty calls again. Talk to General Bruise:

• More damn paperwork. How come nobody told me being president is all paperwork and talking to idiots?

  Sorry, ma'am. But the unwashed masses gotta be kept in line while we amass power.

• Yeah yeah. Fine. I hereby sign this order declaring July 12th National Bread and Circuses day. All citizens get a complimentary dinner roll and a free turn on the nearest suitable trapeze.

  Uh, ma'am, I ain't sure that--

• "Who cares? Let Coolidge deal with it! What's he even for, anyway? This is all beneath me!

Drilling Project

Hellstrom. What does he want?

• All right, Hellstrom, let's hear your report.

  Everything's fine and dandy, ma'am. I don't rightly understand what this "shadow energy" stuff is exactly, or why you want so goldurn much of it, but the converters are sprayin' it out slicker'n greased mice out've a gatlin' gun. With plenty of slag left over to press into those weird monsters you like.

• Finally, some good news. So you'll meet the project deadline?

  Yep, though we'll need to expand the oil drillin' operations some more. Need ya to sign this permit so's we can expand into lots 210-240.

• Sure, whatev-- wait. 210-240?

  That a problem?

• ...My family's farm is 223.

  Ah. Well ma'am, if yer wantin' yer weird black juice, we gotta get the regular black juice outta the ground first.

• ...All right, fine. Sorry, grandpa.

Exit

If you've unlocked the Dream Cat, they are here, but they only hiss at you. Thus, you can't have the Dream Cat's Boon for day 5.

Margaret quips "Enough of this." as you step into the exit door.

Other Dreams

Chapter	Dream	Major event
Prologue	A Dream About School	Choose a character class
1: Welcome to Ocean City	A Fitful Dream	Talk to your Nemesis
2: The Spooky Forest	Another Fitful Dream	Your nemesis reports to their boss
3: Back to School	Yet Another Fitful Dream	Dean Wormwood hopes his barrier will hold
4: Swamped	A Disconcerting Dream	Vignettes of the President's life
5: Heartland of Darkness	An Exceptionally Fitful Dream	Talk to the President