The Incubus

Chapter 3, Scene 8

The engineers at Cybernetics Computers had a ritual where they would drop whatever they were busy with each day at ten o' clock, and meet each other in the lounge for a smoke break. Those who didn't smoke mingled in by making it their coffee break. They would usually spend the next fifteen minutes complaining about management or clients, or worse; management's unrealistic promises to unforgiving clients. There were no such qualms today. A new topic had slowly taken over the past two weeks. Nightmares.

'I had another one last night,' said Luke. He was outsourced as a site engineer to a major communications company. 'I can't remember everything, but I do remember the spiders.'

'I had one too,' Bill said. He had greasy hair that he slicked back and wore black thick-rimmed glasses that almost gave him a Buddy Holly look. Bill was the company nerd. A nerd's nerd. Justin found it hard to imagine that this man would ever admit to having nightmares. Too retro. Bill drained half his mug of coffee before continuing. 'I was trapped in a mental asylum with all these half-human creatures running around and hunting us down. Eventually I was the only one left.' He finished the last half in one gulp. 'Then I woke up.'

They all looked at Justin. 'And you?' Luke asked.

Justin hated being placed on the spot. He was the new guy. He didn't want to share his personal problems or experiences with them yet. He nodded. 'Same as yours, Luke, but with snakes instead of spiders.'

'Had the snake one last week,' Bill said.

The spotlight was off Justin again and moved to Rupert. He shook his head even before the question was asked. 'No nightmares here.'

'It's because you live so far,' Luke said. 'No reception there.'

Everyone chuckled.

'You might be onto something there, Luke,' Bill said. 'I can't help but notice that all the guys having nightmares live in more or less the same neighbourhood.'

'It's a government conspiracy,' Rupert said. 'They're testing their new brain-wave manipulators, and you guys are the lab rats.'

'Everything's a conspiracy with you, Rupert,' Luke said.

'Have you guys listened to yourselves the last two weeks? You all have bad dreams. You all fight with your girlfriends or wives. You all have a low sex drives.'

'That's because we're techies,' Luke said and everyone laughed.

'And it all started at around exactly the same time,' Rupert finished his thought.

For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence among the guys. Rupert had a good point supported by a valid argument.

'Come,' Luke said and crunched the remainder of his cigarette inside an ashtray before twisting it several times. 'Time's up. We gotta go.'

In less than a minute, everyone had separated and gone their ways; scattered from the lounge like roaches in a kitchen when the light goes on. Justin finished his coffee alone and then made his way back to the workshop.