
Part 1
Imagine breaking the ultimate barrier—traveling at light speed—and emerging not as a pilot, but as pure electromagnetic energy. Your body dissolves into a glowing haze, floating between the Van Allen belts and a field of asteroids, while a sleek ship called the Lighttrick vanishes behind you. Suddenly, tiny, round beings of light appear, communicating through resonant tones instead of words, trying to make sense of your new, non‑material form.
These “e‑beings” probe your existence, comparing you to their own strange kind of life based on patterns of electrons they call “mush.” Their curiosity leads you to a colossal, doughnut‑shaped structure that serves as a banquet of endless, tasteless pastries and rivers of liquid light. As you wander this surreal landscape, you begin to taste the possibilities of a reality where energy itself can condense into something almost solid, and where philosophy is spoken in vibration.
The story blends hard‑science speculation with whimsical imagination, inviting listeners to ponder what it means to become something beyond matter while navigating a universe that is both alien and oddly familiar.
Language
en
Duration
~21 minutes (20K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
Jan 9, 2020
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
A mid-20th-century science fiction writer whose stories appeared in major genre magazines, he wrote sharp, imaginative tales like Dumbwaiter, The Imitation of Earth, and The Useless Bugbreeders.
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