The Traveler's Companion by Christopher John Chater Page A

on. The Zone provides an opportunity to actually experience the fantasy and eventually get closure,” Go said.
    “So if you failed an exam, you can create a fantasy of what your life would be like if you aced the thing?” Gibbons asked.
    “If you wish,” Go said.
    “You believe creating an alternate outcome will help the Doctor?” Angela asked.
    “I do,” Go said. “In my case, instead of a childhood spent in isolation, I relived it as a completely normal Norwegian suburbanite.”
    “And this helped you?” Iverson asked, doubtingly.
    “It did. But after a few months of getting up early and going to school, getting chased by bullies, and suffering through hours of tedious homework, I nearly begged for my childhood back. The best part is that now I have both memories,” Go said.
    “You lived as a Norwegian school boy?” Gibbons asked.
    “I did,” Go said.
    “Amazing!” Gibbons said.
    “So you want me to create a scenario wherein my wife lived? Her cancer never happened?” Iverson asked, annoyed.
    “If you wish. Or, you find that cure you were looking for during all those hours in the laboratory. You’re her hero again,” Go said.
    “Imagine that,” Gibbons said to him, smiling widely.
    “I wouldn’t know where to begin,” Iverson said.
    “Somehow I doubt that,” Go said. “You’ve never imagined a scenario?”
    Iverson thought a moment before saying, “We had plans to go to San Francisco after her operation.”
    “Then it’s a date. You’re going to San Francisco with your wife,” Go said.
    “Just like that?” Iverson asked.
    “Why not?” Go asked.
    “You expect me to create an entire city with my mind?”
    “You’re making it too difficult,” Go told him. “You’re not going to recreate the real San Francisco. You’re going to imagine a city like San Francisco. You see, all creations are somewhat autobiographical. Everything you do and everything you create reflects your unique personality. It would be impossible to do it any other way. Think of God creating man in his own image.”
    “Why wouldn’t I create the city exactly the way it should be?”
    “I challenge you to try. Imagine a door, and on the other side is your perfect San Francisco.”
    Iverson stood up from the bed. He stalled by smoothing out his lab coat. He was not particularly happy about any of this. Why would he want to create a city with his mind? But Gibbons was monitoring him, pressuring him to do as Go asked. He had no choice but to imagine the city he had been to many times, and to try and recreate it perfectly in his mind.
    Imagine a door, and on the other side is your perfect city.
    A door appeared. It was an old wooden door similar to the one Go had created earlier.
    “There’s your door, Doctor,” Go said.
    Iverson turned to Angela. “You’ll be okay here?”
    “I’ll be fine,” Angela said, taking Iverson’s hand affectionately.
    “Through that door?” Iverson asked moronically.
    “I should add a word of warning, Doctor Iverson,” Go said, taking Iverson aside. “Beyond that door is a city that, for the most part, is just like any city on Earth. While in the Zone, there’s a tendency to think you’re God-like, and you will no doubt have God-like abilities, but you’ll still be human. Comic book–obsessed geeks will want to treat the Zone as an opportunity to be supermen, but it will be at their peril. For some reason, we haven’t been able to create anything in the Zone that wasn’t based on something in reality. The Zone connects with our subconscious and if our subconscious knows its fantasy, it won’t work.”
    “No dragons or batmen. Got it,” Iverson said.
    “You can create a dragon; it’d just have to be a Komodo dragon.”
    “I understand.”
    “Enjoy yourself, but be careful. I’ll check on you later,” Go said.
    Iverson took a deep breath and made his way to the door. When he opened it, he saw the Golden Gate Bridge.

 
    CHAPTER 6
     
    Russian Hill.
    Or a