December 30, 2020
Why did I stay listening? How did I fail to resist all this nonsense? I couldn’t convince myself to believe in Dave or the existence of Dave. All of it resembled a rather average TV show with hidden cameras somewhere. Nevertheless, I made an effort to repress the growing bad feeling that this time I had overdone it and was now paying the price by loosing my mind. I was confused, for sure, and therefore allowed myself to become obsessed with finding out what this mission was all about, in order to stop my mind from playing games with me. I only had to pretend to accept the mission. Besides, it felt that backing down now was a bit too late.
As far as everyone in the office could remember, Planet N was never as densely populated as the First Planet. The reason for this was not only the climate but, according to unofficial gossip, because Planet N itself was partially responsible for who lived within its territory. Although this responsibility seemed quite limited to their understanding, it was, in fact, very active and real. For example, Planet N had an unexplained tendency to choose and invite inhabitants from Planet 1. All those invitations fell into the category of accidental, unforseen and out of the blue for the recipients. They meant a huge change, a significant chance, and a big move. However, one could never precipitate it or become ready or worthy in any way. It also meant a one-way ticket. Everyone was allowed or felt free to refuse it; nobody was obliged to accept it or try to talk themselves into it. The invitation was something like a mutual connection, although it was something very very rare – maybe once or twice in a generation.
Most of the time, the inhabitants of the First Planet would feel an urge to leave for Planet N. If they succeeded (which was not always the case), they were still considered chosen by Planet N. Not only because the urge was attributed to the Planet’s calling, but also because not everyone who wanted to relocate there was received and authorized. To prevent it from becoming just a holiday destination, Planet N had no prohibitions or bans. Instead, its network of entrances had some kind of immaterial filters. These filters would let the chosen ones through and would make the rest give up any attempt at trespassing. Mostly, what they saw in their minds during the moment at the filters would make them give up voluntarily on their first attempt.