Dreamer
| Dreamer | |
|---|---|
 by Howard Lyon
| |
| Setting | New York City, Earth |
| Released | April 1, 2014 |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| ISBN | 978-0425256879 |
Dreamer is a non-cosmere, horror short story that first appeared in the Games Creatures Play anthology, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni Kelner. It is set on Earth and told from the perspective of the eponymous character, who is part of a group of dead gamers, poltergeists that must possess the bodies of living people. They use their abilities to play extreme, real-life versions of games like "capture the flag" and "cops and robbers," showing little regard for collateral damage among the living.
Summary
Dave, better known by his gaming handle "Dreamer," is engaged in a game of cops and robbers in Manhattan with his fellow gamer poltergeists. In the game, Dreamer and his team of four other players are trying to protect Longshot from being captured by Phi, who is playing as the criminal. Each player is allowed to possess only a limited amount bodies and to use whatever means necessary, including deadly force, to win.
During the game, Dreamer is pursuing Phi, who manages to kill the person Dreamer had possessed, using a body with a gun. In the ensuing panic among the living, Dreamer possesses the body of an old woman, alerts his teammates, and then Bolts into the body of a responding police officer. Dreamer finds Phi again and fires his gun indiscriminately into the crowd of onlookers in an attempt to kill him. As the crowd scatters in horror, another police officer shoots and kills the body Phi was possessing. Phi then promptly possesses the body of the second police officer and runs after Longshot.
Dreamer pursues Phi to the top of a building and tackles him off before he can reach Longshot. Both police officers die in the fall, leaving Dreamer with no bodies left to use. In poltergeist form, he holds Phi back from possessing his final body long enough for Rabies to take it into custody, causing Phi to lose the game. Phi complains that Dreamer cheated by firing into the crowd and Longshot says that they should ban guns. The group decides to meet up in New Jersey to get away from the carnage they caused in Manhattan. Dreamer agrees to a footrace with Phi as their rivalry continues.[1]
Characters
Publication History
- Games Creatures Play
- April 1, 2014 - Ace Books
- The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2015
- June 23, 2015 - Prime Books[2]
- Con-Exclusive Hardcover Edition (bundled with Snapshot)
- 2017 - Dragonsteel Entertainment