THE MOMENT
"YOU BELIEVE ME!?" Nancy felt instant relief as the friendly, ancient wizard nodded. She'd had quite a morning so far. She woke up and found herself outside a medieval village. After trying to talk to the locals to get her bearings, she quickly found herself in the wizard's library. She initially panicked when armored guards approached her for bothering people. They didn't say much; but, they were strong enough to walk her away with little trouble. But, they took her to the wizard and left her in his care. The lean man with a long silver beard was quick to ask about the world she came from.
"Of course," he nodded at her. "Your clothes are out of place...," he gestured at the blue jeans and t-shirt. "...and you have no idea where you are, nor how things work here," he said. "That much is clear. You're safe, but I'd like to know more about modern technology where you came from," he said.
"Sure, okay," Nancy nodded. Even without his reassurances, she felt safe. He could have been pretending to be nice to deceive her in some way; but, Nancy had come to terms with being in a new world. It had been too strange a morning, and everything felt so real that it had to be happening. And, if she was in a new world that meant she was going to have to start trusting new people. The friendly wizard was as good a place to start as any. As she tried to pick a place to start, he made it easier by asking questions.
"Did you have telephones in your world?" he asked.
"Yes," Nancy nodded with a trace of confusion. "We had portable versions called smartphones," she said. But, even as she elaborated, she wondered how he knew what a telephone was at all. Then, she had a minor epiphany; she wasn't the first one. He was friendly enough; but, he was almost too believing of her tale. As true as it might be for her, she would find it almost impossible to believe if she were on the other side. There was only one plausible explanation.
"So, does that mean your world had an internet as well?" the wizard asked.
"I'm not the first one, am I?" she couldn't hold the question back. She didn't know exactly what was happening; but, she knew a wizard shouldn't know the word 'internet'.
"What?" he chuckled. The question took the wizard by surprise and after a moment he shook his head. "Of course not," he said.
"So...," Nancy took a long look around the cozy living room. The walls were lined with loaded bookshelves. Daylight was visible through the light curtains; but, corners of the interior were dim with only candlelight keeping the darkness away. "...I'm not the first and you know about electricity... why aren't you using it?"
"That's actually a very simple answer," the wizard replied. "Although, unfortunately, there's a lot you need to know for it to be simple. First, I need to explain where you are...," he said.
"Oh yeah...," Nancy nodded. She still hadn't learned any important names; everyone except the wizard seemed determined to say as little as possible. ".. the name of the .. city? Country?" she asked to let him know how clueless she was.
"You're on Earth," he said. "A different one than the one you were born on; alternate universes are real," he said. "Travel between is simple, and there are countless other Earths."
"Huh...," Nancy's mouth made a sound while her mind worked overtime. She believed him: that was her first thought. But, assuming that was true, it didn't answer her initial question at all; it only left her with more questions. If he could freely travel to alternate universes, some of which obviously had technology like the world she came from, why did he not have electricity?"
"So, whenever I get a visitor from a different Earth I like to question them to see what their idea of "modern technology" is. It helps me decide the easiest way to explain this world," he said.
"Your Earth sounds decently advanced. A tech level from the 21st, if not 22nd century should be good enough to explain it plainly," he said.
"Yeah...," Nancy nodded. She needed effort to stifle a giggle. She was used to having a supercomputer in her pocket that could communicate to anyone else in the world and he didn't even have electricity. "...we were decently advanced," she stressed the word with a hint of sarcasm.
"Right, so.. .this Earth is a game server," he said. "..an RP server specifically; we choose not to use electricity. You know, for immersion."
"Wait," that was an unexpected answer. "What do you mean... this Earth is a GAME SERVER?? THE WHOLE EARTH!!??"
"Huh," the wizard nodded with an amused grin. "What year did you get to?"
"2023...," Nancy answered automatically while her mind tried to keep up.
"Wow...," he chuckled. "Most Earths have this...," he gestured at the room around him to make a point. As if on command, every surface rippled like water, then was still again. "...nanotech figured out by then. Your Earth must have been...," he paused to search for the right word. He had his opinions; but, he didn't want to be mean to a stranger. "...quaint."