Paradise Found, Volume 1

**Paradise Found, Volume 1** is an episodic lore entry with the purpose of adding character interaction beyond just the battlefield and further explaining/developing the world. Paradise Found, Volume 1 is the first entry in this series, chronicling the human race's reaction to the mysterious "Broadcast" and their subsequent entry into the new world.

## The Broadcast

Crime. Debauchery. Violence. Very few resources. It’s not easy living on a dying world, but you’ve got to make the best of it. I’m nothing if not an optimist and I’m writing this for you, dear world, so you can come to learn of our exploits and experiences straight from the truthful source. You may already be acquainted with my various voyages across the Earth, documenting the wonder and spectacle of our fair, albeit dying species. Yet alas, this voyage far exceeds them all. A voyage not just across Earth, but across wires and code. A tale of not just our species, but of many… many more.

My journey to another world started on the day of the Broadcast; a worldwide event where strange alien messages rang out from every device, radio, and television set. At first I believed it was just strange noises and incomprehensible rabble, but upon a closer listen, small clues from random dialects around the world became apparent. After a night spent feverishly piecing together the puzzle, it became clear: it was instructions, blueprints for a machine clearly beyond human thought.

I contacted my good friend Henry Wake, a top-level government scientist and within a few short minutes of explaining my findings, Wake’s superiors had already booked my flight. I arrived at the facility later that day in awe that a place like this still existed in this broken world. Surrounded by a hundred of the world’s most influential and brilliant people, I wasn’t sure what input I could have, but the department heads were insistent that my knowledge of language and culture would be key to solving this mystery.

As development continued over the next few months, the Broadcast’s true purpose was finally revealed: the machine was a portal to another world. Surely the destination world was the origin of the Broadcast, that was a simple conclusion, but where exactly is it and why are we involved? With that question becoming increasingly poignant and knowing there was only one way to find the answer, human intuition kicked in. As a race, I find, that Humans like to cheat, and in the construction of this miracle there was no exception. Rather than following the plans word for word like any sane species would do, our fear of something dangerous on the other side led us to pursuing new ways to augment ourselves during our travels. That is to say, this machine would open a door of possibility and expand both human physiology and psychology. We didn’t know in what ways, but, we were eager to find out.

Just under a year since its inception, the machine was finally complete, and the next task was upon us: who would go through the breach to the other side and see what lies beyond. My mind raced at the thought of exploring and chronicling a new unknown world and while others were hesitant to volunteer themselves, I feverishly made my case. While others were selected for their combat talents, scientific knowledge, or in Ink’s case, money, I successfully convinced the council that documenting the journey was just as paramount to human history as the journey itself.

## Arrival

I was shaking the first time I saw the iris open, forced to stare into the blue and purple waves that were a floating ocean within it. I have been from one end of the Earth to the other, yet I have never seen a paradise like the Avos home-world before. A world built on the splendour of its golden and silver architecture, without forgetting the roots of its nature. Towering us all around were the statues of their kin, a hundred feet tall at least, and made of a thick shiny marble that seemed impossibly clean. The Avos were clearly a technologically advanced race of creatures, but the awe of this world went beyond technology into the realm of the mythical and the divine. Our group stood there, frozen in awe, surrounded by a mish-mash of unique faces and shapes that were cheering and celebrating our arrival whilst seemingly ignoring the fact that there were what I believed to be literal gods standing among us.

I was transfixed, not only by the beauty of the place, but also by the otherworldly and fearsome machinations of the creatures that dwelled here. One particular hooded figure, clothed in clashing red-blue patterns and armed with two massive axes, brooded over us from afar. As I glanced at him, he seemed to quickly look away. I sensed something much deeper underneath the darkness that shrouded his face, another mystery added to the list.

On a lighter note, a peculiar robot-like figure suddenly approached our group shortly after our arrival. I clinched back, fearing his intentions, but he merely bent down and began shining my shoes. I later learnt that this was Jan Itor, a famous figure in the Avos world with a keen obsession of cleanliness. My mind wandered with possibilities, knowing full well this was just the beginning of the oddities this world had to offer.

I was led to a pleasant cottage down the hillside, surrounded by exotic greenery and tucked away in the alley of what appeared to be a newly constructed shantytown of sorts, a clear sign our stay was expected to be a long one. Through the windows of my humble abode, I could hear a soft, calm melody carried by the breeze, as if the world itself was singing to me.

As the light finally dimmed on a rather… eventful day, we circled around a campfire, toasting our reversal of fortune from a broken and dead world to this utopian paradise. We told stories of our lives on Earth, each tale dripping with optimism that the troubles back home would soon be erased. I personally felt a unique sensation as I spoke, one almost magical in nature, as if my words could be spoken into a physical existence if I truly wished them to. As I looked over into a distant alley-way, I saw Ink with a set of fluorescent blue knives floating around her head. Our backdoor “cheat system”, Project Keanu, had actually worked. I smiled with antipication, anxious to see the augmented physiological effects it had on my other colleagues.

On the horizon I spotted a small group of our team that had previously been separated from us. We raised our glasses to greet them and welcome them into the celebration, but as their figures came into view, the pale and lifeless look on their faces became visible.

***It turns out that paradise… comes at a price.***