*Predator looking*, although great first assessment was a bit off on reality, it neither had the 4 large fangs that outstretched from his jaw nor did it have its extreme height, being at a more reasonable 5 foot 7 inches (1,70 meters), just at marks eye level.

It did however still possess its eery scaly skin, and dreadlocked hair, along with the huge forehead and lack of a nose, in its place there was instead a bunch of wrinkly red ridges.

it seemed peaceful enough, taking slow and calm steps towards him.

“i guess you haven't been here before then?” the alien looking creature asked in a muffled voice (due to its lack of nose) but surprisingly perfect english.

“how did you…? i mean how… what???” Mark’s mind did not expect to be sent from extreme wariness to casual talk in such a short interval.

“well it's good to see someone coming from your world, i've been waiting for a long time, to be honest i never expected someone else to come from there.”

“hold up, who… what are you? and why do you know how to speak english.” he yelled through his absolute confusion.

“ Yeah, im a Nigena, i was a friend of Rock, he taught me how to speak it a long time ago.”

mark didn't seem to be able to lose his confusion as every question he asked seemed to bring along either insufficient answers or more elaborate question.

(a few minutes of conversation after their first encounter.)

“So Dr Rock was the first friend you made here in *the Mind* over 30 years ago, it must be hard to be the only one still here after so long.” Mark said in a sympathetic voice.

“Not at all there are a lot more people still here, we just have to leave this zone to get to see them. Come on let's get you into this place properly.” he said pulling him by one of his arms.

Although short and stout he had a surprising amount of strength as he pulled him deeper into this space.

The little area they had been in had three individual tunnels and the large one where they were headed, the small tunnel to the right had been where Mark had come from and the left one belonged to *him*, who he did not yet know the name.

“what's your name by the way? I don't even know that yet.”

He asked forcing it to to stop tugging him along.

“i guess i have been rushing this a bit, my name is Ras and your is…?” he asked dragging the last part waiting for an answer.

“Mark, the name is Mark and Why are you rushing this so much! I just arrived here and you seem to want to take me everywhere, calm down, i need to analyze this well i can't just run around i want to understand this place.”

Ras nodded in understanding calming a bit down and seating against one of the walls.

“You said this place was called *the Mind* but what is it exactly? you never told me?” Mark

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

inquired calmly only to receive an answer in an even calmer tone than his.

“And i won't tell you, because that’s where i wanna take you! It might not make sense now but you will soon understand it.”

Mark sighed and followed a bit behind the alien looking character, the large tunnel through which they had come lead to a giant open space looking like a city square and he could see against the walls a serie of shops in quick succession lining the edges of this open circle, the smell of food and the noise of tools and chatter filled this zone, and on its center a bronze adorned glass tube filled with, balls?

He could make out a few rounded shapes floating inside the liquid but they seemed a bit off putting, looking slightly transparent at the edges and a deep blue at the center.

“And these are…what exactly?” he asked pointing into the glass jar that spanned from the floor to the ceiling of the cave.

Ras pulled a few of those coins from a pouch and pushed them into a slot four feet of the base, Mark heard something move within the base of the glass tower and of it popped out a small cylinder carrying a single one of those spheres.

“here you go! eat it and you can get your answers.” Ras said, tossing the glass canister at him.

Mark twisted the top of it, making the usual *pop* of a vacuum sealed container, he emptied its contents into his hand as instructed by Ras.

The liquid was slimy and seemed to have the consistency of whatever they used in canned peaches, and finally out plopped the gooey ball, the moment it touched the air it set ablaze to his surprise but not of the alien who held his hand in place so Mark didnt drop it.

“its ok, its not real fire, just eat it.” he said in a excited voice forcing the hand a bit closer to his face, Mark wondered where all that strength the relatively small guy had, came from.

He slurped the wet ball after some hesitation, it was lukewarm and had the consistency of a grape… that tasted like a sweeter banana.

seed of knowledge consumed.

ask your question:

The screen floating before him came as a surprise but not a very good one.

“So there’s floating blue screens, neat and organised! just like i hoped.” he said to himself scratching his back.

“u…. you don't seem surprised? isn't this your first time here? I expected you not to know this was a thing that could exist.” he seemed disappointed as he said so, probably hoping to surprise him only to receive a bored expression back.

“ No, no i am surprised, its just that it's a common idea for certain stories in my world, so it doesn't seem so outlandish to me. Im just going to ask the question now if you don't mind.”

Q: What is “the Mind”?

This is the Mind, a bridge connecting all sources of sentient life in yours and all other dimensions bearing some variation of such life.

It uses part of the processing power and concepts created by all life within it to generate a variety of creations, either good or bad and uses them to strengthen the individuals who enter it, proportionally to their actions performed within it.

“Did you get a decent answer Mark?” he asked in a smug grin. “Its ok it tends to take you for a spin and mess with you, just ask more simple questions next time. Here!” he said throwing a little bag which he had filled with a hand full of coins. “That should be enough for you to trial and error it till you have a sense for how it works.”

“Actually it answered what i wanted to know already, but thanks anyway.” He giggled while snatching the bag from the air, giving back an even smuger grin to Ras

“Seu flhodpta mentroso” he yelled in his alien language.

“Hey you were the one who gave me the money, there is no point insulting me” he said in between mocking giggles.

“wait you can understand me?” Ras asked a bit terrified of this human who seemed to already be prepared for everything.

“nope, i have no idea what you said but i can deduce from your tone and face."he answered giggling even harder.