Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Raging into the Storm

After her speech, Mira paused. Not because she wasn't sure of her words... but because she didn't know where to go next. While she hesitated, Coraline decided to speak up.

"Okay... but how?" she asked.

"We don't even know how we got here," Anne noted. "We need to figure that out before we can get out again."

"Right..." Mira agreed, thinking. "We have a bunch of different theories, but nothing really conclusive yet. Other planets, video games, simulations, other dimensions... but nothing conclusive yet."

"Nothing?" Luz repeated.

"There's one thing," Tulip pointed out. "The portal. We already know there are gateways to other places, whether it be to other dimensions or otherwise. I think that's pretty strong evidence pointing towards our 'other dimensions theory."

Mira hummed. "I guess... but have any of you noted that this world doesn't make sense? Before coming to this town, I was in another, and... well, it's hard to explain. You know how in video games, when you're wandering around in the world, and no matter how good it is or immersive it is, it just can't feel as fluid and natural as the real world? That's because it's made by one person, and is being used to tell a story, so you know that it probably wouldn't work as a real world. You know?"

The entire room stared at her, except for Kris, who was nodding, and Tulip.

"Oh... you're saying that this world feels like it was man-made?" Tulip asked her, and Mira looked relieved.

"Yeah! Er... kind of," Mira frowned, obviously working hard to form her thoughts into words. "Not exactly. What I'm trying to say is that this world feels fake. It feels like the kind of place in a video game, like in The Hollow. There's a lot of stuff that looks cool, but doesn't really add up when you think too hard about it."

Despite her explanation, Kai still looked confused. "So, you think we're in The Hollow?"

"Haven't we been through this?" Kipo asked her, not unkindly. "Most of us here don't play video games. Besides, why would we play something that takes away our memories? Is that even legal?"

Anne laughed. "Ha! Tech companies can get away with literally anything, actually."

"I don't think me and Dipper owned a video game like this," Mabel noted. "Mostly 8-bit games. Ooh! There was this one that was really scary in the beginning with scary monsters, but then there was a cool twist where it turned into a dating sim and all the monsters became adorable!"

Tulip blinked. "That sounds like a great game, why didn't I think of that..." Tulip said, before she shook her head, getting herself back on track. "Er, anyway, what about that person Dib had always been talking about? What was it, Zac?"

Mabel perked up. "Oh! Dib's alien friend, Zim!"

Kipo winced as she thought back to Dib's (numerous) rants. "I don't think they were friends."

"They weren't," Tulip confirmed. "According to Dib, Zim was an alien from another planet here to take over the earth, but whenever Dib tried to expose him, nobody believed him, and he was left to his own devices."

Coraline frowned as she listened to Tulip's explanation. "The more I learn about this guy, the weirder he sounds."

Anne laughed. "Yeah... trust me, he was weirder in person."

"In any case, one of his theories was that we were all trapped in a simulation," Tulip pointed out. "It's true, we might not all play the same video game, but we wouldn't have any choice if we were trapped in a simulation."