Category: Fiction Factor

The mural in front of the Dream World/Your World Institute was a feast for the eyes, a canvas of vibrant colors and various shapes. Stare at one part of it long enough and the imagery seemed to move, sometimes forming the shape of two people sharing an ice cream cone while snuggling on a bench, and other times simulating miniature dachshunds running through fields of green.

It was always different, depending on the eye of the beholder.

Located in what had once been an urgent care clinic, the DW/YWI had become something of a cultural phenomenon. Podcaster Snacker Burlington – who rose to fame claiming to have been abducted by aliens only to kill them, commandeer their spacecraft and fly back to earth – had been promoting the company on his program for several months. And why not?

After all, he owned it.

And according to the DW/YWI scientists he has hand-picked, clients are able to enter an ethereal plane that allows them to, quite literally, live a dream.

“Folks,” Burlington bellows to his millions of followers, “we at DW/YWI don’t just offer temporary relief from the struggles of daily life, but a life-changing adventure in a dream world of your own making. When you wake up, you’ll be a completely different person. And better yet, when you finally pass away and go to the Great Beyond, you’ll return to your dream state for eternity. Guaranteed.”

Burlington stressed to listeners that his highest calling was to get word out about DW/YWI through the Right Time Podcasting Network.

“I can’t wait to make my own dreams come true forever at DW/YWI,” he’d say. “But I feel I owe it to both my employer and you, my loyal patrons, to continue to speak truth for as long as my ratings remain high – and I remain healthy.”

Although one might think the cost of participating in such a project would be prohibitive, that wasn’t the case at all. To become a client, a person needed only to agree to appear in future promotional segments for the podcast and share testimonials about their experience “living the dream.” And based on those testimonials, the satisfaction rate was 100 percent.

Gully White – standing at the entrance of DW/YWI – had been ready to sign up from the moment he first heard about it.

A loyal fan of Burlington, he used to listen intently to earlier podcasts when the “Earl of Burl” shared startling revelations day after day. One of the biggest was that the state of California was merely a hologram and its 40 million residents didn’t actually exist. White believed everything he heard from the verbose host, so when he weighed the pros and cons of becoming a DW/YWI client, he didn’t hesitate; there was absolutely nothing to lose.

As soon as White opened the door to the facility, he was greeted by a smiling attendant adorned in a pale orange lab coat.

“You must be Mr. White,” said the small, ruddy-faced man, whose name tag read BRIDGES. “We’re so excited to have you here! Would you like a glass of water, or perhaps some hot tea?”

White declined, preferring to get straight to business.

“No, hoss, I just wanna fill out my paperwork and jump right in if I could,” White said. “I’ve settled on what dream I want to live and everything.”

Bridges led White to a small table that displayed the contracts required to become a part of the DW/YWI program. White didn’t bother to read over the details on the paperwork – he simply scribbled his name and began looking around.

“So, do you give me something to put me to sleep and then hook me up to some machine or something?” White asked the attendant. “I can already tell you what I want … blonde girlfriend, 36-24-36, two cars – one a Corvette and the other a Jaguar – a big mansion right on the ocean, maids and a butler. And 30 – no, 40 – billion dollars.”

The attendant grinned.

“Come this way, Mr. White.”

The two men walked to the back of the institute and came to a small, brightly-lit room. Inside was an exam table, stool and handwashing station with a small clear jar of green liquid.

“Have a seat, Mr. White.”

“Do I need to get undressed?”

“Oh, no, no … just have a seat.”

White sat down, and slapped his knees with his hands.

“OK,” he said. “I’m ready.”

Bridges grabbed the liquid, shook it vigorously, removed the lid and handed it to White.

“Drink up, Mr. White. I know it doesn’t look very inviting, but it has no taste at all.”

White knocked out the liquid in two gulps.

“I guess I’ll be getting sleepy pretty soon, huh?”

White took the empty jar and placed it back on the handwashing station.

“Actually Mr. White, you’ll be dead in, oh, about another 10 seconds.”

White’s eyes glazed over and he fell onto the floor. Bridges leaned down, placed his fingertips on the client’s neck, and no pulse was detected.

Bridges opened the door to the exam room and Burlington entered.

“Good work Bridges … that seemed easy enough.”

“It was, Commander. Truthfully, they’ve all been relatively easy. It was genius of you to assume the body of Burlington. They’re true believers, so they’re easy marks.”

Burlington picked up White and put him back on the exam table.

“This human worked at a hardware store, so let’s put a worker drone lifeforce in him,” Burlington said. “The company will get a better worker, and we’ll be a step closer to taking over the planet and building a new Enceladus. Oh, and let’s set up a testimonial for next week.”

Burlington turned to leave, and then chuckled.

“Hey, Bridges … it’s hard to believe how we’ve taken over in such a short amount of time, isn’t it?”

Bridges looked at White’s lifeless body.

“Not at all, sir. More than 15 million humans follow Burlington’s podcast religiously. If he says he can make all their dreams come true, they believe him.”

Reggie had just finished his final wind sprint of the day when he noticed a man pacing back and forth on the edge of the practice field. He looked familiar – extremely so – but the youngster wasn’t in the habit of talking to strangers.

Now 15, he had been taught to be wary of people he didn’t know, especially when he was alone. So, he took off his cleats, wiped his face with his towel, snatched the football off the ground and prepared to walk back to his house around the corner.

“Hey, Reggie,” said the man, giving a quick wave. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Reggie was wary but hardly scared; the man appeared to be in his mid- 60s and walked with a slight limp. Still, he ignored the hail and continued his journey.

“Reggie, please,” said the man. “You know who I am.”

This time the young athlete was compelled to approach the person. He wasn’t sure why … it just felt like there was no reason not to.

“Can I help you with something, sir?”

“Sir?” said the man. “Sir’s what we call our dad. It’s me, Reggie. I’m you … you 50 years from now.”

Reggie fixed his eyes on the man’s face and could tell that he did, indeed, look like a much older version of himself. He had a broad nasal bridge, oversized ears and a small mouth compared to the rest of his face. The resemblance was remarkable, as though his yearbook photo had been run through an online age changer program.

“What do you mean you’re me?”

“I’m from 2075,” said the man. “I’m part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Time Travel Project … CASTP is what it’s more commonly known as. They created the first time travel wormhole in 2068 and they’ve been perfecting it ever since. I volunteered to be a part of it.”

Reggie shook his head.

“That’s a cool story, bro, but you should probably find your DeLorean and head back to the future. I need to get home.”

“Wait,” said the man. “I know you don’t believe me, but let me prove it to you. Last year, you asked Cindy Stackhouse to the fall dance. You really wanted to ask Marie Houser, but you knew your best friend Jacob – Jacob Simms – had a crush on her and had been talking about asking her since school started. Because of that, you backed off. You ended up double-dating at the dance and had a terrible time because you couldn’t stop thinking about Marie. And afterwards, when everybody wanted to go to Grace Marquette’s party afterwards, you pretended to get sick so you could go home. You just couldn’t stop thinking about Marie. And then when you walked into the house, Ferdinand, your cat – our cat  – had barfed in the hallway and you stepped in it.”

Reggie’s eyes widened. The man’s details were spot on.

“How … how do you know all that?” Reggie asked.

“Because I’m you, my dude. I lived it. We lived it. You’re gonna get home today and mom’s gonna have fresh oatmeal cookies for you because she always makes cookies on Wednesday. And she calls you ‘Regirito,’ which you kinda like unless she calls you that in front of your friends, then it embarrasses you.”

The man went on to describe events and thoughts that no one could possibly know, and Reggie was astonished at the accuracy of it all.

“This has got to be some kind of trick,” Reggie said. “I don’t know how you know all this stuff and it’s creepy, man. But there’s no such thing as time travel.”

The man sighed.

“There is and there isn’t. There wasn’t in 2025, but there was in 2068, which means – now – time travel has always existed. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here?”

“Next Monday morning you plan to walk into Peabo Tolliver’s music store and tell him you’re quitting your guitar lessons so you can concentrate on football. Don’t do it. I know you don’t wanna hear this, but you’re gonna blow out your knee in the season opener against Markham High. And then you’re gonna end up having surgery, and you’ll blow out the same knee again your senior year. And it’s gonna be really, really bad. You’ll never play football again. Not in high school, not in college, and certainly not the NFL. But if you give it up now – and stick with guitar – maybe when you see me again, I won’t be limping. Maybe we’ll be talking about music.”

Reggie tried to speak but words wouldn’t come. Instead, all he could muster was a weird moan that seemed to grow longer – and louder.

“Regirito! Son! Wake up!”

Reggie opened his eyes and saw his mother hovering over him. He was soaked in sweat and felt his heart racing.

“Are you OK, buddy?” she asked. “I heard you moaning all the way in the kitchen. Must’ve been a heckuva nightmare.”

Reggie looked around his room and – after a few seconds –realized he was  awake.

“It was crazy, mom,” he said. “It was strange, but it seemed so real. I had time traveled back to warn myself about … it’s stupid.”

Reggie’s mom leaned over and gave him a kiss on top of his head.

“Well, you’ve had a lot on your mind,” she said. “Sometimes when you get stressed out you get nightmares. So, have you decided … you know, whether you’re gonna give up guitar?

Reggie smiled.

“You know, if it’s OK with you, I think I might just give up football,” he said. “I really like playing guitar. You can’t play football forever, but you can play guitar forever, right?”

“Very true kiddo … very true. And I’d rather you make hits than get hit. Anyway, your dad’s making pancakes. Why don’t you come down and get a stack.”

Reggie sat up in bed, stretched, and eyed the Stratocaster placed on the guitar stand. Even though the dream wasn’t real, it still offered good advice.

“Oh, by the way,” his mom said, leaning in the doorway of his bedroom, “there was a package on the steps this morning addressed to you. It’s from something called the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Any idea what that’s all about?”

“Settle down, class … settle down. Please return to your squabs and let’s go ahead and get today’s lesson started.”

Instructor Provident decreased the illumination in the circular, revolving room, and with a wave of their hand produced a glowing, three-dimensional orb. The image slowly floated among the students so each could get a look at it.

“OK,” Provident said. “Today we’re continuing our study of planetary science. Does anyone know this one?”

Right hands went up immediately, but none more enthusiastically than the pupil who was almost always front and center during science segments.

“Tavor, you were first, so take it away.”

“That’s the Planet Earth,” she said.

“Correct. What do you know about Planet Earth?”

Tavor had already decided she wanted to become an astrogeologist, and prided herself on her knowledge of celestial bodies and their histories. What did she know about Earth?

Plenty.

“The Earth is 4.544 billion years old and its surface is 71 percent water,” she said. “The first life forms were prokaryotes, and it’s generally considered that sponges were the first animal-type organisms on the planet. The first vertebrates appeared roughly 500 million years ago.”

“Excellent,”  Provident said. “You’ve certainly done your research.”

“Earth fascinates me, Instructor,” Tavor said. “Once I get to Advance Academy, I plan to make it my Skill Expertise.”

“Would you care to tell me – and the class – what it is about Earth that interests you most? I’m certain we all want to hear it.”

Tavor smiled and rose, relishing the opportunity to share her curiosity.

“Yes, I would, thank you,” she said. “Originally, I was drawn to the massive asteroid impact that caused the extinction event there 67 million years ago,” she explained. “At that point dinosaurs ruled the planet – it was what Earth scientists referred to as the Mesozoic Era – and there was also sea life, including flying reptiles. The extinction was triggered by the Chicxulub impactor, an asteroid which is estimated to have been 10 kilometers in diameter. It created wildfires and tsunamis, and ultimately led to the extinction of more than three-quarters of plant and animal life on Earth.”

“That’s fascinating, Tavor,” Provident said.

“It is, but not nearly so much as the second extinction event on the planet a million years ago,” added the student. “Do you guys want to hear about that?”

Her classmates nodded approvingly.

“The 2024 YR4 meteor was discovered in Earth Year 2024, and was predicted to pass by Earth in 2032,” she said. “Whereas the Chicxulub impactor was 10 kilometers in diameter, 2024 YR4 was just 0.09 kilometers – significant, certainly, but much smaller. As scientists studied it more closely, they determined that it would not create an extinction level event were it to make impact, but was potentially what they called a ‘city killer’ – an asteroid that would cause significant loss of life and damage. Still, their early predictions were that it would miss the Earth entirely.”

Raven, a classmate of Tavor’s, raised her hand.

“Go ahead, Raven,” Provident said.

“Tavor, I’m a little confused,” she said, pointing to the orb. “I’ve done a bit of research on Planet Earth as well, and don’t understand how the 2024 YR4 asteroid – considering its size – could’ve basically wiped out human life on the planet. As we know, Planet Earth is now home mostly to rodents and sea creatures, so something else had to happen, didn’t it?”

“Something did, indeed,” Tavor said. “Turns out, by 2032, society across the planet had mostly collapsed. There was violence and chaos across the globe. So, a group of international scientists helped build a rocket that could intercept 2024 YR4.”

Raven looked confused.

“Wait … they tried to destroy the asteroid? Did they think by doing that it would somehow unify the planet?”

“That’s what’s so interesting to me,” Tavor said. “According to records that have been uncovered, the scientists had no intention of stopping it … instead, they armed the rocket with so many explosives that they were able to dock it with the meteor, supercharge it with nuclear energy, and transform it into an extinction level asteroid. They changed a city killer into a planet killer.

“They called the mission ‘Operation Own Goal,’ and they’re considered heroes.”