I remember wild #dreams. The ones we cobbled together in our own minds from the grab-bag of memory, the human need for narrative, and a healthy dash of monsters from the id. Dreams with no meanings, no sponsors, no credits.
But that changed in my thirties, when the Ad-versaries discovered that REM sleep operated at a specific frequency - a frequency that could be broadcast to.
People used to talk about the latest summer blockbuster. Until one morning when everyone in North America woke up to talk about having the same manufactured dream "sponsored by Meta."
It's not all bad. Some dREMverts are so popular they go into reruns, like that psychedelic cartoon that had everyone running to their RecPharm the next day. Even the nightmares by Jordan Peele have their fans.
But I miss talking to Joe. He's trying to make rent, so he's been sleeping 23 hours a day testing experimental dREMverts, only getting up for a bio break and a Soylent. ("Make money in your sleep," they said. Tch.)