I am running—I can't stop my feet from doing it—and my feet propel me forward, forcing me somewhere, anywhere.

     I saw him. He was there. A white glimmer of light, locking with my eyes for a moment, asking that incessant question,

     Who ARE you?

     I saw him! He was like me, I saw him...

     My feet stop. I'm lost in the village. Massive cones of light tower over me. Strange creatures pass by.

     Who was he with again? Some sort of one-eyed being, the kind I've seen before.

    I have to find him. I weave through the crowd of unknown faces, searching aimlessly for the one thing I can recognize.

     There! A familiar shape in the distance. My feet get back to running. There again! Closer this time. Gone. Gone. Nowhere. My feet slow down. I stare up at the buildings. Their light is blinding. I look back at the crowd hopelessly. There! My feet quicken. Gone. There! Gone. There! Gone...

     "I saw you from across the village," a voice says behind me.

     I whip my body around, startled.

     "Do I know you?" the familiar figure asks.

     "It's you! It's you!" I yell joyfully, "I've been looking everywhere."

     "Who are we? Do you know?" He asks urgently.

     "I wish I did. Do you remember anything?"

     "No. Nothing."

    "This is so confusing."

     "I'd love to introduce myself, but I don't even know my own name."

     "Well, I see you've met someone."

     My counterpart glances at his one-eyed acquaintance.

     "The name's Wolliw. A pleasure to meet you," the one-eyed creature says, bowing gracefully.

     "This is quite an odd occurrence: both of you appear to be of the same species, yet neither of you have any previous memories."

     "Who are we?" my counterpart mutters desperately.

     "Could there have been some mass extinction? Or some sort of dimensional blip?" Wolliw guesses before suddenly gasping:

     "Or, could you both have, dare I say, come from... Outside the Chasm?"

     We are both silent, staring at Wolliw.

     "Is that a big deal or something?" I ask.

     "Certainly. No one knows what's out there, and everybody's got their own theories: religious individuals think majestic spirits live up there, in a land made of magical light, while philosophers believe that the Chasm isn't a chasm at all: they think that, if you were to travel up high enough, you'd end up back here. I know it's kind of hard to imagine. Oh, and don't even get me started on the 'scientific' theories, constantly in a flux of fact and fiction: the more conservative researchers think that the world outside the Chasm is a bare and lifeless plane of rock, too exposed to harbor any sort of life. Meanwhile, the liberal ones think the Chasm never ends, instead going upwards for infinity. And then there's the--"

     "None of those theories support the idea of us coming from up there," My counterpart interrupts.

     "Exactly! That means your very existence could completely alter our preconceived ideas of the Outerchasm!"

     "The Outerchasm? Really? That's what you all call it?" I mumble jokingly.

     "Hey, it gets the point across, wiseguy." Wolliw retorts.

     "Wait a minute," my counterpart states, "Out of all the theories you just told me about, Wolliw, none of them even considered the idea of life outside the Chasm. Why is that?"

     "Well, if there were beings up there, why haven't we found any? Surely something would have fallen down the Chasm by now, wouldn't you think?"

     "Maybe we're that 'something'!" I exclaim excitedly.

     "Precisely! This could be revolutionary!" Wolliw reciprocates.

     "Has anybody ever tried to go up there? To find the Outerchasm?" My counterpart inquires.

     "Oh, countless times," Willow responds, "In fact, I'd say we hear about a new 'expedition' every month. Some have tried to do it with machinery, while others have attempted the feat with nothing but some simple climbing equipment."

     "I'm guessing none of them were successful?" I gloomily ask.

     "None. The explorers almost always fall to their deaths. Sometimes, it's a malfunction with the machinery. Other times, it's a simple mistake on the person's part. The bottom line is, it never works out."

     "Hold on. You said the explorers 'almost' always fall to their deaths?" my counterpart questions.

     "Well, there was the Revocsid incident."

     A pregnant pause fills the air.

     "Well, what's the 'Revocsid incident'?" We both demand.

     "Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting you guys know nothing about this place. See, everybody down here knows about the Revocsid incident. You can't go one day without someone bringing it up in conversation, or a reporter analyzing it in an article, or an author pouring over it in their latest book."

     "So what is it?" We both yell frustratedly.

     "Well, around two centuries ago, two brothers by the names of Naic and Leba Revocsid manned a Uni-helitron (a type of helicopter) on a mission to the Outerchasm. Their Uni-helitron was found days later, but their bodies were never recovered. Over the years, their story has evolved into a legendary tale, with different regions of the Chasm having their own versions of the story."

     "Nobody found their bodies?" I ask.

     "Some think they ascended into the Plane of the Spirits. Others think they made it out successfully. Most of us think their bodies are stuck on a random ledge up there."

     "Mysterious," My counterpart ponders, "Nevertheless, there's no way we came from up there. How would we have survived that fall, anyway?"

     "Maybe someone from the Outerchasm 'dropped us off' here or something," I reply.

     "Maybe the spirits are real," Wolliw whispers.

     We all stand for a moment in silence, wondering—me and my counterpart, wondering about everything, and Wolliw, lost in his own wonders.

     "You guys need names!" Wolliw suddenly yipes.

     "We need to find a place to sit," I groan, "My legs are killing me, and I'm starving."

     "Follow my lead," Wolliw replies.

     Wollow weaves us through various unknown beings, chatting and strolling around the city, eventually leading us to a low, wide, conical building.

     "Best place in town. This food'll blow your mind."

     From the outside, the building seems to be a solid cone until we watch Wolliw seamlessly walk into the building itself, disappearing from our view.

     "I guess we should do that, too?" My counterpart says, chuckling.

     As we pass through the glowing borders of the conical restaurant, we are engulfed by the smell of savory food. Steamy, delicious fumes ride up our noses, causing our appetite to grow exponentially.

     "What is that smell?" I croon hungrily.

     "Welcome to Enisiuc's, home of the finest foods in all of the Core!" Wolliw announces.

     "What's the 'Core'?" I ask my counterpart.

     "I think it's what they call the center of the Chasm," he responds, "Wolliw told me there are a bunch of gemstones in the Core."

     "Gemstones?"

     "It's their form of currency."

     "Oh..."

     Wolliw leads us to an open table in the corner of the busy restaurant. A group of boisterous beings laugh and shout at a nearby table, talking in a language vaguely similar to our own. I try to catch what they're saying.

     "...And wheen Iy looked there agayn, nonum! Noytin der a'al, noitin. Nonum! Byut theen agayn, wheet dayd Iy espect? Thos kind off bayngs don't knoy hoow a kep track oay sangle theeng, yoo knoy wheet Iy mean? Soy..."

     Wolliw and my counterpart are skimming the menu.

     "Wolliw, what language are those beings speaking?" I ask.

     Wolliw takes a moment to listen to their chatter before answering:

     "Sounds like an Enot tongue or something. Quite common around here."

     "But--But why can I understand what they're saying?"

     "Well, of course you can! Since the Reformation, Standard Usage Dilact rules have removed the language gap across the Chasm!"

     My counterpart and I stare at Wolliw quizzically.

     "Oh, right--you guys don't have any memories. Okay, listen closely because this is going to be quite an info drop:

     "A long time ago, like, several centuries ago, the Chasm had a bunch of different languages, indistinguishable from one another in syntax and pronunciation. This posed a big problem for everybody because they couldn't go twenty miles without passing a language border. So, when the Reformation came around--and please, ask me to explain that another time-- an organization called the International Language Bureau (ILB) proposed a Chasm-wide plan to standardize an official language for all civilians to speak. Everybody across the Chasm voted on the proposal, and it ended up being a perfect tie: half the population was against it, and half was for it. The 'against' half argued that the plan would make their native languages lost to history, never heard of again, and take away the beauty of language diversity. Feeling desperate, the ILB decided on a compromise: Standard Usage Dialects. This was a universal tongue that could be 'tweaked' from culture to culture, allowing for the inclusion of grammatical differences and accents. This new proposal won in the polls by a landslide, and ever since then, the Standard Usage Dilact system has been used nationwide.

     "Nowadays, children learn the Standard usage Dialect (often abbreviated as SUD) from an early age, and, once they are old enough, are permitted to tweak it however they see fit; most just copy their parents, though. I'd say there are around two thousand variations of the SUD by now. My variation, and yours too, is called Etalucitra."

     "Wow," I affirm, "That was an info drop."

     A being with three legs, one head, and no torso walks up to our table.

     "May I take your order?" it says.

     "An ymmuy for each of us would be great," Wolliw answers, knowing neither of us knows what an ymmuy is.

     "You guys are going to love this. Best dish on the menu."

     After a starkly short amount of time, the same waiter arrives with the ymmuys. I stare in confusion at the food before me: a gelatinous bubble encasing an odd, orange gas.

     "How--how do you eat this?" I ask nervously.

     "Pop the bubble with the pick on your plate, then inhale the gas. It'll solidify as it passes into your mouth. Then swallow. You'll love it."

     Shuddering slightly, I look at my counterpart, who has already popped his bubble. I watch in horror as he breathes in the bright, lively fumes.

     Suddenly, my counterpart's eyes widen.

     "Mmmmmm," he exclaims, taking a moment to gulp down the now-solid sustenance, "That was delicious and fun to eat!"

     My counterpart glances towards me, waiting for me to try the dish. I shakily grab the special pick and poke at the bubble lightly.

     "Come on," Wolliw encourages, "I promise you'll enjoy it."

     Squinting my eyes furiously, I press the pick into the gelatinous film and breathe deeply. I feel a humid, warm gas crawl up my nostrils. As it passes into my mouth, the substance starts to thicken, thicken, and thicken! Suddenly, a toasty, bread-like batter is on my tongue, soft and slightly sweet. I smile with delight as it slides down my throat gently.

     "Gosh," I state, amazed, "That was incredible!"

     "The only problem is it's a pay-per-pop experience. You have to buy another bubble if you want more," Wolliw groans.

     I'm not listening to him. I'm grinning ear-to-ear, reveling in the delicate, delightful taste of my very first ymmuy.

     "I'm beginning to like this place," I hum contentedly.