It was great that I was walking— but it got old fast.

I was like the great pillaging crusaders of old; I saw the world, chatted with the civilians of these far off places, and enriched myself with an international perspective.

Just kidding. I walked around in a circle.

It took me only about twenty-seconds to traverse the whole of the tiny planetoid and end up back in my starting area— starting area, what did that even mean? Why was I here, in some tiny fielded alcove, when I came to? Why not my apartment or back in the graveyard next to the devil’s rock? Speaking of which, where were those things? I mentally added them to the list of places to locate along with my apartment.

But it was trippy, walking. And I don’t just mean trippy as in ‘I tripped over myself a lot.’ Trippy as in psychedelic.

As I made my short journey across the planetoid, I saw myself move through— well, past, technically— the few other people I saw and the buildings. While I was in cosmic perspective everything was fully 2D. Meanwhile the actual reality of me walking on the planetoid was more dimensional, that strange 2.5 dimensional space where the world sort of loomed toward me; the only way, then, that this dimensional differential could be represented to my in cosmic mode was to show the other people be ‘shaded out’ as I walked through them, a lot like in a video game where the details and colors is removed, leaving just the outline, until your character moved past them in the environment. That or just hiding my own body until I moved past them, making it look like I had vanished from the world as I walked by; I never liked this mechanic in older games since it created a crap ton of navigation problems, especially when controls became inverted or switched around while exploring hidden, out-of-shot spaces on the map, but it was something that I saw here as I moved about the petite globe. To myself there seemed to be no method to the madness— if there were a reason why I saw myself ‘blocked’ by the representation of another person or at other times saw them as ‘shaded out,’ I had no inkling of why that would be.

After a good couple of minutes of me trying to figure out how to get to a new space, Felix growled. Or hissed?

What. Are. You. Doing?! Felix snapped.

“What do you think I am trying to do, bud? Huh? Jerk myself? I’m trying to find my damn apartment,” I snapped back.

Yeesh. You’re so bad at this, though.

“Is that supposed to make me feel bad, or something? How would it be if you have to handle one more or fewer dimensions?”

Probably would handle it better than you . . .

Stolen story; please report.

“Obviously, because you are accustomed to it. I was only ever adjusted for one dimensional space, Felix, and that was one with three-angles. Ya know?”

Sure, but, it’s just it is so much fluff. Those angles, I mean. Three-dimensions? There is a lot you have to process. Pointless, arbitrary nonsense which only slows you down.

“You would know. Not I. Now, can you actually help me?”

Felix moved around on my shoulders— or at least the ‘spirte’ of him that I saw from my cosmic perspective; I felt his claws and fur brush against my skin and clothes, my skin and clothes that were on my actual body on the ground. But since I was looking at these miniature representations of him and I from, seemingly, afar, being in my astral god-like move of viewing, there was an odd contradiction in knowing that there was no physical entity upon my astral skin. What I was feeling was a delayed nerve response upon my ‘astral body,’ so to speak, but it emerged from the figure of myself on the ground. It further enhanced my surreal situation; balancing sensations between two different perspectives simultaneously was a trip worthy of a vacation.

At last, Felix found a nice spot on my shoulders, and actually helped. Or tried to.

The world is different now, yes. But it still exists as before— or at least I believe it does. What has changed is how you perceive the world. Remember, the fluff has been removed. So you need to concentrate on those most important aspect of the world if you want to move amongst the world.

Felix’s words weren’t really the most helpful. They amounted to ‘just concentrate.’ As if I were a distracted pupil in class; but, aren’t you? No? Or I do not think so . . .

But what did concentration even mean in this situation? Observation? Interpretation?

I was an literature major in college. I knew all about close reading, interpretation, critical theory and the sort. If reading between the lines meant anything, here, then it would be figuring out what my current observable world, was; after all, if the world is a text, like a book, a living entity to be critiqued, and understood, then I would first need to read it.

Not read as in literally read. . . but more metaphorical. A building can be understood. And in understanding its construction, architecture, and those who live in it, such understanding results in having it be read. Again, so to speak. Therefore, if I were to ‘read’ this strange planetoid, I must explore the area, chat with the folk, and muse on the connections.

A bit much just to find my apartment, but—

AS usual, however, I was interrupted: Marcus, you’re such a fucking nerd.

Even though I knew that Felix meant calling me a nerd as a term of endearment, I still took it roughly. I had never actually been called a nerd before, especially not for breaking down and deconstructing a situation— a terrifying one such as the one I found myself in now. Until now, I was actually quite proud of myself. Now, I was second guessing— maybe I was overthinking this whole situation?

Again, Felix interrupted: Marcus. Sorry you’re thin-skinned, but you’re a nerd. Talk to some people and jog your freaking memory on shit, aright?

Breath in and breathe out, I said to myself. In. Out. Fast. Slow.

I calmed myself.

Felix was right. My ADD aside, and my fragile adjustment to this situation aside, I needed to simply re-orient.

Obviously, there was nothing ‘simple’ about my predicament— pact, two-dimensions and more. But finding my way out of it would indeed begin with the most fundamental of social interactions.

I walked over to the nearest person and said, “Hello, how are you, today?”