January 20th, year 3000– At 19 years old, and at the dawn of a new millennium, I stand… staring out at the future we’ve built. Technology pulses through the core of Mars like a living river. Earth, in turn, hums with energy — solar-powered, AI-driven, and running on quantum and bio-computers with brain implants integrated into everyday life. Humanity has spread across the solar system over the past thousand years, and our ambitions now stretch far beyond even the nearest stars.

  Everything seems perfect — at least, on the surface. Yet there is one truth that humankind cannot escape: the multiverse exists, and Earth-0 is caught in a war spanning infinite universes. Our world remains untouched only because we have never crossed into another universe. To do so would be like stepping into the heart of a black hole, a singularity of unknowable fate.

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  I lie down in this perfect world, surrounded by elegance and beauty. Slowly, my eyelids close. Sleep claims me instantly.

  I awaken in a lucid dream. Everything feels real, the implant in my brain allowing full control and clarity. And then I see him — a figure bursting into my vision.

  “Hi! My name's Fortune! Who are you?”

  “Hello,” I say cautiously. “I’m Xersa. How are you doing?”

  Fortune ignores the greeting. “Can you say ‘stop dreaming,’ please?”

  “But I don’t want to stop dreaming yet… Vanish!” I command.

  Nothing happens. He doesn’t vanish. Panic prickles along my spine. I check the chip — still nothing. Sighing, I murmur, “Stop dreaming…”

  Silence.

  “What is going on? This shouldn’t be possible!”

  But somehow… it is.