...and I suddenly came to the startling realization that it wasn't real. Of course, I already knew that games weren't real, but I was never so fully aware of how intangible and illusory they were. I was exeriencing nothing more than a figment, a fleeting, ephemeral, wisp posing as substace. Then, as if some light was turned on in my mind, an insidious chain revealed itself to me. My eyes, acting as a receptor, pick up images on the TV screen. The TV, though, is merely a receptor for information which is sent from the console. Of course, the console is yet another receptor merely taking information provided by the game disc.

This process goes on until one traces it back to the developer. Surly they must be the beginning link in the chain that provides purpose and direction to the process? Unless, they're as inconsequential as a console or a television. Information goes in and it comes back out, nothing is lost or gained in the process. Conciousness is simply a meaningless side effect. Just as Mario and his exploits are a fallacious fabrication that fleetingly exist as information is transferred between mediums so is the entity I call myself.

As I realized this the walls around me began to turn thin. Not in dimension, but in how real they seemed to be. I could no longer be crtain that they were even there. I looked at them curiously and as I concentrated I could hear a low, constant, baritone hum that seemed to come from deep within them. I put my ears against them to hear better and to my surprise they gave in to the force of my body. Instead of being solid they were like a block of gelatin.

Pushing harder I found that I could force myself into the walls. Despite how gelatinous the walls were it took a large amount of effort to work my way in. With my feet planted firmly on the floor I could wiggle my body back and forth and inch by inch I more of me went into the wall. First one hand, up to the shoulder, then the next. Then I forced my face in. Inside it was an absolute blackness darker than anything I've ever experienced. Yet at the same time it was warm. Like being cocooned in a warm blanket on a chilly fall morning.

From this point getting in all the way was simply a matter of jutting my body forward as if I was jumping. Once inside I had the feeling of being momentarily suspended before being dropped into a free fall. I could feel myself moving faster and faster. As I fell I began to pass specks of light. At first they looked like stars in a night sky that slowly, but surly began to grow larger and larger. These dots of light continued to grow and my descent gradually halted.

As the lights became more substantial the blackness became an all-emcompassing white. Tears in my eyes I squinted and saw that the lights were not far off stars, but atoms. Protons and neutrons intermingled while electrons, ever the introverts, flew just out of reach. Wiggling my body like a worm, I found that I could move myself around. Picking an inviting nucleus I worked my way towards it. As tightly lumped together as they appeared to be, a closer inspection relealed small cracks in their formation that seemed larged enough for me to enter. I had made it this far and return seemed somewhat impossible. There could be no further harm in continuing on.

The particles were smooth to the touch and almost silken, it made a seemingly tight squeeze rather simple. Once inside I was shocked to be assaulted by a visual and aural cacophany of fuzz. Like a television without that's not connected to anything simply emitting a static hiss. I covered my ears and clamped my eyes shut, but nothing could ease the pain.

Then in a flash it was all gone. I was staring at myself staring back at myself. I was here, in whatever place "here" entailed, yet there I was. Undeniably still in my room sitting on the edge of my bed, remote in hand. I tried to reach out to myself, but was blocked by a cold pane of glass. I was inside my television.

Help I screamed out to myself. I didn't hear or maybe I didn't care.

Help.