Hello, my friend.

I hope this has landed in the right hands. This… Technology is quite new… I suppose there are no “wrong” hands really since this hasn’t been addressed to anyone in particular.

They said I was crazy for wanting to use the technology this way, that there is no use because no one would believe me. I hope that you will.

There’s no need for beating around the bush… I’m sending this from a parallel universe. And although parallel, this universe is quite different from your own. Even though I realise getting a response might only be a futile thought, since your world is less… developed. Or, less, technically advanced. Yes, that sounds nicer…

Where was I… Ah yes, I’m fully aware that the possibilities of getting a response are slim, but nonetheless, I’m equally as excited by the mere thought that someone might be reading this right now.

I know what you’re thinking, this person must be lonely, why can’t they find a pen-pal in their own universe?

Now that I write it out loud, that does sound quite a bit smarter… But! This isn’t about being smart, this is about sharing another world, other places, other things, creatures, ideas, with YOU! (Sigh, I hope someone is really reading this).

Now, this is quite a gift I must add. My colleagues might say that this is useless, or perhaps even dangerous, some say it’s silly, and that I’m right out mad. 

You have to be a little mad sending a letter with a possible receiver that you don’t know who it is or if there’s even someone there since you won’t be getting a response and-

I’m getting ahead of myself…

I’m K. Your new dear friend. Or well, hopefully, I’ll be your dear friend. Or, you’ll at least find these letters interesting in some way.

Since I don’t know the specifics of who will be receiving this, I’ll call you… M. I like the softness of the letter, it feels, warm. 

I wonder what warm feels like in your universe, M. Here, it feels like the warm rays of the sun bouncing off the metal sculptures that are scattered around our town and hits our faces and bodies. Warmth is the feeling I get when I enter the communal TokiSteam and swim with the magmafins. 

You… You do have magmafins… Right?

Maybe not.

Anyway. I should probably introduce myself a little bit. I live alone in an apartment right in the middle of the busy city. Not too high up, not too low. It’s important here on which level your apartment is on since we get deliveries daily to fulfil our basic needs. Since we don’t use… What’s it called again? Eletors… Vators… Elevators? Ah yes, that’s it. Elevators. We don’t use… Those, to get around, nor do we use stairs indoors, we use a teleportation system called-

Never mind, I’m getting ahead of myself. I don’t want to confuse you, M. The problem with not having elevators or any efficient way of getting around inside of an apartment building except for teleporters that lead right inside someone’s home is that the delivery occurs on the outside of the building.

Grips, as we call them, are the people that practically climb the outside of the building to make sure everybody gets their care package. They start from the top and they work their way down.

This is why it’s important to live smack down in the middle. You don’t get awaken too early in the morning, but you don’t get your care package too late. Heh. Alright, I admit, it’s quite a stupid reason and perhaps not as important as I made it sound… But when you have a bad sleep schedule every drop of sleep in the morning counts okay? I bet you can agree with me on that, M.

I also bet you're curious as to what’s in these care packages. It’s nothing sensational really. Among the things are the equivalent of your morning paper and some basic food rations so we don’t have to spend time getting food. If you knew what the average time a human from your universe spends shopping for food, you would be horrified. 

Sometimes if we are celebrating a holiday of sorts, we get holiday-related things. Like treats, or a card, or a gift that symbolises something for that particular holiday. It’s quite neat.

You might be wondering, how come I know some things about your universe when you know nothing about mine? A very fair question to have, but a question that is very difficult to answer I’m afraid. All I can say is, we have found ways to have a peek into other parallel universes from our own. And no, although I wish I could see with my own eyes where my letters go to, or to whom rather, only a very select few are allowed to get a peek. But for research purposes, they do share some information with the rest of us, only the very important bits and sometimes things that just simply seems hilarious. Like elevators, for example. Did you know they’re basically hanging on strings or something? Deathtraps! I’d rather have my cells dismantled and re-built by a teleportation device any day instead of using an elevator thank you very much.

Let’s see, what else…

———

“Kian what are you doing? I thought we’d agree you wouldn’t write those stupid letters. You’re going to get us all in trouble. We have important positions in this government and this is just a silly fantasy of yours! You’re not even going to get a freaking reply!”