Writing Prompt: The Nightmare With a Clipboard

As part of a writing prompt, the wonderful folk over at io9 put up the below picture. Yours truly decided to give it a whirl. The following story is the result. Enjoy!

Image titled "Nightmare" from Imaginism Studios' Bobby Chiu and Chris Sanders, via The Art of Animation

Given the circumstances, subject 19, or Colin as the boys in admin had begun referring to him, had one of the finer rooms amongst the study group. His bed was plush and akin to that of a cloud, so they were told. A human cloud. One of those white ones that resembled an out of focus lump of brain. Not like the clouds back home thought Devigora the Forsaken One, of the Buckingham Forsaken Ones. Back home they appeared to be composed of an endless black tinged with a poisonous green. Lightning the colour of dry blood would leap across their surfaces followed by a thunder akin to that of a rockslide grinding bones into dust. They were really quite beautiful. Human clouds were so dull and clean it's a wonder they even bothered to look up.
Devigora shifted her clipboard into a more comfortable position.
"Now then, 19, in our last session you showed a remarkable amount of resilience to our spiders program. Even the newer version with the nasal infiltration. The folks upstairs are really quite impressed."
"Muh...spi...ders...muh-nuh," shivered Colin, eyes wide and staring into oblivion.
"Oh, 19. You really do give the best feedback." Devigora beamed, her fangs shining with an otherworldly moonlight.
Frankly in this line of work getting any form of coherent nonsense out of the inane babbling was like getting blood from a stone (not the bleeding rocks of Stav'nuk'gahar, that would be silly). But Colin was actually quite clear and responsive. He even stopped wetting the bed several months earlier. A real trooper this one.
"Now since you're showing such promise it's only right that you get as much of a reward out of this as we do working on yo--with you. I mean we're not monsters!" She looked genuinely  hurt by the very idea. Why, this was important work. The company was responsible for some of the most twisted and depraved thoughts and dreams known to mankind. Waterboarding? Them. Serial killers? Them. Reality TV? Them. If it wasn't for Them certain works in the human world may never have existed. Stephen King would be crunching numbers at a tire dealership. Hannibal Lecter might have been a great ficitonal hero of the medical world. Though that Lovecraft fellow was a complete anomaly and studies are still being undertaken to make sense of it. Common theory suggests he was actually half human, half Nightmare. This also suggests a level of kink amongst his parents that doesn't bear thinking about.
The wyrm beneath Devigora inched forward, hot reeking breath brushing Colin's ear. It was hungry. It's bat-like nose could smell the fear emanating from subject 19 and this stirred it's eight stomachs. Soon to be nine if it moved any closer. That's the problem with smoke-wyrms; the longer they get there more there is to feed.
"Fwuh pff r-reward...?" See? Colin was a pro.
"That's right, 19. If you give us the best you can give from the next stage of programming, we're willing to give you a little vacation. You may even be passed over altogether during your little sojourn and not have to come back at all." This of course was a complete lie. The efficiency and mental anguish department determined that the best subjects, like Colin, eventually put up little blocks that prevented them from experiencing the worst programmes. Or they went mad and gave false data. Humans were very selfish.
"Buh-buh sca...scared...muh-mee," whimpered Colin. He couldn't see Devigora and the wyrm, not really, only feel they were near and think there was something in the furthest reaches of the corner of his eye. He would fall asleep again soon, though he didn't want to. Waking up in his own room again. Fortunately he had begun to remember less and less of what it was that kept him awake in the dark.
Devigora rolled her eyes at the mention of subject 19's mother, then regretted the accompanying head motion. The ethereal wind that kept her hair afloat and gave her the natural grace and beauty renowned amongst the Buckingham Forsaken Ones, occasionally blew strands the wrong way. This phantom breeze had knotted some strands about a horn. Beauty was such a curse.
A shudder from the wyrm signalled that the programme was ready for insertion. It showed promise this new programme. Something to do with maggots and hunger and patriarchal death.
Colin twitched once more then drifted off into not-so-peaceful slumber. Devigora marked some boxes on her clipboard, fidgeting all the while. Smoke-wyrms were fantastic for inspiring terror and delivering news to their riders. But they were terrible office chairs.

FILM REVIEW - Superman: Unbound

The Man of Steel is ready to swoop in and save us all from the fearsome might of summer, what with its inferno heat (boo) and pressure to go outside where people are (hiss). Whether it will be a fresh take on the Last Son of Krypton or just another spandex feature for the masses is entirely up to you, but what is always overlooked are the animated features that DC puts out between it's blockbusters. This release is something to put you in the mood for mislabelling a flying man as a bird or plane (honestly, how bad were those people's eyes!?) and it goes by the name of Superman: Unbound.

Much like DC's previous forays into the animated world that base the plot on either a comic book story arc or that of a graphic novel, Superman: Unbound takes it's foundations from the 5-issue arc titled Superman: Brainiac from 2008. The feature introduces a villain that may not be that well known to the masses since he has never been used in a live action film (though was portrayed amazingly by James Marsters in the TV show Smallville ), that of Brainiac. Ol'Brainy is not your average criminal; not a bald billionaire or an insane clown but that of an alien being intent on collecting all knowledge. Not all that intimidating until it comes to light that he is some kind of super-genius with a spaceship shaped like a giant skull capable of snuffing out stars and a penchant for shrinking down a chosen city into a little bottle. Jokes on him really since stamps are SO much easier to collect.

Starring alongside Supes is Supergirl, the young and brash cousin of the beloved hero. All the powers, not so much on the restraint. When Brainiac sets his sights on our blue marble its up to the Kryptonians to save the day. Superman is up against a very unusual foe in this case; he cannot reason with his foe; the enemy is about on par in power; and shockingly enough he's pretty smart. Or you would hope with a name like Brainiac.

"Five bucks says I can hock-a-loogie on to that yuppie's head."

Superpowered battles is the name of the game and when you throw in some things Superman can't fight with his fists you get a little more depth to a man who essentially punches things really hard. The emotions and personalities are brought to the fore by some fantastically cast actors in the form of Matt Bomer (White Collar) as Superman, Castle alums Stana Katic and Molly Quinn as Lois Lane and Supergirl respectively, and the brilliant John Noble (Fringe) as Brainiac. Throw in the masterful animation DC animated is known for and you have a truly...super, experience. That good it warrants a pun. The climactic battle, while perhaps not on par with the Hollywood blockbusters, is perhaps a fine example of an all out super strength brawl.

Superman: Unbound is a great movie to either warm you up for Man of Steel or to give you the fix if you're still buzzing from the live action reboot. DC animated movies are on a roll (but not a film roll...because they're animated...geddit?) and are spitting out quality film after quality film. Lets just hope a real spacefaring super-brain doesn't see what they're doing and make their way here.