The Infinite Vale

Today was August 25th, 2025. For most people this day started off just like any other day. All of the younger kids heading to school. Adults heading into work. No one suspecting that their entire way of life was about to change.

*Bang Bang Bang*

Roux shot up out of bed. His mom was pounding on his door again. "Roux are you up yet? I need help setting up my account for the podcast I'm guest speaking on this afternoon. Plus, you need to find a job!" She never let him sleep in anymore, not since he had left college.

He had spent almost 3 full years studying Engineering. He was neither good nor bad at it. He didn't "wow" any of his professors but he certainly didn't do poorly either. He didn't find any of it enjoyable like he thought that he would. Finally, the thought had caught up to him. Could he really spend the rest of his life doing this?

That was the easiest question he had answered since starting.

No!

There was not a single way he could or would continue down this path. Yet, he had not a single idea of what he wanted to do. So like any college drop out he had moved home with his parents. At first they were supportive and understanding. After all the student loans were in his name. It wasn't a waste of their money or time. Being from a small town had caught up to him. Moving home in the middle of the semester left most of the entry level jobs in town taken. Now he was driving 30+ mins just to barely make enough to cover gas and that's only if he got hired. It had been 3 months now with nothing but a part time job to try and get by.

As he rolled out of bed he could see himself in the mirror. He wasn't anything special. Just short of 6 feet tall. 175 pounds with an average build. He had tried to stay active with his free time but he wasn't seeing any actual results. The only two features that stood out was his hair being slightly tinged red and his eyes being as blue as sapphires. Because of these two features that stood apart he was at least not a complete failure in the dating world in college.

Roux took a few minutes to get his mind and body to wake up before finally getting dressed. He put on his usual basketball shorts and T-shirt before heading to his mom's office to give her a hand.

As Roux entered his Mom's office he heard his phone going off with an emergency alert type sound. At that same moment he also heard a similar alarm from his Mother's phone. Being curious as to what would set off both of their phones he casually pulled it out not expecting much.

***The President of the United States will be giving an urgent press conference in 5 minutes time. It is imperative that all citizens view this live broadcast if able.***

After Roux had read the message he took some time to read it again. "This cannot be good at all. Please don't tell me we're going to war. I really don't want to end up drafted." Roux had muttered this sentence without even realizing it.

"Well if you had stayed in school then you wouldn't have had to worry about that as much would you?" His mother hadn't missed a beat and reminded him of his choice. "I guess we should wait to set this up since we still have time anyway."

Roux simply nodded his head and headed to the living room. His mom took up her usual spot on the couch as Roux filed in next to her. When they had turned on the tv it was already counting down till the start of the broadcast. "That's weird your dad was watching sports last why would the broadcast be on there and not a news channel?"

As Roux's mother flipped thru the channels every single station had the exact same countdown. Both parties were at a complete loss for words. How could the take over all of the cable channels at the same time. This must be huge news!

The timer slowly reached the last few seconds and neither Roux or his mother had any guesses as to what could be going on.

As the clock reached zero there was no ball dropping or happy New Years as one was accustomed to. A man in his early 50's was shown wearing a nice suit and tie sitting at his desk in the Oval Office.

"Good morning my fellow Americans. Today marks a historic day for us. Not us as Americans but as Humans. Recently a device was invented by a group of scientists spanning a large number of nations."

It was at this moment that the president seemed to need a pause. He picked up a glass of water and swallowed hard. It was clear that the next few things that he would say were going to be what shook the world.

"After thorough testing and trials it has been proven that with this device it is entirely possible to transport your body and/or consciousness into another world. It has been decided to call this new world the Infinite Vale. This world is similar to ours with a few large differences."

Roux and his mother both gasped loudly. This was similar to leaving earth completely. Starting over not in a new city but in an entirely new world. This was beyond what anyone could have been expecting.

As everyone was in shock the president continued with his explanation. "Firstly in this world there appears to be infinite resources and space. After months of testing we were completely unable to find any limits. We have also found ways to transport some of these resources between Earth and the Infinite Vale."

This was huge. Everybody was aware of how humans had decimated the planet over the last few millennium and how every single day we got closer to running out of everything. With this discovery it was possible to stop overpopulation while increasing the natural resources available for everyone.

"Secondly, the world of the Infinite Vale appears to be more medieval. It is less advanced technologically than we currently are and after repeated attempts it appears we are unable to transport any non-biological items to this world."

Now this was a slight bummer to Roux. That means if he were to eventually go there it would be like going to one of those Renaissance festivals but full time. That didn't sound overly appealing.

"However" the president intruded on Roux's and probably most people's thoughts. "The third big difference is the world of the Infinity Vale is one of magic. It is entirely possible to learn how to create miracles with a mysterious power."

Now he was speaking Roux's language. This could absolutely make up for dealing with some of the downfalls of living in medieval times. What young person hasn't imagined blasting fireballs at someone or flying thru the sky. If magic was real and the world was really limitless what couldn't be done?

"This brings me to the fourth major difference. Upon entering the world of the Infinite Vale you will acquire a system like interface directly linked to your own consciousness. However this only works in the Infinite Vale and will not work when coming back to earth."

Finally things are coming together for Roux. He loved watching anime and reading stories when he was younger of full dive virtual reality games. Every single thing that the president had said so far was checking off boxes in any main characters story plot. The only difference was anyone could get these perks upon going to the Infinite Vale.

"Lastly the Infinite Vale seems to be centered around a tower. To our knowledge this tower has no top. All of the native people questioned have stated that it has no end. Each level of the tower appears to be an entirely different space within the Infinite Vale. It is only things gathered and taken from this tower that we have been able to bring back to Earth. Thus, we have dubbed this structure the Infinity Tower"

An Infinite land with a building that went on forever. Magic and an entirely new group of people. Resources that could help save the human race as a whole. No wonder the government hijacked all of the media outlets for this broadcast. This news was absolutely insane. This was absolutely world shattering.

As the president continued to talk it was no longer about the world itself but what the plans were to head into this world. The requirements needed were fairly loose as far as Roux could tell. All humans between the ages of 18-50 with no pre-existing medical issues would be aloud to directly transfer to the Infinite Vale. This would of course require a boat load of paperwork and background and health screenings. All other adults could apply but would not be guaranteed. Minors went without saying and would not be aloud to transfer.

With this the president concluded his speech and the broadcast abruptly ended.

It seemed like an eternity had passed with Roux and his Mother staring at the screen. They seemed to have sensed the tension in the room and slowly turned their heads towards each other. As Roux went to open his mouth to say something his Mom immediately cut him off. "Don't you dare." She said sternly. This single sentence left Roux with nothing to say. It was like she read his mind completely. To be honest it was a little creepy to say the least.

"Mom, I'm an adult and you said I needed to find a job. Maybe going to the Infinite Vale is exactly what I need to start over. Plus I'll be out of your hair." Roux sheepishly suggested.

He could see tears slowly forming in his mom's eyes. He could tell that she didn't want him to go but she understood him well enough to know that once he had made up his mind he would follow thru.

Roux stood up and moved towards his mom giving her a hug gently and whispering to her "I'm sorry mom. I love you but I have to go." As he left her embrace he walked towards his room to prepare for his new future.