Loops

“Hello friend, and welcome to our humble realm. I will be your narrator for this journey, you can refer to me as William. I want to ensure that you have the best experience possible, so please respect all rules as they were explained to you during orientation. At this time I will need you to acknowledge that you are here voluntarily, and that you have not in any way been coerced by The Entity or any outside entity for your participation. To affirm that the previous statements are true and proceed please enter your 8-digit identification code now.

“0-8-2-1-2-0-2-0” 

“Very good. I want to thank you for choosing The Entity, we know you have many choices for disembarking and we are honored you are traveling with us. As we prepare for initiation, relax and allow our proprietary Serenity system make you comfortable. Our state of the art Serenity system is designed to create the optimal environment throughout your journey, ensuring that your transition from your departure zone to The Entity meets all your expectations. Based on your profile, Serentity has set your perceived temperature at 20 degrees centigrade and is infusing the cabin with the scent of fresh cut grass. 

As the journey proceeds, you can make adjustments to your environment through the control panel located in the armrest of your chair, or simply by stating a command to Serenity. We are nearly prepared for departure, so please take this time to ensure you are comfortably situated in your pod as movement will be limited while we are in transit. For your safety, all neurosynthetic devices must be powered down and stowed during travel. As your narrator I will be here to answer any questions that you may have prior to our arrival at The Entity. Upon arrival you will have completed the disembarkation at which point my existence will become obsolete.

I have great news my friend, we have been cleared for launch and will commence with the cast procedure in 15 seconds. We may experience some interference during the casting process, no need to worry this is all routine. Once we’ve reached a safe traveling trajectory, I will awaken you from your temporary shutdown and initiate the restart process. I look forward to reanimating you shortly friend, enjoy the rest. Initiating shutdown in 3, 2, 1.”

—

“Hello friend, and welcome back to our humble realm. I have completed the reboot process and I am happy to report that all systems are functional. There was a spike in our energy field that I was concerned may have damaged a portion of your sensors, but we appear to have been able to avoid any critical damage. Serenity has held your perceived temperature for 20 degrees centigrade, would you like to make any adjustments at this time? 

Wonderful, and just a reminder, Serenity is here for you at anytime to ensure this journey is as comfortable as possible. The current time is irrelevant. Our estimated arrival time at our destination is now 21:35:12 Pacific Standard Time. You may experience some disorientation during the transition, so please remain as calm as possible. Today we’ll be showing you a recap of your existence, so please just sit back and enjoy the transition.”

—

As the scenes that composed your life glide by, you begin to realize that you aren’t able to move, or rather you have nothing to move. The familiarity of the experience of boarding like you had a plane or train so many times in the past, had caused you to miss the peculiarity of your situation. Now that you are sensing, or noticing as you haven’t anything to actually sense with, you realize that the cabin you are in isn’t so much a cabin as it is light, and the light isn’t so much containing you as you are somehow part of it. The scenes of your life that have been gliding by are at once external visions and the actual experiences in real time.

As disorienting as it all is, it also isn’t. As unnatural as the experience should be, you find yourself easing into it and finding a peace or sorts. Not knowing what else to do you embrace your life, reliving the best parts over and over and skipping past the worst. The moments that had felt so insignificant while you were living them now seem definitional to “You,” which has both lost all of it’s meaning and never been so clear. You find yourself searching deeper and deeper into the collection of scenes that stack neatly to form “You,” but inevitably you always return to one scene in particular.

You are what has been defined as 27 years old and waiting for someone at a Pizza Shop. As you nervously fidget in your chair you assure yourself that who you are waiting for is coming, but to alleviate a little of that worry you order yourself a beer. As 15 minutes are perceived to have passed you start to worry, until through the window you see her. In the soft lighting outside the restaurant you see her get out of a car and look up to ensure she’s arrived at the right place, check her outfit to ensure everything is just as she wants it to be, and enter the restaurant. As she enters she scans the restaurant, and you half in fear and half out of excitement waive your arm at her a little too big and a little too fast. She acknowledges and walks towards your table. As you stand up and put your hand out to shake hers, she comes towards you for a hug. In the awkwardness you pull your hand away avert your eyes in embarrassment. Not skipping a beat, she extends her hand out and says, “hi, I’m Sam.”

Here the scene ends. Actually, it continues on but you’ve only been able to bring yourself to watch it once. Even in your current state without a physical body, the overwhelming sensation it brings is more than you can bear. So you skip ahead, seeking to see what’s next, what happens after this memory. Again and again you search for more, but you only find emptiness, nothingness, nothing. Searching and searching and searching, all you do is seek more and more, and inevitably you come up with nothing. You keep going further and further until you abruptly reach an end, until there is nothing. It seems like it shouldn’t have happened so soon, like you weren’t finished with something.

—

“Hello Friend, I am happy to announce we have arrived and your disembarkation is nearly complete. Now that you have been properly reoriented we are ready for the final phase of our journey. As always, Serenity is here to ensure that you are as comfortable as possible for the duration of your journey, so if there is anything at all that you need, just ask.”

“Yes!, er um. Yes, I need something William.”

“Of course Friend, how can we serve you?”

“What happened to her?”

“Whom may I ask are you referring to Friend?”

“Sam, the girl from... the girl from the memory I kept jumping back to?”

“I’m sorry Friend, I only have access to sensory data collected during your Loop, and I have searched through all data and there are no other instances with her.”

“Oh, okay. Never mind then.

“Is there anything else that I can do for your Friend?”

“No. No, I’m fine, thanks William”

“Of course Friend, it is my duty to ensure an optimal transition between Loops which brings us to the final phase. With your permission, I will initiate the conversion sequence and launch you into your new vessel. When you are ready, please give the command to Initiate.”

“Thank you William, Initiate.”

—

Birth Announcement

Welcoming Samuel to this world

born on Aug. 21st, 2020

at 9:35 in the evening to a proud mother Sam and proud father Adam