Portal Orientation

lecture I — introduction & overview

Q.A. Gremmlen

Head of Quality Assurance

Welcome to Portal Orientation

You’ve made a wise decision in electing to engage with this lecture series. I have no doubt that by the end of it you will be equipped to handle almost anything this reality might throw at you.

And throw things it will. In that respect at least, our two dimensions are not too dissimilar.

I devised this orientation programme as a means of helping enterprising newcomers to navigate the vastness that is the VIVAELLIPSIS. I feel that, as Head of Quality Assurance for this Exposition Portal, it is my job to assure that your head is filled with quality exposition. Did I say that right? That bit is something of a tongue twister, trips me up every time… ahem.

Over the next eight lectures, we will embark on a theoretical journey throughout the entirety of the Portal, covering a broad range of concepts and ideas as we go.

Today’s discussion will be an overview, and I’ll strive to keep it simple. I’ve been told I have a tendency to be overly convoluted in my delivery of this presentation, though I prefer to think it more as exhibiting expositionary rigour. Besides, it’s hardly my fault if you’re a… never mind.

Now pay attention, I’ll only be saying things once. There’s a delegation from Anakar that has this auditorium booked at two and I’d like to be out before they show up.

Let us begin.

What is an Exposition Portal?

Established in 67 AC, the FBS VIVAELLIPSIS is an Exposition Class Portal, one of seventeen such vessels to come out of the Dawn Hollow Drive Yards on Niamine.

The purpose of these fixed boundary stations (I could tell you were waiting for me to explain what FBS stands for) is twofold: first, and perhaps most crucially, to ensure that those passing through one of the many temporal windows that opened in the wake of the Colossus Tear — the latest cataclysmic event to befall the Meridian System — didn’t find themselves stepping out into open cosmos.

I don’t have the exact figures, but I can tell you it was a worrying number of incidents that had to take place before we finally responded to and resolved that issue.

Don’t look at me like that, I know enough about your reality to know you’re not exactly free of barbarity. At least ours was accidental (in this instance anyway).

Second, as you are no doubt acutely aware already, traversing dimensions can be incredibly disorientating, and that’s just for those coming from realities we refer to as being experientially congruent (which is just a fancy way of saying ‘quite similar’).

Many travellers cross from realities so far removed from our own that the experience can be patently traumatising. To this end, it was deemed necessary to not only provide safe landing to the inadvertent transient, but to also develop an infrastructure of information delivery that presented all of the necessary context to an outsider, without merely exacerbating said disorientation.

Thus the notion of the Exposition Portal was born.

Most Exposition Portals cater to a small handful of separate dimensions, with the FBS BALDEVERA having links with a paltry two (whilst also tending to rank last in quality audits).

As for us, we provide for a grand total of seven realities (one of which is technically our own, but due to a recursive temporal anomaly is different enough to be considered distinct). And I like to think we do so rather well.

Comparing Two Realities

You’ll notice our dimension shares many similarities with your own: perceptually three-dimensional composition; carbon-based, oxygen-breathing lifeforms; heavily commercialised societies; rampant narcissism.

There is much and more that will feel very familiar to you here. Although I have yet to enjoy the pleasure of visiting your reality, I have it from certain acquaintances of mine (including natives to your reality and pathfinders from our own) that it’s equal parts wondrous and horrific. If that’s the case, you’ll feel right at home here.

However, for as many similarities our realities share, there are just as many differences.

I am of course generalising here, since our dimension is equally as vast as yours is, and while we haven’t been quite so indolent in exploring the immensity of ours as you have yours, there is still much we have yet to discover.

Nevertheless, there are quite a fair few observations I feel comfortable making based purely off of a comparison between the system you just came from and the one in which you are now sat.

Most notably, we have a lot more stuff.

Not to boast, but the Meridian System is much larger than your Solar System (a rather unhelpful name given that there are uncountable solar systems, but I’m given to understand that for a while there you world was under the impression it was the only one inhabited, which is cute). So much so we had to divide it into five subsystems — the Coreward Worlds & the Myopic Belt (collectively known as the Central Meridian Commonwealth), the Zephran Lunarspace, the Enclave, the Ghostworlds, and Outer Meridia.

It is beyond the scope of this presentation series to go into detail regarding these regions, but if you are keen to know more I suggest you use your free time to visit The Orrery or take out one of Alberich’s books from the Cosmic Library.

Another significant difference is the fact that almost all of our celestial bodies are either currently inhabited, or have been at some point in the past. The exact origin of life in our System is still a topic of scholarly contention, though the prevailing belief is that our common ancestry can be traced back to the Ancient Meridians of the behemoth planet Zephra.

It was a shock to me when I learnt that your entire reality is based around a single planet (or so you think, though I won’t say any more than that — this is a spoiler-free presentation), which sounds terribly dull to me.

I suppose that explains your decision to cross the Fold in search of new horizons to explore. I’m sure you will find plenty here.

There are of course a host of other differences, many of them minor, but all of the pertinent facts will be divulged as we proceed through this presentation series.

The main focus of these lectures is to familiarise you with the Portal itself, and ensure that you get the most out of your time here. It is for those responsible for delivering the exposition in their respective areas to enlighten you further on these broader matters — though my limited faith in their abilities has lead me to at least brush over some of the information they themselves are likely to get wrong… or omit entirely.

Some Things to Consider

That will be all in terms of items of exposition for today, as there’re a couple of other things I’d like to discuss before we wrap up.

The first matter — and this is most important so pay attention — concerns your lodgings.

Rooms have been provided for all of you at the prestigious Short Fall Hotel for the duration of this orientation series, entirely free of charge. This includes the breakfast buffet, but the bar is limited to two drinks a night. You will be escorted to the Hotel by a service droid once we conclude here, after which you are free to pass the time however you please before the next lecture.

Simply inform the front desk that you have a !shortfall-residency and the concierge drones will take it from there.

The second matter is something of a novelty devised by our marketing department, who deemed my presentation to be in need of a little extra excitement as, to use their words, ‘it’s drier than the Qalahar desert during drought season.’

My outrage at such an insult aside, I’ve decided to go along with this little farce all the same — if it keeps you engaged, then it makes my life easier.

Hidden within the notes for each lecture are clues for you to find, the answers to which will provide you with an eight digit code that unlocks a vault. After our eighth and final lecture is complete, I will allow each of you a chance to try and unlock this vault, using the code that you have procured.

Marketing haven’t told me what’s inside. No doubt it’s some kind of useless trinket you have no real use for, but they assure me that isn’t the point.

Think of this exercise as a scavenger hunt of sorts, though I assure you that real scavengers wouldn’t waste their time with such nonsense. Then again, they’re a fairly treacherous bunch, so perhaps we shouldn’t be drawing too much inspiration from their behaviour.

Allow me to clarify some details, as I can already see some of you scratching your heads in confusion.

Each clue will be hidden behind a link masquerading as regular text, though not every link will take you to the clue you’re looking for; there are decoys strewn all over the place, so you will have to work hard if you want to find every answer.

There will only be one per lecture however, so once you find it you don’t need to continue looking (you’re welcome to if you so desire, but it’s only your own time you’ll be wasting). And yes, there is one hidden somewhere in this lecture too, so make sure you find it before you leave.

As an added twist, the questions themselves won’t necessarily have anything to do with the link that conceals them (I’ve been told that this is what makes the game so compelling), so bear that in mind — you may have to go digging for answers.

Luckily, we are an Exposition Portal, so knowledge is one thing we have in abundance. Before you ask, I have checked, and every answer can be found without having to leave the Portal… except for one, for which you will have to go exploring our outlier platforms. If you use your noggin, even this part won’t be too taxing for you. You seem like a smart enough bunch.

The answers to the questions will all be numerical in nature. As an example, consider the following: ‘the number of Primordial Moons in the Zephran Lunarspace.’ The answer is five, and so the digit you’d want to record in this case would, naturally, be ‘5‘.

All of the numbers in the code will be in the same order you find the answers in, so the first answer will give you the first digit, the second answer the second digit, and so on.

I’m sure this is all very intuitive to enlightened individuals such as your good selves, but we have had some dunderheads in the past giving all kinds of bizarre answers which, for confidentiality reasons, I am unable to divulge — no matter how entertaining that would no doubt be.

Also, just to clarify, the example given above was just that: an example. It wasn’t part of the code, so don’t think you’re being smart by including it (you wouldn’t be the first if you did, which is the truly sad part).

I would advise that you write down your answer to each question somewhere you’re not liable to forget: we have enough admin to be doing without having to do yours for you as well. It’s only eight digits, I’m sure you’re up to the task.

If you’re here but haven’t enrolled yet because you wanted to test the water first, I do hope this lecture has convinced you of the value of Portal Orientation. If you would like to experience the rest of this exposition series, you may enrol using the form below.

Please be aware that although you will you will be summoned to attend Lecture I as part of standard protocol, you do not need to attend since, unless you are feigning existence, you have already done so as your presence here in this room would indicate.

There will however be other information in this missive worthy of your attention, so do not dismiss it entirely. You will merely be exempted from attending the lecture summons in this first, and very much only, instance. Failure to attend subsequent lectures will incur the usual sanctions.

Your privacy is very dear to us. You can eyeball the terms of our privacy policy here. And of course, you can unsubscribe whenever you want to

Finally, if you have any questions about today’s lecture (or any subsequent lectures for that matter), then please feel free to contact me and I’ll endeavour to respond during my office hours. You can reach me at quentin@vivaellipsis.com.

I’d advise you add me to your contacts as a precaution — one missed communication could lead to you getting hopelessly lost, which on this station could quite literally mean the difference between life and death… especially if you end up wandering into some the ‘less reputable’ areas that I’m sorry to say do exist (more on that in lecture five).

I think that will do for today; no doubt you’re already feeling rather overwhelmed by everything we’ve discussed.

I’d encourage you to read over these notes again to ensure that everything is sinking in because, as stated previously, the Portal cannot be held responsible for any misfortune that may befall you on account of your own ignorance.

Until next time.

Portal Orientation

lecture I — introduction & overview

Welcome to Portal Orientation

Lecture Overview

What is an Exposition Portal?

Comparing Two Realities

Some Things to Consider

PORTAL ORIENTATION ENROLMENT FORM

ATTENTION NEW ARRIVALS

CONGRATULATIONS