The sound of trumpets and fireworks woke me up. I groaned and stretched as the alarm clock radio continued.
“Welcome guests to another amazing day at NeuroSphere! As always, it is a bright, warm day full of adventure and wonder!”
“Off,” I groaned.
The holographic alarm depicting a cartoonish man in a lab coat vanished. I kicked the covers off me and slung my feet to the floor. I stretched again as I approached the automatic curtains; they slowly opened as I drew near.
The world of NeuroSphere stretched out before me. Rides and attractions of all sorts dotted the mini-city. (Actually, most cities were smaller.) Small transport vehicles zipped along programmed paths carrying guests from location to location. Hovering trains streaked over and through the park to offer guests views of the park. In the center of the park, like some holographic deity, stood the enormous statue of the park’s mascot, Roger Roo. The cartoon kangaroo welcomed the guests with a smile and an animated wave.
About two miles from the park, you could see the skyline of Sky City, birthplace of NeuroSphere and home to Blue Light Technologies. At the top of the BLT Tower, like a light from a lighthouse, was the Creation Orb (or Gate of Eden or Seed of Creation or Creation Sphere or any of the numerous names for it). The Orb, fueled by the faith of fans, sustains the universe of multiverses known as the Omniverse. It also protects the Omniverse from the Darkness Beyond and powers the Fourth Wall, which keeps most people from knowing that the world of fiction is real.
Not many know that every story is real somewhere in the nearly infinite Omniverse. Those who do usually find themselves working for BLT. These employees usually end up becoming the most popular creatives and businesses in the Real World thanks to BLT’s influence across the Omniverse.
It was a hard road getting to where I am, but I finally became part of the BLT community. The journey was made difficult by a prophecy. It stated a Chosen Hero would one day defeat the corrupt Board of Directors that ruled Blue Light Technologies. This board only sought money and power; they used the Orb to create darkness, fear, and overly brooding stories. They were not happy merely reporting on events across the Omniverse; they wanted to control them.
Lucky me, I fit the prophecy bill. The Board, also known as The Powers That Be, sought to destroy me any way they could. Eventually, they and their master, Simon Darkk, failed. Simon Darkk was the head of the Omega Institute, a business like BLT that wished to destroy Creation. Darkk was partners with BLT’s president and CEO, Lucas Lite, until they had a “falling out” over how to use the Orb. Darkk wanted to destroy Creation while Lite wanted to nurture it.
With Darkk and the Board defeated, the Omega Institute was weakened but not forgotten. It became the Masters of the Dark Arts, or what was left joined them. No one can tell which came first because it seems that the Masters have been around forever.
I figured with the prophecy fulfilled and the new board put into place, I would finally become part of the group. Nope. The board was soon infiltrated by the ancient enemy of Creation, or the Everything, the Nothing. The Nothing is the empty chaos before the Everything, or as some call it The Big Bang. Once Existence, well existed, the Nothing became aware, and it didn’t like it.
While the Everything sent out Orbs/Seeds to create worlds, the Nothing sent out Cosmic Terrors to destroy the Orbs, or failing that destroy the worlds. It was a fairly balanced battle until Earth. The Terrors destroyed the Seeds for Venus and the planet that was supposed to be between Mars and Jupiter. They tried to destroy the Earth by crashing another planet into it. One of the pieces became the Moon while another was absorbed by the Earth and became the Hallow Earth.
They thought they destroyed the Martian Orb, but it ended up crashing on Earth. Since Earth already had its own Gate of Eden, the Martian Seed super-charged some matter into the fifth state of matter: phantasmic. For the sake of ease, phantasmic matter-energy is magic. It is what gives people “superpowers” and eventually helped create “magical” technology.
Like the Orbs, phantasmic energy is replenished through things like faith, imagination, love, and so on. Unlike other sources of energy, the more you share phantasmic energy, the stronger it becomes.
Of course, some are experimenting with using darker means to power corrupted versions of the Orbs. But let’s not talk about that right now.
The Nothing posed as a board member and tried to once again eliminate me. I’d became a threat to Its plans.
Eventually, I learned of others from the Real World who found their way to the Metaphysical World, specifically David. David helped me defeat the Nothing.
Finally, finally, I was starting to become part of the BLT community. The new, new board, which was mostly the same as before except for no Nothing, decided to publish my Dogboy Chronicles series, including a movie and eventually a TV show. Things were finally looking good…Until it turned out that David was out for revenge.
Years ago, before I was abducted into the Metaphysical World, David hypnotized our class during a talent show. Turned out my werewolf talents leaked into some of the classmates giving them powers. David did not get powers; he sought out the Masters of the Dark Arts. They gave him the power of super-hypnosis and necromancy. In exchange for his power, he would hypnotize the class into becoming agents in the Masters’ New World Order plan.
The plan almost worked, except David couldn’t keep his hatred for me bottled. He tried to trick me into a battle that almost caused my death. In the process, I found out who he really was. According to him, we were friends in the Real World. He was angry that I gave powers to nearly everyone but him. Like I chose anything. The werewolf “curse” leaked out of me like a radioactive isotope. I had no control over it.
My friends (Sally, Danny, and Brain), some of our classmates, and I traveled back in time to stop David’s show before the Masters’ could usher in their New World Order. We beat David, but the Masters escaped. Unfortunately, his defeat created a time paradox that had some interesting effects. When we returned home, it was now the late1990s instead of the late 2090s. However, we still had the same technology as the 2090s. The paradox made it so everyone knew what they knew when they were older but when they were younger. You know that saying of, “I wish I knew then what I know now”? It got granted.
The people who invented the Internet knew how to do it at age eight. The people who knew how to make cell phones knew how to at eight-years-old. So, science jumped nearly a 100 years in an instant. By the time it became the 1990s, it was basically the 2090s.
Thankfully, it seems the barrage of cosmic troubles has ended and lately I’ve only dealt with more “normal” instances of adventure, such as dealing with a rogue AI or a presidential candidate who wanted unlimited power.
Still, I needed a break.
I took a deep breath to ease my nerves. The thoughts of my previous adventures caused my anxiety to bubble like pot on the stove.
Beyond Sky City, I could barely make out the clouds that hung around the island. The island hovers over the ocean, hence the name Sky City. The island stays aloft thanks to the bond of the inhabitants. Though the citizens are individual with their own dreams and talents, they are united in purpose: protect the Omniverse and share their talents.
Sky City is the last of the flying cities, as far as we know. The others—Atlantis, Shanri-la, and the like—fell thanks to discontent among the people.
Beyond the island is the rest of the Bermuda Triangle. An unpredictable storm of energy, created by the Orb’s presence, keeps the looky-loos away…usually. Those who cannot ZAP here take the specialized train. The train can make its way here thanks to a piece of an ancient relic known as Jacob’s Ladder. Brain “borrowed” another piece of the Ladder from another interdimensional train.
As for the Bermuda Triangle itself, it is the Nexus of Reality. It appears in every reality. If you try to enter, you’ll find yourself in Sky City. Other gateways do exist, usually located at ley line crossroads. BLT also produces weaker portals in the form of books, movies, games, music, etc. It is where that feeling of immersion comes from. When you feel like you became part of the story, well, you did. The Fourth Wall usually resets the memory as a dream or that feeling of immersion. Those sensitive to phantasmic energy might remember the reality. They usually find their way back to BLT and become employees in some fashion.
Beyond the Triangle is the Real World, land of crime, pollution, and drama.
Ever since I learned how to traverse the Omniverse, I’ve favored the Dogboy realm and Sky City. I rarely leave the Triangle because who wants to live in the Real World?
I shook my head to clear it of the anxiety and fear that continued to hold on. I was on vacation. Nothing was going to stop me.
Joe Rover 