Me, Myself, & Feynman

By Ben Wentworth

It started as a simple enough day, but when a shimmering stranger appears from nowhere, Tristan soon finds himself wrapped up in a bizarre game with eleven of his friends. Trapped, the group must defeat a mysterious boss in the center of the map if they ever hope to leave. However, the path to victory is littered with pitfalls they cannot foresee nor plan for as their journey progresses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ben Wentworth
• Release date: Jun 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310806285

Ben Wentworth

Ben Wentworth began writing at the age of 12 when his grandparents gave him a Macintosh 7600 they no longer used. Quickly discovering the power of the written word, Ben has crafted a variety of short stories, essays, and poems for himself and others to enjoy. He is an avid enjoyer of all things fun and interesting.

Book preview

It started as a simple enough day in a simple enough place with a simple enough person. I sat in my bedroom reading my favorite creepypastas and my email. Again, a simple day. Then I felt it.

Here is where I give some context. I have never experienced a hallucination, nor have I taken any drugs. I was not even ‘cool’ enough to receive an offer to partake in any had I wanted to try them, but that is beside the point. I am also not crazy, though what crazy means is still up for debate. Finally, what I am about to write here is completely true. This did happen to me and is the best I can recollect. Some details are still fuzzy, but the reasons why will become clear as you read on, dear reader.

I felt it. I knew that somehow it had come entered my house, come up the creaky, wooden stairs outside my bedroom, and opened the door without me hearing it. It had been standing behind me for about ten seconds before I turned and saw it. It was the queerest thing I have ever seen. It was human-shaped, yet it had no shape. It glittered and shimmered without brightness, a shadow made of light. The colors throughout its surface were clear. Rainbows danced across its 2-dimensional self and shifted beneath its transparent skin. It had no features, but I could tell it was looking at me. I did not feel scared in the moment. I was more surprised than frightened.

After a tense second of looking each other over, it seemed to remember something. It reached into a pocket on its backside and offered me the procured disc. I took it, but could not pull my eyes from my shimmering guest. I was mesmerized. I stared at him for a good five seconds, as he stood erect before me. Finally, he turned to my bedroom mirror, glanced in it, looked back to me, and vanished.

I questioned my sanity a few moments before I realized I still had the disc. Upon first glance, it was a blank piece of media. A circle of silver waited to be etched with data. I knew then what it was. It was a fresh start. My greatest adventure had begun.

I cannot say I fully comprehended what it was or what it would do. I could not explain it if I had to. As a lover knows their other half has died, like child know they have a twin they have never met. I knew that this disc was going to start a grand journey. I needed help.

I burned copies of the disc and passed them to friends along with explicit instructions that they not run the discs until a certain time and date that weekend. We met via an online chat session and all prepped the discs at once. My friend Evelyn sat in my room with me. My best friend since the third grade, Ben, was in his bedroom across town. Long-time confidant Eric was in his dorm room at a private college in the mountains. Chris and Aaron sat alone in their parent’s house in the countryside. Close-friend Kate sat in her dorm at the local university. Ryan was in his living room just up the road from my house. Nik had just returned to his out-of-state college and had found a quiet break between study sessions to meet us all. Obi had a break in his ROTC training and could be online awhile. Sarah skipped a group meeting. Jon’s wife was out of town and he was curious as well. They all signed in to the group at 7pm on that Saturday with no idea what the twelve of us were getting into.

It turns out I did not either.

On cue, we opened our copies of the disc. Our screens turned black, and then nothing happened.

Sarah finally broke the silence Hey all, do you have that blinking light on your screens.

Ben chimed in, Yeah, it looks like a POST cursor...which is odd because we’re still online...it pretended to reboot our systems. It may be a virtual machine launching and they’re all getting ready to startup...it should have launched by now. He tapped a few keys. That’s odd.

What? We all asked at once, my poor phone’s speaker nearly blew out.

I can type still...it’s not POST, it’s the command console...a danged strange one too. It’s not got a prompt or anything, just the cursor. Hey all, type ‘run’ and then hit enter okay?

We did what Ben suggested. On a count of three we all hit enter at once, and then Nothing happened.

Ryan broke the silence, Hey all, it just got really dark outside my room. He was right. I had not noticed it but there was Nothing outside my windows. Then each other person chimed in as well.

Yep, same here. What’s going on... an eclipse? Chris asked as I walked to my bedroom door. I opened it knowing what would be out there, but not yet believing it. There was Nothing. Pure, empty black space sat in front of me. Evelyn and I were sitting in our own little universe, as were the ten others people who had run the disc.

Tristan! Eric’s booming voice broke the silence and crackled over the speakers. What in the heck just happened? Everyone proceeded to relay their concerns as well as we realized that we were all alone in this place. We were still connected by some odd property of the disc and our little universes’ internet, but still alone.

Wait a second, I’m seeing something, Nik hollered. Evelyn saw it too. She pointed out my window at a glow in the distance.

Jon’s casual demeanor remained unphased, Hold onto your butts. He murmured as the glow intensified rapidly.

With a lurch, a new universe was born, and we all knew the rules for this one. We were on a board. It was a twelve-sectioned, circular chessboard with a black castle occupying the central section. Our job? Kill the ruler of that castle and the craft a new universe as we saw fit. Again, I do not know how we knew this simply that we knew. There was a creature, a Boss, that needed killing if we ever wanted to leave this place.

To defeat this boss we needed three things. Weapons, skills, and experience in battle. The first came easily enough. The other two would drive us to extremes we never expected.

Ben’s voice broke me out of the realization. You guys need to come out and see this place! Evelyn and I paused by my door.

Ryan’s voice came over the speakers. There’s so many buildings...is this Rome? It looks like it.

What? No, I’m by a Stonehenge thing. It must be England. Chris replied.

As the reports came in it became apparent that each of us were in a differently shaped part of the world. My Dali-esque realm was just one of twelve slices of pie that encircled the black tower at the center of the world. Each appeared somehow based on our personality and embodied an aspect of us that we held dear.

I forget who said it, but we realized that meeting together and moving through this place as a group would be far better than moving as single individuals. Any animals out there could easily overpower us and kill us. None of us wanted to live in a Michael Crichton novel…or die in one for that matter.