arms full of sound
Ambientia I
I arrived at Gate Alpha much ahead of time on the eve of departure for Ambientia. This mysterious destination has always been haunting me since my discovery of its existence late last year. Now was my chance to visit this place, and discover what the allure has always been.
Upon boarding the vessel that would take me on the journey, I was greeted by a rather interesting fellow. His name escapes me now, but he had a peculiar gleam in his eyes when he greeted me. He was not sinister by any means, rather the depth of his eyes showed me that he knew much more about Ambientia than most travelers. I was shown to my seat and told to prepare for departure.
The engines of this great vessel roared with great force. All wishes of this trip became real with the vibrations caused by the force of take off. This time it was real. Not some re-broadcast of music from Ambientia, no. This time I was really going to get there.
As we left the bounds of the atmosphere, strange lights started to appear outside my window. I was reminded of the stories of old where alien space craft were known to have been blamed for such a phenomenon. This, however, was not the case. These lights were similar to the Borealis seen on Earth, except streaking along-side the craft. As our speed picked up, the light streaks got longer and changed colour at a more rapid rate. Then, with a sudden boom, the lights were gone and outside was all black.
As I attempted to locate a point of reference out my window, familiar music flowed from the sound system inside the vessel. The sounds of Ambientia - the music that got me here in the first place. Giving up on trying to understand the physics of this journey, I turned to the music that was playing. I reclined my chair, closed my eyes, and let the music take me the rest of the journey.
That was almost a month ago. I am now on Ambientia. How I got here is still a mystery to me. When the music ended, I woke to find myself lying in a bed in a room by the sea. The air here is warm and fresh. My attempt to find the other travelers on the journey has been fruitless. It seems that the sales desk at the facility where I booked the trip was right - each traveler has their own unique experience to Ambientia. I suppose that this extends to each traveler's experience within Ambientia. I have not even been able to find the craft that took me here.
Could Ambientia be a state of mind rather than an actual place? I think that this could not be so, as everything here is real to the senses. I am actually here. As I explore the land around me, I am more aware that everything here is real, yet I am the only person in this place.
During my explorations of the south shore, yesterday (assuming that days are the same here as on Earth), I came across an odd device that looked somewhat familiar. This device has an LED readout on it, several buttons and an array of piano-like keys on it. When I touched some of the buttons, the unit powered up for a moment then shut off. I have not been able to get it to turn back on since. I think I saw a device similar to this used by the musical presenter last December. He played an array of these devices, and made extraordinary sounds with them. I wonder if I will be able to make this device work.
I will write again when I have the chance. I hope that this letter gets to you - I'm not even sure if I can find a way of sending it. Ambientia is truly a different place. It's almost a state of mind wrapped around a physical entity. Everything I do here is real. The air, sand, water, food, it all is real. Also, since this morning, I have heard faint passages of music in the air. I hope that I can get more to you as I explore this land.
- The Traveler
October 2, 2004
Journey to Ambientia
