Jeremy sat on the couch in a daze, his dinner in front of him still untouched and going cold. He'd just gotten off work. His augs were going but he wasn't watching.

Three months ago he'd begun leaving notes for himself, to explain the strange happenings in his life. For one, his memory was being wiped. He'd involved his coworkers in the whole mess after they'd noticed he wasn't turning up to company get-togethers. Two, whoever was toying with him wasn't human. He had actual, physical photos. And videos. It was strange to see such archaic forms of evidence. A few of his coworkers had even fled the state after getting involved. Too weird. Their lives had been permanently shaken.

Each night after work he had to put himself through the painful, paralyzing process of re-education. First contact had been made, but it had been forgotten.

He took a bite of his mashed potatoes but they were like ice. He was shoveling everything into the trash when a message came in for him.

It said:

in 10 secs a portal will open in ur kitchen

step inside and you will leave your world behind forever

explain later

This was new. Jeremy barely had time to delete the message when the kitchen area behind him went up in a swirl of sparks. A hole opened in the centre of the room, and through that hole Jeremy could see a world so unlike his own. Ships hovered over a still sea. Some kind of island fortress resided in the background.

Jeremy took maybe two seconds to make his decision.

Getting your mind repeatedly wiped each and every day, or the unknown?

He stepped into the unknown, and the portal closed behind him.