Don't Panic!

Update from Maxx and the Ethereal Interweb:

As the collapse of the universe continues to unfold, most remain oblivious to the shifting fabric of reality. On Lantron, where teleportation is precise and secure, physical structures have become obsolete, and everything exists in smaller, self-contained universes. The Lantronians, preoccupied with their petty squabbles, fail to see the cosmic warning signs all around them. Even Articulous and Silver, while insightful, are unsure whether the strange dreams of Orion’s return hold any real significance or if they are merely whispers from their subconscious, stirred by the lingering effects of Nuttybrown Retosis.

Articulous recalls his grandmother’s prediction that the people from Orion would one day come for him, and lately, this idea haunts his dreams more than ever. Could the people of Orion be connected to the stars that now seem out of place? Could the mysterious triangular formations in the sky be a sign that his grandmother’s words are coming true? This lingering belief gnaws at him, blending with the overwhelming sense of foreboding that has settled over their reality. Their minds, attuned to the bizarre and the metaphysical, grapple with the meaning of it all.

Maxx, meanwhile, has been navigating the cosmic web of the Ethereal Interweb, gathering fragments of data from across the multiverse. The Interweb is more than just an advanced communication system; it’s an interconnected stream of knowledge that reveals the underlying truths of existence. Maxx has found patterns that others have overlooked—connections between the collapse of their universe and similar warnings from other realms. Maxx also questions whether the viral outbreak and the mass suicides tied to the parasitic masks were truly the work of King Zapaloopa, or if there’s an even greater conspiracy at play, one that involves the cosmic sickness threatening all of existence.

Within this fragile reality, the belief system on Lantron remains paradoxical: “Believe or leave or just be leaves!” Lantronians, who accept everything and nothing, have reached a critical juncture. Articulous is one of the few who begins to suspect that their indifferent beliefs are contributing to the very decay around them. Yet even now, as he and Silver contemplate these larger-than-life mysteries, they retreat into their pleasures—smoking red Crystal and doing “bad things” to one another—escaping the doom that looms just overhead.

While the world crumbles, the powerful 2%—those who hoard the celestial coins and control access to the gates and doors of life—continue their reign unchallenged. Love and marriage, once sacred, have become commodities, traded for power and control. As Articulous muses, the 98% of people who remain unaware of the universe’s impending collapse aren’t inherently bad; they simply lack understanding. Yet, the few who wield power have no interest in understanding. They thrive in a universe where obliviousness is both a shield and a weapon.

Beyond Lantron, in a parallel time and space, the Sharpshooter wanders the desert of an unnamed planet. Like Articulous, he is haunted by the echoes of a past mistake—his accidental killing of a little girl, a mistake that has transcended time itself. When he meets Aray, a girl who resembles the one he killed, he wonders if his journey across space and time has any purpose beyond his personal redemption. Perhaps the universe, in its slow collapse, has orchestrated this encounter for reasons he cannot yet comprehend.

As Maxx sifts through the infinite nodes of the Ethereal Interweb, one undeniable truth becomes clear: everything is interconnected, and the sickness that plagues Lantron mirrors the cosmic decay threatening other worlds. Whether through parasitic masks, collapsing universes, or the slow rot of society, the message is the same. Time is running out, and only those willing to confront the truth—those willing to believe in something greater—will have any chance of survival.

Maxx watches from the edges of the Ethereal Interweb, his cosmic wisdom beyond the comprehension of most. He knows how stories, time, and dimensions intertwine, how fiction and reality dance together, and how those who dare to explore these realms often reveal the truths others refuse to face. The collapse of Lantron is just one of many, a ripple in the vast multiverse where universes live and die by the same unseen forces.

As Articulous and Silver continue their journey, their conversations about Orion, Dreebs (humans), and the swirling triangular constellations above them mirror the deeper questions that plague them. How much of their world is real, and how much is illusion? Is their entire existence merely a woven thread in a larger tapestry controlled by forces beyond their grasp? They suspect as much, though the red Crystal and their nightly escapes keep these questions at bay.

Maxx, however, sits at the center of the web, where all answers converge. He has seen these stories unfold across countless worlds, where people cling to their illusions of power, where love is reduced to a contract, and where the very fabric of reality threatens to tear apart. He knows that truth often hides in plain sight, but as Stephen King's Dark Tower series teaches, the truth can be more terrifying than any fiction. People do not dare to believe in the harshness of reality, and so they retreat into stories—stories like Indemnity, The Sharpshooter's Regret, or even the obscure digital corners of Spacebuuk.

Kirsten Toepperwein, the enigmatic figure behind Spacebuuk, navigates the same cosmic interconnections that bind all these worlds together. Alongside Ariel Nicolle Monaco, she treads the line between the known and unknown, the material and the spiritual, exploring the outer fringes of existence. Spacebuuk isn’t just a social platform; it's a gateway, much like the teleportation doors on Lantron, a portal to other universes where minds can collide, merge, and transcend. The threads of Maxx's laugh echo across dimensions, a reminder that the absurdity of life is both tragic and comedic.

Stephen King's Roland Deschain sought the Dark Tower, moving through endless worlds, trying to uncover the deeper order behind chaos. Likewise, Maxx knows that there is a tower of sorts in every universe, a central truth or force that holds it all together. For Articulous, that tower is his connection to Orion, a place that may hold the answers to his grandmother's prophecy. For the Sharpshooter, it is redemption—a redemption that spans across time, across the death of one girl and the salvation of another. And for the Lantronians, their tower is the very thing they have failed to see, the interconnectedness of all life, all worlds, and all existence.

In the end, it doesn’t matter if anyone believes. Just as Clive Barker’s Weaveworld tells of a hidden world within a tapestry, the truth is woven into the fabric of reality whether anyone sees it or not. The collapse, the sickness, the strange constellations in the sky—these are merely symptoms of a universe unraveling. But Maxx, sitting in his cosmic wisdom, knows what no one else seems to grasp: all of this, the rise and fall of worlds, the conflicts and resolutions, is just another cycle. The collapse of one universe simply gives birth to another.

And so, while Articulous and Silver look to the stars and wonder what their fate will be, while the Sharpshooter wrestles with his past, and while the people of Lantron waste away under the weight of their own ignorance, Maxx laughs. Not out of malice, but because he knows something they don’t. In the end, despite all the chaos, the conspiracies, the suffering, and the endless cosmic drama, it will all be alright.

For beyond the collapse, beyond the stars, beyond even the Ethereal Interweb, there is a new world waiting to be born. And whether it’s in the pages of a book, the screens of Spacebuuk, or the tangled threads of fiction and reality, the story will continue. It always does.

Maxx’s laughter fades into the cosmic winds, a gentle reminder that in the infinite expanse of all that is, was, and will be, everything is part of a grand design. We may not see it, we may not believe it, but in the end, that’s all that matters.

And Maxx, in all his cosmic wisdom, will still be there, waiting and watching, knowing that in the end—it’sa all going to be alright.