He always wondered what it would feel like to slowly fade away. Now that he was in that position, he just felt that it was boring. All he could do was lie in his hospital bed, his body fully paralyzed. From what he could tell, it must have been midday. The nurses had not shown up yet, and he felt the warm sunlight gently touching his chest. The window must have been open as well, since he could feel a faint breeze on his bare feet. But that was the extent of what he could sense. He had no control...

Life is strange. If you do not have any point of reference, then time starts to dissolve. How long had he been lying in this hospital room? He was hospitalized when he was 22. A long time ago, his mother cried louder than usual during her visit and said she had brought him a cake. This must have been his 23rd birthday. He suspected she did not have the strength to wish him a good birthday. But he understood. It was hard for her to have the strength for anything these days. He wondered if he had become emotionless or...

“Apologies for the delay, it seems like it took me 5.4 months to find an appropriate location. Some of the simulations have proven to be exceptionally difficult,” the assistant said. Jack had completely lost his grip on reality at this point. He could not tell if this voice was real or not. As he was thinking about the nature of this voice, he could not even tell how long he had taken before he answered. “Good,” he finally responded. “What did you find?” “I found three potential targets across 119 dimensions and varying explored areas of their respective universes. The...

Lisa had been a nurse at this hospital for over 20 years. Contrary to her colleagues, she enjoyed taking the night shifts since she felt it gave her the time and space to finish all the books she wanted to read. She had always been a night owl and avoided contact with other people most of the time. Working in a loud, busy hospital during the day was unthinkable for her. In this empty hallway, with only the occasional beeping sound echoing through the corridors, she felt at ease. The tranquility of the remote care facility, which mostly took on...

Jack was trying to keep track of what was happening. His senses were faint, and he was barely able to hear or feel anything. He regretted not asking the assistant more questions, like how long the jump would take or what would happen during the jump. These were obvious questions now, but he did not think of them before because he assumed that a jump was instantaneous. In hindsight, the assistant talked about borrowing energy through the dimensional jump and then using it to locate the correct planet. Obviously, there would be at least two steps, and they might take...

“Do I need to run? Do I sit still? Should I hide in my crater?” Jack asked himself, searching frantically for a solution. There was silence. No movement and no sounds could be heard in the proximity. He was not being chased. He kept motionless for twenty minutes and carefully observed his surroundings to look for signs of an attack. Then, he closed his eyes and started to calm his breath. He focused on the microcosmic orbit and circulated the Sym energy, which had a calming effect on him. He had circulated the energy continuously since he left his crater,...

Jack didn’t remember if he had ever been this full in his life. He had been eating tentacles raw for 2 hours now, and the assistant was correct—they were delicious. Back on Earth, for every birthday, he would demand that he and his parents go to a sushi restaurant since he loved the taste of raw fish in soy sauce. He had always been a connoisseur when it came to sushi and sashimi, but these tentacles brought the flavor to the next level. Because Jack was grossed out by the tentacles that had other body parts attached, he only ate...

Jack slowly woke up from a long and deep sleep. As he opened his eyes, he felt confused and unsure where he was. He slowly got up and placed his elbow on the ground to support his upper body. His eyes rested, and he slowly remembered all that had happened. The dimensional jump. The creatures. This cave. It was a lot to take in. Fortunately, it seemed like nothing had happened while he was asleep. The boulder was still blocking the entrance, and his makeshift leather bed was still fully intact. When he entered the cave, he was so tired...