The Land Of The Imaginary

By David Nascimento Ramos

A world condemned by fire. A ship capable of returning to the past. Four young people involved in a mysterious plot of intrigue, mysteries and a parallel dimension about to reveal itself. Upon leaving a nightclub in the center of Belo Horizonte, David, Nina, Mega and Camile drive to the Fonte Grande neighborhood. Halfway through, the group is attacked by a soldier made of green energy, this one has a strange portable cannon, a laser shooter. The car avoids the energy beam, but falls into a gorge and explodes. David survives and remains in a coma for a while. When he wakes up, he realizes he is in a parallel reality where Camile is his wife, while Nina and Mega are his children and they are both seven and eight years old. Your

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Sep 24, 2024

Book preview

1

The land of the imaginary and the time machine.

2

About the work.

For me, the hardest part was accepting the idea that this work could REALLY happen. This work has all my strength, energy, creativity, willingness and inspiration. I have been planning it for a long time and looking for a way to make it real. To reflect on it, not just a story, or a fantasy saga, but also a parallel with reality. To discover that it is possible to see that: fantasy and reality go hand in hand and influence each other. Throughout the journey, this becomes very clear. But the most important thing is that this work logically reflects a lot of who I am... How I think and what I seek. Obviously. I believe in that. On the other hand, it crossed my mind to give up on it and reinvent another option. I wrote other stories, of course, but this one had to be the first, because of everything it represents. It is remarkable that, certain things, well, take a long time to mature. Like, for example, my way of writing. So... I decided to publish it solely because of its extreme importance in my life. I have been planning the sequels according to what is important to me and, above all, what is important to be said. Without further ado, I wish you all a great read.

3

Chapter one.

_____Captain, the border has been taken by the Lines. - One of the soldiers shouted up the hill to Captain Marks, who was currently checking some lists of possible missing persons.

When he heard the soldier, the captain turned and glared at him. Marks was in no mood to receive any more bad news. Since it was night, the military post was lit by crooked streetlights. Unfortunately, the light was failing due to the hailstorm that had occurred a few hours earlier. Further along the mountainous valley, there were many explosions, screams, gunfire, and tanks racing, a real war. On one side, humans and their weapons. On the other, an army of hostile drones firing green lasers at every life form they encountered. Both sides had the same goal: to destroy their adversary. The perimeter protected by the Brazilian army would soon be the target of bombardments by the machines. That is why Captain Marks had already requested an evacuation plan for the local residents. Ignoring the soldier, Captain Marks ordered:

____Send for Mr. Esteimã to come here. Urgently. I need him to lead the refugee regime.

____but sir, he was banished. - Retorted one of the new soldiers.

____Go and don't argue, if he's alive he needs to help us find her. – Marks replied.

____With all due respect sir, I don't trust him, we still have the stone. Why don't we use it? - The soldier insisted. Marks turned to him and ended his insistence.

____The stone is useless! It has some kind of magnetic interference and, if we use it, the lines will track all our hiding places through it, and

4

then it will be the end of the human race. Is that what you want? Go now, you incompetent. – Ordered the captain.

Marks was a man in his early sixties. He was rude, had calloused hands , was rigid, authoritarian and did not accept 'no' as an answer. He was a war hero, living in a time of technological apocalypse on the blue planet. Well, the soldier followed his orders, but as soon as the evacuation took place, the machines conquered that territory. The situation went from critical to desperate.

It was close to the year two thousand and thirty-five after Christ. The human resistance, somewhere in South America, bravely faced an innumerable army of flying spheres. Each one the size of a sp aceship, which flew at almost the speed of light. There were a series of openings in their surroundings, which allowed them to release machine guns, missiles, bombs and grenades. All in the form of a green laser that was highly harmful to any form of organic life. A laser that disintegrated animal and plant matter. The resistance did not fall behind and retaliated with heavy artillery. Unfortunately, the shots from the flying spheres were up to six times more powerful and destroyed cars, trucks, helicopters, fighter jets, etc. As the war grew, human beings had more and more difficulty maintaining a perimeter and... They fled further and further away.

What controlled these spheres was an artificial intelligence called: lines. No one really knows how the war started or where the invader came from, only that human beings were being exterminated. On one side, armed soldiers facing the spheres with inferior weapons trying to protect ordinary people: men, women, old people and children. On the other, the invader, not only disintegrating, but transforming everything it touches into its own copy. Little by little dominating the entire planet Earth. If all else failed, the survivors hidden in nuclear shelters had the task of continuing the human species. Training and forming the last infantry that would fight the final battle.

5

Due to the pollution caused by the spheres, the sun rarely appeared. On the other side of the continent, the spheres continued to destroy buildings and release pollutants into rivers to prevent humans from enjoying their drinking water. Almost all forests, rivers, and human civilization disappeared. The land began to dry up and die.

The war was lit up by fires caused by the explosions of cars, helicopters, tanks, jeeps, and by the lasers of weapons. In one sad episode, a bus carrying refugees was detonated by one of these sphere-ships, just a few meters from the entrance to the nuclear shelter. It was a school bus and was being used by some soldiers to rescue some children from a remote area. On the way back, a flying ship located it, fired a laser at it and blew it up. The children managed to get into the hiding place in time, but the soldiers did not. A civilian hiding among the rubble with a portable missile launcher took advantage of the opening in the side of the sphere and tried his luck. Almost thirty meters above the ground, he aimed and launched a torpedo that damaged it and knocked it down. Revenge. Then another sphere came and bombed the place where he was. All that was left was a pile of rubble, debris and ruins.

It looked like the spectacle of the end of the world, but it was real and it was happening in the distant future: full of death, screams, blood, hunger, despair and pain. A cybernetic apocalypse. A world condemned to war. All of this was just a future memory. A dream of someone who woke up at an electronic music party. A young man who wasn't much of a partygoer. As the guy woke up, reality overcame his dreams. In the end, all those images of high-tech spheres from another dimension cooled down and the young man woke up lying on a sofa. Then he felt himself being pulled by the arm by a noisy girl.

_____wake up David, get up from this sofa and come dance. – She rumbled.

6

She danced like a crazy woman. Full of bad intentions, wearing a

thickly lined skirt with a thin covering that reached her knees, colorful sandals, and loose, perfumed black hair. Her locks hit David's face so much that they seemed to suffocate him with their perfume. While she hysterically drank a lemon liqueur, her excitement did not infect David. In the middle of that dancing crowd, the awakened man only took light steps and asked himself: - How could that house fit so many people? Everyone was so crazy: drinking, dancing, using drugs and having orgies.

____come on man, it's New Year's Eve, sex, drugs, dancing... Drinks, lots of drinks, Yay, long live 2006. - She screamed, almost falling over when another guy came to get her. This one was medium-sized, with straight hair, and wearing a shirt that looked like a fishnet because of the little holes. He was some kind of new associate, a minority partner in the club. He had almost exhausted his few arguments to convince her to go home with him. When he couldn't, he grabbed her by the legs like a child and took her out that Saturday night. He was nothing more than the brother of that happy and reckless girl. Since they were brothers, David didn't say much and went out with them.

____stop being ridiculous Mega! It's New Year's Eve and I'm of legal age. – The girl retorted as she was forcibly removed from the party.

____Enough, Nina! Calm down with the clowning around, okay? – Mega shouted, fed up with the excesses of the girl in the lining skirt.

____Meguinha, Meguinha, my big brother, don't get screwed. – She cursed him, trying to hold on to him. The alcohol made her legs weak and would later cause a terrible hangover. Mega ignored this sarcastic comment and helped her get into the car. David did the same. Each of them held her by an arm and put her in the back seat.

____It's okay, I'll drive... - She said, almost tripping over her own legs, and David held her again.

7

____Of course not, you're nothing more than an alcoholic, oh, and this is the last time I'll catch you here in. - Mega vented unnecessarily. Feeling like he was making a fool of himself because of the people watching, he hurried to take her home as quickly as possible.

____What are you looking at? - David asked those who were passing by and murmuring softly.

____I don't need you for anything. - Nina attacked Mega while vomiting.

____I expected more from you David. - Mega expressed her disappointment in David. As if she partly blamed him for what happened to her sister.

David even thought about calling him a hypocrite, but decided to leave everything as it was. He got in and sat next to Nina. He buckled her in and smelled her face. Before Mega started the car, Camile, another friend of the three, showed up and asked for a ride. Mega unlocked the front door and she got in. The car sped off and in a few minutes reached the highway.

It was already past three-thirty in the morning. The four partygoers were returning from the southern part of Belo Horizonte. The streets and avenues that the car was traveling through were completely deserted. Except for a crossroads where there was a nightclub. Very close to the Fonte Grande neighborhood, the group's final destination. That night, it was packed. The order inside the vehicle was as follows: Mega was at the wheel, Camile by his side, and David and Nina in the back seat. Everyone remained silent for a moment. While David rested his head against the window, thoughtful and worried, he didn't even notice that Nina's head was resting on his shoulder. Nina was crazy. Sucking your right thumb and mumbling some affectionate phrases like 'do you love me drunk? do you love me my baby angel'? Camile thought that situation was funny. Mega getting nervous and Nina

8

getting drunk. It really was funny. The hitchhiker decided to break the silence and provoke David. In a good way, of course, but with an ironic, almost mocking tone:

____Hey David, tell me something, are you still writing about your bizarre time machine?

David didn't answer. He remained thoughtful with his head resting against the window. As Mega's anger cooled, he began to laugh

mockingly and in anticipation. He even threw a cork at David to get his attention.

_____What's up, man? – Mega asked without losing focus on driving.

Of course, Camile complained about the high speed all the time, and Mega sped up even more to make up for it. At the height of his 18 years, Nina's brother liked to live dangerously.

____They will come soon this year. - David commented indifferently to Mega and Camile.

____ them who? – Mega gave wind.

____the monsters. – David replied about the invading machines.

____ what kind of monsters? – Camile asked, holding back her laughter.

____ flying machines. –David was uninterested.

Too late, his comments provoked Camile. She couldn't resist the mockery and gave him even more ropes.

____So you're saying that these flying machines will come from the future to our time to destroy us? The other day you told me that they came from space. To me, you're contradicting yourself. You need to

9

learn to lie better, Mr. Esteimã, you need to gather the details better. To me, this is a movie, isn't it? – While Camile procrastinated, David remained silent and Mega joined in:

____oh yes, there's even a guy who builds a time-traveling device to escape the war with the machines. I think his name is Gessolou.

____If you're the one who's going to create them, then just don't do it and the world won't end. But if they come from another world then... - Camile tried to be reasonable with David's cinematic schizophrenia and asked another question as the car turned a curve towards an overpass.

____You once told me that you suspected that they were just a transport for something much bigger. Well, if they are transport machines, how can they be weapons of war? Are they both or not? – Camile continued to decipher David's stories.

____ Go easy on him, Camile. David is a special guy. – Mega realized that David was not interested in discussing his own inventions with unbelievers. Unfortunately, David opened his mouth.

____ may seem like a joke to you, but when they come, they will destroy the entire world you know. You have no idea what is about to happen! – For David, this matter was closed, but Mega would never realize it.

Who told you that? Was it the Messiah? Nina's brother blasphemed, almost bursting out laughing.

As they sped across a bridge, at the moment David was twirling a few locks of Nina's hair as a sign of affection and intimacy, Camile felt a chill. Nina, who was sleeping on her thirteenth sleep, wouldn't even notice what was happening next. The moment David kissed her, she didn't even notice that the car had lost control and skidded on two wheels. This happened when Mega swerved to avoid a sphere of green

10

light the size of a soccer ball. It appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly. It passed by, energized, grazing the left window of the Palio. A shot came from the end of the bridge. Fired by a guy made of green energy carrying a futuristic gun in one hand. Everything was very difficult to identify. It happened so fast that in a matter of seconds, all they felt was the car tumbling down the hill and exploding.

____emergency, emergency, call Dr. Fausto in room 35 urgently. – Said one of the nurses, helping two other doctors carry the accident survivor.

That was all David heard as he was wheeled out on a stretcher. His body felt tingling and his head hurt. Lying on a hospital cart, his eyes were dazzled by the overhead lights. Because of the injection, he could no longer feel his numb arms and legs. David spent a few weeks in the hospital, unconscious for most of that time. Little was known about his friends Mega and Camile and his girlfriend Nina. David did not know if they were alive or dead. Fortunately, he hardly suffered because he does not remember much of that night.

11

Chap. 2.

NEW LIFE.

It looked like a scene from a science fiction movie. A future with no future. Full of ruins and decomposing human bodies. Thrown into the avenues, destroyed by the nuclear radiation that the Spal- Lines extracted from themselves. These were those who did not adapt to the neural control program. People that the Lines were unable to transform into their own copies. Since the Lines were a biological virus that was harmful to organic life forms, not everyone accepted it. Those who died continued to be thrown into the alleys, streets, lakes and bridges. It was an inhumane and cruel scene. The greenish radiation came out through the pores of the skin, nostrils and ears of the corpses.

The Lines not only killed humans, but also learned from them. Within a few months of the invasion beginning, they had accurately assumed human form. They even infiltrated humans, but humans were not the only threat to this homicidal artificial intelligence. Its creator was also a potential target. The world was no longer safe, neither day nor night. A patrol of flying ships, with long-range laser and infrared precision weapons, constantly monitored the sky. On the ground, soldiers made of greenish energy hunted down any human life, transforming it into themselves or destroying it. The Spallines formed a holographic headquarters, where they communicated loudly, once they had become loud enough. There were three Lines forces: Snil, Still and Smil. Two of them, Snil and Still, were in favor of continuing with the human extermination plan, but Smil changed sides:

____Humans are a biological threat to this planet, and any evidence of their existence must be eliminated so that we can safely open the passage to the land of the imaginary.

12

____My calculations indicate that we already have almost eighty percent of the necessary force. - Still informed .

____We shouldn't focus on fighting the resistance, after all they can't do anything else, but my calculations indicate that there is a lot of interference from the other side. – informed Smil having a soft spot for humanity.

____are the writers, they are trying to block our passage to wing 29. - concluded Snil.

____Let's continue with the project. Sooner or later, they won't be able to resist and will give in. – Snil was very accurate.

Then the holographic meeting ended and each force returned to its original task.

The Lines were building a nuclear-powered temporal and dimensional displacement device. The goal of this ambitious project was to allow them to escape to another dimension and conquer it. The Lines, like any other AI, are in a constant process of evolution. Something that planet Earth could no longer offer because it was condemned to fire. It would probably take about two years to complete the project. Until then, humans would continue to suffer the devastating effects of this war.

Smil, Still and Snil were the trinities of extraterrestrial software (sometimes they mixed, sometimes they separated). It wouldn't take long for them to take control of almost all the remaining available technology on the planet. If the project to cross over to the imag inary land failed, they had a plan B which consisted of: creating a shield around the world. The consistency of this second measure was to eventually restore what they themselves had damaged and start a new civilization. Invading aliens, using human science to perfect their own science. They feared almost nothing. Except a mystical stone with

13

unlimited energy. It was missing. With it, the lines could accelerate the development of the dimensional portal. Thus, the two-year time for the passage to the imaginary land would be reduced to a few hours. For the human resistance, it could be the key to expelling all this extraterrestrial pariah and putting an end to this suffering. If the stone were calibrated to the right frequency, its power would reach all the machines on the planet. He would erase all software and dissolve its emergency protocols. Both the lines and the resistance were looking for her day and night. Whoever found her first would win the war. As much as this entire parallel situation seemed real, it was still all happening only in the head of young David Esteimã. For those who hear him tell it, it is just a fabrication, for him, a revelation. A prophecy. A glimpse of a possible future.

The war, the artificial trinity, the dark night, the flying spheres, all of this was nothing more than a terrible nightmare. A dream of a man who woke up scared. His eyes opened after a difficult night. Even after having slept so much, he was very tired. Wrapped in white sheets, in a double bed, with a woman in a light blue nightgown, white skin, curly and perfumed hair passing over her face. David recognized her by her rounded nose: it was Camile.

Camile looked to be about thirty years old. Very different from the 17 - year-old girl he knew. She woke up sleepy and happy. She stretched, opening her arms and looking at him tenderly. Her soft, delicate skin was everything David had ever wanted. While the electronic alarm clock showed about seven thirty-something hours, the calendar on his cell phone and the one on the wall showed the first of the nine of two thousand and fifteen. Besides Camile, she was the first object David noticed.

____Good morning, my love - Camile yawned as she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't know what to do when she touched him. He, in his mid-thirties, only noticed her mature appearance when he looked

14

at the reflection in the side mirror. While she slowly got out of bed, David only thought about the night the Palio he was with her fell off a viaduct or cliff; precisely when it was attacked by green light balls. Green energy balls with the same destructive power as army rockets. It was Saturday and so there wouldn't be many professional commitments. Soon two mischievous children, with white goose feather pillows (or something similar), entered the room, jumping on the bed and making a racket. A girl and a boy, about 7 to 9 years old. They were celebrating their father's birthday that Saturday. A date they imposed as: international pillow fight day.

____Hey, hey, hey Nina and Mega. How many times do I have to tell you that you shouldn't go into Mommy and Daddy's room without asking? – Camile instructed.

Little Nina, all naughty, ignored her mother's boring lectures about good behavior and continued to give pillows. Everyone was giving pillows to everyone. Little Mega was the one who received the most. David was not very excited about the game, he was emotional. With tears in his eyes, he hugged his children for a moment. Although he was not very convinced that they were his children, only now did he notice the similarities. Until breakfast time, he did not understand a thing of what was happening. It was as if his life before the accident was just a dream. - Why do I remember the accident and Camile does not? - he thought to himself.

While the children ran around the table and Camile always scolded them with an air of little interest, David remained motionless at the table. Conflictedly thoughtful. With some documents in his hands, a badge that said his name was David Esteimã and that he worked as a robotics design director at a multinational company. There was an address, telephone number and an electronic diary. His shift started at nine thirty in the morning. Normally on weekdays, work starts at seven o'clock due to the numerous meetings:

15

____I want to give me that... - Little Nina made a mess as she tried to pull the blender cup with half an avocado smoothie out of Mega's hands. Mega pulled it away, throwing a tantrum : ____Let go of that, you silly girl! I saw it first.

It turned out that the vitamin spilled all over the floor and that really irritated Camile:

____look what you did! Come back here and clean this pigsty, or I'll call your father...

David's indifference caught Camile's attention, who sat down in the chair next to him and tried to start a conversation:

____You've been having nightmares again, haven't you? My love. Look at me. – Camile started a morning conversation.

Why did you marry me? David asked immediately, but he couldn’t accept the reality that was presented to his eyes. As gratifying as it was, David felt a pang in his heart.

____What's up, are we going to discuss the relationship now? I thought you hated this. –Camile noticed her husband's discomfort.

____I discovered their secret. – David shared.

____whose? If it's a work matter, it should stay at work, right? - Camile made it easier, reminding him of her own rule. Work and personal life don't mix. David was left with no way out:

____They intend to absorb almost all the energy on the planet to cross the border, but... There is resistance on the other side as well. – David was very vague when it came to the lines.

____I understand. I think I'll call Dr. Kila and we'll reschedule new appointments. You must be overworked. It can't hurt, can it? It's

16

always good to have an outside opinion about our relationship. – Camile finished, misunderstanding everything.

____ why? – David asked, not liking to expose his life to third parties.

____It has worked very well so far. Doctor Kila is an excellent professional and has my complete trust. – Camile was surprised by David's reaction.

____kila?

____ Yes, Kila, your friend from school. Don't you remember that you were the one who recommended her to guide us? - Camile's comment left David very intrigued. He was really curious to see this Kila of this dimension, up close.

For now, he was content to go to the corporation where he works to learn more about his life. Maybe there was some clue there that would help him shed light on all this madness. Feeling like an intruder in his own home, he had to take some action. For David, there were two possible explanations. Either he had gone completely crazy and created an imaginary past, lived before the accident with the Palio, or someone was playing a trick on him. One thing he was sure of: The lines certainly had something to do with all this.

Before leaving through the kitchen door, dressed in a suit, tie, pants and dress shoes, he said goodbye to Camile. – I hope I can see you again as soon as all this is over. – he thought uncertainly. With a suitcase in his hands, at the entrance to the garage before getting into the vehicle, he decided to ask his wife something very important. He made a gesture as his courage crumbled. She gave him an unexpected kiss and then went inside.

17

____Hey, wait a minute,