Wired Worlds
By: Kamui Asagi
Lain sat at the edge of the building, her feet hanging off the edge. The cool sea air was gently blowing her hair. She looked toward the horizon, blue. She looked over her shoulder, more blue. A world of endless ocean, a world of perfect blue. Lain stood up, her black ankle length skirt began to flap in the breeze.
"Hmm…a world in which water rules all," Lain said, "Man no longer rules, only the creatures of the sea."
She brushed her hair back behind her ear. Lain bit her lip and thought for a moment.
"Indeed a beautiful world, but a sad world at that."
Lain walked off the building toward the horizon and the world began to swirl and then dissolve into darkness.
"There has to be more worlds in which to experience. I want to feel the sensations of those worlds."
Lain waved her hand in front of her face and she was taken to another world. Lain looked around, there was no endless water this time. There was no water at all on this world actually. Red soil swirled around Lain as she looked at an endless desert. The winds whipped at her black turtleneck and threatened to rip her skirt. Lain shielded her eyes against the onslaught of the sand. She saw hundreds, maybe even thousands of small mounds of dirt scattered ever which way along the desert. Lain went against the wind and walked toward one of the mounds. She knelt near it and began to brush away the soil. Could they all be rocks that have been covered by the swirling sands of time? No. Lain fell back onto the soft ground with tears in her eyes.
"Is this why the sand is red? Red like blood?" Lain screamed as tears poured down her face, "Red like blood because it has been tainted with blood!?"
The wind recovered the rotting skull that Lain had brushed the sand from.
"This world is too much…I can't stand all of this death. There is…was…too much pain and suffering here. I don't want these sensations."
The dunes of blood swirled and dissolved away into darkness, just like the endless oceans. Lain was still sitting when the darkness overtook her. She wiped the tears from her face and lifted herself to her feet.
"One more time…one more try." Lain thought.
She waved her hand in front of her one last time and was yet again taken to another world. Lain quickly hugged herself to protect her body from the blistering cold. She looked around, she was in a world of ice and snow. She trudged through the snow and took refuge behind a large pine tree. The wind couldn't get her while she behind the thick trunk. Lain looked around. Nothing, nothing but ice and snow.
"There's nothing here," Lain said sadly, "No beauty, no light, no life."
The world of ice and snow melted away into darkness. Then the darkness gave way to light, warmth, comfort, and life. Lain leaned back in her computer chair and let out a sigh.
"At least in this world…I can have a mixture of all those sensations without being overcome by just one of them," Lain stared out her window into a flawless sky, "my world is a mixture of all those worlds…and more."