Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams

Ladies and gentlemen, you are now looking

at the iridescent glow that is the Hermagon Ultra.

The dance of interstellar dust within the supernova

is what makes this sight so rare

and so popular among visitors to the Hermagon Aurora.

Luckily for you folks on Dream Weaver 9

the conditions today are perfectly clear.

Ideal for a sighting of this unique chemical miracle.

Color selected.

At its finest, ladies and gentlemen,

the Hermagon Aurora is enough to make you believe in God all over again.

Astral Dreams has been proud to bring you

the excursion to the Centaura B Star System today--

Dream Weaver 9 is now...

...Dream Weaver survey in the Primotel foyer

so that we can make your next journey with us

even more fulfilling.

Rats in a sewer, my friends.

You're rats in a sewer.

Hi. All right.

Here we go, then.

There's a health and safety,

engine report, customer satisfaction survey.

Happy campers?

There was a complaint about the sound quality

on Deck 3, again.

Are you ever gonna fix that speaker?

Oh, uh...

A lot of dust out there today. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I used the vis-augment.

I don't think anybody noticed it though.

Look at the sorry state of man.

What the fuck is that?

It's my happy time.

All right, then, Tonto.

Let's do this and then we can head home.

So next week we have two package tours

to the Ice Flows on Prigma 27.

I'll do those.

Bit keen, aren't we?

I like the Ice Flows. They're pretty.

And we got a pre-booked wedding party

heading to the Sybil Nebula. Do they need a band?

Already booked it from Primus 3.

I had the honor of listening to the demo.

The musical taste of these people defies fucking belief.

Put it on there.

I'd rather pour hot oil down me ears.

You fancy a beer or three? End of the week?

I got to get home.

Barbara's waiting for me.

Oh, is she now?

I'd invite you back, but, you know.

I know.

Barbara's getting ready for Primo Central.

Your transfer confirmed?

Not yet.

Linus Primo does love

to keep a man hanging on.

I am going to get it.

It's just a question of process.

It better be. That girl is dreaming

of the high life, my friend.

On the door there is a sign saying, "Closed".

I wonder what it means.

Do you wanna get the Loop back to the condos?

Uh, I think I'll see this to the end.

Just reached an interesting plot point.

Can you read, asshole? We're closed.

There's an IMT console in the Primotel

for any online reservations.

There's also a customer care number

right in front of your fucking eyes.

Hmph.

I'll get it, I'll get it.

Hello there.

Oh, my.

I'm sorry, uh...

We're not open.

You'll have to come back next week.

Miss Gordon has lost her hearing.

Excuse me?

Miss Gordon is deaf.

Uh, I see.

My name is Irma Gordon.

And I want you to take me on a tour.

I understand, madam, but we're now closed.

Can you tell her that there are no tours

until next week?

I can give her a physical handout

of our available destinations.

If she likes.

But if she's not proficient on the network system

she'll have to come back on Monday.

I want you to take me on a tour to Earth.

Did you--? Didn't you hear the man?

We're closed, sweetheart. All right?

She's deaf. Closed. Shut.

No happy holiday today.

She said she wants to go to Earth.

Well, she's not deaf, she's crazy.

Miss Gordon has traveled a long way

from her home on Riga 2.

She wishes to charter a ship to take her to Earth.

Listen, my cranky little pal,

we can't take Miss Gordon to Earth

because Earth no longer exists.

We don't take passengers to nonexistent destinations.

Strict company policy.

Miss Gordon is 342 years old.

She flew the craft personally to get here from Riga 2.

Then she can stay in the Primotel

and fly back home tomorrow.

I'll tell you what. Lady?

Because it's the end of the week and I like your face,

I'm gonna give you an Astral Dreams promotional coupon

entitling you to a free cocktail

on the house when you book your Primotel room.

Any cocktail of your choice, except the Primobellini

where there is a two bit surcharge.

You can't say fairer than that.

She has two kilo positive to pay you.

Excuse me?

She is willing to pay Astral Dreams

two kilo positive to take her.

If you're wondering about method of transaction,

Miss Gordon does not have a cyber account.

So she would have to pay you in cash.

This is Andrews at Primo 241.

I need an urgent data-feed on Earth,

a planet in the solar system 2483B65, now extinct.

Also need a match-up on current Astral Dreams tour destinations.

Closest approximation to size, color,

tech and chem specifications.

We have six matches to your request.

Okay, give them to me.

Too far.

Way too far.

Too big.

Do you wanna tell me what you're doing?

Jesus, that's pink. Earth was not pink.

Okay, this is more like it.

"Emphor 3. Three days hyper-flight. One moon.

"Third planet in nine in a solar system dominated

by one major sun. Blue color."

Perfect match, my friend.

That's not blue, it's gray.

It's blue-y gray.

It's a dead rock. Doesn't even have any oxygen.

She doesn't want to breathe it, she wants to see it.

I'm not doing it. Look.

She wants Earth, we give her Earth.

It takes us a week.

We cancel all tours,

we submit a TC32 to maintenance central

tell them the Dream Weaver 9 is damaged.

It isn't damaged. Then I'll damage it.

I'll jerry the engine on our return.

The crone's happy, she goes back to her weird little outpost

in God-knows-fucking-where, we keep her visit off the books.

No paperwork, nothing.

And you and I are one kilo positive richer.

It's five years' salary, Brian.

Imagine what we could do with that.

You do what you want,

but I'm not gonna blow my chance at Primo Central

doing this crazy shit.

You have to.

It's a two-man craft, minimum.

It's Barbara.

Ugh...

Leave it to me, I can--

Don't say a fucking word.

Hey, babe.

Where are you?

I'm still at work. Something came up. I'm sorry.

That's okay.

Are you on your own?

Yeah. Yep. I am.

I'm just about to walk out the door.

Have you heard anything?

About? What do you think?

About the transfer.

Can we talk about this when I get home?

I think you should check your vid mail, Brian.

Okay.

Hey there.

This is Linus Primo.

I wanted to take the opportunity

to message you personally

to say that, unfortunately, this time

you did not succeed in your application

to transfer to Head Office here at Primo Central.

I know this must come as a disappointment to you

as this is your-- Fifth.

-Application.

You see, I was under the impression

we'd be here for two years.