Just a teaser for an idea I got.  I gotta get it outta my head so I can
sleep tonight!

Fushigi Bokei
A Journey Through Surreality
(Also, a Blatant Self-Insertion No-Duh!)
By Andy Searls

It was late enough into the night that it had become early morning, and the
Mountain Dew had worn off.  Andy was sleeping soundly at his computer, an
unfinished story waiting patiently with a blinking cursor.  His modem
screeched as his e-mail program checked for late entries from the mailing
list.  Strangely enough, the last message was not from an address he was
familiar with.  Had he been awake to notice, he would have puzzled over the
alias "Trinity@outside.da.net".  Instead, he merely mumbled something and
stirred from the images the pepperoni pizza was conjuring in his dream
state.

The message display changed.  The window maximized itself, and now showed
only the blinking cursor.  The cursor moved, and the words appeared behind
it, "Yo, homeboy.  Wakey, wakey."  As soon as the cursor was done, the same
words drifted over a pair of $5 speakers.

Andy mumbled again, but slept on.

The cursor appeared to wait patiently for a few seconds.  Then, it wrote and
spoke again.  "Hey, you in the Ghost in the Shell T-shirt!  Wake up, dude!"

Andy sighed, and slapped the mouse.

The cursor, finished with it's patience, found a suitable sound clip.  The
T-Rex roar from Jurassic Park should wake up the dead.  Unfortunately,
coming through the cheap speakers, it sounded more like a hungry cat.

Coincidentally, Andy was used to having cats around.  He knew, even
subconsciously, that a hungry cat was not a good thing to ignore.  He woke
up instantly, as stared at the screen.  His confused look was quickly
replaced with annoyance.  "Aw, man.  I forgot to save again.  I'm gonna sue
McAfee over this one!"

The cursor noticed that it had Andy's attention.  "Reality is not what you
think."

Andy read the message and typed, "Reality is for people who can't handle
science fiction."

The cursor apparently ignored him.  "The bokei is not what you think."

"Bokei, bokei..."  Andy tried to minimize the window so he could get to the
"Start" button.  If he could get his Japanese - English dictionary program,
he might have a chance to figure out what the word meant.

"You can see the bokei, sometimes called the 'Matrix', for yourself.  By
clicking on this link, the story will become reality."

Andy stopped shaking the lint out of his mouse and stared at the screen.
"What kind of crap is this?"

The mouse pointer, in the shape of a green, friendly hand with a single
finger extended, pointed to the underlined text.  Andy shrugged, and clicked
the button.

"Now, hold on to your tukus, because Tokyo is going bye-bye!"

The room dissolved into a video-green light.  The light was blinding.  Andy
shielded his eyes as he floated.  His senses were overwhelmed for a moment.
Then, as suddenly as the light had appeared, it faded out.

Andy pulled his hands from his face to find himself in an open desert.  For
a computer programmer who's only tan came from the overhead flourescents,
the concept of such a barren place was, um, strange.  Andy looked around,
noticing a single, dead tree, several rocks, but no keyboard.  "Um, where's
the 'Back' key?  Where's the 'Undo' button?!  Where's ANY key?!?"
=====================================
I dunno if it would be safe for me to continue this, but it might be a fun
diversion while I'm universe-building for an original anime-style fic idea.
Any opinions / thoughts / proof-readers / flames / death threats?
Bueller?...  Bueller?...

-Andy Searls
http://www.jps.net/searlsa

I'm not completely insane,
    some parts are missing.