Opening Credits

Early June, Thebes, Santa Ana, Warren.

The final days of spring draw ever nearer. The sun is beginning to shine and carve its heat into the bodies of the citizens of the area. Of course, everyone here is already getting prepared for the summer period, the best time of year in this part of Santa Ana.

The locals here enjoy spicy food usually all year-round, but for the period of summer, where the heat doesn't allow them the comfort of spicy, sour and or salty foods. It's a preference, yes, but it's one the people here enjoy and all share.

To the western part of town, there is a small family of five, living in a one-story building, in a relatively good-looking neighborhood. They have two cars, the family vehicle, and an attractive sedan parked in the garage, used solely by the father.

In this family, known by legally and by everyone on this street as the Moreno family, there are three children. The mother and father are named Annabelle and Jafet Moreno respectively, and in descending order, the kids are Diego, Javier and the youngest and most problematic of the bunch, Reuben. They have a cat, a Sioux, aptly named Peanut Butter, or PB for short. PB is often seen as Reuben's responsibility, since the cat has a higher affinity with him than it does other members of the household.

Most often during the day, our Moreno family are out with work, The father, Jafet working for an advertising company in the upper crusts of Santa Ana. Annabelle works as an accountant at a large bank's local branch in Thebes, Diego is an intern at an architectural firm, and Javier is a Sou Chef at a restaurant downtown. The baby of the house, Rue, as he is fondly called, is still a high school second year, and when he does return home early, he does so because he has nothing better to do, but more on that later. He is usually only accompanied at home by PB, who prefers to sit in his laps and do nothing while Rue plays video games.

The family seems normal, I believe you think so, right? That might be true, to a degree.

For all intended purposes, the protagonist is, in fact, the baby of the household, Reuben. I, as the narrator of this story, choose to acknowledge this fact, even though I consider Diego and Annabelle interesting characters as well. As one is a high-functioning depressive and the other a staunch Christian believer, respectively so. The latter being a rather intricate topic in the setting, as Thebes, and Santa Ana as a whole, is a very religious district.

The Moreno family is a regular family in the eyes of society, and though no one family is well and truly regular, they follow the societal norms of regularity, making them effectively, an inconspicuous family.

It's a Saturday morning on Gourdes Street. The eastern winds are blowing, the neighborhood pets are unusually quiet, and the sedan in the garage of the Moreno family screeches out loudly, disrupting the peace of the morning.

"Your father's gone for the rest of the weekend. I'll also have to leave for the day as well..." Annabelle instructs Reuben, as Diego walks right by her.

"Later, Mom." He says, opening the door and walking right out.

"Bye, honey. Anyway, Rue, I've got a meeting with the regional manager in Missionary Bay, so I won't return until late evening tomorrow." She instructs her last child who is only half-paying attention and is half-sleeping, with PB tangled around his legs. "So, no high school boy stuff."

"Don't you need friends to do that?" Javier walks out of the kitchen with a plate of eggs and bacon in one hand and steaming-hot coffee in the other.

"Ha, very funny, Javi." Reuben replies, the statement prompting an answer from the half-awake side of him.

"It's fine, Mom. I'll be back tomorrow morning..." Javier says. "So even if he does high school stuff, I could help clean up before you get back." He walks into the living room, keeping his dish on the center table before switching on the TV.

"Thank you, Javier. Always so thoughtful." she smiles at her second son. "Donna from church will be coming over later today to get something I promised her. It's on the dining table in an envelope. And I don't want to hear that you skipped church tomorrow."

"But aren't you also skipping church as well? Why do I have to get punished for something you'll do as well?" Reuben asks, the annoyance seems to have woken him up completely as he picks up PB and strokes his fur lightly.

"No excuses mister. you've got chores to do, remember? Get to it." She says, picking up her bag and slinging it over her left arm, before striding out elegantly through the door.

Reuben sighs and walks tiredly up the stairs that he was forced to descend and Javier walks out of the living room behind him.

Now, it's only just 7 a.m. on a Saturday. While most other families would either just be on their way to waking up or still mostly sleeping soundly, everyone, besides Reuben, in this house, is already done with their various duties and have started moving around.

It doesn't take very long before Reuben is on his bed once more, though PB joins him on the bed this time around, purring silently while leaning on his back. He falls back into a brief slumber, keeping the knowledge that his cat is right beside him, so he won't be asleep for long.

Reuben lifts his head from off the floor. He isn't surprised at all at the sudden change in sleeping positions, seeing as he was on his bed a few seconds ago. He's been here before.

He's been here a lot.

The room seems to have changed into a hallway, with doors on both sides, extending deep into the horizon, lit by cyberpunk-neon lighting.

He walks down the hallway, as the further he walks, the further away the end of the hallway gets from him. He continues walking, still feeling nothing from this eerie experience. A door opens, and a boy looking like him, but with the hair and eye colors inverted, waltzes out.

"Welcome back, Master Reuben..." The doppelganger says.

"I was wondering where you went all of a sudden, Io." Reuben replies.

"Just doing some routine checks around the corridor." the boy says.

"Guess the fact that it's the infinity corridor doesn't help much with the day-to-day running of this place."

"Nah, I like it. Master's mind is so ever expanding, that I see new things, new people and characters each day."

"If only you were in the real world with me..." Reuben mutters under his breath.

"What?" Io asks.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

The two walk around the corridor, talking about Io's experiences with other 'residents' in the corridor, and Reuben's misfortunes with his school life and family.

Eventually, Reuben decides to say his goodbyes with Io and leave the corridor by returning to the point he woke up at. He waves at his doppelganger and slowly disappears as a bright white light envelops him.

Reuben promptly awakens in the real world, where his cat has been meowing at his face for what seems to be a while now. He gets up to check the time.

"12:30!!" He says in shock, as he notices the blindingly bright and hot rays of the Santa Ana Saturday Spring sunlight beam its way into his room.

He gets up and starts with his chores, cleaning his room, brushing his teeth, cleaning the living room, the kitchen and the 1st and 2nd hallways, before mowing the lawn and then taking a bath.

After all of this, amazingly, the time is only just 1:45. He goes into the kitchen to make himself lunch when the doorbell rings.

"Coming!" He yells from the kitchen, stuffing a loaf of bread into his mouth, and runs back upstairs into his parents' room, where he finds an envelope, right where his mother said it would be, on the desk drawer next to her bed.

He skittles back down the stairs, the piece of bread already half-eaten and runs to the door, where he consumes the bread loaf entirely before opening it.

When he does do it, he sees that his instincts were right on target. It's Donna from church, who is also Reuben's classmate. "Here you go." He says bluntly to her before even looking at her. She takes it and he makes to close the door before she stops him by saying "Um...Are you coming to church tomorrow?".

He turns back to look at her. She's taller than him, has bright blue eyes as a contrast to his cloudy grey eyes, her lips are pursed, her skin is a few steps from being pale, and her long-black hair goes past her shoulders and reaches her lower back.

"Don't know." He sighs. "Anything else?"

She looks at a loss for words. "I don't know...U-Um, do you have anyone over?"

"No." He says, with a still, emotionless look on his face. "My parents say 'no high school boy stuff,' Whatever that means..."

"Oh. okay then." She says, a wry smile forming at the corner of her lips.

"Do you, like, I don't know, want to keep talking? The sun is pretty hot."

"Yeah. I don't mind, really."

"But I've got some food in the microwave waiting for me, as well as Monday's test to prepare for, so I'd really appreciate it if you really just said whatever you want to say so I can get on with my day..." Reuben says.

The smile disappears. "I'm sorry. I'll leave you to it." She says, and as soon as she completes her sentence, Reuben shuts the door on her, leaving her shocked.

He takes his re-heated omelet from the oven and a can of Mountain Drop before heading back upstairs where PB is lying on his bed, waiting patiently for him.

He sits on his chair, keeping the food on his desk. PB jumps off the bed to meet him and cuddle. He takes a pair of notes out of his backpack and a textbook with a text written very boldly, 'CALCULUS'.

"I wonder if I was being too cold to her..." he says to himself as PB starts meowing while walking between his legs.

Nah, she deserved it. The thought comes so clearly that it doesn't feel like a thought, but someone else talking.

He turns around to see Io, the caretaker of the infinity corridor that he'd met earlier.

"What about the corridor?" He asks.

What about it? Never mind that, what was her deal? Io asks, deflecting.

"I don't know. It seemed like she wanted to hold a conversation with me."

Why now? She alienated you like the rest of your schoolmates did. She's been here on multiple occasions as well, why is it today, of all days, that she chooses to talk to you?

"Maybe because I am alone today?"

Master, you're alone everyday at school. If private time is what she wanted with you, I'm positive she could've found a way to make it work. But no! Io's tone changes into anger.

"Whoa...why so angry?"

She clearly is afraid of association with you. If she wanted to talk with you at length, she could, anytime, like i said, you are almost always by yourself. But she's more concerned with keeping her image than she is with befriending you.

"Again, why are you mad? You're not getting hurt by their actions, I am."

You're wrong. I'm your creation. therefore, I feel what you feel. particularly when I'm outside the corridor.

"I guess you have a point."

I say, avoid her, Master. She's probably going to be more trouble than she's worth. People like her are quick to judge and very quick to deny association.

"You're probably right. Can you go away now? I've got a test on Monday, and I don't want to fail any more than I have to."

Don't worry about it, master. I know you've got this. Io says and disappears.