Planes of Existence

We’re lounging around the Brube, when Nikki walks in.

You feel however you feel about that, about her.

She’s wearing a messenger bag, which isn’t something I’m used to seeing her in, so I ask her about it.

Nikki smirks, walks near me leaving a trail of ash and smoke, flips open the bag, pulls out a laptop, opens it, sets it on the end table next to me.

I gather my silk kimono robe, and tuck my feet tighter under me, try to sit up better, clutch my large coffee mug.

Nikki smokes.

I look up at her, then at the laptop. “Dafuq’s that?” I ask.

“Just click it,” she says.

So I squint and take a look at the layout, find what she means, and click it.

Everything changes.

“Huh,” I say.

“See?” she goes. “It’s that simple.”

I fish my readers out of my robe pocket, put them on. “And this is a whole new world?” I ask.

“Another plane of existence,” Nikki corrects. She takes a drag, then looks at you. [Ed. v.i., play procedures.]

Some of her ash falls on my left shoulder, which I absently brush away, intent on studying the screen that you cannot see from your current vantage.

“How did you find this?” I ask.

“I made it,” Nikki said.

“How,” I ask.

“You told me to,” Nikki said.

“I did?”

Nikki nods, the ember of her cigarette glowing orangey-red beneath a lattice of gray.

“Why don’t I remember?” I ask.

“You don’t want to,” she said. “For the story.”

“Which story?” I ask.

“This one,” she says, and nods a bit.

“What one?”

“The one you’re in right now,” Nikki says. She takes one more drag, then drops the cig on the floor, crushes it with her Beatle boot.

I look at you, and without saying, try to see if you have any idea what she means.

You know what you know, say what you will, and do as you like.

“I’m off to the Peach,” Nikki said. “Got some business to wrap up there. See ya, Pops.”

And with that she leaves.

I feel like I should be paying more attention to you, but I’m fixated on the laptop, clicking the plane shifter again and again and again.

Play procedures

• A super keen reader might notice a connection between this chapter and another story that went out recently. If you did, then you can now toggle between this world and that world. If not, you can’t. If that sounds like a bummer that you missed out on it, chill babe. There will be other opportunities.

• As I’ve said before—but it bears repeating—don’t fuck with Nikki. I wouldn’t even recommend talking to her. Just let her do her thing. If you don’t yet understand why, you will eventually. Anyway, when she looks at you, you can make a perception check. If you succeed, you can tell we have the same eyes. If you fail, you are just unnerved or annoyed or whatever. Maybe you are anyway.

• You may add the laptop to your inventory. Unless you’ve unlocked the plane shift ability, it’s just a regular laptop for you.