Reality Hopping
In this story you can hop between realities following these rules:
No more then
- 1 a Day
- 6 a Week
- 20 every 4 weeks
- 50 every 12 weeks
- 180 every 48 weeks
These measurements are based on your home reality.
Your home reality is the one where you start your journey from.
When you hop to another reality you switch your mind with anybody who is there already.
If you hop to a different reality then your home reality from another reality then:
Reality 3 contains you.
Reality 2 contains the person from reality 3
Your home reality contains the person from reality 2
If someone dies then the person whose reality he/she home reality changes to that of the person who died. (Using the example above , if the person in your home reality dies your home reality becomes reality 2. If the person in reality 2 dies then the home reality of the person from reality 2 becomes
3.)
Written by Catprog on 22 August 2004
Wait.... am I really in another reality?
You open your eyes, shielding them from the bright light as they adjust. As everything dims down, you find yourself in a small wooden shack, laying in a small bed. It isn't fancy, just a mattress to provide cushioning, and a thin blanket that doesn't do much to shield from the cold.
Pulling the sheet off, you climb out of bed and look around. The room is a little spartan. An old wooden dresser is pressed firmly against the wall to the left of the bed, barely big enough to hold more than a dozen articles of clothing, with a tiny window just above it, sun light shining through. To the right of your bed is a doorway, no door, leading to another room.
You walk over to the dressed, open it up, and to your surprise find your clothes in there. Not the clothes you'd think someone else would wear. These are the clothes you had back in your world. Same pants, shirt, socks, and underwear.
Almost immediately, you feel something's not right. Still barefoot, you walk to the other room, and find it appears to be a small living room and kitchen, a small coal stove in the corner with a metal pipe snaking out above it, through the roof. There is a small TV in another corner of the room, an old CRT box tv, like those made at the turn of the century before flat screens became common place, with a 2 seater sofa facing it directly.
Glancing around, you try to find a mirror to look into, and see one over a sink. As you approach it, the feeling of dread slowly comes over you, and as soon as your reflection comes into view, it's quickly replaced by shock.
Staring back at you, the body you are in, is yours! The exact same body you had before you jumped. Every detail, from the length and color of your hair, to the size of your feet and color of your skin, is the same. Even you're underwear is the same as before. What is going on here? Did you really jump to another reality, or is someone pulling a prank and actually shipped you off somewhere in your world? And if you did jump, did that mean there was more than one of you, other versions of you in other worlds?
Written by Universal6 on 29 March 2013
Zoo
Perhaps if the house has not changed the area outside has? Looking outside you see what used to be houses down the hill across the road has been replaced by a zoo. And not just any zoo but a large sized one. Also it seems like they are having a promotion to celebrate their grand opening.
Heading over you find that the entry is free for the first week, unfortunately most of the animals are yet to arrive. You also are handed a map and find out the hill is only the front of the zoo, the plains behind it also are now part of the zoo. There also seems to be an aquatic area, an aviary, and a reptile house. It seems this zoo will have every kind of animal imaginable, once they have arrived.
You ask the guide "What happened with the animals that has delayed them."
He sighs "Well we ran into some problems in our last location. People ended up missing and we got blamed, so the animals are still there while we set up here. Once we are settled, then we can move the animals here. What is your favorite animal by the way?"
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 18 July 2015
Dolphin
"Dolphin" you say to the zookeeper.
"Ah! We don?t have any of those yet. But if you?d like you can see the enclosure."
"Sure" you say "Is it nearby?"
She opens a door. "See for yourself. When you are ready to leave just say the word."
"Quite convenient" you say walking through "Do I have free run or only certain sections?"
"Free run of course! It will be your home after all." She says.
"What?" you say "Did you say it would be my home? What do you mean?"
She blinked. "I just misspoke. yes you have free run, let me know when you are ready to leave. Explore all you wish though."
You nod and look around , the lagoon seems a lot larger than every other enclosure. The viewing areas seem to be hidden, or perhaps you are just not looking in the right areas.
The water...the water looks so clear, so crystalline. Its a vibrant blue...it makes you want to swim.
You take off your shirt and dive in. The pool is just as clear underwater. You swim before surfacing and spot the zoo keeper on the shore waiting for you. "How many are you planning to house here?" you ask.
"Two for now. A male and a female. The male will be ready soon. The female will likely join him shortly after. We?ll expand later."
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 12 September 2015
Ask for more
"It is so big. I would think you could fit more in here then just two. I think they would be lonely with just two."
"Hmmm...that is a point. Would it make you happy to have other dolphins there?" She asked.
You nod. "I would be worried about just two. Most dolphin pods do contain more than just two after all. "
"You seem to have given this a lot of thought young man." She smiles at the sight of a discolored patch of skin on your arm.
"I just have done some research, they are my favorite animal after all."
"I think you would make a good one yourself." She said jokingly.
"Perhaps in another life. I am human in this life."
"I tell you what, go home and think on it." The Zookeeper said.
"Sure." you say " Although it would take some breakthrough in science to change people though."
She laughs. "We?ll see. Keep your eyes open on your way home. Some things are changing."
"What is so funny?" you ask.
"Let?s just say life around this town is going to be a lot...wetter." She said, and walked out.
You hop out of the water and look around and with no towel in sight, put your shirt on without bothering to dry.
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 13 September 2015
Look around the zoo
You head back out from the exhibit, and look around the zoo. It seems like you are in the aquatic section, you spot many people in the exhibits, you wave to them but it is almost like they can't see you.
You find your way to a restaurant and the waiter smiles at you. "Welcome" she says "Have you gone into an exhibit?"
You nod "The dolphins"
She nods "Sounds like you want a fish dish then."
You smile "Sure."
She comes back and places a pile of raw fish on the table. You notice that she seems to have fins for ears. You shake your head in shock. "Miss? Your ears...what's wrong with them?" You ask, ignoring your fish.
"What do you mean?" she asks.
"They are fins!"
"Thank you. Our costume designers are quite good" she says laughing.
"They look real."
She looks around before reaching up to her ears and pulling the fin off to show you. Now her ear is human. "See, costume."
"Oh.." You look to your fish as she walks away. They are definitely raw..but...you shake your head. Ewww.
Still they are free, perhaps they might be ok?
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 14 September 2015
Eat the fish
You pick up a fish and put it in your mouth, biting down...immediately you spit it out, but there was something about that tast...
You take the next one and swallow it, followed shortly by the rest of the fish on the plate. You give a burp, surprised at eating all those raw fish...speaking of eating, were your teeth a bit sharper...and did you swallow all those whole?
Your thoughts are interrupted by a beach ball bopping you on the head. "And now for the next stage of the behind the scene experience. Dolphin training" you hear as the waiter returned.
You look up and see the waiter there...in a sleek blue dolphin trainer's suit. "Ummm...why?" You ask.
"The full behind the scene experience. You get a dolphin training session as the dolphin."
"Okay...crazy lady...I'll go now." You say, standing up.
"Don't you want more fish? That is part of the session as well"
You notice her ears extending into deep blue fins again and run out in shock, grabbing a fish on the way.
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 21 September 2015
Head Home
You head out of the zoo for home. On the way home you notice your town has changed drastically. Most houses look like large fish tanks now...and in those tanks were humans...or sort of. You walk up to one of them. There is a family swimming around inside. A family with tattered clothing hanging off withering arms. Clearly becoming some kind of sharks. You gasp and recoil from the tank..these are humans....turning into animals!!! You run back to the street.
The others houses have suffered the same fate. Whales, various fish every human you see is now part aquatic creature. That must be what they meant by you being a dolphin.
But no...this can't be right. People don't just up and turn into sea creatures! This is some kind of trick. You shake your head in denial and press on.
You scratch an itch on your arm and when you feel your fingers slip on your skin you look down to see gray, rubbery skin. They really are turning you into a dolphin! Now how do you fight this?
You decide to try and get out of range of the cursed zoo. First you head to your house, you need to get some things.
Unfortunately for you when you get home you find the zoo has claimed the house. The outside of your home was now glass, and inside you can see a crystal clear pool of water taking up most of the floor...and in that pool you can see a semi gray shape.
"Star!" You cry out, bursting through the door.
The dolphin in the floor pool cries out at you , no trace of human in the voice assuming that the dolphin was her.
"Star! Is that you!?" You ask in shock. You think you can see a patch of pink on the dolphin's back but you can't be sure. And even that is fading into gray as you watch.
The dolphin calls out again at the name and splashes water at you with a flipper.
The water soaks your arm and you laugh despite yourself. The laugh is cut short when you see the gray on your arm where the water hit. The patch had covered your whole right arm. It was slick and rubbery, and was spreading! In shock you watch as your whole right arm...down to the hands is covered in the dolphin skin. Yelping, you run out.
Behind you the water drips down onto the floor , the water spreading out and enlarging the pool.
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 22 September 2015
Try to escape the zoo's range
You've seen enough zombie movies to know what is going on. Your girlfriend is an animal. And had you stayed much longer you'd be in that pool with her. You look down at your rubbery right arm in shock, the fingers are sticking together a bit. "Would it be so bad? She is your mate." A thought came, unbidden, to your mind.
"No" you say aloud and run away. Now they are trying to modify your mind as well as your body.
You decide to try and run as far as you can...but house after house proves that this zoo seems to have a huge range. What humans there are have gills, fins, or some other manner of aquatic adaptation. "You need to adapt too!" A happy voice in your mind says.
"Are you real or just a figment of my imagination" you say out loud.
"I'm you silly!" The voice says as your right hand melds together into a rubbery gray lump.
"You mean the dolphin that is taking over." you say "I have no way of telling you that I don't want to be a dolphin right?"
"No dolphin is taking over! You are a dolphin! Always have been one! Your true self was taken from you at birth!" Your right arm suddenly shrinks into your body, leaving you with a pectoral flipper.
"But we are not in water. If you turn me into a dolphin then we will be stuck."
"Stop this you business. I'm you! You have the brains to know when you need to get to water!" Now your left arm starts to gray out.
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 23 September 2015
Head away from all water
So it seems like you need to find a place nowhere near any water to stop the change. But with the zoo being full of aquatic animals where are you going to find a place that does not have any?
Your left arm has covered itself in the rubbery skin now too, and your fingers are sticking together. Looking around frantically, you see a path. Full of hope, you follow it...and come to what looks like an ocean....miles from where an ocean should be.
You look over the ocean "Why is the ocean here?"
"We are taking over the world, or at least part of it. Rather than destroy the humans we are changing them to suit" you hear behind you.
"Do you really want to fight it?" A smooth, feminine voice asks from behind you.
You turn around to see the zookeeper standing there.
"How do you know what I am thinking? Are you reading my mind?"
"Perhaps" she says "but nearly all of the creatures in the zoo felt that way."
"But I am human." you say looking her over "If I asked you to turn me back would you?"
"No...my race is reclaiming this world, using this zoo. Look at this way...we could flood the planet...but like this humans will survive in our care." She said.
"Yes but how human will we be? And what about all the other animals?"
"Well...you won't be. When you are finished it will be as if you were born an animal. As for the land animals...well...they will adapt."
"Hang on. 'Your race?' What do you mean by that? You look human." You say.
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 24 September 2015
Selkies
"We are shapeshifters. Selkies to be exact. Seals in the water, human on the land."
"But the waitress. She had blue fins. That wasn't a seal." You say, starting to panic. You are going to get out of here as soon as you find out what is going on.
"Of course not, selkies are not the only race who are working in the zoo. She is something else, possibly a siren."
A look of confusion comes over your face. "And...what exactly are you doing? All these aquatic races..what is going on?"
"We are saving the planet, Humans were damaging the environment so we are replacing them with the zoo. And by changing the humans we can keep the animals from going extinct."
Written by Cason Whitlock + Catprog on 25 September 2015