The End of the Aeon

Introduction

We are standing in the doorway between two historical epochs. Many of the things we thought we knew about the world around us are about to be irrevocably altered. Two new stars burn in the night sky, across the globe people are recovering strange, ancient artifacts. New religions are replacing the old. Stardreamers embark on nomadic journeys, guided by prophetic visions. Scientists and seers alike speak of other worlds.

The following are a collection of articles which may help to enlighten you. A note of caution: these articles are preliminary - not everything contained here is entirely accurate. Careful study of these selections will help you to understand the stories you are about to read. The contributors are not omniscient however, and we are only just learning about these new phenomena.

Alternate Dimensions/Parallel Worlds: A Theory No More

Dimensions operate at different 'frequencies', atoms in one dimension never interact or affect those of another dimension. All dimensions follow the same physical laws as our own, but topology, chemical/elemental composition, and habitability may differ violently. Theoretically, a person or object can be transfered into alternate dimensions through a process of 'conversion'.

Since the atoms comprising all matter are surrounded mostly by empty space, whole 'worlds' can exist in the same space as our own. The best analogy may be a television, each world having its own 'channel' that exists in the same space. Each reality runs parallel, never crossing into one another, progressing at the same stately pace.

The reason we cannot perceive or detect these alternate dimensions are Darwinian: since parallel dimensions never interact, there is no evolutionary benefit. Perceiving other dimensions wouldn't help yoy procreate, nor would it protect you from predators. Any mutation which let you 'see' the other dimensions would be useless at best, harmful at worst. It was only by serendipity that the discovery was made.

No working estimate exists on how many parallel dimensions exist, but the number is finite. Some say there are only two, some models suggest there are nine, one respected specialist has theorised that there are hundreds.

But the existence of at least one other dimension will soon become scientific consensus. Tests performed in China and Europe have drawn many to the conclusion that what we call "dark matter" - the unexplained mass that exists throughout the universe - is extradimensional matter. The most important fact is that we've seen it. Though this fact has been kept a careful secret.

- Japheth Goldhirsch

The Black Arches

The so-called "black arches" stand approximately 5.8m (19ft) tall and are made of what can be best described as a diamond or glass-like material. As their colloquial name suggests, the arches are a deep shade of black. The arches may be more appropriately compared to mirrors - long, flat, lustrous, symmetrical, smooth, with no details,ornamentation, or imperfections.

Six have been recovered - based on our best intelligence - but there's reason to suspect that there are at least three others currently under someone's guardianship. Experts in historical mythology and the studies of ancient civilizations believe there even more. The dimensions are identical, as far as we can determine, and they're scattered across the globe. Some of the recovered arches have frames or ornamentation, but we're fairly confident that these were added thousands of years later.

Estimates of the arches' age vary drastically (20-50 thousand years) and there is no agreement as to whether they were constructed all at once, or over a long period of time. Carbon-dating has proven unreliable when applied to the artifacts. The material of their construction matches nothing previously found on earth. It's harder than titanium and diamond. No acid seems to marr it, no heat we can produce seems to affect it. Stranger still, though it is lustrous and smooth, it casts no reflections. Even a spotlight won't reflect, it seems to simply swallow the light.

Researchers are totally perplexed by the arches. We have no theories as to who made them, or what function they're supposed to serve. One thing all parties agree on: they are not naturally occurring. They are too uniform and precise to be natural. Intelligent beings created these artifacts, millenia ago. Who they were, and why they were constructed, remains a mystery.

Precise dimensions: 5.8m x 2.2m x 0.8m

- Christopher Simpson

The Two Stars

Over the course of the last five years, two new 'stars' have been discovered in our galaxy. The first was discovered by an amateur astronomer, when the star had already become visible from consumer telescopes. Over the subsequent years, this celestial object has grown to the point where it's visible by night to the naked eye. The star burns a light green.

About three years ago, European astronomers caught the first glimpse of a second 'star'. The first reports refer to a red star - only a fraction of the size of our Sun. More recent studies say it's of a size with our Sun, with reddish-orange colour. The red star can now be seen in the nights sky with the aid of binoculars.

Colloquially referred to as the "green star" and the "red star", scientists question whether they are truly stars at all. It seems likely that they are star-like in many respects, they look like stars after all, and they are probably comprised of gas. But their sudden appearance and rapid growth seem to indicate that this is some distinct phenomenom.

There has been a great deal of speculation about the affect these stars have on human psychology. The most likely explanation is there is none. If they are having a psychological affect, it's because people believe there's an affect.

- Ken Liu