A/N: Bracketed words are meant to be italicized. Ex: [italics]
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Princess Jalette Spryfeet was fighting for her life against the evil Mortrey’s soldiers. She twisted out of the way of several throwing knives and leapt to the side, parrying a swordsman’s long blade. The clang of steel upon steel and shouts from the soldiers around her filled the air as she fought her way to Mortrey.

[This isn’t right.]

The quiet thought, unbidden and unsettling, pushed its way forward from the dark recesses of her mind. She hastily pushed it aside as an arrow whizzed past her nose. Of course something didn’t feel right, she told herself. She was about to face her arch-enemy. She might die.

A mace slammed into her plate mail, denting the metal so much that she had trouble breathing. Still, even as she wheezed, she returned the hit with extra, and the soldier who had delivered it dropped to the ground with a heavy thunk.

[My name is Sara.]

The princess swallowed and kicked an enemy away from her. ‘Sara’ was too silly a name to exist.

“My name is Jolette,” she reassured herself. She was princess of Silver Spring, daughter of King Orisin and Queen Finisse. A tremor ran through her sword arm, ruining the perfect blow, and she had to strike the enemy again. She eyed Mortrey, who stood within a magical protective circle some fifty feet away. Time was crucial. Her army was losing because of the damage he had wrought.

[Magic isn’t real], a voice, her own voice that somehow wasn’t truly hers, refuted indignantly, louder this time.

“What utter nonsense,” Jolette said aloud, easily blocking an untrained warrior’s clumsy attack. “Of course magic’s real.”

Probably wondering who she was talking to, the warrior gave her an odd look, and Jolette struck him down in his distraction.

[No, magic is not real], the voice, Sara, argued vehemently. [But science is.]

Something clicked in Jolette’s mind. “Science?” She recognized that word. But, what was it?

[Chemistry. Physics. Biology. Technology], Sara answered firmly. [Don’t you remember]?

Memories that were Jolette’s, but weren’t Jolette’s, memories that didn’t belong but felt so wholly true and real, flooded their -Jolette’s mind. Memories of sitting at a desk in a classroom and learning about the force of gravity, memories of sitting with her friends and learning about the nine planets, of Earth….

[That’s it! Remember Earth? And I remember our friends! My friends. Not your friends…. Because this isn’t real…, which means you’re… not real. But then, how did we get here?]

Jolette wanted to argue, but everything Sara said felt so true, except…. “Maybe-” She screamed as a dagger raked across her cheek, cutting off her perilous thoughts. She stumbled to the side, narrowly missing another attacker’s blade. With her newfound pain, and despite some new, inherent feeling of wrong, she felt reassured that her world felt so painful, that it simply had to be real.

[No], argured Sara. [It… it’s supposed to feel real, she determined. If I could only remember why!]

Jolette shook her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she decided as she defeated another opponent. She looked up to see Mortrey gazing at her from a shockingly short distance away. “I have a mission to complete.”

[That’s right. You have to complete -to resolve….? We have to…]. Sara’s voice trailed off as Jolette focused on Mortrey.

The evil wizard aimed his staff at her, and before she even realized it, a great sphere of blue fire was flying toward her. She bent her knees, ready to leap out of its path. But before she could dodge, Sara’s disbelieving words passed through her mind. [But magic isn’t real… This isn’t right.] Jolette hesitated, and the blue fire slammed into her face.

As Jolette collapsed, screaming, to the ground, Sara screamed with her in the exact same voice. The pain seemed muted for a few precious moments as Jolette-Sara passed out, but when they came to, their face felt like it was still burning, sizzling. The timeless world was black around them. The ground tilted back and forth, and they would give anything, absolutely anything, to end the pain.

Words echoed in their tortured ears. “World… ours… enemy… pitiful strength… victory… power, I… miserable… new age!”

As the pain drove them mad, they laughed deliriously. [Mortrey must be making a cheesey super-villain speech. Like in the… the movies…]

Then a new, harsh pain buried deep into her chest as Sara realized, in her last moment of bright lucidity, [This is just a movie!]

The world exploded into blinding white light.

*****
The Times


RealMovies: Redefining ‘Interactive’

By Charlene Namyaw

According to recent reports, Tilton Bros. has introduced astounding new technology to the movie business. RealMovies. These movies “make 3D look like silent picture shows... They aren’t even comparable,” says developer Robert Strauss. “Viewers don’t just view the movie. They enter the movie. They can literally take the role of any character, and remain involved in the story for either a designated amount of time or until they reach some sort of resolution.”

Beta testers reported that they absolutely loved the new technology, though the story of one unfortunate tester named Sara… (continued pg.12)