Since the dawn of our existence, humans have told stories. Stories of great battles, loves won and lost, adventure, fantasy and inspiration. Stories to make you laugh, cry, smile and think. With each new story comes a new dimension, a new world where the things our minds design can be possible, whether they might or might not be in our original reality or not. The best way to appreciate it is to think of a tree. The very base of the tree, the roots, is formed by the world you know as reality- the dimension you live your life in. From this stems a multitude of branches, each tipped in the delicate, beautiful and complex flower of another dimension. More thin branches interlink the dimensions that fit into one another, for example; when you might be watching a movie and spot your favorite television show playing in the background of one of the scenes. This would forever link the two co-existing dimensions. You might say, then, that a paradox could be created if that movie was then released in the dimension in which your favorite TV show existed, but these things are possible. It's a very delicate balance, yes, but could still happen and almost certainly already has.
Many times already humans have tried to venture out across these branches and discover the foreign dimensions, but to no avail. What was unknown was that, while it should be physically impossible for any human born into what we so loosely call reality to travel across this tree of existence, every fictional character is created with the innate ability to move from branch to branch, even to venture into the roots, to find their way into reality. Don't believe me? Stop for a moment and think back to every time you've been walking through a densely populated area where it could be easy to meld into the crowd. Difficult, perhaps, unless you already can see where this is going. There may have been a moment when you saw someone who stood out to you- who looked, dressed and behaved a way that clearly reminded you of a fictional character. There would have been something strange about them. Nearly undetectable, but your instincts told you there was more to them than meets the eye. At the time, you would have assumed they were an uncanny look-a-like, and who could blame you? I promise you, though, they were the real deal. It happens all the time without us realising.
This being said, throughout history humans have been able to create unnatural occurrences through the use of science. On one such occasion, thirty seven year old Marcus Wilde, a physics and electronics enthusiast, accidentally managed to enter some experimental coding into a database that manipulated his computer's electric impulses and opened a portal, a bridge spanning an entire branch of existence, straight into another dimension. He watched in astonishment as, before his eyes, a box of Scooby Snacks faded into being amidst the zaps of purple lightning bolts firing from the gaping hole that had formed in his computer screen. His discovery, along with some substantial funding, shot him to the height of glory and guaranteed his place in the history books.
What no one expected was Doctor Wilde's sudden demise. His assistant Oscar Davis, a pencil thin man with dark hair and an inherently sadistic nature, took over his work. He founded a large complex in the open farmland of eastern America, where he would draw fictional characters from their lives and force them to live in the housing supplied by the laboratories. Put on display to the public as a free, caring environment, it caused a lot of emotional damage to those drawn away from their happy lives, friends and family. Davis could not have cared less, though, and there were some characters who were more than happy to stay. The aim of this operation was to study the way real world physics and biology could affect those characters with exaggerated body forms, very large amounts of brain capacity or strange powers never seen to man beyond the pages of a comic book. The entire world stood on standby to watch what could redefine all of existence as they knew it. Suddenly, the impossible became thinkable. Should-be best friend pairs that never would have happened were possible, fantasy lovers were attainable and the chance to meet your favourite figure from fiction could hold a high price. Humanity waited to know if this would ever be possible.
And suddenly it was. Schools from all over the world were offered the chance to let their students tour the complex. This relatively small move in the course of human existence would prove to set into action a chain of events that would shape the lives of six unassuming children forever. It would bring into question everything that had once seemed real.
And keep in mind, dear reader, that these children may no be exactly what they first seemed, but they are in every other way just like you.