I answered the door right away, as if it were a frequency trigger. I was pretty positive that it was not a frequency trigger, but I never knew these days; for real, my own reactions and the reactions of the triggers were starting to blend together in a weird philosophical way that made me think of free will and agency and where mine ended.

But as I opened the door, I was relieved to see that it was one of these supernatural freaks. Not an actual human being. Or a cop.

Once the door was open, the figure wasted no time in entering my apartment; as I was still in first person mode, the figure, to me, almost seemed to phase through me, but I know as they entered my apartment, they glided on past me like water past a rock. A tad on the rude side, but whatever. I could teach them some manners later.

I closed the door as made the first move, “Who are you?”

The figure was one of the robed individuals from the graveyard. He had those strange garments that looked a lot like my magical hoodie, but more professional. My guess was that my hoodie was like a training version of their robes? Maybe?

“My name is Kush. I am the Navigator for Full Time,” they said, their voice remarkably normal for someone whose face was just shadow and dark.

“Okay, can you explain that more?” I asked.

“In due time. But right now, I am here to collect: a couple of days ago, you and Felix agreed to enter our organization for both study and to learn the ways of curation. I am here simply collect on that promise.”

I did remember that contract I signed. How couldn’t I? The contract was piled high into the sky. Really freaky. But they wanted me to join so soon? I thought, for some reason, that I would have a bettered grace period than forty-eight hours.

“Well . . . okay. I mean, I did sign the contract.” I said in a pouty sort of way, before saying much more to myself, “so much for my day off, then . . .”

~ ~ ~

“Excellent. I appreciate a man who follows through on his obligations,” Kush said.

I nodded. But I wasn’t feeling it. I said to Felix, “Let’s get this over with.” But Felix said nothing, just sunk his claws into my skin a little more. Was he uncomfortable?

“Follow me,” Kush said as a frequency trigger materialized at his words and I engaged it. Suddenly, I began to walk and closely follow him as we left out apartment and entered the Little Village area.

Together, we walked to the police station. Walking toward the storybook-esque icon, I got the shivers. I knew it was unlikely, but I felt like being near it, I was putting myself in danger; like, some random policeman arresting me or dragging me to that dimly lit room and launching another interrogation. Another multi-hour long torture session in a desperate attempt to find information where none existed.

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But instead of entering the police station, we walked past the station. As we walked, I felt no trigger frequency. Unusual.

What would you know about unusual, mate? You’re just a baby to all of this! Haha.

“Well, sure,” I said telepathically. “But I am at least noticing that even something as simple as navigation is not the same for everyone. Unusual to me, I mean.”

I know. Just ribbing ya. Take the edge off.

I don’t know whether Felix’s interruption did take the edge off, but it helped pass the time as we passed the police station. Moments later, and I stopped following Kush. He had stopped, that was why; how I moved during some of these triggers still took some getting used to, I guess, because it was strange to start and stop moving without my own input.

“Now is your first lesson,” Kush said while indicating an anomaly with his hand. “You see this? This is what you know as a Shimmer. Felix has already blabbed some about these so I won’t bore you more, but I do want to let you know that these Shimmers pose the most danger to you out of anything you will encounter in the under-reality.”

Heavy stuff. But I had no idea why. So, I asked, “why,” why not. “Are there monsters within?”

“To you, yes. Monsters. Entities which mortals have mythologized over the years. But, for the most part, those creatures mean you no harm. You will learn soon that those creatures have their own lives and purpose and harming you is at the very bottom of their priorities.”

“So how is a Shimmer dangerous?” I asked, feeling a little like I was the slow kid in class just no grasping the situation.

“Shimmers are expansions of your mortal world; bubbles which when expanded, reveal that new reality which was always under the surface. Sometimes Shimmers are simple: they reveal an apartment block that mortals could not see or maybe a gravestone which was long thought destroyed. Or any number of things, like a hidden room or tree or passageway. But at other times, Shimmers are deep. Everlasting,” Kush paused to take a breath and then continued. “they could be connected to the more primordial foundations of reality. And the further you travel in a Shimmer— the deeper you go into the true landscape of the world, the higher the risk you are at being lost, forever in the tunnels.”

I let Kush’s words idle in my mind. Lost forever? Why not say die? And what did he mean the foundations of the world? Like, geology? I had the impression that he did not mean either of those— either death or the study of rocks— but the phrasing was odd.

“So, how will I know which Shimmers are local and contained and which trail off into this abyss?” I asked.

“You will not know. It is impossible to know.”

“Okay. But how will I be prepared when I enter a Shimmer?”

“You will never be prepared. And this, is why Shimmers are the most dangerous thing you will encounter.”

Well, that and Ferals . . . Felix said out loud and very suddenly.

“Yes, yes . . . but another day, Felix.” Kush responded.

“Ferals?” I asked.

“Another time. Not now. But I will instead leave you with this, should you encounter a Shimmer in your everyday explorations, think twice on the price of entering. If you should encounter a Shimmer, take note of its location, sure, but I would recommend letting the Shimmer slide past you. Return to it when you are prepared for the un-preparable.”

I was silent. Really, I couldn’t tell if he were joking or being serious. As far as I could tell, he was being serious.

As the elongated trigger frequency continued and we walked past the Shimmer and continued down the alleyway next to the police station, I felt a wad of anxiety in the pit of my stomach grow.

“Great, just fucking great.” I cussed to myself. “Now I have to prepare for what cannot be prepared for. Literally. And worry about falling into a fucking abyss every time I encounter a Shimmer which could be . . . how often? Fucking great. Just fucking great. Sounds like suicide but with extra steps.”

By the time I was done cussing, Kush had stopped walking. Looking around, we were in some abandoned parking lot. Some trash littered the beaten up concrete, but otherwise, it was devoid of life.

“And here,” Kush said while grandly gesturing with his arms, like he was some high priest or something, “is our base of operations.”