The beginning scenes will have Introduced all of the major characters, both dreamers and researchers. The mission of utilizing certain types of dreamers is explained (livid and vivid dreamers as explained in the Notes section) and the hook-up to the computer which allows observation.

The dreamers are hooked up to a central computer center and each of the dreamers is monitored by a specialist who are referred to as "watchers". Sean LeMarc is the Director of all operations although not actually participating in the experiment. That is the task of Randall Paxton who is assisted by Wanda Hendricks. Two new researchers specializing in artificial intelligence and the interfacing of the computer with the dreamers are Rachel Murray and Rajiv Patel.

Liza Goodman, a computer specialist confined to a wheelchair, serves as the informational liaison between the dream research team and the computer specialists. Liza is disappointed that she was not chosen as one of the dream subjects.

The dreamers are hooked up to the computer as they engage in the experiment. Each of the dreamers begins to exert their own particular dreams.

• JJ, is leading his football team to victory in the Rose Bowl.

• Thad is playing a mean sax in a smoky jazz club, surrounded by the masters of jazz...old black men with wearied faces who accept this youngster wholeheartedly.

• Jennifer is tormented by a fire that ravages her house and she is helpless to save anyone.

• Sheila’s graceful dance steps star in front of a packed house.

• Daniel dreams of heroic deeds as a sword wielding swashbuckler, and

• Cyril immerses himself in his usual dream of the game he is designing...a futuristic city of mazes and towering sleek buildings.

However, it is soon evident that something has gone wrong as the dreamers begin to cross over into each other’s dreams.

JJ finds himself out of his pads and rushing to knock over some City Guards in Cyril’s city as Cyril looks on in horror. Thad’s sax playing is interrupted as the jazz club is burning with Jennifer busting through the doors as if to outrun the fire. Sheila turns in a dance step and finds herself on a dusty field with Daniel, a surprised look on his face, as her only audience.

Alarmed, the researchers realize that the dreams are beginning to cross over into each other. And that is something that they had never anticipated. Eventually, the dreamers find themselves all pulled into Daniel’s dreams for his, based on history, are the most tangible.

The group finds themselves in medieval Europe which takes place during the black plague. Wagons pulling bodies with yells of "bring out your dead" stun the group. The smell causes nausea as Daniel talks of the terrible living conditions. As they look around, unaware of what is happening, Daniel is excited by this realistic dream and is enraptured.

A group of children are led into a house which is barricaded and set on fire. Daniel explains that they are Jews who are being blamed for the black death. As he is mesmerized by the flames, the scene shifts to another fire...this one burning bodies. Daniel has triggered them to a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. Daniel starts to explain when finally and shockingly, he realizes that these people are in his dream!

The researchers soon discover that not only have the dreamers cross over into one single dream, but that they have essentially joined a new consciousness which is unapproachable by the researchers.

The dreamers find themselves bouncing from dream to dream as each member of the group manifests their own terrors. They shift to a zombie plagued world where they narrowly escape the clutches of the dead, to inside a plane heading for a crash, to running wildly through a rain forest where bullets are zinging at them from behind. The dreams are realistic and terrifying to the group.

The researchers realize that the computer has enacted an anti-virus program which threatens the existence of the dreamers. Murray attempts to impart a message to the dreamers via a computer program. She frantically tries to interact with the artificial intelligence of the computer....

Jennifer has brought the group back to her recurring dream...inside of a burning house. Her sister comes towards her and asks why she set the fire....Jennifer pleads with her and tells her it was an accident. Suddenly, the sister bolts straight upright and begins to talk in a computer modulated voice.

It is Murray who has managed to engage an interface. She explains what is happening and tells the group to wake up inside their dreams...to try and manifest themselves into a waking world within this realm. But the fire around her suddenly changes directions and consumes her.

The attempt to create a character in the dreamer’s world is thwarted by the computer as it has eliminated the data fragment. Discovering that the computer is downloading all of the files of the dreamer, the research team frantically attempts to transfer all the files to the hard drive and time becomes a crucial element.

The dreamers find that they have stopped the dream excursions…for awhile. Now they sense that they are in a different realm…a different level of existence. Sheila spies some unique characters that resemble floating mantas but no one else sees them and she figures it is a figment of her imagination. Daniel, in a morbid sense of humor, delves into the legends of the Boogie Man. He continues over the protests of the others. He is relentless about it and brings it up to convey the silliness of archaic fears.

To the horror of the others, they watch as mysterious creatures abduct him and all they can hear are his agonizing screams.

The researchers are stunned as they see that Daniel’s vital signs go flatline.

The researchers feel now that if a dreamer dies in his/her dream, they will die in reality. But do the dreamers know that?

The dreamers are confused and scared and lash out at each other with Thad being the voice of reason and they decide as a group that Daniel isn’t really dead and if they can find a way to wake up, the dreams will end.

Liza figures out that the dream group can return if they somehow connect all with each other and be transferred as a single entity but she also realizes that without Daniel, that task might be impossible.

The mantas that Sheila saw do actually exist as all of the dreamers now see them. They are surprised by an old man who comes to them and explains that they are indeed in a different realm and he himself is a dream walker who can traverse through the dreams. The mantas, he explains, are dream riders which absorb all of the remnants of the dreams left over from dead people and unfinished dreams. The group does not think to ask at this point, what they do with that information.

As the researchers try to finish transferring the files, the last one, Cyril’s, is attacked by the anti-virus program of the computer. His file did not transfer successfully.

In the dream world, the other dreamers watch as Cyril’s body starts to digitize into a computer form and bit by bit, he disappears. His screams stop only when the last piece is gone.

Liza frantically searches the programming files and finds Cyril in another area where he is completely separated from the group. Cyril has lost part of his memory and has found solace in going to something he knows…the video game that he created. Liza guesses this and plans to incorporate the game into the computer so it joins the reality of the dream world. Liza wants to venture into the dream world and run on a separate file so she can help lead the group out but Paxton refuses

.

The dreamers, stunned by the loss of first Daniel and now Cyril, spot a figure approaching them. Assuming that it is Cyril, they are surprised to see it is Daniel. However, the researchers show no activity on Daniel and as far as they know, he is still dead.

We are introduced to a dark mysterious figure who is in someone’s dream and there is a mention of obtaining power although we don’t know how. This foreshadowing remains mysterious.

Liza finally convinces Paxton and he allows her to go into the dream world. At first, she treasures the ability to walk again and that seems to consume her energies. This will be a recurrent theme as the end of the quest will also bring an end to her new found mobility. It is a dilemma that she must contend with.

She is on a separate file and is soon lost to the researchers much to the dismay of Paxton who instantly regrets his decision to allow her to go in. Daniel seems a bit subdued and the dream group guiltily feel it is because he feels they deserted him.

The computer game is loaded into the computer and Cyril finds his way through it since it is based on one of his games. Cyril begins to be pulled into other people’s dreams and the dreamers find themselves also being pulled into other people’s dreams.

Unknowingly to them, they are following the track of Cyril which they discover a few dreams later as Cyril in some dream has made a lasting impression and is now incorporated into the dream.

The "quest" of the dreamers becomes a pursuit of Cyril in an attempt to hook up with him and bring a unity to the group which will allow for the transfer back. Liza joins the group and gives them this crucial information and also serves as a conduit of information of what their goals are. Cyril, because of his partial memory loss, attaches himself to different dreams based on sometimes minute fragments that trigger a response for him. The group, likewise, can follow his path based on these fragments as Cyril leaves residual memories incorporated into his game on the computer.

With the apparent demise of Daniel, Liza’s file is incorporated in place of Daniel’s so she becomes a vital component of the group, essentially replacing Daniel.

Daniel, it will be revealed, is truly dead. His essence has been absorbed by the mantas and then delivered to the mysterious figure shown previously. The figure calls himself the "Boogie Man" as he is the manifestation of all the terrible dreams that kids have had since the beginning of time. he does not have a consistent look as it fluctuates but for the dreamers, the body of Daniel serves as the host. Apparently, Daniel help to manifest the Boogie Man into their existence by his insistent stories. The Daniel that travels for a short time with the group (after his apparent death) is indeed the Boogie Man, striving for more information.

One of the watchers, Pam, will hook up to the dream team as the group actually dreams of returning to the institute. There, finally, they are all together as via Pam’s dream, they connect. However, they find they establish contact with each other and nothing happens and it appears that their long quest was for naught. We see later Pam investigating the situation and she discovers that there was someone at the institute that had erased the program that would allow them to return. Although it can be easily put back in, it is a lost opportunity and now they wonder who the "traitor" could be and why. The idea of a traitor is confirmed when LeMarc sadly informs the research team that Pam was found dead. The dreamers’ one contact is now gone.

As we continue to see the dark figure, now revealed as the entity who calls himself the Boogie Man (in a mocking sort of way), we see that whomever the traitor is, it is someone at the institute. It will be revealed to be Sean LeMarc. His son, Joshua, is an Autistic Savant. Considered almost imbecilic yet he possessed an extraordinary talent in painting. Like most "idiot savants", Joshua was superbly talented in one area at the expense of all normal functions. LeMarc had hoped the study of the subconscious mind in dreams would reveal the key to his son’s handicap. What was not known to anyone was that Joshua’s paintings were taken from the dreams of others.

He is a dream rider.

His paintings are manifestations of the dreams he visited. When the research team discovers his latest painting spotlights Jennifer, they understand the connection.

However, what they don’t realize is that Joshua does more than tap into the dream world, he is the conduit for the mysterious dark figure…and holds the key as the host body for the evil force that snakes through the dreams. The Boogie Man needs the essence of the others to gain power within the realm and to have access to all of the dreams.

The final scenes will take place in the created city of Cyril’s and gives the group a chance as they are now in a world that they understand (well, at least Cyril does).

MORE ON LEVEL X
The Participants
Film Background
Television Outline
Interview with the creator
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