Sorbet (story)

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Sorbet is a story taking place in the greater world of Comprehensive and Cataclysmic Gerosha in Dozerfleet Comics. It revolves around the surreal adventures of a college student named Hadley Mint, who must find some way to wake up from multiple false awakenings that might just be a foreshadowing of things to come. The story is based on a real dream the Dozerfleet founder had around the fall of 2009, but takes place in fall 2008 on the campus of Ferris State University. The book as a project was formalized in March of 2011 in the Dozerfleet project catalog. In 2013, a film adaptation was considered.

It is Issue #12 of Volume #1: Origins.

Plot
Hadley overhears a philosophical conversation between two girls who are eating sorbet outside a theater. They discuss that it is "multi-layered," and that deja-vu feelings and dreams can also be multi-layered. Knowing when it's all done is what's important; and knowing to spot the differences in each layer is also. The illusion of sameness can be dangerous, however. This is compared to how the girls' raspberry sorbet dishes look when spread with a spoon, and how the seeds are not all evenly spread about.

Hadley thinks of it as a mildly interesting exercise in naval-gazing, but then quickly moves on with her day. A news report states that some dangerous criminals were reported to be in the area, believed to be getting high on various drugs before their crimes. She heads down for a nap in her dorm...but then wakes up to find herself with an aching back and the power intermittently going out. She tries to open her door, but can't. She suddenly wakes up and is able to get outside, realizing the initial was a dream...but little has changed!

She finds the school being attacked by a zombie hoard, and someone outside might have answers. Is the hoard for real? Is it all a premonition? Or is she just dreaming? And how many times must she have the same dream before she can escape it&amp;mdash;before it manifests into everyone's worst nightmare?

Hadley uses each "waking up" to search for more clues, ever-ready in case the next time she wakes up is for real. Are the drugs real? Are the criminals real? Are the zombies the real deal? How to tell the difference?

Author personal experience
A lot of this story's idea has to do with the fact that the Dozerfleet founder himself one afternoon had multiple false awakenings while up at college. It took 11 cycles to wake up for real. Power outages, jammed doors, and zombies in the distance were recurring themes. In this way, being based on a real-life individual's nightmare, Sorbet is similar to Camp Jellybean.

The reason raspberry sorbet was chosen is because that was the flavor that most inspired the title when the Dozerfleet founder committed to the idea of Sorbet back in March of 2011. He was eating raspberry sorbet at Mitchell's Fish Market in the Eastwood Towne Center of Lansing at the time.

Film inspirations
It is perhaps superficially that the plot bears similarities to such films as Source Code and Groundhog Day. It's layered dream plot also bears superficial similarities to Inception, though the founder's dream happened before that film was released and was not caused by sedatives. The founder's recurring dream turned out to be the result of a pinched nerve in the back, a result of sleeping on a bad mattress.

Part of the appeal to come up with this story is the fact it blends multiple genres: the "Groundhog Day Loop" plot is interspersed with a theme of layered perception of reality, and that in turn is mixed with the zombie genre. So the story's formula itself is multi-layered with inconsistent dispersion of "seeds," just like the raspberry sorbet it's named after.

Visuals
In November of 2012, Dozerfleet Comics went into high gear with creating multiple concept art visuals, ensuring that every major character in the Gerosha universe that would be even at least somewhat canon to Cataclysmic Horizons would have at least some visual representation. In February of 2013, this included some quick visuals of Hadley Mint. Her dorm room and hallway in The Sims 3 were modeled after the actual architecture of North Bond Hall at Ferris State University, reconstructed from memory.