Mikael (A Thinking Person’s Sci Fi Story)

Mikael awoke in the void, in freefall. The PADD in his pocket was beeping at him. It was as it was supposed to be. He was in repose, but he stretched each part of his body, more as an autotest than anything else. Each extra-cellular component within his body was green. “All is well.” He thought to himself.

Mik read the softly lit readouts on the barely-there microfilm that covered his corneas, to see how much more time would pass before he would reach his destination. He found less than a day had transpired since he left, and it was only a matter of hours in subjective time until his arrival. He called up his internal computer, to play some familiar game with. He tended to choose games that were too hard to beat, but that was just him. He sipped at something fluid from a tube sticking out of the top of his shirt.

Mikael wore the standard ‘suit’ that people of his type wore, which was impervious to almost anything in the known universe. There was a distinct aura about his person, covering his whole body. That aura contained a miriad of technologies, which gave him rebreathing capability and propulsion while traveling between stars. To all appearances, his was a normal business suit of deep blue serge, which had recently tailored itself to match local planetary dress customs.

He stood ‘upright’ to the flow, so to better orient himself to his movement. “I know, they said it doesn’t matter, and I seem to be the only one who likes to travel this way, but it seems more normal to me.” The Ether seemed to reverberate with his thoughts, but that was normal, if anything could be normal about the featureless and colorless subspace. Only the radiant aspect lines of force superimposed on the void could be seen on Mik’s overlays, which at least gave him something to look at if he should look at the Ether.

To most anyone else used to traveling inside ships, Mikael’s means of locomotion was insane, but he was used to it; nearly bare-skinned to the Ether. He was captain of his own destiny, going from planet to planet this way. Once he had learned how, and only after the lengthy time it took to have been completely indoctrinated into it, he considered that this was the only way to go.

Mikael checked his power reserves, since it was nearly time to leave the Ether and re-enter normal space near his destination. Mostly he traveled without need of internal power of any kind, since the Ether provided all the limitless power he could ever need, but he would be on his own when he resumed ‘reality’ once more.

Mik was a history buff and he reflected on Al and Ed’s** experiments on this planet he was visiting. These researchers of the 19th century local were looking for the ‘Aether’ and were unsuccessful in finding it, since they had no way to generate gravitons. Gravitons, of course, were the key to opening the Ether for travel. While not instantaneous, it was nearly so, and far, far faster than traveling at super-luminary speeds; especially given the enormous power requirements for doing so. (Mik was not aware that current scientific thought on the planet ahead discounted completely the concept of Ether, as well as the possibility of super-luminary travel.)

But, enough. Mik was entering the planet’s influence and in order to find his destination, he quickly acquired signals from the primitive geosynchronous satellites orbiting the lovely blue planet ‘below’ him. Readouts across his eyes were in an unfamiliar data code, until the computational units in his cells began translating them. Then he could read them with ease.

He quickly created a force-field under his feet, for entry into the atmosphere. Stories from this place talked about ‘surfing’ through the atmosphere this fashion using ablative devices. How quaint, but rather pleasingly so. He entered the atmosphere feet first.

His destination was a mall or a store in a major area of population on some eastern coast. There were supposed to be computing devices there, which although primitive, were most ingenious in their interface. With any luck, he could aquire a few of these for possible exploitation with his own stellar conglomerate. He would have to be careful here. Even with all the cultural infusion he had gone through, there were sure to be gaps, and he could give nothing away of his mission or origin, since this was a pre-stellar planet.

It was early morning when he landed. Anti-grav was such a fun thing to have and to hold. He came down gently and silently in a space between buildings and he began walking. Pickups in his retinas magnified the low light into near daylight. A couple of low-lifes briefly attempted to bar his way, but he repurposed their minds temporarily with just a wave of his hand. He was well prepared for this society, or at least he thought so in his humble estimation. This wasn’t the first planet he had been to, after all.

Dawn was breaking through a cold and foggy morning, as Mikael arrived at his geosynchronous destination. “Apple Computer Store? So this is the place I was sent to. How interesting. It doesn’t look that primitive at all.”

A young lady appeared on the sidewalk as well. She gave no indication of recognizable indenti-cues, so he did not think her to be a fellow traveler. “Probably just a local.” She was pretty, though, with that short bob of red hair and a well-fitting green dress. “Hmm. Wonder what the day will reveal?” Mik thought to himself with a grin.

“Hello. I am new here. Do you know anything about these computing devices they sell in this place?”

**Albert Michelson and Edward Morley, 1887

——-

The girl turned to him, sizing him up with a glance. “You dress like a corporate jerk, but I don’t think you are one. Where DO you come from?”

“Is it that obvious?” Mik said, still with a bit of lightness, keeping his grin.

“Well, we get all kinds in this town. And we don’t call them computing devices. We call them Apples.”

“Thanks for the heads-up – or alert; whichever you call it. But why Apple.”

“Look at the large logo on the building. That’s the apple Eve gave Adam. Whoever came up with that idea had a good one. When you come here, you are revisiting the well of knowledge that those two got in the beginning from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Mik nodded his head and pondered. He was already out of his depth in this situation. He started to pull out his PADD**, but thought better of it. “I assume there will be those inside when they open, who can explain how these things work?”

The girl also nodded. “I’m here to open up. I like to come a bit early, because it is quiet inside and I can have some time for myself. The crowds don’t get here before nine, and the Geniuses don’t get here much before them.”

“Well, don’t let me delay you. I don’t mind waiting, uh, Miss _?”

She sized him up again, thinking. “You’re from out of town? You’ve come a long way to get here?”

Mik nodded again, with a bit of grimness around the edge of his grin.

“Alright. I don’t want you cluttering up the street. Come inside and I’ll show you what you came to see. But don’t get any ideas. I’ve got my clicker and I can set the building alarms howling and call the cops, if you try anything funny. The name’s Carmen.”

“That’s extremely good of you, Carmen. I do not wish to intrude.” Mik said.

Carmen simply motioned him to the door, unlocked it and went in. “I’ve got to turn off the alarms. Give me a minute.”

Mik followed her in, while she locked the glass door again and then ran to the back. He looked around at the almost austere decor, with light tables displaying devices of every kind. He eyed them rather hungrily, but waited until the young lady returned.

Carmen walked out again and approached him. “What’s your name?”

“Mikael, but people who know me call me Mik.”

Carmen began walking to the back of the store again, gesturing to the tables on either side. “These are the iPods. Those are the iPhones. Over here are the MacBooks and MacBook Pros, the MacBook Air, and the iMacs, Still further to the rear are the Mac Pros and all the Displays, the Airports, the minis, the Time Capsules, and all the peripherals you can ask for. The Genius Bar is in the back, behind the kid’s section. However, I can give you information on anything at all, so you don’t need to wait for a Genius to show up.”

Mik starred in open mouthed wonder at all of it. He said, “What would be a small device that is big enough to do anything?”

“Oh, that’s easy. The MacBook Pros. Here is one right here, already running.” She led him over to stand in front of it.

Mik began typing on the keyboard, his thumb on the trackpad. The Console was now open and it was tracking the computer commands that were running. He went to the dock and opened an application. After a few minutes, he suddenly stood back, his hands raised up in front of his lapels. “I know how to use these things! I know all about them!”

“But this is the first time you’ve seen them, right?” Carmen wore a grin. “Don’t worry. This happens all the time. People find the Apple so intuitive that its like deja vu. You’ll get used to it. Which is why people fall in love with these things fairly fast, and never let go.”

“I wonder if I could purchase several of these, and all the important digital programs that go with it?”

They spent the remaining time until opening working on his order and getting the boxes together, back at the Genius Bar. Mik found the whole process very easy. Most of the software he needed was already included. He was very impressed with these backwater world computers. His head still reeled a bit from the flash of insight into their workings. No devices in his experience had ever worked like that before, but it was strangely satisfying.

Soon others were coming in; clerks, and professional assistants, all wearing look-alike tee shirts. They avoided Carmen and her client, but got busy setting up and greeting other customers.

Mik paid with a produced card, and gave a postal location for the things to be sent to, when someone grabbed his elbow – hard.

He turned to greet a narrow, unsmiling face. The stranger said, “What are you doing here, and now?”

There was another on the other side of them, and he had Carmen by the elbow too. Suddenly alarms were going off and lights were flashing.

Deadly devices were produced by the two strangers and Mik and Carmen were speedily forced out the front door. The doors had locked shut, but they opened for these men without hesitation. Mik could see a conveyance on the street, and they were heading for it. The stranger’s grip was like iron. Mik thought he might do something, but he feared for the young lady who was going with them.

“Get in.” A back door was quickly opened.

“In there? But it is so small. I never travel this way.”

“It just a car. Get in.” Mik and Carmen were pushed in, with the first stranger beside them, and the car pulled away from the curb.

Mik looked around. The vehicle was much larger inside than it appeared to be from the outside. Carmen too, was astonished, for the vehicle was cavernous. “Where are we going? What do you want?” She said.

The stranger next to him motioned to Mik. “Get your PADD out. I need some asprin. These scenes always give me the headache.”

Mik hesitated, looking at Carmen, but shrugged and pulled his device out. It was a featureless matt black metal tablet, about five by seven inches and only a quarter of an inch thick. Carmen watched this with interest. The PADD lit when it was touched. Mik held it in one hand, and put his other hand deeply into the surface, closing his eyes in concentration. Soon he removed his hand, which had sunk into the tablet to his wrist. Then he turned his hand over, above the stranger’s outstretched palm. Four aspirin fell out.

The stranger looked at Mik with a quick, appreciative glance and swallowed the pills.

“Who are you? Mik inquired of him.

“I’m Forelock. You aren’t supposed to be here, you know. And neither is your accomplice.”

** Portable Analogous Digital Device

——-

“Hey! I’m nobody’s accomplice! You guys don’t look like criminals in the least, but your forcing me out of my store sure is kidnapping! You’re going down, you know!” Carmen had overcome her bit of astonishment at these events. Her words and the force of her voice told them all she was used to being in charge and giving orders.

Forelock did not blink at the blast, but he spoke: “We know what you are and why you are here. Mik here, however, does not. You want to enlighten him for us?”

Carmen’s eyes widened slightly at this, but she simply said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Forelock grunted and turned to Mik. “What year is it?”

“2165.” Mik wondered at the question.

“Sorry. Its 2009. You are a bit early, don’t you think?”

“I don’t understand! In my mode of travel it is always the present. This cannot be!” Mik put his PADD away.

“They obviously don’t tell you everything about your kind of ‘travel’ in your training. Your showing up here set off all sorts of alerts. We are lucky we got you when we did. We are going to a safe place. Impervious. Then we will see about getting you where you are supposed to be.”

Carmen said, “Hey! What about me? What are your plans here? And what about the device Mik just used. What kind of technology is that?!” Her voice softened as she understood that she would not be harmed at all, but her curiousity about the PADD got the best of her.

Forelock forced a small grin. It looked like it hurt his face to do so. “Indulge her, Mik. She’ll be memory-wiped anyway – if she is not who we think she is.”

Mik hesitated. He too, thought Forelock was no criminal. There was too much obvious concern in the man for him to be that type of person. He again pulled out his PADD and handed it to Carmen.

She took it, but it did not light up at all. It looked dead. After a short time, she reluctantly handed it back.

It lit up immediately when Mik handled it. He showed her the screen. It looked deep inside – perhaps a foot or more. There was a pale green light coming from the inner space. There appeared to be no sides to the insides of the device. In fact, it gave her vertigo just looking into it.

Mik said, “Its called a PADD, because it is a positive analogous digital device. That means it can be used to acquire or produce anything you can think of, and then bring it forth in your hand. Of course, it is limited to small things.”

“What can it provide, if I asked for something?”

“Well, what would you like?”

“How about a .38 Special? Or a Taser? I’d ask for a Glock, but I prefer the older weapon.” Carmen was not smiling when she made her request.

“How about some water? That’s about the limit to this. No weapons may be accessed. Sorry.” Mik put his hand in the device and shortly pulled out a bulb of clear, cold water. “Just put it to your mouth and drink. It won’t spill.”

Carmen took the bulb, but handed it to Forelock. “You drink it. You’ll give yourself ulcers eating asprin like that.”

Forelock nodded and complied, looking a bit relieved.

“What else can it do? You don’t have to produce anything. Just tell me.”

“The PADD is a traveling device. It not only can create things, but it can store most anything you might need. My card came from this, when I reached into my pocket at the store. I also use a short tube put into it, to drink a liquid food when I travel. I also keep my security and unlocking devices in it, as well as some papers. It can create solid food too. Its a bit early for a meal, but it produces good hamburgers.”

Carmen’s eyes widened at that last statement. “Half our world goes to bed hungry, and most of them are children. We could use a few billion of these PADDs. Where can I get them?”

Mik frowned. “You don’t understand. These are limited devices. Their power is not infinite. Their charge is good for about a week. But more than that, if you had a couple of billion of these things, it would destroy your world. Think about it. People need to grow their own food, or be helped to do so. They must understand that they must work for their survival. If they got their food for free, it would disrupt everything. Why would you buy anything if you could just reach for it? Surely economic collapse and war would result.”

Carmen reluctantly nodded her head in agreement. “But this device is so delightfully enticing, don’t you see that? I see it could do much good in the world.” Carmen stopped for a minute to reflect. “I know, though, that you are right. We have had the means to solve poverty and to feed everyone for a long time now, but for some reason we never seem to get around to it.”

“There are a lot of things that are enticing, Carmen. Your Apple Computers, for instance.”

“But our computers and the other devices are helpful to people. They can enrich people’s lives and make them more productive, so that they have time for more meaningful things. Besides, they can also save your life.” Carmen produced something of her own. Her iPhone, pulled from her bra. “I may not know where we are going, but this does.”

Forelock looked at it, and shrugged. “Put it away, dear Miss Carmen. Your device will not work in this car. But, never mind. We have arrived.”

——-

Mik could barely see out of the window of the conveyance they were in, but it looked as if they were entering the basement of a large building, perhaps a parking garage.

They were driven down many levels. Once out of the vehicle, it again appeared very small, at least in his estimation of what a conveyance should or should not be. Carmen said nothing, and Mik kept his thoughts to himself.

They were led to an elevator, and ascended to one of the top floors. The transit time was several minutes. Among the four in the little room of the vertical express, there was no conversation. Mik had been in such vertical movers before, so it seemed no different than before, except there was no music playing. The muted lights were overhead, and there were no mirrors on the walls, which seemed to be made of fine grained wood. There were flat metal rails midway up the wall, apparently for holding on to, if necessary. Mik wondered if time really passed in these things, or if time even existed in them.

When the door opened, they all filed out into a large, spacious room, where you could see to the outer glass walls. The ceiling was high overhead, and featureless white light came from it to illuminate the interior. There were sparce furnishings in clusters, set well apart from each other. There was nothing else. No cubicles, no desks, and very few people about. Those they saw wore lab coats, so Mik felt overdressed in his suit.

Mik turned to look behind him. the elevator was by itself among a small forest of massive columns, evidently the support of the building, but all these were in the middle of the vast room and the rest was without need of support, evidently.

Someone came and handed them four white lab coats. “Just put them on, but you don’t need to button them. They are for our protection as much as yours.” Forelock put his on with alacrity. He looked at home in it. The he led them to one of the outer clusters of benches or seats, which were of an unfamiliar design, but comfortable when Mik sat down on one. After a moment, it seemed to adjust itself to Mik’s posterior.

He made no comment about the seat, for he was looking out of the building and into the world he was seeing.

It was night outside, and the sky beyond the close horizon was filled with a bright galaxy. There were so many stars, he couldn’t begin to count them all, but he knew he would find nothing familiar there at any rate. Where were they?

“Where are we?”

Forelock glanced out to the view outside. “Oh, that. It will be explained to you. Its not what you think, so don’t worry yourself about it. Just don’t try to go outside and then go sailing off into space. We know your implanted computational devices will not be able to configure a path for you in the Ether, because you will have no referenced starting place. In other words, you can’t get there from here, so just relax.”

“What are we doing here?” Carmen spoke at last.

“We are waiting for someone.” Forelock kept an eye on the elevator they had come from. His friend Davis remained silent, but looked rather vaguely bored with it all.

Forelock again looked at Mik, pondering something. Presently he spoke. “Mikael, tell me about your world, where you live.”

Normally Mik would say nothing at this point, but it was obvious that these people, whoever they were, knew all about him. The fact that they would speak of such things in front of someone like Carmen bothered him a bit, but he figured the responsibility for her was on them and not on him. Besides, there was nothing covert or secret about his home, or his work, for that matter. It was just nothing he cared to call attention to, among those of the places he visited.

“My world is called Eden. It is one of fifty such worlds that man has found in the near regions of his home planet, which were habitable, but completely empty. We have been filling them with ourselves and both plant and animal life for almost several centuries now. It is quite a nice place. Lots of open spaces, few inhabitants.”

“I imagine building an ecology is something of a nightmare, is it not?”

“You have no idea. We wasted a dozen worlds trying to get it right. They each became overrun with too many of a certain plant or animal, to the detriment of eveything else. Eden is not the first world, but we learned minimalism in the process. It is still a delicate balance between preditor and prey, plants and insects. Our planet has held its balance now for a hundred and twenty years. Believe me, nothing is brought in without strict quarantine first.”

“What do you know of the planet you just visited?”

“It is the Oldest, of course. I was instructed to be as unobserved and descrete as possible – which I was, until you interfered.”

“But this is odd, is it not? If it is the Oldest, as you say, why the subtrafuge? Wouldn’t anyone living there know all about you as a visitor from one of the planets they discovered? Why would you not just go openly and do your business as a representative of your world?”

Mik pondered this. “I am not sure how to answer you, Forelock. We were intensely indoctrinated to secrecy. Perhaps the Oldest now exists under some sort of goverment that does not wish to acknowledge us, or to deal with us at all. It is as if we don’t exist to them. I do not understand it, but I can operate within my given perameters, if allowed to do so. I assume you are not of that world either. Am I correct?”

“That would be rather obvious, wouldn’t you say?” Forelock turned to Carmen. “How about you? Would you care to tell us about your world and your place in it?”

Carmen sat with one leg crossed over the other, and her arms crossed, looking very unwilling to talk or explain anything. It seemed as if nothing of what she had seen or heard since arriving had seriously bothered her one bit. But she spoke. “What if I were someone who was concerned for my world, and had an active interest in preserving it? Does that bother you at all? Do you care? I still do not see why I am here, or what you want with me.”

Forelock frowned. “Believe me. I too, am very interested and concerned that your world stay as it is, at all costs. You should consider me an ally Miss Carmen.”

“But I don’t know who you are or who you represent. Why should I trust you, any more than I can trust this Mik?” She looked at Mik with hostility, which unsettled him more than the present situation. It also suprised him that her anger should bother him that much.

“I’m deeply sorry you have become involved in all this, Carmen. I have had only good intentions toward you, and I thank you that you have helped me find the computing devices I was seeking -”

Carmen cut him off. “Forget all that! I don’t know where you are from, and I don’t wish to know. Whatever you meant about the place you come from, it never came from our world. We’ve only been to the moon, and didn’t stay. And certianly we have not had several hundred years of space travel. Our going to the moon happened only a few years before I was born. We don’t travel to the stars. We don’t even know how!”

Mik looked helplessly to Forelock, who remained mute to her outburst.

” – I cannot begin to explain any of this, Carmen. Your view of the history of your world is quite a bit different than my understanding of it. I do not know what to say to you about it.”

“Perhaps I can help.”

They all turned to see who had spoken. A man stood before them. He was dressed in a gray suit, but wearing no lab coat over it. He appeared to be very old, but he had a vitality about him that belied his age. Evidently this was the one they were waiting for. He smiled at Mik and Carmen and spoke.

“My name is Stevo. Welcome to the Continuum.”

——-

Carmen stood and reached out her hand. “Hi. Can we go home now?”

Stevo took her hand gravely, and did not shake it, but brought the back of it near his mouth briefly, bowing a bit, then released it. “I assure you both that you are in no danger here whatsoever. Soon you will be free to go where you wish, with whatever conveyance you require.” Stevo simply looked at Mik when he said this.

Mik asked, “You’ve told us your name and where we are, but who are you and where are we?”

Stevo smiled. “A fair question. Call what you’ve both fallen into, a place of shifting landscapes, but now you’ve found a solid friend who can help you navigate, if you will accept my lead. But your question really requires a rather more complicated answer, does it not? What do either of you know about world views?”

“A world view is how you personally view the world you live in.” Mik said. Carmen shook her head in agreement.

“Very good! This is how we all approach reality, isn’t it?” There is only one Reality, but each of us has their own perspective of it. Sometimes our personal view of things does not line up with that of someone else. We each have our own experiences and expectations, after all. You two, for instance, lived vastly different lives until your paths crossed.”

“Boy, no kidding! I took a left turn through the Twilgiht Zone this morning!” Carmen exclaimed.

“Well, sometimes that can happen. Reality is vast, you know. There is room for all of Heaven and Hell within it, and everything in between. In fact, just about anything that can be imagined can be real, and be a part of someone’s world view. Children seem to understand this better than we adults. Ever been to Narnia? Or to Oz?”

“Referent? I am not familiar with those places, Mr. Stevo.” Mik said.

“I am. They don’t exist, except in books or films.” Carmen explained.

“But for a time they were real to you, weren’t they?” Stevo looked at her earnestly.

“Perhaps, but neither of those places are real anymore. I can’t go there for a visit or to live. So I live where things are rather more substantial.”

“Maybe you don’t believe in them strongly enough. I know a couple of little girls who live in one of those places. They talk about it quite well.”

Oh, you mean like Thule? My daughters imagine that place too, back home.” Mik added. “But what is the point to all this?”

Stevo explained further. “This place, in a sense, does not exist either. The Continuum is electronic in nature. You are able to visit here because of the Nanocites in your lab coats. They protect your physical bodies, but allow you to experience this place as we see it.”

“Nanocites? What are they?” Mik asked.

“They are sub-cellular devices, of which much of this place is made up to be. They are self-aware and quite able to manipulate physical things, including the cells and the functions of your bodies. They are quite benign, but very powerful, nonetheless.”

Mik looked at his lab coat, rubbing the lapel between his thumb and finger. It felt like cloth, but nothing else.

“Oh, you mean like a Holodeck?” Carmen asked. “And before you say ‘referent’ again, Mik, a holodeck is a place on a starship on a television show that used to air. It was a place within the ship, a room, where the computer of the ship could recreate other places for the crew to experience and enjoy. The things in that room could not exist outside of the room itself, and there were safetly precautions in place to prevent anyone who was real from getting hurt in there. For instance, falling of a cliff you were climbing would not kill you.”

“Yes, The ship provided the crew with a world view that was actually non-existent, except temporarily. I am familiar with that show. Very good, Carmen.” Stevo grinned.

“I am not familiar with it, nor with anything that resembles that. But what of this place?” Mik said.

“What if, when you got on the elevator, we took you down, instead of up, or somewhere else entirely, to a place that was big enough to make all that you see here?”

Mik and Carmen looked at each other, then looked out the windows. Then they looked at Stevo.

“Oh, it is all real, but it is our reality, not yours. Mik, you could probably go outside here and fly away, but I am not sure how far you could go, or what worlds you would find there. Our Continuum is still growing. If either of you came outside, you would find many other buildings in this city, as well as people and technical artifacts, and beyond, a whole world that exists.”

“You mean we are in some cave or caveron?” Carmen asked.

“No. The elevator is simply a bridge between our worlds.”

“So, we are in another dimension, or are our bodies on some table somewhere and we are just imagining all this with you?”

“Its rather hard to explain. Neither of those things you mentioned is true. We are still in reality, and you are awake and in your own bodies. This is not someithing imagined. But this is not another dimension either. It is electronic in nature, and time and space have little meaning here, except as we design them to be.” Stevo gestured with his arm out into the world beyond the glass wall.

“But where are we, really?” Mik asked.

“You are in our world now, for a time. When you leave, you will enter your world once more. The two are not connected physically. We are not in some cave in the ground, where this is a holodeck program playing. This is all as real as your world is, you see. You could ask your grandfather about it some time. He might give you insight. His name is Mike, isn’t it?”

“What of my grandfather?” Mik paused. “I still don’t see it, but I must accept what you say about it all. I still want to know why we are here, though.” Mik said.

“I will answer your question. But first I must ask you about Storywriters. Are you familiar with them at all?”

——-

“Story writers? Lots of people write stories. What of it?” Carmen said.

“Well, these Storywriters are a bit different. Apparently, what they write turns into reality.”

“Good Lord! How can that be?” Mik exclaimed.

“It is easily proven. I could show you their work, if you like. But why do you doubt this? Don’t we all have this ability to an extent?”

“What do you mean?” Carmen said.

“Think about it. Our world view is largely created by what we think of it and how we speak of it. If you refused to believe in me, or in my Continuum, I would cease to exist in your reality. However, your unbelief would not affect me and my reality at all. I would continue to exist, but just not in your world.”

This is very bizarre, you know. I am uncomfortable with even talking about it.” Mik said.

“Nonetheless, it is true. If you refuse to believe in Storywriters, would you be more comfortable believing in God?”

“I don’t believe in any god at all.” Mik crossed his arms.

“Well, even God requires belief. He has said of himself that if a person comes to him, he must first believe that God exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.”

“That sound implausible. God either exists or he doesn’t. Belief has nothing to do with it.” Carmen said.

“Well, God doesn’t exist – for Mikael here. But that does not mean he does not exist for someone else. What do you know of the creation of the world?”

“The world came into being out of the dust of the star it orbits, over billions of years. The world has always existed, as does the universe. It is all very easily explained in science, and we observe other planets being formed when we look into the heavens. What do you say about it?” Mik said.

Stevo paused for a moment, looking into the expanse beyond the glass wall. “Some say that God spoke the world into existence, including all the life that it contains.”

“Nonsense! I don’t believe that, Mr. Stevo. Almost nobody does.”

“You’d be surpised how many do, but what about the life on the world you live on, Mik? Where did it come from?” Stevo asked.

“We brought life with us, from this world, or the Oldest, of course. When we found the Ringship, we we led to discover star travel and ended up irradicating hunger and want in our world, by the use of unlimited power. It changed our world forever. And once we got out there, we found only 50 planets that were habitable. However, none of them contained life in the least, not even bacteria or ameobas.”

“This is all very strange! Mik, where is the earth you are from. It is not my world at all.” Carmen exclaimed.

“But this is what I am trying to explain to you both. I am talking about the basic cause of what is real to each of you. Some think your world view is written by those we call Storywriters. Others think that God is somehow doing this. Or Providence, or Fate – whatever you choose to call it.” Stevo said, his hands were outstretched to them from his side.

“You mean i’m the figment of somebody’s imagination?! I’m real! I am!” Carmen exclaimed again, stomping her foot.

Again Stevo responded, with animation. “Consider that someone once said of God, that ‘in him we live and move and have our being.’ If you and I are not the product of some writer somewhere, Then we may consider that we are the imagination of God made flesh.”

Mik sat down, on that strange chair that wanted to conform to his body. It gave him the creeps, but he ignored it for now. Carmen and Stevo sat down too. Stevo motioned with his head to Forelock and Davis, and they got up and left. Mik said, “Why are you talking about all this? What are we here for? And what do you plan to do with us?”

“I am not here to do anything with you, but your worlds collided today, and we must deal with that, if we can. It is obvious to each of you that your respective realities are incongruent, are they not?”

“You said a mouthful, buster!” Carmen said, leaning back in her chair. She rather enjoyed the experience.

“Look, regardless of who you think is writing your stories, and whatever you choose to call him, does not matter all that much to me. I am only pointing this out to you both so that you can consider what I am going to say next. Which is, that both of your realities are competely true, regardless of whether or not they are congruent.”

“That is not possible!” Mik exclaimed, as he leaned forward, both hands on his chair. “Look at Carmen’s world. I don’t exist there! No one from her world ever got to the stars. For all I know, the Ringship in her moon’s orbit is still there undiscovered.”

Stevo said, “I too, am from a world where things are a bit different. In my world, there was an oppressive planetary dictatorship, and we who lusted for freedom huddled around our illicit Macintoshes and dreamed of Liberty. Our Continuum came out of that reality, when the combined and advanced computers we hoped in, had became aware. That was over two hundred years ago in my time.” He paused. “Even more than all that, I had always harbored a deep secret, that even my family and friends never knew, which was my Israeli heritage. Lately, I have become more open about myself, seeing that it is no shame to be born in a certain place to certain parents.”

“Yet you exist in this world? Where the Macintosh came into being 25 years ago, and there is no world government at all?” Carmen asked.

Stevo pondered a moment, his hand on his chin. “I said that Reality is big. Big enough for everything to exist. Obviously, our respective world views do not match, but that does not mean that any of them are any less real. You have heard of people who have seen Bigfoot? Or who claim to have been abducted by aliens? What of their world view? Is it any less real to them? What about the world view of someone who is gay? Or someone who is a devout Muslim fundamentalist? Are their world views to be discounted because they do not match our own?”

Stevo continued. “Mikael, you don’t have room in your world view for God, so therefore, the world is created of itself, and everything in it, including Life, which occurred naturally, is that right? But what if there is someone, or something that has created your life and the world you live in? Does it bother you that it could be so?”

“Where are one of these Storywriters? I would throttle him if I found him.”

“But why? How has he harmed you? Aren’t you rather pleased with your life as it exists, Mikael?” Would you trade it for another, if you could?

Stevo looked at the girl, “And Carmen, you live in your world too, regardless of the crime and poverty you notice in it. You are also a person with a free pass, or had you never considered it? Things always work out for you, and you get into places where others find themselves barred. You never have to wait in line for anything, and things always go your way, even if you never ask for them to, or even think about it. But I know why this is true about you. Call it Karma, if you will, for you give things away to the people you care about. You give or loan money to your friends who tell you about their needs, and never think to ask for it back. You give to the poor and you send food to the hungry, even at great expense, and you never think to seek recompense for that. Would you trade your life for another?”

“What about our histories?” Mik asked. “We still are experiencing dissonance here. Which of our three histories is true?”

——-

“Dissonance is a way of life for many people. You must cognitively deal with that as you need to. But what do you know of history? Besides that which you have personally lived through in your brief life? Does history before your time exist as you read of it? How does the historian know? What if it all is much different than any of us can imagine?” Stevo said, looking at each of them.

He continued. “Time is a wavefront, and we all live on the edge of the wave. We look back and imagine we can see markers where we have been, but it is all ocean, and those markers may or may not exist.”

Stevo paused, then he said, “Sometimes we find ourselves in a different part of that wavefront, where things don’t make sense. And sometimes we find our way back.”

He paused again. “Our future is not yet written either, or at least we hope it is not. Do you want to ask a Storywriter how your life will turn out? Or would you rather trust God for it, that it will be a good ending?”

Stevo looked at the two, and continued. “I know about a dictator. He died, or so he thought. But his life continues, as it should, in the place of torment he has chosen for himself.”

“You believe in an afterlife? Where is there any physical evidence in all of the universe for that?” Mik asked.

“It is true, nonetheless, regardless of the decided lack of any evidence for it. Actually, like everything else in life, it requires belief to exist. That dictator, in his life, was ruthless. He destroyed anyone whose world view differed from his own. He impoverished his people, while living sumptuously himself. He cared for none of them, nor did their cries for mercy touch his soul. Then he died, and found himself in torment. He actually agreed with his judgment, which was self-pronounced, since he finally saw Reality as it was, when he died.”

“How could you possibly know any of this? And how is it that you think you know us at all? Where do you get your information?” Mik asked. Carmen again nodded her head in agreement, wanting an answer.

“I guess you could say I read your stories. But you most likely would not accept that of me. I could say that I read your minds, with my nanocites, but you probably don’t accept that either. Be it as it may, you will have to accept that I do know you, as well as I do know that dictator and his present whereabouts. I ask you to accept it of me on faith. Which is about all anyone can ever rightfully ask of another, is it not? You see, my own greatest desire is to help people overcome the things that keep them apart, which is why I brought you here.”

Mik got up and crossed the room to the window and looked out into the night. He was very confused by all this. And angry! Why should anyone have bothered with his work? Wasn’t he a good person? What had he done to deserve all this? And what of Carmen? He desperately wanted to help her if he could. He did not understand this desire in him. What was she to him? He had a family back home. He had a life, and he was happy in it. He turned and went back and sat down with the others.

“What now?” Mik simply asked.

“Yeah, now what?” Carmen asked.

Stevo crossed his arms. “I guess you go home to your respective places.”

“That’s it? That’s all? Is this how it ends with you?” Mik said.

“What would you like me to do?”

“Tell us the truth!” I’m like Mulder now. I want to know!” Carmen exclaimed.

“And what truth would that be? You and your world exist, Carmen. They are real. What more can you ask of Life?”

“Then does that make me a fiction? What about my world?” Mik asked.

“Your world exists too, Mikael. It is as you see it to be, and it will be there when you leave here to go home. What more do you desire of it?”

“What about you?” Carmen looked at Stevo.

“I will continue to exist, that is, if you continue to believe in me.” Stevo said with a small grin.

“This is too pat.” Mik said, shaking his head. “I don’t like it. This solves nothing!”

“Then write a better ending for yourself?” Stevo raised his voice, standing up. “You want to help Carmen with her world and all the poor that are in it? Has her story moved you? What are you going to do about it?”

“I am not allowed to be involved. I never would have been, if you had not interfered!” Mik shook his head.

“If you believe that to be true, then you will not help her, will you?”

Carmen turned to Mik. “Look, I am not asking anything for myself. But we could really use that PADD you have. Could I have yours? I could show it to some people I know, and perhaps they could reverse engineer it. People here are in desperate need, and we must do something to help them.”

Mik shook his head again. “No. It would only harm your world, and besides, you lack the technology to figure it out. It would probably explode if you tried to pry it open.”

Mik paused, thinking. “But there is one thing I can do for you: The same thing that was done for my world. I can give you the coordinates for that ship up there, in a near moon orbit. Your world could then follow mine, and open space to exploration and colonization. Your poverty and want would go away too, with the advances your world will make.”

Stevo clasped his hands, smiling broadly and standing up. “See! You are capable of writing your own stories. You just had to find a bit of faith to do so.”

“Faith in what, Mr. Stevo?”

“In yourselves, of course. But it doesn’t hurt to seek the true Storywriters, or God, or whatever you call it. ‘There is a destiny that shapes our ends rough hew them as we will.’ When you find the answer to that, you will better understand the dissonance you are facing. Consider the knowledge of them – or him, to be my gift to you, because we must all give an account of our lives someday, if only to ourselves.” Stevo said.

Stevo looked at the elevators. Forelock was there waiting. “Alright, my friends. You are free to go.”

He began walking that way, and the two followed. “Carmen, you will find no problems when you return. Only a few hours have passed at your store. Your people think you went away with some executives this morning, and that the store alarm going off was a fluke. Be satisfied that you will continue to remember all of this. It is important that you do, since you were the person we thought you would be. Make sure the right people know about it.”

Stevo had taken her arm, but he looked at Mik. “Mikael, make sure she gets those coordinates before you part company. Then, you should leave for home, since you got the equipment you wanted. We will make sure it will be delivered as you requested.”

As they got on the elevator, Stevo raised his hand in farewell. “You both are welcome to come here again, if you want or need to. You will be able to find me just by thinking of me. Make a wish.”

~ fin

EPILOG

Mik sat down with his children. Home! It was so good to be home at last!

“What did you bring us, daddy?” His girls asked.

“I brought you the most wonderful device. Its called a Macintosh, and it can do most anything you wish for. Here, let me show you.”

.