Phase Q/Great Times
Savoring your freedom, you walk happily through the streets. The streets here around the opening have a different flavor. Still built on ramshackle foundations, yet with an air full of joy.
Flowrisers on both sides of the entryway have now established a more prominent position. You hardly see any Triads, so infrequently that it surprises you when you do.
Along the way, you stop frequently, trying all the different Fyuchee apparel on. Much of it fits you, although it still feels somewhat different than your usual gear. Vendors hawk their wares loudly.
“Try this!”
“Try this!”
“Try this!”
The seemingly endless row of Fyuchee suppliers tempt you with their goods.
Birds fly through the sky, and lizards dart about the streets.
You walk past stalls selling advanced weaponry, including the newest lasers, and mininukes.
The Fyuchees seem enthusiastic about your presence, although some also seem perplexed. Speakers openly tout their beliefs, including a handful of alterna-Triad Fyuchees, and even some dreamers.
Not all of the Fyuchees share the same beliefs. A common core, though, seems to thread its way through many of the mainstream ontographic branches, yet by the very nature of the internodal layout through which the Fyuchees communicate, their doctrines morph constantly.
“We dare to dream!” proclaims a speaking dreamer.
Many of the Fyuchees want to overthrow Triad structures just because -- at least as much for the fun of it as for any more abstract motivations. Other Fyuchees almost scream their desire to access Phase Q.
“Dreaming is creating!” shouts another dreamer.
Some of the Fyuchees disavow the goal of reaching Phase Q. Many remain politically neutral. A significant fraction even have beliefs that fit in more logically with the Triads, although for whatever reasons, often having to do with these people's networks of connections, they live in Fyuchee circles.
“Dream free!”
For some reason, the dreamers’ pitches keep jumping out at you. You casually glance at their presentations, and see a portfolio of infoproducts. You wonder what it would be like to dream herenow.
“Come on! Try it out!” a dreamer entices you.
One of the dreamers at the booth looks at you, inviting you closer. As you’re walking by, the dreamer reaches out and touches your torso. The touch feels somehow knowing, magical, different than other touches.
“What do you do?” you ask.
“I can show you.”
The dreamer gently guides you in behind the rows of booths. A small door, not even really a door, opens into a mysterious black building. You climb in, and are taken aback.
A circle of people hold hands. Each one seems distracted yet focusing, perhaps seeing something that you don’t. In front of each of their foreheads, a small candle-like light hovers and glows. In the center of the circle, a much larger light burns.
A gentle humming sound vibrates throughout the room. It even seems to shake some of the looser bits of paper or cloth. Harmoniously, ahhhs flow around and through each other. The overall effect inspires calm, and thought.
You follow the dream guide closer towards the circle. The circle opens slightly, almost imperceptibly, and the two of you enter the periphery. Holding you guide’s hand on one side, and another dreamer’s hand on the other side, you feel the hum fill your mentalstrate.
Phase Q: An interactive adventure.
