Blue Skies and Cloudless Days
Zzz-ZAP!
Zak Parsons opened his eyes slowly, letting the motion sickness of inter-realm travel settle. It seemed to be taking longer than normal. Once his eyes were fully open, he could see why his queasiness had yet to abate: he was on an airplane. Once again, the cyber-scroll had left out a few key points to his mission. Zak hated flying (unless he was the one doing it, of course--there was nothing like the feeling of just air, clouds, and him--and the occasional surprised bird).
"Is there a doctor aboard?" asked the flight attendant.
That would be Zak...Dr. Gallstone. Really? These puns get worser and worser, Zak grumbled.
The real Dr. Gallstone (the Protagonist of this story), ironically, was out sick so Zak had to fill in for him.
Zak raised his hand. "I am." Though Zak was only 14...Ahem, I'm almost 15...Sorry, almost 15, the flight attendant would see and hear him as the 30-something doctor.
The flight attendant and the air marshal led Zak to the cabin where, you guessed it, both pilots were sick. It didn't take Zak long to diagnose the problem. Lucky for Zak, he has the ability to copy the talents and knowledge of those he meets/becomes, so he knew as much about medicine as Dr. Gallstone did. This gift makes him "well-requested" but also makes him the ire of the Company's leadership.
Zak, still kneeling next to the unconscious co-pilot (who knows why they moved her to the floor), craned his head towards the air marshal and flight attendant. "They aren't sick. They were...food poisoned."
Duh-duh-duhhhh...
Zak glared forward into space.
Well, excuse me for adding a little flair to the story.
Zak sighed at the narrator and stood only to be caught off guard by a click.
Zak slowly turned; the air marshal now held a gun pointed at his chest. "I should have known that if you checked them you'd figure it out," said the air marshal. "And so ends the illustrious career of Dr. Gallstone."
Who? thought Zak.
Just run with it, kid.
The air marshal chuckled. "And to think it would be..."
Kktt! Kkkttt! Zzzz!
You pause in your reading as your screen starts to glitch and fill with static. Strange music begins to flow out from the speakers. You check your settings but the device is muted. "How could this be?" you're probably asking yourself.
Suddenly a voice whispers your name, terror strikes your heart. The voice comes from your device. Oh, sure at first you think a friend is playing a prank...or worse, you've been hacked. But those feelings dissolve as you watch the words bulge and sink like a heartbeat.
The music continues. It sounds familiar, but you can't quite place it. It sounds like something from childhood.
The words begin to swirl and shrink then grow and beat. The images (mostly ads) jerk and swell. The background color shifts from night mode to sepia to light. Finally, it all takes on a negative photo look. The music escalates.
The words began to spiral into a shape. A shape of a hand! The hand reaches out towards you!
A soft voice speaks, "Come with me, and you'll see..."
You hesitate. A hand did just come out of your device! But, the call of adventure pulls at you. You know not where you'll go but you love it just the same. You grasp the hand.
A momentary feeling of drowning passes over you followed by a sense of free-fall. But then you find yourself staring into the eyes of Zak. You don't see him as Dr. Gallstone as others do, but you see the white-and-slightly-pink-purple hair of the real Zak. And he sees you.
Time seems to pause for both of you as Zak stands with his mouth agape. He then slowly closes his mouth and releases a heavy sigh and rests his hand on his forehead. "This is an advert, isn't it," he says.
Yes. Yes, it is. For Blue Star Technologies.
Zak turns towards the blank space representing the narrator. "I hate you," he says.
I'm just making a living, like you.
Zak waves his hand in a small circle. "Continue."
Are you bored with your life? Sick of the endless news stories filled with violence, energy crises, and recessions? Why stay in the gloomy, cloudy days of life when the Blue Light Ultra Experience is waiting for you--that spells out BLUE for any of you Easter Egg hunters out there.
Blue Light Ultra Experience, the newest technology from Blue Star Technologies, will put you in the action. But unlike those other "virtual reality" set-ups, this is actual reality. By harnessing the power of blue stars, BLUE can transport you to another reality.
Oooooh!
That's right, you'll be able to traverse the nearly infinite realms of the Omniverse.
Suddenly, you and Zak find yourselves standing on a deck of a ship in the middle of the ocean.
Become a pirate legend in one of the many pirate realms, such as XB-10-&8. Pfft, who needs video games.
A cannonball shoots overhead. A second later a splash sounds. A wave of water spray rises up and drenches you and Zak. As Zak coughs and spits the water out, the cackle of pirates can be heard. They drop down in front of you and Zak, their blades drawn and glimmering in the mid-day sun.
Zak pulls his sword as the pilfering pirates pounce. Then with a whoosh, you find yourselves on another planet. It smells kind of funny, like someone who ate too many beans and then ate a pound of garlic bread.
A deafening roar sounds behind you. You and Zak turn to face the four-armed alien with long tongue and sharp teeth.
"RUN!!" yells Zak. You both flee with the monster hot on your tails.
Explore the far reaches of space, as an intrepid astronaut or member of a mining guild. The only limit is your imagination--and the $399 plus taxes for the machine.
Zak rushes up to the invisible Fourth Wall and grabs hold of it like he's gripping a camera. A screeching roar can be heard coming up behind him. "For the love of humanity, Reader! Skip to the end!"
RRROOOAARRR!!!
...
Hmm, nope, still here. Nice try though, Zak. You might have gotten a few.
In a blink of an eye, you and Zak are transported under the sea. A giant squid is crushing your tiny sub. Cracks begin to form across the transparent, yet suitable for underwater pressure, window. Alarms continuously blare and the lights shift from normal to red.
"You're making it really hard for me to like you, Narrator," says Zak.
Don't blame me, I'm just the narrator. Blue Star Technologies wrote this.
Speaking of which...
You are then transported to a black nothingness.
Blue Star Technologies, the inventors of the Blue Light Ultra Experience, giving you "Blue Skies and Cloudless Days." Pre-order now and get your very own Zak Parsons action figure.
Zak storms into the blank blackness. "I am not an action figure!"
Not with that attitude.
BLUE, coming soon to an Earth near you.
Fade to black.
Zzzz-ZAP!
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