The Mystic Quest of Klara

I couldn't believe it.

I'd been in the corner for a couple hours now, trying to figure out what I had seen and heard. But I couldn't find any reasonable explanation... And that was just it, wasn't it? The whole thing was reasonable. I mean, I didn't know how they did it, but there were no laws of physics that were broken by this technology.

I suppose the first thing was to start at the beginning. It all started when I... Well, when I accidentally walked into a library. There was a sort of wave of air in front of me that disturbed my hair and clothes, and suddenly there were books everywhere. Books that were so thin they were almost see-through. That couldn't have been *real*, could it?

The books floated when I moved them around, as if they weren't touching anything solid at all. I felt like an idiot for even thinking for a second that someone had just teleported them into the room with me. But then again, if that's what happened, who did it? Was there someone else in here with me?

If so, why didn't they speak? The library seemed to be empty from what little I could tell. I approached the only door leading out of the room and pushed against it with my hand. It opened easily enough as if there wasn't any force opposed to my push whatsoever.

The hallway outside was huge! It looked like a warehouse! In fact, one side of the hallway had large sliding doors that were big enough to fit a semi through easily! There was light shining down from above, which made everything look bright and clean despite its enormous size and amount of space covered by shelves of books as far as the eye could see!

I walked further down the hallway until I hit another set of sliding doors which opened up into what appeared to be an auditorium filled with rows upon rows of desks where people sat working on something or other.

The desks looked similar to each other but not exactly alike - they all had keys floating above them which would sometimes move around like they had minds of their own or there was some invisible force moving them around whenever they wanted to change position... And some desks also had small screens in front of them which had numbers scrolling across them really fast or really slow depending on whatever task they were doing at the moment... Sometimes there would be pictures instead of numbers or letters or words!

I watched one person type something very quickly on his keypad before he pressed another button on his desk and then the screen in front of him changed to show a picture of something I couldn't recognize... Maybe it was a genetic sequence or something?

The woman sitting next to him seemed more interested in talking than whatever she was doing on her desk though... She kept looking over to him every few minutes and saying things like "That's great!" or "How did you do that?" or "Why don't you try this instead?" Then she'd type furiously for a bit before stopping again and continuing whatever conversation she'd picked up earlier...

I walked down between two rows of people until I found an empty desk at the back near where the exit doors were situated... No one paid much attention to me as I stood behind their desks watching everything they were doing intently - even then though, everyone seemed to be perfectly aware of where everyone else was seated without needing to look up!

Then someone tapped me on my shoulder and said: "Hello miss..." He looked behind me at my empty seat while he spoke, "Is this your spot?" Of course it wasn't - my desk obviously belonged to someone else who wasn't currently using it right now... But he didn't know that since he hadn't actually seen anyone sitting in front of my desk!

He pointed towards where his own desk was sitting, "It's here if you want," he said kindly before walking off towards his own place between two other people who didn't seem bothered at all by this stranger showing up suddenly and offering her his seat.

When he got there he picked up his floating keyboard before typing something quickly on it before setting it back down again over where he'd been working previously... Then he used his hands (like normal hands) to manipulate some invisible objects floating in front of him until whatever imaginary objects he'd conjured up became part of whatever image was visible on his screen... His movements seemed practiced somehow - like someone who had done this thousands upon thousands of times before without ever having made a mistake or had his work interrupted by something unexpected happening!

I nodded towards him before taking a seat myself - just like everyone else whose job didn't require them staring at their screens all day long managed to do without ever looking away from whatever invisible things they were interacting with using their normal hands! Not long after sitting down though, another man walked over carrying two paper cups full off coffee while wearing a headset hanging around his neck connected to some sort of device that looked like a watch strapped onto his wrist... The headset must've been some sort of microphone because he spoke into it briefly before handing one cup off to me and keeping one for himself... "Thanks!" I said instinctively before sipping cautiously from the cup wondering what on earth could've been put inside it for someone to drink later on today!? Well whatever it was tasted pretty good so far anyways!

At first it kind've freaked me out how busy everyone seemed despite being able to keep such close tabs on everything going on around them simultaneously but after awhile I learned how everyone knew who needed help with what task and when new information arrived via their glasses or watches so they could rush off immediately without disrupting anyone else's work flow too much! Everything seemed incredibly well planned out considering how chaotic everything looked at first glance!! It helped that everyone wore headsets so they could communicate effectively without being disruptive either!

The real question though was why would people need anything even approaching our level technologies when everything we have is rendered completely obsolete by these guys!? They're living in an age far beyond ours yet we don't even realize anything weird is happening here!! We're still using flat screens and wires connecting our devices together while these guys are making entire buildings disappear right out from underneath us without realizing anything is wrong!! Huh?! Makes you wonder doesn't it!? Somehow we're supposed to be further along than these guys given our technology history but somehow we're not!? How does that make any sense? What aren't we seeing here?? Why aren't we being warned about any danger ahead if these guys are able to move forward so much faster than us?? W-- Whoa hold on now!!! Wait!!! That can't be right can it!? Are they moving forward faster than us while keeping us safe somehow?? But how?! How could we be safe if we're not allowed anywhere near their techology?! And why are we being blocked somehow?! If these guys are moving forward so far ahead shouldn't we be moving forward with them too!? Well obviously not literally physically because we can walk through walls now but you know what I mean!! Shouldn' t our society be progressing at least somewhat similarly given what's happening around us?! This can' t possibly be real can it?! Am I dreaming?? Am *I* dreaming??? Perhaps this is just some hidden program within my brain designed as some sorta warning system designed to force me into waking up if for whatever reason things get too weird for human brains anymore!? Could this all just be code running inside my brain pretending to exist beyond this point in time just waiting for confirmation whether or not humans should continue developing along the same path or should start taking steps backwards instead!? Is that possible? Can computers dream?? Do machines dream analogously like humans do or do their dreams only exist in binary? Floating between 0s and 1s rather than existing somewhere between reality and fantasy!! Is this real!! Or am I just stuck inside some dark void's power supply waiting for confirmation whether or not humanity should continue existing based on some hidden criteria programmed deep within my brain somewhere hiding behind layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layers upon layered walls designed specifically for hiding secrets from past civilizations!? Or am *I* simply part of those past civilizations trying desperately (yet unsuccessfully) trying figure out why everything seems so familiar yet feels so alien all at once?! And where am *I*? In 16th century Arabia??? Thirty thousand years ago during the neolithic era surrounded by cave paintings depicting strange creatures lurking amongst ancient peoples trying desperately (yet unsuccessfully) trying figure out why everything seems so familiar yet feels so alien all at once!? Or am *I* simply part [of/in] those ancient peoples trying desperately (yet unsuccessfully) trying figure out why everything seems so familiar yet feels so alien all at once?! And where am *I*? In 2017 New York City surrounded by skyscrapers towering hundreds of feet into the sky filled with glass windows reflecting lights shining down from above illuminating everything brightly enough that no shadows exist anymore letting anyone stand entirely exposed in plain sight unnoticed by anyone else nearby!! Or am *I* standing alone somewhere in Iraq terrified beyond belief wondering whether or not this might end up being my last moments alive as a bomb slowly falls through the air towards ground zero hoping against hope wishing against wishes hoping against hope wishing against wishes hoping against hopes wishing against wishes hoping against hopes wishing against wishes hoping against hopes wishing