WORKS | Stories

There was nothing but pure darkness when your consciousness first awoke. You can’t see anything, you have no eyes or a whole body to experience reality through yet, but somehow a sense that there’s something *happening* in that black void with different objects *separate* from you but cannot perceive directly. As of now, your brain is enclosed in a skull, with creatures hovering near by, putting the bones and organs together, like a transluscent look at the body with water-based substance holding it in place.

The void was an endless space of jagged interconnected structures. One creature was geometric that emits light on it’s vertices, while the other is natural morphing creature that looks like a water blob in zero gravity or shaped jelly.

Both creatures frequently pulse into bigger or smaller sizes, disappearing when they shink then reappear on another location. Continuing constructing the torso, the currently cylindrical creature handles the ribcage and spine while the other organic morphs into the heart, lungs, liver then kidneys. Next was the limbs, where the cylinder turned into a longer but narrower pipe to emulate the shape and size.

The creatures appear to be intelligent and in some form, conscious. They try to communicate directly into your brain. The jelly attached a thin string on to you which is connected to the other creature as a sort of cord bridge, the morphed circle projected on to your awareness as a small white dot amidst the faint background noise. It is followed by strange symbols of echoing light that your brain comprehended as: “You’re back where you started”. The idea registered plainly, there wasn’t a voice or text that conveyed the words but somehow you knew that’s what they were saying.

“Timeline”, “Senses”, “Perception”, “Experience”, “Game”, “Begin” were the next ideas it expressed. All around the space starts to warp and converge where everything can be seen like a fisheye perspective when slowly the dot gradually became larger and larger that replaced the darkness into lightness.

Initially, everything was pure white everywhere when faint black lines slowly becomes percievable when previously on the void, there wasn’t even a line to look at.

The other creatures before were gone now but beside you is a new creature, stripped with only of the five senses; it’s eyes, ears, mouth, hands and nose, freely hovering and shifting in formation. It hovered closer, the mouth attached to cover your teeth. It started moving your jaw and spoke “Time to explore and weave another timeline”, you heard what your mouth said but there was a garble, like speaking underwater. You comprehended the concept behind it but was unsure what it meant.

When the floating eyes fitted into your eyesockets, the space becomes fully visible. It was a large cubic lattice of infinitely thin but broad planes that extended in every direction as far as the eyes can see. Etched on those surfaces were marks that appear to resemble timelines. There were also software windows that follow your gaze, as if it were embedded in your eyes. There was something written on the screen that provides explanation about a certain game that ‘once body and senses merge in a timeline, they’re free to do whatever they wanted.’

After reading, six rainbow colored triangles automatically merge into a hexagonal board, with four tiles on each edge and symbols with vague figures.

Just to see what would happen, you simply did nothing.

But for some time, another skeleton and senses spawned near by on another plane in front and noticed you after it’s eyes got linked while the other four senses were spurring all over excitedly that all got into place on it’s skeleton further addressing their high energy to you while you’re backs remain stationary. They looked like a fly trapped in sticky paper.

Suddenly, a colorful portal opened that fully engulfed them in light then disappeared.

You waited again for an extended period but curiosity got to you, so your brain intended to get all your senses to finally bind into you then you see a similar portal open up.

The searing rainbow light toned down into forms, revealing a sleek room inside a camper truck. There was an old man lying down the bed and a white medium-sized dog beside him. “Are you finished with work?” the old man asked with a rough voice and coughed painfully.

On your hands were a tray of freshly harvested eggs and vegetables that you lay on the kitchenette table.

The dog wags his tail and opens his almond eyes but staying comfortably on the bed as you prepare an egg soup. The old man suddenly groaned loudly, covering his face with both of his bony hands, stiffened by emotion. You have come to recognize this ritual of his as him recollecting something shameful from the past that has gotten more acute when he’s bed ridden.

After the soup was ready, he dramatically raises his hands on the air, “Hand me the storybook!” he cried with wide owl eyes that almost popped out of his head, it looked more comical than unsetteling.

You grab the book and soup bowl but he stubbornly refuses to consume the soup in attempt to foolishly prove he’s strong although he admits it smells wonderful. You tease and tempt him by having a spoonful hover around his mouth that the restraint he’s doing becomes noticeable even when he tries putting on a stoic face.

A short time after, he gives in and takes a sip still acting dignified. The bowl was satisfiyingly emptied and had read his book just before he finally get ready to sleep.

Half awake, he mumbles “I have a quest! I must fullfill the duty to find all possibilities of how reality could be through fantasy,” taking a slow relaxed breath “death only loops you back where you started but you’re free explore and create alternative paths if you choose to do so. You know, I had a strange dream that you and I were part of a story…” Then his breath evened out.