Letting go and letting be

Less protection means less control. Less control translates into less control over stimuli.

The rush of color, flashing and streaking around the Bubble, increases gradually. More objects, faces, and bodies appear and disappear, and do so faster, with greater frequency. A faint hum arises, growing louder by the second, resolving itself into myriad sounds.

The Bubble begins to vibrate, increasing its rate of vibration with more and more exposure to the chaos.

"Michael, please hold this level of protection."

"As you wish, Mr. Visionquest, but I fail to understand the significance of your request for less protection. Perhaps if you tell me what it is you seek, I could assist you more fully."

I close my eyes to soak up the incoming stimuli, allowing them to invigorate my mind with their energy. "Michael, I appreciate your concern, but I wish to observe, as fully as possible, and not just with the sense of sight, the various stimuli that saturate this world that knows no bounds."

"Mr. Visionquest, would you care to establish a link so that I might observe and monitor your state of mind in response to said stimuli?"

"Yes, Michael, but only when I say so. I wish to approach the threshold at which I feel compelled to participate in the community that Knows No Bounds, on my own, without your assistance."

"I understand, Mr. Visionquest. And with your permission, you would have me establish a link so as to gradually increase the level of protection at the moment you feel compelled to participate."

"Yes, Michael. Or more precisely, at the moment I begin to lose my mind."

On the edge of nowhere

"Ready, Mr. Visionquest."

"Thank you, Michael. As we enter the community that Knows No Bounds, I would have us placed inside an Observation Bubble."

"At which level of protection?"

"Full protection, please. My purpose is to observe."

"As you wish, Mr. Visionquest. We go when you say we go."

I have never been inside this community without full protection, but I did study it closely as a student. In many ways, it is similar to the community that is Creative Beyond Belief, but having the distinction of knowing no bounds, it is far more dangerous and unpredictable.

My overall purpose is to observe the quality and vitality of interaction between virtual participants, to gauge responses and reactions of virtual observers to this interaction, and to get a fine-tuned sense for what these communities have to offer to visitors from the Free Zone.

The most sophisticated communities in the Pleasure Zone provide the most entertainment value. They tend to be less violent, less predictable, and with greater quality of production and vitality of interaction. They tend to be more creative, and are constantly improving.

I have no idea what to expect.

"Go."