The Quantum Field

Welcome to the Quantum Field [[Begin]]

Strange call. Pick up? [[►Hell yea I love a good mystery]] [[►Sorry no- I hate unwarranted social interaction with strangers]]

You hear static and the vague echo of a voice. It is distorted quite terribly, but you can make out a few phrases: "So very grateful....mistake you've made...only send...my invitation" How do you reply? [[►'Your connection is poor- what was that?']] [[►'Yea ok didn't recently schedule a poltergeist - see ya']] [[►'Oh hellll no. Not in this house.' Submerge your phone in water]]

2 minutes pass and your phone is still ringing [[►'jesus christ one can only listen to Marimba for so long.' Turn ringer off]] [[►End your suffering. Answer the phone]]

oh dear [[??]] [[?????]]

[[...]]

A static sound begins to emanate from your phone speaker. Vaguely, you hear a voice within it. It's distorted and chilling. "Take us with you," it says. What next? [[►'Oh hellll no. Not in this house.' Submerge your phone in water]] [[►'Who is "us"?']]

"Look what you've done" A chorus of voices surrounds you, and darkness expands in every direction. [[►'Where is this? What is this?']] [[►'dude I don't have time for this - love the static and the...eyes but I got places to be']] [[►Remain silent]]

"Welcome Quinn. This home now," the chorus resounds. You cannot see anything in the darkness save for your reflection. "We will be grateful for eternity for this favor." "Look into the mirror, make yourself at home." [[►'Look, ok, I'm not taking orders from floating rainbow eyes']] [[►'What favor?? What do you mean?']] [[►Quietly gaze into the mirror.]]

The static fuzz continues: "...Helped us quite a bit..." "Take us with...you" [[►'Who is "us"?']] [[►'Ok! :D This is creepy now! :D gotta gooo!']]

"Do not test..me" the voice says in between the static fuzz. "I know..you. We..know...you" [[►'Damn, telemarketing strategies have really gone off the deep end']] [[►'Ok! :D This is creepy now! :D gotta gooo!']]

"You'll see, but you may never know." "It is time n o w" The world around you becomes static and you feel time slip beneath you in waves. [[?????]] [[??]]

"You are...brave to threaten your fate" "Watch...your words...child" [[►'Who are you calling child?']] [[►'Great talk. I'm done here.']]

"You cannnot...leave..if we cann..not" "It is time n o w" The world around you becomes static and you feel time slip beneath you in waves. [[?????]] [[??]]

"You...Earth child...Quinn." "You will come with us..." [[►'Ok so like...is this a date? Cute, but I wasn't planning on leaving the couch for the next 48 hours']] [[►'Great talk. I'm done here.']]

"It is time n o w" The world around you becomes static and you feel time slip beneath you in waves. [[?????]] [[??]]

"You will leave...." "..No choice" "It is time n o w" The world around you becomes static and you feel time slip beneath you in waves. [[?????]] [[??]]

"You are a fool." "Gaze directly into the mirror or face wrath." The darkness cracks around you as multicolored lightning flashes in all directions. The chorus of eyes fades in and out of your vision. [[►'Woah, ok slow down - just tell me what happens if I look at that mirror']] [[►'I've seen better light shows at Disneyworld!!']] [[►Comply immediately & look into the mirror]]

"You're here." "You picked up the phone." "Now you're here and that is the favor" "But please do us another one - look into the mirror." [[►Comply immediately & look into the mirror]] [[►'Woah, ok slow down - just tell me what happens if I look at that mirror']]

You are wildly indifferent to the situation at hand. You reason this might get you back to your couch faster. As you gaze at your reflection you wait in mild anticipation for something to happen. Seconds pass... A minute... Nothing happens. [[Look around you]]

The lightning ceases. Now you see nothing. The silence is deafening. [[.....]]

You don't feel great about this but you think its best to avoid pissing off these ghosts. As you gaze at your reflection you wait in terror for something to happen. Seconds pass... A minute... Nothing happens. [[Look around you]]

"You will become one of us. It's a trade." "Equivalent exchange." "You are a vessel. We will become you and you will become us. Now look." [[►K, here's the thing, that sounds really creepy and I'm not about that life.]] [[►'Equivalent exchange? What's in it for me? I get to stay in this...place???']] [[►Comply immediately & look into the mirror]]

A single pair of eyes lights up in the darkness. "Your insolence is intolerable," its voice grumbles. "Know that what happens next is of no one's fault but your own." Fear begins to creep through you... You try to speak but to no avail... [[.........]]

You hear TV static and its volume intensifies with every second. Jumbled voices can be heard amid the noise, but you can't hear what they're saying. A bright light begins to fill your vision and you feel panic overtake you. [[Brace yourself]]

The world around you is filled with mirrors and in your shock you can't help but stare into one of them. You feel that this must certainly spell your demise and you wait in terror for something to happen Seconds pass... A minute... Nothing happens. [[Look around you]]

The mirrors begin to crack around you, but they don't shatter. They begin to refract bright colors- it's kinda pretty. The chorus breaks out into shouts of disappointment & you hear a laugh: "Aw Jesus," yells one ghostly pair of eyes. "Can you get anything right, like ever, Jingle?" "You, like, ruined the whole thing man. Where was the horrifying display you promised??" [[►'One of you is named Jingle??']] [[►This is too overwhelming. Remain silent]]

"Precisley. The Quantum Field. Home." [[►This doesn't seem so homey to me. What do you see in it?]]

"Infinity." "All you have to do is..." [[Look around you]]

"Uh Yeah it gets a lot worse too we're: Jingle, Bells, One, Horse, Open, and Sleigh" "Don't ask why," someone interjects. "So since Jingle failed to scare you out of your mind and perform the Mirror Ritual looks like we're gonna have to get cozy here until we can lure another idiot in with a mysterious phone call." [[►'Mirror Ritual?? Get cozy?? Who the hell are you guys?']]

"Uh, you ok there buddy?" "I mean this could've been a lot worse to be honest. If Jingle had actually succeeded with that Mirror Ritual you would've never been the same." "Looks like we'll just have to get cozy until we can lure in another idiot who answers the phone." [[►'Oh so that's supposed to be comforting huh?']] [[►'Mirror Ritual?? Get cozy?? Who the hell are you guys?']]

"Ghosts, man." "We live here in the Quantum Field, we don't really remember what our human lives were like." "One day we got lured in just like you and we've been spending decades trying to get out." [[What's stopping you?]]

"I mean, I guess." "C'mon we might as well skip the hostility. We're stuck here together for another six months." [[Excuse me, what? Who actually are you guys??]]

"We like, forgot how to possess people." "We need a human vessel to get out." "And we can only charge up enough energy to send a call to The Real World twice a year." "On the rare occassion someone answers we have to tranport them here and figure out how to possess them." [['Is that not something you learn in, like....Ghost...School?']] [['I want out now-send me home']]

"Yea, ok, we didn't get any training for this you know." "We don't even know which one of us arrived here first." [[►Oh that's just great, isn't it!? So what now, did I just disappear from reality??]]

"Sorry. We can't call The Real World." "The portal has closed until we can recharge." "Even if it was open we don't know how to leave." [[►'So why am I here then? You interrupted my life to possess me and go back to reality but you don't even KNOW HOW?']]

"Maybe when you spend year after year in solitude with nothing solid and nothing real and you've forgotten who you are and you've forgotten what emotions are and you don't know how to escape, maybe you need to try anything you can, maybe you have to grasp for straws and even if it doesn't work out at least, in the end, you're not as alone anymore." "Why can't you understand?" [[why?]]

"Yet another thing we don't know." "Can't you just stay happily? We're really lonely, man." [[►'So why am I here then? You interrupted my life to possess me and go back to reality but you don't even KNOW HOW?']] [[►'No! Absolutely not! Get me out now - You're wrong and you ruined everything!']]

"You don't understand." [[...........]]

So that was kind of a lot. How do you respond? [[►Indifferently. We've all got issues. You want out too.]] [[►Sympathetically. These guys might be idiots, but you feel kinda...bad]] [[►Screw that. Nice sob story, but they dragged you into this and you might never get out - they have no right to ask for your understanding.]]

You honestly don't know what to tell them. Sure, this sucks, but what are you supposed to do?? [[►'Yea I don't know what to say guys.']]

You begin to pace around - there has to be a way out right? You just have to think. [[Right?]]

You feel your anger rising steadily. "Yea guys, you kind of all ruined my life??" Why would I be sympathetic toward you?" "I don't care how long you've been here [[I'm a human. I belong in The Real World - you don't."]]

"I guess...we don't either." "Sit tight then, we've got six months ahead of us." You feel awkward, but you're tired and you don't want to deal with it. You sit down and watch as the rest of the ghosts chatter. [[2 months pass]]

You feel...strange You don't know what this feels like [[4 months pass]]

There's electricity in the air, it's almost time to make a phone call. You need to make this phone call. You feel...akin to the others. You don't know what to feel. But you feel kind of alone. [[6 months pass]]

You have been preparing for months. You cannot pick the person. You cannot pick the number. You call. [[Someone picks up]]

"Take us...with...you" you chant with the others.......

"Hey," you yell at the others. "What?" they reply in unison. "How exactly do you 'charge' up for a phone call?" you ask. "We use that lightning that flashes here once in a while. It doesn't appear all that often actually. Get it? Lightning charger :)" "Uhhh ok, so what are you calling on?" "This cell phone we have." [[You guys are idiots]]

"Why?" [[I have a fully charged phone in my pocket]]

"Ok and?" [[You can use it to call out, morons! Maybe if you call from a phone that comes from The Real World you can reopen the portal]]

A bold choice. But you really need to get out of here. You pick up your phone and call as 6 pairs of eyes watch. You call your friend Connor. The guy never picks up. [[This should work]]

Sure enough you see the darkness around you crack - bright lights flood into the dark space You hear static and laughing. The group is cheering You can't see very well, but you feel time slip beneath you in waves. [[God, you guys are dumb - you really never asked if anyone had a phone?]]

"Noooooo" they all yell as the world fizzles back into place. You're lying on a sidewalk. Vaguely you see six people run off in all directions. You think maybe you've allowed all hell to break loose, but you kind of hope you see one of them again someday - maybe they'll be stealing candy from Wal-Mart or investing in a real lightning charger.

"We were humans once too" [[Well not anymore!]]

The ghosts are silent for a time. They look like they understand, strangely. "We'll see what we can do to send you back. Maybe if you had some connection to Reality..." "Are you carrying something?" [[My phone]]

"Perfect." The ghosts write a number into thin air. "Can you call this for us?" [[Call]]

You hear static and it consumes your senses. Voices come in and out of audible range and you feel stuck, desperate maybe. A bright light obscures your vision and you feel trapped behind a wall. [[open your eyes]]

When silence settles you call out to the darkness. Everyone is gone. No one answers.