Phase Q/The Very Next Thing

Instead of a hat, or a frog, or a toaster, it was a wand.

A white wand, glowing warmly with light.

The wand dances, emitting sparkles. In the backdrop, people gape.

Then the wand becomes something else. First, an elephant, then a top hat, then a car.

The crowd applauds.

Another top hat gets out of the car, and floats through the crowd collecting tips.

Vendors nearby sell all manner of ingestible substances and decorative apparel.

A band plays a constant stream of rollicking hits. Some are originals, some are well-known covers.

The festivities amp up to a new level.

Light fills the sky in colorful explosions, like flame clouds blowing hot flowing lava.

Thunderous shaking heaves up the ground, throwing people high into the sky like a trampoline.

Rivers of marshmallow fudge pour through the town where the water once ran.

Along one of the rivers, a paper boat, neatly folded up, floats silently.

Aboard, an old man with a long flowing beard, a young child, and a mysteriously glowing orb.

No one seems to paddle the boat. It floats of its own accord.

The child points to various points along the shore, or in the distant horizon.

The old man smiles and nods.

As the boat drifts by, the surrounding town and countryside seem to roll up like pages in an old book being flipped.

The sounds and colors drain from the environment into the orb.

The child laughs. The man claps.

As the colorful river itself gets drawn into the orb, the boat climbs up into the air, hovering above ground as it continues to float.

The whole landscape gets lifted up, and sucked into the glowing, spinning orb.

The townspeople all disappear in poofs of cloudstuff. One at a time, then in clusters of growing size, the people suddenly stop being present at the party.

The boat drifts by, leaving in its wake an empty set of structural frames, unobservable. Where once there were buildings and vehicles with people and animals and plants and overflowing with life, now what remains is a bleak invisible skeleton of metaversal workstuff.

The orb glows more brightly, now shining like an omnidirectional laser.

The boat keeps on drifting, floating through the sky towards the next mountain range.

In its wake, a quiet, colorless town sits still.

Nothing changes.

For a long time, at least ten or fifteen minutes, not a leaf rustles, not raindrop falls, not a thing moves.

Then, the traders come. One after another, and in clusters of growing size, massive squadrons of traders show up in the desolate town.

Offering and accepting, buying and selling, the traders negotiate settlements for various goods in various currencies.

A bustling hub of business activity emerges.

Logos explode, pitches reel, and meetings get held.

And then they leave again.

• Make love.
• Go back to camp.

Phase Q: An interactive adventure.