The Masked Historian Part 1(Troya)

“Zepllin*! (*Amazing!”)

I sat in my chair sitting around a cozy campfire with my head embedded in a book. The warmth caressed my skin as my mind began to diverge deeper into the world of my novel. A book from a distant time about a distant past that has already come. I stroked the pages with my fingers as they danced across the words. I could feel my toes ball up in excitement as I read along.

“Zepllin!” I repeated myself. This was a thing I’ve been doing a lot recently.

However, could you blame me? Ever since I was a cub, I’d always been interested in books. The ability to allow you to pull yourself into a new world through reading was always something I found……. What’s the word that people used back in the day? Intriguing! Yes!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Augmented Reality! Hell! Even VR! Yes, those do exist. However, there has always been a feeling I could get from books that AR and VR can’t provide. It’s a suspenseful feel that I love. The slow-burning feel as the story progresses and reaches a climax, and then dives into its resolution. Don’t get me wrong, AR and VR can still do that, but there is a problem. AR and VR can be to…… its hard to explain.

Have you ever been so disgusted by something that the mere thought of it makes you sick? Makeshift reality is kinda like that. It's like no matter which one I’m in, I’ve grown a complete disgust towards it. I can now always tell when it's fake no matter when or where I am.

I’m not the only one who noticed either….. however, I AM one of the few. One of the few who wants to spend time in the real world. To experience real things, real people, and to live a real life. However, you can’t really do that if you have so many ‘drones’ plugged in.

I yawned and looked up from my book. I was sitting in a “dugout” reading area. I was at the Lunar Library of Human History. It was known for being a galactic landmark and bank for all recorded historical human history. The library was made recently around a hundred years ago and at a time it was once one of the more popular places to visit in New Luna City… my home.

However, like all things in the real world this place was digitized and the people who once came returned to “droning”. Plugged into the a fake reality instead of enjoying the company of this beautiful library.

“To bad,” I said aloud, “More books for me.”

I gleefully closed my book and looked around. “Frenzk*-(*Damn),” I thought, “Where is he?”