The Nightmare Machine represented one of Borborygmus Gog's experimental endeavors, functioning as an element within Project Starscream. Gog's objective centered on discovering a method to harness an individual's deepest anxieties, transforming them into a weaponized force. This particular experiment, cleverly disguised as an entertaining attraction located within Hologram Fun World, involved visitors entering a chamber. Inside, they were informed that a specialized machine would meticulously analyze their minds, identifying their most profound fears with the intention of generating remarkably realistic holograms of those terrors for their amusement.
Nevertheless, this explanation served solely as a deceptive facade, concealing the genuine purpose of the experiment. Existing technology lacked the capacity to comprehensively scan a being's mind to that degree (otherwise, the primitive techniques utilized by interrogation droids would be unnecessary). However, specific telepathic species possessed precisely this ability. Gog's experiment utilized a member of such a species, rendered virtually invisible through the holographic projection of an otherwise empty room.
Zak Arranda and Tash Arranda once participated in this experiment without knowing its true nature. After exposing them to their fears, Gog's creature manipulated their perception, leading them to believe they had left the attraction, when in reality, they remained within its confines. They endured a series of terrifying nightmares, including a scenario where their own Uncle Hoole betrayed them. Upon finally comprehending that none of it was real, they awoke to discover themselves still in the same room, now sharing the space with other victims. Each of them had tendrils connected to their foreheads, extending directly to a frail creature characterized by glowing red eyes and an enlarged, bulbous skull. Shortly thereafter, Lando Calrissian, who happened to be visiting Hologram Fun World at the time, eliminated the creature.