[[Stop it.|Stopit2]]

The circle hums for a moment, perhaps trying to come up with the right words.



"Your form," it says, "is a line. And you can go back to a point on that line. But if you merge with another form - another being - their line doesn't end. And yours doesn't start anew. They become one, with the memories of both of you sharing one consciousness."



Sharing one consciousness. You think about having somebody else in YOUR brain, reading YOUR thoughts, maybe controlling what YOU do.



But then again, your current form ended up here, in a cavern in the depths of a distant planet. Maybe somebody else controlling your choices could have gotten you somewhere different.



"Sadly, time is running out," says the consciousness. "You must choose how you want to be bound.



[[Go to an earlier point in your own life.]]

[[Merge with another physical form.]]

The Expeditionary Force is deployed based on an equation that calculates Risk (native species, atmosphere, proximity, etc.) versus Reward (colonization, resources, strategic value, etc.). If the Reward is deemed greater than the Risk, an Expeditionary Force is put into the field.



The remote location of Epilia II counted against it, but the lack of inhabitants made it somewhat more inviting. Initial scans didn’t show many usable resources on the surface, but there could be something valuable under the crust – hence our deployment.



[[Back|Start]]

Conceivably wide enough to march an entire expedition crew into, shoulder to shoulder.



Unfortunately, you’re the only one that’s left.



You can’t see into the shadows beyond the entrance, so the tunnels could stop a few yards in or go on for miles and miles.



[[Back|Start]]

It feels like you’ve been wandering for hours when you finally find the [[cave|Cave]].



It doesn’t look safe, exactly, but why should it be different from anything else on this god-forsaken [[planet]]? Sharp red rocks, aggressive giant bugs, that sulfur-smelling air… if there was ever a place whose chief natural resource was “pain and suffering,” this is it.



So not a fun place in the best of times – the type of place you wouldn’t go to unless [[ordered]]. The [[attack]] that tore the whole crew and the transport to shreds made it infinitely, dangerously worse.



The first sun set a few moments earlier and the temperatures are already starting to drop. You figure it’ll only be another half hour, tops, before the second sun sets and you start to freeze. Shelter is your top priority.



[[Enter the cave.]]

[[Look for better shelter.]]

The end.



THE END.



THE END!



THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END!



[[Clicking here will close all windows and restart the computer.|Stopit]]

Stuck

"I know I heard somebody," says the voice.



Even if you could reply, you're not sure you would. You consider the very real possibility that you've gone insane.



No - you trained for this. Long-distance space travel. You were screened and prepped physically AND psychologically. You could spend days alone and not hear voices, weeks even.



[["Are you there?"]]

...and you fall onto the floor of an empty cavern.



The first thing you do, when you realize you're free of the passage, is stretch in every conceivable direction. The bruises and scratches on your arms and legs scream in agony, but it's a good kind of agony. You're out of that damned paperthin hard jagged passage!



But where are you [[now]]?

Determined to find another hideout, you follow the red rock walls. With each step it gets darker and colder. Rock, rock and more rock. An infuriating, unending mountain range of uniform nothing.



When the second sun drops below the horizon entirely, you start running - half in desperation, half to stay warm. The rocks become a blur next to you, bleeding out color anutil they're almost as dark as the sky.



You stumble and fall, wrenching something in your ankle. The ankle doesn't hold your weight when you try to stand, so you start to crawl, on your hands and knees, back in the direction of the cave.



It feels like you're getting closer. You have to be getting closer; it was right there a second ago. Hand over hand, you pull yourself over the sand.



It's tiring work, and you stop - just for a second - to catch your breath. You rest, breathing in the cold, sharp air. The pain in your arms starts to go away.



Then, all feeling in your arms starts to go away. And your legs. And your ears. Then, finally, your consciouness slips into the cold, leaving just an empty shell of a body on the surface of Epilia II.



THE END

You tell the being that you want to go back to a moment in your own life, and it asks the question you knew was coming:



"When?"



This must be something like death, because your life flashes before your eyes. You watch for a moment, but every moment leads to other moments - and do you really want to go back to one, if you might erase one that came later?



You keep watching your life, waiting for a worthy place to start over. Academy. Headquarters. Your first mission. Nothing yet that you're willing to miss.



Then, almost before you know it, you're prepping for this mission. You're with Jim and Savannah and all the others, checking equipment and cracking wise. And your heart sinks.



If you don't come on this mission, they're all still going to die.



But now, knowing what you do, you can change things. You can tell everybody to stay on the ship. You can have them deploy a remote drill, or keep the shields up.



[[You can save them all.]]





You flip on your suit's illumination unit and step into the cave. The noise from the whipping winds on the planet's surface becomes immediately softer, and you feel infinitely less exposed than you did on the red, barren surface.



The cavern is about the size of your dormitory at Coalition Headquarters - that is, big enough to spend the night in, but not a whole lot of room for anything else. Still, it's good to be out of the wind, and the floor of the cavern is solid rock.



In the back of the cavern, [[water]] drips steadily into a puddle. There's also a large [[crack]] in the stone - easy to overlook, but maybe big enough to squeeze through.



Not great, but safe enough... for now.



[[Try to hail Headquarters with your communicator.]]

[[Leave the cave and look for other shelter.|Keep looking.]]

A shape becomes visible as your eyes start to adjust to the darkness - but no, that's not possible. You're so far from the light that your eyes couldn't pick up a single ambient light particle. There's no light in here. Your eyes aren't adjusting.



It's just getting brighter.



The shape becomes more and more visible, and it is just that - a shape. Not a body, not some kind of creature, not a geological formation, but a fuzzy-edged circle, glowing with a dim white light.



"There you are," it says.



Your mouth is open, but when you shut it you think you might be able to say something.



[["What are you?"|response]]

[["Help me."|response]]

[["Don't hurt me."|response]]

“Got it” is not closing the browser. It’s usually a little X, or something like that, up in the right hand corner.



[[Okay|Okay2]]

No, seriously, you close the browser.



[[Got it]]



It doesn't feel like you expected it would. Of course, it's hard to build an expectation for jumping back in time. You were expecting something like a ruler breaking, or an airlock opening, but it's more like easing into a warm bath.



That is, it happens slowly. First you're in the cavern, with the glowing circle being. Then you're in the cavern AND on the transport ship. Jim and Savannah and Riley are all there, still alive, strapping in to head to the Elipia II's surface.



Your thoughts seem to throb in time with the circle. You remember both things that have happened and things that haven't happened yet, rubbing up against each other.



You're in the cavern and on the ship, and then you're more on the ship and less in the cavern. Then, so quietly you can barely notice, the cavern slips away completely and you're [[back on your transport ship.]]

"Any form," it says, "at any time. You can return to an earlier moment on your own timeline, and relive your life. Live as you lived before, or make different decisions - it's up to you."



You think about the better times in your life, at the Academy or when you were just a child. You think about all the bad decisions you could re-make or un-make or never even be faced with. It's impossible - it's the one impossible thing, to undo the past - but this glowing circle in this cave is impossible, too. Faced with impossibility, why not do impossible things?



"Or," it continues, "you could be merged to a completely different form. Across time, across space - a whole new life."



[["What do you mean?" you ask.]]

One foot forward, then the other. It's just as well your light is gone, since this passage could go on forever. You could be working your way [[around the entire planet]], the entire useless Epilia II - this passage could go absolutely nowhere.



Or it could lead you straight into the nest of one of those monsters. After all, it came right out of the sand - maybe it seeks shelter in the caves too. After escaping from death once, you could be delivering yourself right to its table.



But you have no choice. Back in that direction it's the certainty of death. In this direction, it's the uncertainty of anything. Which is almost more terrifying.



[[One foot forward...]]





It's slow going, and there are moments where you're sure your bones are going to be grated off and you'll be stuck fast, but you keep moving. You keep moving until you can't see the waning light in the cavern you came from and you can't see anything but passageway in front of you. You [[keep moving.]]

It seemed like they came out of nowhere, but they probably came up out of the sand.



Sensors were right when they didn’t find any intelligent life on the surface of Epilia II, but something was hiding underneath.



Intelligent or not, it’s one of the nastiest creatures you’ve ever come in contact with. Not quite a Sandsnake, not quite a Impervicrab, but somewhere in between, with scales and fangs and claws and an angry disposition.



You’d only just stepped off the ship and set up a perimeter when the screams started. You turned and saw Jim being torn limb from limb by the monstrosity. Savannah rushed over to help, firing her rifle into the thing, but it was no use - it just made her next on the hit list.



You ran across the red sand to the transport, waving for your comrades to follow you. "Run!" you screamed. "Back to the ship!"



Three of you made it back on board. Just three. And you felt safe - after all, this ship had been through lightspeed and the vaccuum of space - as you punched return coordinates into the navigation computer.



The claws cut through the hull like it was butter. The cockpit was on the ship and then, all of a sudden, it wasn't.



You pressed yourself against the pilot's seat. Eyes closed, you waited. You listened as Paul and Riley were plucked from the room like terrified sardines. You could feel the creature's breath on your neck. The ground shook. Something dripped on you and it burned.



You closed your eyes and waited. If your death was coming, you didn't want to see it. You didn't want to stare into its jaws. If you were going to die, you didn't want to give this thing the satisfaction of seeing your scared eyes.



Death never came.



The ground stopped shaking. The terrible noises, the clacking claws, the jagged scales in the sand, they got farther and farther away. When you opened your eyes, you were alone.



No crew.



No ship.



You started walking.



[[Back|Start]]

You peer into the crack. It goes farther than your illumination unit's light can reach - somewhere. It's a tight fit, but you should be able to make it if you go in sideways.



[[Go through the crack in the wall.]]

[[Look around the cave some more.|already entered]]

279120 miles, according to the surface scans.



[[Back|passage]]

You sit bolt upright, your unseeing eyes the size of navipads. Your voice catches in your throat and all you seem to be able to do for the time being is swallow.



"Is there somebody there?"



[[Gulp.]]

You close the browser.



[[Okay]]

"Life," it says, "is a series of definitions. Just because you define life one way does not mean it cannot be defined otherwise."



It continues: "I am a being of consciousness. I am a lifeform of experience. I lack the physical form that you require to define 'life,' but here I am, existing. As a pure consciousness I can exist anywhere, at any time, whereas you must be bound to a physical form."



As if to cement it in your mind, you touch your own battered body. Consciousness, check. Physical form, check.



"Physical forms can die," it says. [["And soon, yours is about to."]]

You can't just stare at this screen all day. The story wasn't even that good, and now it's over.



You close the browser and get on with your life.



[[Close Window (Shift+Ctrl+W)|Come on]]

Come on! That is not even close to closing the window.



You think about the story a little more. It doesn't even make sense. I mean, merging with somebody else's consciousness? A character in a story becoming part of the reader, and vice versa, because of what some circle said about life and being and time travel! It's ridiculous!



There is absolutely no way you were a crew member on an exploratory vessel in another galaxy. That's crazy.



Knowing that the story is well and truly over, you decide to do something else on the internet.



[[Type the url for Reddit into your address bar.]]

You follow the rocks for a few dozen feet. In front of you, it seems like nothing but red rock wall, unbroken and getting colder to the touch by the minute. It goes on and on until your view is obscured by the dusty crimson wind.



Your footsteps have all been swept away, so getting back to the transport would be nearly impossible. This giant rock formation is the first remarkable piece of topography you've found - otherwise it's just flat red dirt.



The dust starts to sting your eyes. You look up and the sun is only getting lower.



[[Head back to the cave.|Enter the cave.]]

[[Keep looking.]]

The water is a murky red and smells like sulfur. Without any of the analtyic equipment from the ship, it's impossible to tell if it's safe to drink.



Better not risk it for now.



[[Back|already entered]]

Surviving the attack on your ship. Outliving your crew. Finding the cave. That neverending squeeze through the passage. This is what it led to?



Dying under the god-forsaken surface of Epilia II?



It seems so incredibly, improbably unfair.



"Your physical form is going to die," the being continues, "but your consciousness doesn't have to. Unlike us, your consciouness has to be bound... but it can be merged with another form."



[["What form?" you ask.]]

No, seriously, you close the browser.



[[Got it|Gotit2]]

For a long time, it's just you and your breathing. Then, slowly, you catch your breath. The air tastes musty. The smell reminds you of the creature at the landing site. You start shivering.



One foot forward, then the other. It's just as well your light is gone, since this passage could go on forever. You could be working your way [[around the entire planet]], the entire useless Epilia II - this passage could go absolutely nowhere.



Or it could lead you straight into the nest of one of those monsters. After all, it came right out of the sand - maybe it seeks shelter in the caves too. After escaping from death once, you could be delivering yourself right to its table.



But you have no choice. Back in that direction it's the certainty of death. In this direction, it's the uncertainty of anything. Which is almost more terrifying.



[[One foot forward...]]





It's pitch black, and you're who-knows-how-far from the cave entrance - a mile? Five miles? - so it's impossible to see anything, but you get the feeling you're in a very large cavern. Maybe it's something about the coolness of the air, or the - is that a breeze?



Your mind could be playing tricks on you, after being squeezed and constricted in the passage so much that any space feels immense. Your breathing quickens - what if it's just one tiny bubble in the passage? What if, just out of reach, the walls are still closing in?



You realize that, even without light, you have a way of figuring out the size of the cavern without running headlong into any walls: sound. The echo, or lack of it, will let you know the size of the space.



Without anything better to say, you shout, "Hello?"



"Hello, hello, hello..." bounces back. You breathe a sigh of relief. The cavern has to be enormous.



And then, a voice very different from yours says:



[["Hello?"]]

"I don't have a name that you would understand," it says, "but I assure you I don't want to hurt you." The voice sounds, somehow, like beams of light. Warm, physically warm as it touches your ears.



"Helping you, however," it says, "might present a bit of a problem."



The thing with a name you couldn't understand throbs in the middle of the cavern in a way you can't make sense of. How does it know your language? What is it doing here?



You try not to sound insulting when you say,



[["I thought there was no intelligent life on this planet."]]

[[pant|Pant3]]

[[pant|Pant4]]

[[Stop it.|Stopit3]]

[[Stop it.|Stopit4]]

Was it?



You go back through the story, in your own head. The ship lands at the landing site, you disembark with the crew and set up a perimeter, there's an attack...



Was an attack, or is an attack? Or will be an attack? How can you remember something if it hasn't happened yet?



You rub your forehead and think. You're on a transport ship, heading to Epilia II, and the sensors have all shown that there are no life forms on the planet. Minimum risk. Just touching down to check if there are any natural resources under the surface.



That doesn't sound dangerous at all.



You apolofize, shaking your head. You strap in just as the ship comes out of lightspeed. Riley aims you towards the atmosphere.



The ship heads towards the surface, and you get the [[strangest feeling of deja vu...|Start]]

[[THE END|Stopit5]]

It doesn't feel like you expected it would. Of course, it's hard to build an expectation for merging your consciousness with somebody else's. You were expecting something like a ruler breaking, or an airlock opening, but it's more like easing into a warm bath.



That is, it happens slowly. First you're in the cavern, with the glowing circle being. Then you're in the cavern AND you're somewhere else. Somewhere you've never been before, in somebody else's body.



But it's not somebody else's body, you know. It's YOURS. But your memories are mixed with theirs.



Your thoughts seem to throb in time with the circle. You remember both things that have happened and things that haven't happened yet, rubbing up against each other.



You're in the cavern and in this new body, and then you're more in the new body and less in the cavern. Then, so quietly you can barely notice, the cavern slips away completely and you're somewhere else, [[looking at a screen.]]

[[pant|Pant2]]

[[THE END|Stopit5]]

You tap the frequency for Headquarters into your wristpad, but when you try to hail them all you get back is a low, sorrowful tone. You can't connect - either there's something on the planet blocking the signal, or your communicator was damaged.



Either way, it means the same thing: You're all alone out here.



[[Back|already entered]]

The cavern is about the size of your dormitory at Coalition Headquarters - that is, big enough to spend the night in, but not a whole lot of room for anything else. Still, it's good to be out of the wind, and the floor of the cavern is solid rock.



In the back of the cavern, [[water]] drips steadily into a puddle. There's also a large [[crack]] in the stone - easy to overlook, but maybe big enough to squeeze through.



[[Try to hail Headquarters with your communicator.]]

[[Leave the cave and look for other shelter.|Keep looking.]]

Epilia II, out on the very farthest edges of the Coalition – the parts that we call “part of the Coalition,” even though some of them have never been settled or even explored – is as ugly a planet as you could ever hope to find.



From remote scans, it looks like there are no intelligent forms of life.



[[Back|Start]]

You're reading a story about a group of explorers on an alien planet. They get attacked by some alien creature and the protaganist heads off in search of shelter. He finds a cave and heads deep into the bowels of the planet.



It seems oddly familiar, for some reason. Maybe you're read it before. It is kind of a generic sci-fi story, after all. But there's something else, too. A funny feeling of deja vu.



You get to the end of the story and close your browser.



[[THE END]]

"Turn around," you say.



Riley turns around in the pilot seat. "What?" she says.



"Turn the ship around," you say. "We have to go back."



Jim finishes adjusting his safety harness and gives you a sidelong look that says, "You're joking, right?"



You explain everything - the giant creature that attacks the ship, the cave with the miles-long passage, the glowing circle of consciousness.



Everybody listens intently and waits for a respectful contemplative moment before bursting into laughter. Savannah, in particular, finds it hilarious, so much so that she has to wipe a small string of drool off her chin when she gets the laughter under control.



"Some dream," says Jim, and pats you on the shoulder.



"No," you say, "it wasn't a dream. [[It wasn't...]]"

Jake Christie

How far have you come - a hundred yards? A mile? Deeper and deeper into the surface of this wasteland of a planet, and still nothing but passageway.



In the other direction, there's nothing but cold and that creature that slaughtered your crew, so you just keep moving.



A sleeve and a pant leg have been sheared off of your suit, and the jagged rocks are cutting into your skin. You start to shuffle a little faster, letting your irritation and desperation seep into you, until you're pulling yourself hand over hand through the passage.



Bruises bloom on your arms and legs. You feel something in your hip that might be a hairline fracture. You lose your grip and your body slams against one side of the passage...



[[...and your light goes out.]]



