On his way back to his apartment, Entro spent lots of time contemplating his daughter's involvement in building the library, which he never knew.
He glanced around at some of the city's most notable landmarks. How many of these were a tribute to his children's intricate personalities, their genius?
It begged the question, what else was created without his knowledge? How many legacies did his kids leave behind that he might never find because he wasn't present?
The thought lay clumped within his stomach; a regret that would haunt him until the end of his days.
Sitting at his paperwork desk with a lamp, Entro opened the first of 3 books he checked out, titled "The Kingdom Beyond the Veil."
The spine was golden with purple glyphs running down the center. Each word of the title was beautifully printed upon the center of the front cover; there was no picture or drawing, only black.
Barely a few pages in, Entro was instantaneously immersed in the world. It was unlike any piece of literature he had ever consumed, which was few. Every word painted a vivid picture of another world not his own, featuring huge flying beasts wiser than any human could imagine, creatures that were twisted versions of familiar Earthlings, words couldn't describe how intriguing it was.
Hours melted away with ease, each book just as good as the last. Nothing had ever captured his attention and spun his imagination so effortlessly. His vision spun with pictures and images.
Sitting back in his chair, Entro stared at his ceiling, dragons still swooping around the visible rafters, their riders locked in intense combat. Suddenly a swift movement caught his peripheral, a kitsune in chase of prey.
Snapping his head in chase of the creature, Entro only saw a roach skitter across the floor; a pit opened in his stomach.
Ignoring the critters, he tried to focus on the war between elves and dwarves when a sound broke his concentration, an ogre breaking in.
Standing up to defend himself, Entro only saw a rat trying to break into his lunchbox.
The information took slightly longer to register.
Shame made his ears hot
"Get! You stole my chicken already!"
The rat went scurrying under a cupboard, leaving Entro alone in the center of his house.
Looking around, absorbing his situation, the world felt dull and more clear to him than he would've liked.
He noticed damp stains on the walls and the slightly molded carpet. Mice and roaches weren't even skittish anymore, they openly made themselves at home.
Holes riddles his sheets, stitches sewn in as a half-hearted attempt at repair. The mice, now his roommates, were no longer skittish of his presence, raiding his food inches away from him.
His eyes lingered around the pile of instant ramen and canned foods that mice were actively chewing through. The house was not sitting well on its foundations, even from the inside, it was very lopsided and off-center.
Perhaps his years of alcoholism placed problems so distant, they seemed unreal, or maybe he always ignored the issues placed directly in front of his nose.Entro, hardly slept that night. He was painfully aware of how hard his mattress was and no matter how he toiled in his mind, he couldn't return to the blissful ignorance he once lived in, and upon awakening, he was exhausted.
He trudged around his job in a zombie-like manner, completing tasks only to their bare minimum. Never overachieving or accomplishing what a normal worker could do in his position. If he wasn't getting paid like one, why would he act like one?
Only that afternoon did his mood lighten.
Entro visited the library once again for more books and Elara was there, seemingly waiting on him. She looked particularly troubled and absentminded while handing him more works of literature, as if something was bothering her.
"Where did you go yesterday?"
Taking the opportunity to strike up a conversation, he curiously questioned how her outing went.
"What do you mean?"
She questioned him in innocence but the look her face held was knowing.
"After I removed your boundary limitations, where did you go?"
She hesitated.
"I… did not go anywhere…"
He almost questioned her why, but her face was fear-stricken.
She wasn't able to leave on her own.
That's when Entro felt incredibly stupid. She had never been outside of the library since she was powered on. How could ever brave the unknown outside?
Perhaps in an attempt to ignore the matter at hand, Elara was busying herself with cleaning the library desk that looked spotless. Endlessly wiping from corner to corner in the same patterned motion.
"Elara," he called.
She continued to wipe.
"Elara," he called again.
More wiping.
"Elara!"
Startled, she looked at him and froze.
"I need to survey the park for trash, make sure it's clean and all. Could you help me?"
She looked him up and down, slowly.
"Why do you need me?"
"I'm only human you know."
Skeptical at first, she hesitated. Perhaps deciding his words could be trusted, she tentatively nodded.
In the proceeding weeks, work was uninteresting and tedious; Old newspapers of his past achievements randomly appeared in front of the door to his lab, gross mockeries of his awards showed up with notes attached.
Letters that read things like, "To the man who could've been more; we miss the old you."
Someone even sent him the book on genetically modifying children to guarantee any traits present in the genome, a book he wrote, with a note saying, "In case you forgot how."
Even his home wasn't safe, a memorial was built down the road from his house, on his walking route to work. It was meant to "honor the forgotten" and people who "would not rise again."
He wasn't dumb and tried his best not to give them any attention, that was the plan at least, each time he received something new, unbridled rage with a tinge of sorrow filled his body.
It filled his lungs and clouded his brain instantly, causing him to lash out violently, ripping the book to shreds, keying the memorial, destroying the awards. Yet, almost immediately afterwards, his mind cleared and he could go about his day as if nothing happened.
It was as if something took over his head and unleashed hate and violence upon this plane only to be chased away.
Entro completed most of his work at the bare minimum and left work as quickly as possible.
He looked forward to two things in his day. Outings with Elara after work, ranging from park walks and getting ice cream together were more enjoyable for him than he imagined.
She was a clean slate that still expressed her personality, mostly influenced by her deep dive into books over the years in the library.
He found things from his childhood, once lost and forgotten, resurfacing for him to impart upon her, and contrary to his initial belief, she was a sponge for information and lifestyle, soaking up everything Entro washed over her; it was a perfect change of pace for her.
Yet, despite his time with Elara filling him with more joy than he had ever experienced, his days were worsening.
His perspective shifted entirely.
This reality started to not even bore him, it felt like it wasn't his own. His strengthening relationship with Elara did nothing to help; Entro felt like he had to save her from this reality as well, they both had to make it out. So every night, his head was broiling with solutions. He simulated every solution and thought of every outcome.
"Hey, if you could go anywhere, where would it be?"
He looked at her, wondering what brought up the question.
They were out later than normal tonight, lying in the grass, watching the Milky Way slowly pass over them. On nights like these, with only the two of them, the world seemed less out to get him, like he could fit in somehow.
"I've visited a lot of very famous places. This time, I would want to go see a place that no one travels to, somewhere quiet and unassuming. Where would you go?"
She turned her head, studying his eyes before responding, "I would want to be whisked far away, where nothing is like this cruel world. We've taken over every inch of this world; I want to see something new and magical."
"What if you won't ever get there?"
She reached out and touched his face before looking at the stars again.
"I guess, I'll just have to bring my world to me."
That's when it struck him like cold lightning, the solution to all of his problems, the excitement brewing in his stomach.
Finishing his night out with Elara, Entro ran home faster than he's ever run in the last 4 years, practically crashing into his house.
Entro couldn't prove the multiverse theory, not yet at least. But he could bring his reality to him by shaping his surroundings to suit him..
Large mythical creatures, yes, but they all had one thing in common. Humanity's obsession with making everything as realistic as possible while stretching the limits of imagination gave every creature consistent and detailed description on how they behave, survive, and interact to environmental stimuli.
The shell was fleshed out fully, it was just up to him to figure out the internals.
Entro decided to start with something simple and familiar, direwolves.
They're essentially wolves that were amped to a frightening degree, both much larger and stronger than even your typical Mckenzie valley wolf.
The rest of the night, he notated everything he could research regarding direwolves. Different iterations had consistencies along with inconsistencies among them, so he just took liberty with ruling out seemingly impossible or redundant attributes.
The elemental aspects that some direwolves possess was an obvious choice, but most are depicted with an unprecedented healing factor; a healing factor that fast would constantly deprive the wolf of energy and starve it endlessly.
Entro spent the rest of night compiling notes and theories together onto a notebook and labeling it "Operation Fantasy."
He had the plan, he just needed the platform, and he knew just the way to get it.
The next day at work, Entro was busy hammering away at his project. A makeshift forge blazed unnaturally close to the door, and his tools clattered endlessly against metal until it glowed.
Sweat glistened on his skin and he was stripped down to pants, overalls and no shirt. While a large fan blew from the corner of the room to the door.
Heat billowed from the room and out into the surrounding offices, the smell of sweat and metal work pervaded the entire floor.
Within hours, Entro heard a beat at his lab door. Three pudgy men in silk suits stood with upturned noses and critical faces. Corporate was here, and they weren't happy.
"What is the meaning of all this racket, and that horrid smell, explain yourself!"
Entro had a huge smile plastered on his face.
"Oh, hey boss, I was just working on an order. No biggie"
Gesturing to what he had been hammering all afternoon, everyone in the room saw an amalgamation of different metals molded into a ball of scrap.
No one could tell what it was but, were trying to humor the obvious genius in the room, but it legitimately resembled trash.
"What is… who ordered this?"
"It was an anonymous order I received in this note right here."
Entro handed them a sheet of paper with incoherent scribbles, scratches and deeply ingrained pencil lines that left little empty space on the front.
Staring at the paper for a second, they all exchanged glances before peaking at the scrap again, seeming to have come upon a mutual agreement in silence.
"How about, you go home for today and we'll have your lab ready to complete every project unbothered tomorrow."
"Well, I was almost finished…"
And yet, before he could finish his sentence, he was ushered to the door in a hurry.
"No, it's okay, you need a break. We'll have your lab looking better than ever, come back tomorrow"
Seemingly hesitant, Entro left his place of work, but once outside, an uncontrollable grin sprouted on his face.
He could hardly control his breathing in excitement as he started planning for the future.
'Let the games begin'