What is Paradise?
There are many excerpts from Paradise stories on this blog, so here’s a little explanation! If you want a more in-depth look at one of the characters, check out the Paradise page on Sybil Profiler Manager, which can be easily reached through my blogroll on the main page. As always, please keep in mind that this is in fact copyrighted material.
It is a commonly accepted fact throughout all twelve of the known inhabited galaxies that life is, in general, a complete and total waste of time. Nothing is ever perfect, and even the things that seem to come close prove to be about as far from perfect as you can get if you look at them too long. The “perfect” summer day is inevitably shadowed by unexpected fume-soaked hail or a cloud of ferocious blood-sucking Barlokian swamp gnats. The beautiful rain ends right before you plan to go walk in it, or the reservations at the famous Nova Restaurant orbiting Galaxion VI that took you so long to get are bumped because the highly successful band Rolling Universe just happens to show up and request your table.
No, life is never what the universe generally wants or expects it to be. It is impossible to change life.
It is not impossible to change the universe.
That is why, on the crossroads between the Milky Way and the intergalactic warp that connects it to the other eleven galaxies, there is a spaceport. It is not newly built, but it is tastefully maintained. It has an understated yet effective weapons defense system, a wide docking bay circling its middle like Saturn’s rings for ships of any shape or kind and all in all, everything looks very neat and well kept. Except for the sign: an ancient, neon-lit affair from the 25th century that sheds bright blue light on the ships that park below it. This sign, however, is the only indication of this average spaceport’s true identity. In bright blue, flowing letters, the sign has proclaimed this place’s name to thousands of anxious beings from the twelve galaxies who have come here seeking to change their universe because they have found that they cannot change their lives.
The sign is just one word: Paradise
The five-person staff of Paradise use Neurological Reality Programming to create virtual worlds inside people’s heads. Customers pay for short visits, vacations, and even their entire lives. The price is steep, but most consider it well worth it.
During their stay in Paradise, customers reside in pods, hooked up to a central interface that feeds them their hand-chosen and individually-designed desired reality. Some customers have even used this technology to relive memories or dreams.
