Reality Roads Write-Up

[allthescience]

There was a red door. Maybe you knew what to watch for, and entered with full knowledge of where it would lead. Maybe it was curiosity. Opening it doesn't lead to a closet, or a room. Rather, there's a long hallway, brightly lit with blue-white fluorescent lights. There's nothing to the left, nothing to the right. After walking nearly a hundred yards, the corridor ends at last at a large, circular metal hatch. Next to it is a brass plate with the words 'Tech Room' etched in bold, bright letters. Turn the lock, open the hatch, and step through.

The room is enormous with a domed ceiling, filled with long steel tables, large humming machines, books, haphazard stacks of papers...

...And a tiny woman, scarcely five feet tall. Her dark hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail, streaked with pink and white from temple to tip. She blinks at you owlishly, peeks past you as if to make sure you came from the front door, then nods knowingly.

"So you found it, did you? Congratulations!" She beams at you, offering an enthusiastic thumb's up. "What brings you here? Did you...know about this beforehand, or was it a happy accident?" Her head tilts as you answer her, and she jots down a couple of notes.

[[What are you writing?]]

"This?" Her brows rise, and her head tips toward the notebook. "Statistics. It's nothing." She waves her hand, wheeling around in her chair before standing to her feet. "Kit Walker. Nice to meet you. Now let me see, we should have one that fits you..."

[[One what?]]

"Travel sash," she answers absently, inspecting the shelf. Finally she nods, and points at a long strip of bright yellow cloth. It has an odd shimmer to it, like dancing silver worked into the threads. "Go ahead, take it. We made plenty."

[[We?]]

"Well, yeah. You think I made all this on my own? That's flattering," she snickers. "You'll see the rest soon enough. Here, let me explain the sash. One thing at a time. Go ahead and tie it on."

[[Why should I trust you?]]

Kit stares at you blankly. "Well, if you don't want it, give it back. It's not like your door is locked. You came to learn, right? To travel? Yeah?"

[[...Yeah.]]

She claps her hands together. "Good. Great! You're going to love this. Now go ahead and put it on."

[[Where?]]

"Doesn't matter, as long as it's on your person. As long as you've got it on, you can find the doors. The red doors. Red doors lead to the center of reality, and from there, you can go wherever you need to go."

[[How do I find the red doors?]]

"Find any door, hinged board...basically anything that opens. Tap it three times, it'll turn red. If you close it, the red fades. Pretty simple, right?" She taps her finger against the open hatch as if to demonstrate, but it stays the same color. It doesn't seem like she's currently wearing one of the scarves. "Give it a try. Close the door, then tap on it."

[[Why don't you close the door?]]

"Because I'm a hologram."

[[...What.]]

"You know, just a projection of light? I can't really affect anything here. Not physically, anyway. We had one too many jerks try to take a swing at me, or destroy the equipment, so we can't really take chances. But we can educate you, since you came all this way. Got your scarf on?"

[[Sure.]]

"Give it a try."

Reluctantly you close the door, sooner or later. It swings easily. Sure enough, tap three times, and on the final tap a bloom of scarlet color spreads from your last point of contact, painting the whole door red.

"Hey, there you go, you did it! I said it was easy, didn't I?" Kit applauds you, whether you thank her or curse her. Both provoke the same happy reaction. "That'll take you to Central City. You can find a place to live, if you feel like crashing there for a while. There are some decent restaurants. I'm afraid it's not very scenic, though," she adds, rubbing her nose. "Unless you like metal and wires, I guess? I mean, if that's your thing, you'll love Central. It's more of a rest stop, though. In Central you can access the coordinates to the rest of the universe. Visit some planets, visit your own planet... There's plenty out there to keep you busy."

[[Who runs Central City?]]

"'Runs' it? There's no political power, if that's what you mean. There's a peacekeeping initiative programmed, so if people attempt violence, robots come out and shoot them with lasers. Don't start anything in Central. If you want to fight, take it to another dimension. Got it?"

[[I guess so.]]

Kit nods, satisfied. "It's neutral ground. If you're looking to sign up with one of the factions, you'll find their offices near the town square. The peacekeeping force is popular. We often send them out on missions to aid worlds and lands in need, should those areas be threatened by an outside force."

[[What about an inside force?]]

"We try not to get involved with that. However, on rare occasions, if a peacekeeper's home is threatened, they might take matters into their own hands with a few allies. Politics are tricky business, so ultimately it's up to the peacekeeper heads to decide what's allowed and what isn't."

[[You said 'factions,' like there's more than just the peacekeepers. Is that right?]]

"Veeeery astute," she wags her finger in a complimentary fashion. "There's also an exploration and discovery division, meant to set out and record data about the different realities and the effects of the scarves. We're scientists, not fighters, so we're not really involved in peacekeeper affairs. Or, at least, we try not to be."

[[And that's the faction you belong to?]]

"I run it, more or less." She shrugs. "It's not as formal as you might think. There's also a vacation agency that offers tours and maps to some of the more peaceful and pleasant worlds out there."

[[Any other factions?]]

"See for yourself," she smiles, gesturing at the door. "You probably won't find any stalls openly advertising for criminal activities where the peacekeepers can see it, but who knows? We've had a few that weren't real bright."

[[Guess I'll be off then.]]

"Wait one second. There's just...one teensy little issue you might run into, traveling between worlds."

[[This oughta be good.]]

Kit carries on, whether you resorted to sarcasm or not. "The scarves make travel possible by aligning the rules of your reality with the rules of your destination's reality. Sometimes the synchronization is perfect, and nothing changes. Other times..." She sucks in a breath through her teeth. "Well, you might end up conforming to that reality's rules. Physically. ...Most of the time. It's rare to conform emotionally and mentally, but not impossible."

[[Excuse me?]]

"I'm just giving you fair warning so you're prepared for the possibility!" she holds up her hands defensively. "Say, for example, you go to a world where all the inhabitants are talking frogs. If the synch is off, you'll step through that door, and turn into a talking frog for the duration of your stay. Head back to Central and you'll be sorted out, it's hardly ever permanent."

[[That's not comforting.]]

"We're still working out the kinks. Lining up billions of realities isn't exactly easy, and we're improving all the time. Of course, if you want to blend in with the world you're visiting, that's easy. Give one of the scarf corners a sharp twist, and you'll conform easily enough. It does have advantages, especially for surveying purposes."

[[And if something happens to my scarf, and I get trapped on a world? What then?]]

"Er...I don't know what to tell you. Find your scarf, I suppose, or wait for someone to retrieve you. It's always good to travel with a partner, or at least tell someone where you're headed so we know where to look if you get lost. But if worse comes to worst? The red doors still pop up, but you aren't going to be able to calculate when or where. Just keep your eyes open."

[[I should go.]]

"Good luck out there!" One more thumb's up, then Kit's hologram wanders back into the projection of her laboratory.