Collective Unconscious (short story)

 was a Cwej: The Series short story. Released early by Arcbeatle Press freely on their website as promotion, it was collected in Down the Middle.

Plot
Sara Willox meets with her new therapist, Dr. Jen Ashfield. Sara tells her that, for the last three weeks, she has been having stressful dreams involving a blonde, blue-armoured soldier named Chris. It was one of these dreams that, a few nights earlier, told her to seek out a Dr. Jen Ashfield. Jen returns home and consults her dream diary, which confirms that she herself had a dream about the same man.

Six nights earlier, Jen dreams she is in a surreal warzone. A race of hairy, insectile creatures is battling a race of elegant, scaly creatures. The man in the blue armour appears and leads her to safety. He introduces himself as Chris Cwej. He tells her that they are both dreaming, and have become trapped in the Psychosphere, a virtual world created the the scaly aliens, the Geldex. The Psychosphere has become opened to unassuming dreamers as a result of being invaded by the Hytherians, the insectile aliens. Chris has had his mind uploaded to the Psychosphere so that he can find its centre and shut it down. He leads Jen to a mountain and uses the logic of the dream to manifest an elevator to the peak. Atop the mountain, they find a castle, and, near it, a fire exit. Jen steps through the fire exit and wakes up.

Chris enters the castle, where he meets Sara Willox. They pass through a door which leads to a dark forest. They find a glass box with a red button, which can deactivate the Psychosphere. An elderly Geldex pleads with Chris not to press the button. It explains that the Geldex homeworld is dying, and that the Psychosphere is the last hope of its race. Chris, unwilling to allow the Psychosphere to operate and trap innocent dreamers, instructs the Geldex to find an alternative, and presses the button.

Sara wakes up and decides to see a therapist. She googles "Dr. Jen Ashfield", the name of a friend Chris mentioned in her dream, leading back to the story's beginning.

Characters

 * Chris Cwej
 * Jen Ashfield
 * Sara Willox
 * Geldex

Story notes

 * James Hornby, T. Maynard Banks, James Wylder, and Daisy Schopmeyer are all credited with providing assistance and additional editing.

Continuity

 * Cwej says that "there are some weird doctors out there". (PROSE: Original Sin, et al.)