p. 3 ^^^^ 1. The Guardians of Reality p. 4 ^^^^ "Dirty work... But you'll see, you get used to it." "Where are we going, boss?" "Aaaah. Impatient, hm? You're young, you're itching for a fight... Lesson #1: patience. Nothing beats a good night in the field to learn the craft." "Sh!" "?" "Aaahh Aaaaah!! I sense one." "Ah?" "My 9th sense. 35 years of hunting. 12775 nights walking the... OOOH!" "OOOOH. Looks like a big fish." "What did I say, kid! This way!" p. 5 ^^^^ "MMM, that's some ron--the real thing!" (Note: "ron" is approximately "zzz" (short for "ronfler", to snore)). ... "What's all this fuss?" "I can't even hear myself snore!" p. 6 ^^^^ "Oneiroactivity patrol" "Ah..." "It's there." "He sleeps. This is the moment I've dreamed of." "We've got him." "Let me do it, boss." "No point... plasma lock." "Plan B." ... p. 7 ^^^^ ... "It's certainly him. Finally I have him..." "With two days to retirement, boss, you've got some luck!" "Lesson number 2, kid: never count the dream before it's hatched." "Prepare the big net." "Done, boss." "Ready?" "Ready!" "Here we go." p. 8 ^^^^ ... "Look out. There goes one!" p. 9 ^^^^ "It's going to escape us!" "Too late!" "Kid... Did you see which dream it was?" "Mmpf... no..." p. 10 ^^^^^ (said as a curse) "A thousand nightmares!" p. 11 ^^^^^ 2: The dream not to have I had just had one of those dreams which leave an aftertaste of doubt... Did I really just wake up, or was this another dream just beginning?... As an old veteran of oneiric adventure, I knew that this type of uncertainty never lasted long... p. 12 ^^^^^ "?" You don't wait long for an answer... I had indeed woken in another dream... ...I was dreaming that I dreamed... p. 13 ^^^^^ "Hello!" "Hello! Anyone there?" p. 14 ^^^^^ "Uh... Would you like a hand?" "Thanks... I'm OK." "Nothing serious, I hope?" "Pff! These horizons... They get stuck for nothing. It's not a very serious breakdown, but it's always a pain..." p. 15 ^^^^^ "... and believe me, I've patched up lots of horizons. Well, the big thing now is stuck horizons." "The most delicate part is replacing the vanishing point. That requires perfect calibration... A sure, precise hand." "A Vanishing point??..." "Yes, the source of all the perspective lines!..." "And a badly regulated vanishing point, that's trouble... soon enough." (Note: "en perspective" means both "imminently" and "in perspective".) "Could you pass me that new vanishing point ... on the table." "Careful. It's fragile." (Note: box says "for a perspective that lasts, vanishing point KIDUR", and, on the bottom, "insist on the brand." KIDUR sounds the same as "qui dur", meaning "that lasts".) p. 16 ^^^^^ "It's to be handled with extreme..." "...pre..." "...caution." p. 17 ^^^^^ 3. The 2.333rd dimension This time, I'd woken for good, thanks to a vertiginous 1.82-meter fall. p. 18 ^^^^^ "Darn." "..." I'd had one dream too many, and that dream would cost me punctuality points at the office... I gained a few precious seconds by skipping my usual three-piece suit. "Ah! Good morning, neighbor! "Last night, I dreamed of you!..." "Very well." "We were in an infinite space!... We lept into the void!... ... It was awesome. We'd left the world! We were free... Free!!" "Free?... Then yes... It certainly was a dream." "You dream too much, Hilarion." "Better to be full of dreams than to be dream-starved." p. 19 ^^^^^ Dream-starved... It was a good retort. My neighbor had scored a point... ... But I was too late to respond, all the more so with the 9am traffic jam to negotiate. "Gentlemen, the situation is critical." ... A traffic jam amplified that morning by a spontaneous demonstration. I had to find some way to gain some time... (Note: "Rue Du Raccourci" == "shortcut street") p. 20 ^^^^^ "Hey! That guy there... What's he doing?" "He goes too far!" "The problem with which we are confronted is without precedent. We must act with urgency... ... because we cannot maintain the illusion for long." "Aïe aïe aïe!" "?" "Aïe aïe aïe" p. 21 ^^^^^ "?" "No... Leave him..." "Hello, Mr., Mr. ..." "J.C. Acquefacques, public servant." "Pleased to meet you. Norbert Plateau, surface agent." (Note: An "agent de surface" is a surfactant.) (Note: signs: "We want depth", "Down with flatness", "We're sick of flatness", "Vive le volume", "volume for everyone!", "volumes, not flatness") "The secret is out! I repeat: the secret is out!" "Gentlemen, the die is cast!" "Yes... I imagine that all this must frighten you... But we cover it up as we can..." "???" "... I am the first to recognize that these tactics are inadequate to the problem." "The problem?" ("Move along, there's nothing to see.") "But, then ... You haven't noticed anything? I must admit it does depend on the point of view..." "We no longer have any choice..." "We must go into... the infraworld." "The infraworld?.." p. 22 ^^^^^ "Disperse!" (Signs: "Down with flatness", "all against flatness, all for depth", "We're sick of flatness") "Dear Mr. Acquefacques, one could say that you've put your foot in it." (Note: "vous avez mis les pieds dans le plat", literally, "you have put your feet in a flat expanse of water" (hence splashing mud on the bystanders), is an idiom meaning you've indescreetly come out and ask a rude question (probably one that everyone was already asking themselves). But "plat" also means just "flat".) "A trip into the infraworld would be an extremely risky mission." "We need someone solid." "Someone who doesn't ask questions..." "We're having a terrible problem with volume... You will understand... Follow me." "...There is a malfunctioning of perspective." "A man of action..." "A go-getter..." p. 23 ^^^^^ "Look: ordinarily, volume is created by two vanishing points (here, A and B) which are placed on the horizon." "We're missing one. The result: there's no more depth... There's... flatness!" "Flatness, but with a very slight depth... ... That's why we are not completely invisible..." "... We are in a special area of space... Between the second and third dimension... The 2.3333...rd, to be precise." "Why this missing vanishing point?. And how? We're investigating. In the meantime, we are reduced to piling up perspectives." "A rumor is running around that someone dreamed too strongly and lost one of the vanishing points..." "?" "Ah! If only we could find that individual!..." "But... it's m..." "... finding him would be excellent! But the evil is done..." p. 24 ^^^^^ "Listen, I" "It's terrible to say, but that kind of guy would have to be operated on!.." "? Eh, I.." "Yes... We open his head, we take out the dream back-flow prevention device, we close it up again. It's radical." "The back-flow prevent device... The poor guy... It's horrible." "Well, note... We wouldn't have to tell him..." "But, excuse us, Mr. Acquefacques... You wanted to say something?..." "Yes... Uh." "Hm... Well then... It's that I have things to do and... If you don't have any more need of me... "... But I believe me, if I could be useful in some way, I wouldn't hesitate..." "Really? You would do that?" "We need a man of courage..." "A guy with nerves of steel." p. 25 ^^^^^ "This is great! We were just searching for someone..." "Do you like adventure, Mr. Acquefacques?" "At the risk of deceiving you, I'm only an adventurer in pyjamas..." "I mean to say that I only dream of adventures and..." "This is perfect. This is like a waking dream." "Somone selfless..." "A true adventurer..." "In brief, a hero." "Follow us." "This way..." "Gentlemen, we have found a volunteer!" p. 26 ^^^^^ "Gentlemen, before putting in order our plan of action, we should summarize the situation..." (Note more play-on-words with "plat", flat.) (Note: The title on the board is "dream and reality", and the large circle containing "dream" circles and "reality" squares is labeled "the great everything".) "As you have witnessed, the nature of our reality has changed. Why?.. "As you know, dreams and realities are very distinct entities,... ...watertight." "But that law no longer holds in the presence of a rare singularity: the dream of a dream. Because that (dream)^2 becomes itself a reality." "What's the connection with flatness?" "I'm coming to it: our research has lead us to believe that someone has (dreamed)^2 of perspective, and upset this here, by making a vanishing point diseappear." "Oooh!" (Note: the water on the table is "plat" (flat), as in, not carbonated.) "This unknown person, in committing this dream of a dream, has transformed the dream into relative reality..." "Hooo" "It's in that relative reality that we find ourselves today... A word deprived of vanishing point..." "With an outlook for the future that is very thin..." p. 27 ^^^^^ "We have good reasons to think that this missing vanishing point, when it left reality, was lost in what we call the infraworld." "Somewhere over here." "The goal of operation "headlong rush" is to recover this vanishing point in the infraworld." "... The infraworld, that strange unknown zone, beyond both dream and reality..." "... The infraworld, to which we have no choice but to send one of us." "That person is here, this evening, among us..." "... I introduce: Julius Corentin Acquefacques!" ... p. 28 ^^^^^ 4: A high-flying mission "The device is ready, professor." "Perfect. Everyone to his post!" p. 29 ^^^^^ "Launch in seven minutes!" "Operation: Folding!" "Maximum aerodynamics!" "Gentlemen... Are you sure that I am the right..." "The right... profile? Ha ha ha! These new heros... All the same: always doubting themselves!" "Reassure yourself: with this flight plan, this mission will be child's play for you!" "Folding accomplished!" "All you need do is follow the instructions very carefully." "Your whole mission is detailed in this precious document..." "Take care of it." "I d.." "Launch in 5 minutes." "Operation: loading!" "Loading accomplished!" "Operation: spring-tensioning!" "Launch in two minutes!" "From now on, our story is in your hands, Mr. Acquefacques!" "Catapult armed!" "Framing of the firing window!" "Panel 4-29-05!" "Panel 3-29-05 targetted." "Let's hope that this fucked-up depanelizer works this time!" "Ready for lauch!" "Countdown!" p. 31 ^^^^^ "3... 2... 1..." "..O!" ... "That's it. He's gone... Launch successf..." "The flight plan?!" "He no longer has a flight plan! But then.. He is..." "He is l... l..." p. 32 ^^^^^ 5: L... Lost in the infraworld p. 35 ^^^^^ "Hello, neighbor!" "Hilarion?! But... What...?" "Well then. I was part of the catapulting trials... It's not playing the third character that makes me a living... I round out my end-of-months playing the guineau-pig." "Spare me your beatific positivity. I am on a mission to restore to the world its true dimension... And I just lost the manual." "Ho ho! There's a real mission for a hero!.." "... In any case, you have freed me from my geostationary siesta... We charge now into the void!" "To us, the wide open spaces! Adieu, small world! Neighbor, we are liberated from panels!" "Hilarion... Are you sure that isn't an illusion?" p. 36 ^^^^^ "I recognize in that your party-pooper dialectic... "Dream instead that without a manual, life is an adventure!" "Thanks for the adventure! But you have diverted me from my trajectory!" "To the unknown! It's marvellous! We are free! Free!! Perhaps we have escaped the script!?" "Everything is written, Hilarion." "Ah, I see where you're going: you don't believe in chance?" "... In other words, you insinuate that God does not play with dice..." "If he plays with dice, then they're loaded." "But perhaps he doesn't know that they're loaded?" "You are certainly naive... In my opinion, he pretends not to know... Otherwise, where would we get our illusion of freedom?" "Hmmm..." "On the subject of illusion, what is it exactly, your mission?" p. 37 ^^^^^ "A vanishing point? The recovery of depth?... ... That won't be a simple matter!" "Ho ho!" "?" "Vanishing points?" "That would be too easy. I'm inclined to think it's a debris belt..." "Debris?" "Yes... Scraps, if you prefer... As much as several hundred million. This will be hard to pass through." "Now's the moment to believe in chance." "Aïe aïe aïe!" "Too late!" p. 38 ^^^^^ "The lamp!" "Yes, Gentlemen! ... One day we will be known for what we are! Do not lose hope!" "... The day will come when the world will know that we exist! We, the discards, the rejects, the cast-offs!" "The drafts!" "The poor things... Comdemned to stay in their unfinished, uncertain world..." "We will not stay forever unfinished!" "Look! Above!" "Ooooh" p. 39 ^^^^^ "How neat they are!" "And so precise!..." "... So definitive!" "It is them!" "The envoys!!!" "No!! They are not what you believe! They owe us their existance! We are the sketches of tangible future worlds! Without trials, no attempts! Without attempts, no improvements! Without improvements, no finishing! Without finishing, no future!" "And without future?" "... Never mind!" "Let us live before wanting to exist!.. It's our drawing.. er.. our destiny!" "We've got to get out of here! I have an idea. Prepare to jump!" "Jump??" p. 40 ^^^^^ "All you have to do is believe. Let go of everything!" "And hey! It's done..." "You see: it's like in dreams: if you disbelieve, you'll wake up." "What a strange scene... Too bad it was abandonned." "Here we are again at the first panel..." "..and still no vanishing point on the horizon." p. 41 ^^^^^ "Ha! We're approaching a mass of realities..." "Look! There, at 9 o'clock--isn't that another world?!" "Yes indeed... But it's a different story." "So we see, it's true then... Parallel universes exist!" "Another discovery, and a big one: we are not alone in the universe!" "That's reassuring enough, after all." p. 42 ^^^^^ "The imagination certainly has no limits!" "Just so... If god creates with dice, he's at it around the clock!" "One thing is sure: the number of dice is infinite." "Unless it's the number of faces of the dice!" "Or the two at once..." p. 43 ^^^^^ "Watch out!" "?" "Asshole!" "!" "!" "?" "?" p. 44 ^^^^^ 6: The grey hole p. 45 ^^^^^ "I have the disagreeable impression that God has pulled the plug..." "Though I believe we're heading for a blatant big crunch..." "... Look: all our universe is concentrating itself into a single point." "You who search a vanishing point, you're in luck!" "Strange, this double-shift, red and green... It must be a version of the "doppler effect"." "... That would seem to indicate that we are simultaneously moving away and towards ourselves." "You mean that we're going nowhere? Bravo for the analysis!" "At this point... what's one more paradox." p. 46 ^^^^^ "I believe we've arrived..." "It's not too soon. I was getting dizzy." "Pfouu! It's smoothing down." "!" "A passage?" "What are you doing here?" "?" "?" p. 47 ^^^^^ "First of all, how did you get here?" "uh..." "We saw a light... We came in." "Yeaahh... "I'd suggest you wear this, the blue filter on your right eye. Otherwise it's a guaranteed headache!" (Multiple-pun alert: "D", the first letter of "Dieu" (God) is pronounced like "day", as is "dé", the word for "dice".) "You... You are ... D... D..." "Dédé... Exactly... It's my nickname.. Or "2D"... Or 2 dice... Dilbert Dugommier. Directeur of distribution of diverse décors." "Of décors?" p. 48 ^^^^^ "Yes... All those that are no longer used. "You've never asked yourself what becomes of all the scenery that has existed?" "The characters move from panel to panel, and all the better for them, but the scenery, as for it, pffft! So, it arrives here... Sorted, put away, filed..." "... well, anyway... One tries." "The ambiant chaos makes any drawingextraction a very delicate operation..." "Of course you see that at the heart of a grey hole, all the laws that ordinarily apply are turned upside down." "Here the laws of physics are beaten back to their final entrenchments..." "... Time, space, and light are folded onto themselves..." "... And don't ask me what dimension we are in! Our traditional landmarks are ruined by the extreme gravity that reigns here..." "It's not much fun, indeed..." "Err... I was talking about the force of gravity..." p. 49 ^^^^^ "The most difficult part is to keep one's sense of direction. I mean: to not enter into any scenery... Keep a sense of proportion between reality and its representations... "... Like this false panel, for example..." "... One can enter without realizing... And on loses oneself in other worlds..." "A true shopkeeper's trap..." "You can imagine the difficulty of keeping order under these conditions." "... Note, for putting things away, we have a weighty ally: time." "Here, time doesn't exist... We therefore have all time..." "No more beginning, no more end... Just a milieu, situated somewhere at the boundary of the improbable... Or at the limits of the intangible..." (Note: in French, "milieu" is also the word for "middle".) "I see myself, on the other hand, in an abyss of perplexity." "Ah, finally." (Door says: "filing".) p. 50 ^^^^^ 7: The point of no return p. 51 ^^^^^ "Here, you are in the holy of holies of recyclable-sorting!" "Ask me anything: I'll give you the aisle and shelf numbers. I'm unbeatable." "A vanishing point." "A vanishing point! ... Hmm ... You set the bar high... Let's see..." "Vanishing points are in J-9... In the 'unsortables' section." "Perfect! Let's go." "Err... You are really sure that... You know, vanishing points are quite overrated..." "... I have other points every bit as... attractive! ... Points of reference, points of view..." "Cardinal points... points of difficulty!.. .. points of ... ellipsis ..." p. 52 ^^^^^ "OK... K7... Here we are in the piled-up zone... ... Take a left..." "And straight in front until the next junction." "There, you'll descend to the right in the little gallery... then the left-hand corridor..." "Watch out for the shoring... ... These tunnels are fragile..." "So fragile that sometimes..." "A collapse?" "No... Firedamp, no doubt in G-8." "Firedamp explosions are frequent in grey holes. Ah! Here we are..." "Voilà. We've arrived... That hurts the eyes, huh? All the vanishing points are somewhere in there." "The organization leaves something to be desired, I'll admit. But it must be said that all these décors are in dimensions less than 2..." "... While vanishing points are gemoetric figures without dimension... It's a real nightmare for the sorting agents: their filing is something like a game of quantum pick-up sticks." "It's not advisable to enter this conglomeration. I'll let you imagine the spacial babble that can result from such a concentration of accidents... "... Hang on... Where's your..." "Neighbor?" "Hey!... Neighbor?.." "Neighbor?" p. 53 ^^^^^ A completely mathematical intuition whispered to me that if I didn't find a point of escape here, I could at least hope to find an escape, period. (Note: "point of escape" is the literal translation of "point de fuite", vanishing point.) p. 55 ^^^^^ "!" Instead of a point of escape, I had found a point of departure... For a moment, I shuddered at the thought that walls of my apartment would open themselves anew onto a space where the perspective lines would draw me again to the horizon where I'd encounter a vanishing-point repairman... p. 56 ^^^^^ 2: The dream not to have I had just had one of those dreams which leave an aftertaste of certainty... I was going to oneirically wake up, and another reality would be realized!... But as an old veteran of realistic adventure, I doubted whether this sort of certainty would always last so little time... p. 57 ^^^^^ (Spoken as a curse:) "A thousand nightmares!" p. 58 ^^^^^ "It's going to get escape us!" "No!.. It's returning!.." "Here, my little one..." p. 59 ^^^^^ "Look out. There it is!" "I've got it!" "..." "Lesson number 3, kid:" "Never remove *all* of someone's dreams." "God knows what could have happened if that dream had escaped us!" "Ah... That... That's another story..." "In any case, that was close."