Something strange has been happening since we moved into the Dreamfactory. I need to document it while the observations are fresh.
The Observation
For months, the market district has been unstable. Different layouts on different visits. Vendors appear and disappear. Streets that exist one night are gone the next. This was consistent across all our experiences - one of the most documented "fuzzy zones" in our mapping.
But this week, something changed.
The cloth merchant I interviewed three months ago was in the exact same stall. Same location. Same goods. Same arrangement.
She remembered me.
She asked how my research was going.
Why This Is Strange
Ethel's inhabitants don't usually remember us. We "shimmer" - we're transient, insubstantial, not quite real to them. Even when we have conversations, those conversations don't seem to persist. The next time we meet the same person, they've forgotten.
But this merchant remembered. Not just that we'd met, but what we'd discussed. She mentioned details from our previous conversation that I hadn't recorded in my public notes.
The Pattern
It's not just the merchant. Others have noticed similar things:
- Harlan found his sculpture in the dream temple - the specific piece he'd been visualizing and documenting
- Noel returned to a meeting point three nights in a row and found it unchanged each time
- Martin says the tunnel entrance near the market has become more stable - it's there every visit now, exactly where he expects it
What This Might Mean
I'm starting to wonder if our concentrated attention is solidifying things. Making the parts we focus on more persistent.
We're seven people now, living together, dreaming together almost every night, all focused on the same places. That's an unprecedented concentration of synchronized attention on Ethel. Our combined belief might be... heavy. Weighing things down. Making them more real.
If this is true, it has implications. We're not just exploring Ethel - we're potentially shaping it. Every place we document might become more stable because we've documented it. Every feature we believe in might become more persistent because we believe.
The Question
Is this good? Is this dangerous? Are we helping Ethel become more real, or are we overwriting something that should remain fluid?
I don't know. But I think we need to be careful about what we focus on.
Especially the tunnels.