Italic text represents a thought.
Legal mumbo-jumbo can be found prior to the introduction to this story.
Chapter One
As the Ereka Maru sailed off towards Alteka-7, home of the annual Galaxian Science Convention, Seamus Harper, the Maru's only crew member at the moment, sat in the captian's chair and tried to dream of what the convention would be like.
He knew very little about it, as he had never been to the planet nor the convention before. All he knew (from the brochures) was that great scientists and freakin' geniuses such as yours truly showed off their latest gizmos and gadgets. Harper couldn't wait to try out whatever they had.
He looked at the display. He would arrive any minute now...
After what had seemed like milennia, the Maru had arrived at the planet. Harper saw the his intended destination, a large metallic dome-shaped building ahead of him. He double-checked that his ticket was in his pocket, and rushed out of the Maru to be first in line at the convention.
He was third. Stupid Beka and her stupid lecture...oh, she's gonna pay for this.
Mean thoughts flooded Harper's head, which fortunately kept him occupied so that the couple hours he spent standing in the lineup only seemed like a couple seconds to him.
"Your ticket, please?"
"Excuse me sir, but could I see your ticket?"
"Wha-" Harper shook his head. Wow, that lineup sure got long fast.
"Sir, this is your final warning. Please present your ticket or you will be
swiftly escorted back to your ship."
"Hey, Hey, Hey... Don't go all Tyr on me now! Here's your ticket." Harper
presented his ticket while the ticket collector had a confused look on his face.
He looked at Harper, then back at the ticket, then at Harper again, and finally
back at the ticket again.
"Alright Mr.Harper, you may enter." The ticket collector tore off the ticket
stub and returned the remaining portion of the ticket to Harper.
Harper took back the ticket and entered the building. While most of the attendees were gathered around the enterance presenting their tickets or congratulating the first person to enter, That should have been me... Harper decided to search the back of the building where no one else was yet. He saw several scientists ready to demonstrate their creations, whatever they may be.
But there was one person who appeared to be struggling with his invention. This scientist appeared to be a half human, half weird race that Harper didn't recognize. This guy has a man's body with a fish's head! Harper moved closer to him. Hmm. I'm a pretty smart guy. Hell, I'm a freaking genius! Perhaps if I assist him with this invention of his, I can snag a freebie!
Harper approached the fish-man. "So what's that you're working on?"
"Oh it's just a little project of mine. I wasn't planning to demonstrate it."
"No, tell me. What's wrong with it? Mabye I can help you fix it."
"Nothing's wrong with it, I'm just trying to fix it up."
Darn it! "Oh. Well there's plenty of other things to see and do. I'll see
ya around then."
"I never said that I couldn't use help."
Thank you, god! "So tell me then, just what do you have in mind?"
"What's your name?"
"My full name is Seamus Zelanzy Harper, Genius Extrordinaire. But you can call
me Harper."
"Ask yourself a question, Harper."
This guy is nuts! "Umm, okay. Am I a genius? No. I'm a FREAKING GENIUS!"
That guy is nuts! "Are you brave, Harper?"
"What does that have to do with needing my help?"
"The last time I asked for help my assistant wasn't brave enough."
This is where you're supposed to slowly back away, and break off into a sprint.
Harper's gut instinct, unfortunately, lost to his curiosity. "I'm not afraid of
that." He pointed to the device.
"Very well, then. All that I need you to do is test it."
"Umm...you still haven't told me what it is!"
"Have you ever used VR, Harper?"
"VR? As in Virtual Reality?" Harper chuckled. "I OWN Virtual Reality. Don't tell
me that this is just some scary game or something."
"No. This is not a game...although some may think it to be."
"Well what is it then?"
"Have you ever wanted to do something so much...but it would never be realistic,
or possible? This isn't just VR. This brings forth your dreams, your wishes,
your fantasies...which become the game (as you called it). You write the program,
Harper. Are you brave enough to face your dreams?"
This is really giving me the creeps. "Hey, it's not like I have nightmares
or anything like that. If it brings my dreams to life then why should I, or
anyone for that matter, be scared? Dreams are happy things!"
The look on the fish-man's face lost it's spooky look. He chuckled. "You're right,
Harper. It's just that...to do this, the program has to interface with your mind
on a very low level...and if something glitches in the computer..." A sad look
spread accross his face. "My previous assistant was the first victim of my Dream
Catcher."
"I'm sorry."
"Since then the system has been much improved. And it's not as bad as you think.
My previous assistant was telling me how happy he was in there. I'm offering you
a chance to escape. To escape from reality."
Do I want to be a repairman all my life...or do I want to spend a day in
paradise at the chance of risking my life... "I'm a risk-taker. I'll test it
for you."
"You're a brave man, Harper. If you can achive constant success with the dream
catcher, you will go down in history as one of the bravest scientists ever known.
And of course, I will reward you."
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! "Then why are we talking?" Harper picked
up the device, the fish-man's dream catcher, which actually was an oddly shaped
VR Helmet. It was probably designed for another fish-headed man. He grabbed a
cable, hot-wired it up to the helmet and plugged the other end into the implant
on his neck. "Okay, put me in!"
The fish-headed man pressed a few buttons on his computer. Harper gulped. He anxiously waited for something to happen. Time passed. More time passed.
Then suddenly, everything went black.
End of Chapter One
Author's note: The sole purpose of this chapter was to place Harper in a world where his dreams/wishes/hopes/desires become real. I kind of ranted and made it up as I went along - sorry if it didn't make sense to you "non-techies". And if you think you know what happens next...think again. This story is about to get REALLY interesting.
- ~Thissa~