Legal Disclaimer:
This story is my very own piece. It belongs to me. All characters and situations
portrayed in this story are purely fictional and any resemblance to real persons
or events is purely coincidental. This piece of work is Copyrighted by 
Rocky Valkyrie 2002, all rights reserved etc. etc. Rockythehercules@yahoo.com

AUTOR'S NOTE:
This fanfic is not very good. I can tell you that in advance. Any and all 
convulsions, regurgitations, vomiting, swearing and etc. cannot be attributed
to me or my Fic. Legally. Please? ;;^_~ Enjoy the fic, if and only if you can.
Also, I aplogize for my last fics, which was really REALLY bad. Smoking is 
hazardous both to your health and to your sanity. Especially weed.

Passing Dream (Imagine...)- And it starts...
	By Rocky Valkyrie

	The world is so advanced, there will be nothing, in the span of perhaps,
3 years, that will remain inacessible to humankind. This is the fault of one
Goober Rouri, the inventor of the overused Imajin System. What, you ask, is the
Imajin system? It is the goal of all technology, it is the peak of advancement...
the granter of wishes. And it has been up and running for years now. It will do
any and all of your work for you, without you having to lift a finger. Almost
anything imaginable, well, anything abiotechnical anyways, is at your fingertips.
All you need do is wish it, and it shall come to you. As you want it. 

	It does, though, have its limitations. It allows one to become too 
relaxed; it is all too comfortable and convenient, it weakens the human race as
a race. This is a double-edged spear, for though humanity becomes too weak to
wage real wars and other such obscenities, as they are called in this day and
age, humanity is also weakened in other aspects, such as breeding. The lack
of human lust and desire is alarming. Humanity may be on its last leg.

	There is, though, a piece of humanity that has not been truly affected,
or rather, spoiled, by the Imajin System. Among them are the Dream Chasers. These
group of rebels; children, though most of them are, but they are wiser than most
adults these days. They think not only of pleasure and such, but also into life
and preserving life. The Dream Chasers use an upgraded, reprogrammed version of
the Imajin to retain memories of their past lives. They gain knowledge, power,
skill, and all that they had lost with death through their special reprogramming 
of Imajin. 

	They are not the only ones, though. There are those who live completely
free of the influence of the Imajin. These are the Gaelics. They live away from
the Imajin society, they keep to themselves. They live on their own, in their
own way, away from technology, for the most part. Some of them use some articles
of technology, but nothing at the caliber of the Imajin. The Gaelics... they
speak amongst themselves; they talk about some sort of unnatural salvation. The
Final Ascension, as they call it. They are looking for something that they say
will spark this glory. The Book of 5 Deities, they say, will grant one of their
wishes and restore humanity. In this way, bring life, love, and hope back to
humanity.

	Is the Imajin society wrong, though? For wanting change, advancement,
for wanting humanity to be able to enjoy itself? Just one story cannot attest
to all of this. But a story shall be followed, the story of not an exceptional
individual, who aspires to change the world and save humanity, but the story
of a man who cares enough about humanity to do something to help it grow.

	The year is the 48th since the Imajin revolution. The creator of the
system, the leader of this movement into lesiure, Goober Rouri, is 92, and is
in his sickly years. He doesn't care much for family, and does not have any
family ties; no wife, nor children, nor any brothers nor sisters. His brothers
have children, though, and more unto those. His grand-nephews are now about to
reach out and take over.

	Goober can feel his time coming, though. He can freely admit that he will
go soon. And so he, with his influence and power, calls a family meeting. His
successors, who will continue his empire... it's all to be discussed in this 
meeting. One of his nephews, though, does not come due to his responsibilities.
The one that does not come is Ichikata Rouri, who is a minor political leader,
and is a bit of the black sheep of the family. Since Ichi, as Ichikata is called,
is somewhat of a public figure, he has become the target of several Gaelic and
Dream Chaser attacks. Also, unlike the other members of the Rouri family, Ichi
is one of the only ones who does not completely embrace the Imajin system.

	That is what shocks most of the family. The rest of them, along with most
of the normal, city-living humans, who are not either Dream Chasers nor Gaelics,
do not do any work other than commanding the Imajin. Ichi, on the other hand, does
some work by himself, although he does use the Imajin system extensively. This
day, though, is the day that Goober has appointed as their meeting day. 

	Goober stands next to the window with white gloves on. He is quite a tall,
pale white man, but he looks fierce, not vulnerable and frail like most 92 year olds.
It is raining on the outside, as he looks out into the world; at the buildings that
he helped create. His mouth twitches for a moment, and a smile almost escapes, but
that changed into a grin. He rubs his hands together, and for a breif moment enjoys
the cold, the pain coming from his chronic arthritis. But as soon as he thinks of
the cold, his hands become heated, back to normal temperature. The Imajin system is
working just as he had envisioned it. Why did so many not undertand, he asks of
himself, but he gets no answer. So he turns around and sits on the large leather 
at the head of the long table. His relatives are late, as usual, he thinks, but he
has important matters to discuss, and he can wait.

	The room is empty. The walls are clean; white with no exception. The floors
are paved with a green rug, typical of all his environments. All this is real, he
thinks to himself, and it's all thanks to him. A firm grin is the expression on his 
face. His hands are together, right in front of his face, and he feels pleased and
empty at the same time. This empire which he has been the foundation to, it was going
to go into the possesion of another. Unacceptable. There is a high-pitched beep that
comes from the machine on his desk. This startles him a bit, but as soon as he sees
what has broken the silence, he tells the door to open and tells everyone to come in.
The whole family, encompassing 62 out of 64 members, comes in and sits down. The other
two are Goober and Ichi, as no one gets sick anymore because of the Imajin. Truly
a utopian society. Actually, there should be one more, but that is a different matter.

	"Sir. Why have you called all of us to this meeting?" asks a young woman with
thin red-rimmed glasses, sounding needlessly formal.

	"You all know. Even I know. I'm going to die soon and you all have got to
take what I have for yourselves. I know you all want the whole thing, but I'm dividing
it to all-- w-well, most... of you." Goober answers, eyeing a few of the family members.
Particularly Ichi's father, Bliss. 

	"Well..." Bliss starts to say, cynically, "...some of us don't need your help."

	The family murmurs amongst themselves. Goober breaks the silence, "You know 
what I mean, Bliss. You and your wife will get your shares. It's the boy I'm worried
about. The officials keep telling me he's being paranoid and he keeps telling them that
he has a feeling the world is going to end or whatnot. He didn't even come today. I 
think that he's jealous of my success and that's why he hates me..."

	"He doesn't hate you, sir!" Bliss demmands.

	"Well, he doesn't like me very well. There needs to be some kind of exclusion
of him when I'm gone." Goober says.

	"Well... do we have a choice?" Bliss mutters to himself.

	"Good. Then you all agree. Now, onto other bussiness..." Goober continues. 

	The whole family starts arguing about the succession. This continues on into the
night and early into the morning, as is only normal of Rouri family gatherings. At the
end, nothing is settled, as Goober has made up his mind, and he has been known not to
change his mind. After a few hours after the family eats its breakfast, they are dismissed.
But just as most of the family members are about to leave, one man approaches Goober. His
most trusted, his closest friend, August Mitchell, who is the son of his favorite sister.

	"Ummm... Sir?" asks August.

	"Yes, August?" Goober asks.

	"And... what of the girl? Although she rejects your empire, she IS your legal heir,"
August says.

	"Hmph... the daughter of a daughter I never wished for. But we tried, didn't we,
August? We offered it... all of it, to her and her mother. Those mistakes of my past have
come back to bite and haunt me, haven't they?" he says, with a definate melancholy tone.

	"Yes, sir, we tried. But she repeatedly refused, and what's more, she is the one
who sparked the... 'Gaelic' movement. The ones who reject Imajin entirely." August says.

	"Ah, yes... what ARE they thinking? All the pleasure, all the good... with none of
the pain. What are they thinking?" he decides, emptily.

	"So what are we to do about her?" August asks, coming back to his original question.

	"Just ignore her... she will realize her mistakes and one day... come back to us.
But when she does seek our help, August, give it to her." he manages to say with a tone of
sincerity, grabbing August by the collar.

	After 2 days, Ichi visits his ailing grand uncle. He apologizes that he could not
have been in the family meeting, but he had an excuse. The uncle formally forgave him, but
deep inside, felt that Ichi only wanted to improve his pulic appearance. Just a week later,
Goober Rouri passes away at 92. The only ones to see him within that span of about a week
are August and Ichi. Rumors start spreading that the jealous Ichi poisoned his grand uncle
because they got into an argument when they met. Ichi is the only one oblivious to this 
rumor. 

	This rumor reaches Ichi's relatives relatively quickly. It angers so many of them
that they all decide that Goober was right; an exclusion is needed. Even the young man's
own parents agree and turn against their 19-year-old son. Not many of them really believe
that he poisoned his grand uncle, but all of them agree that if they do not do something
to make them look like they are in the right, then everyone will assume that they are in
on the 'conspiracy.'

	"So what do we do, Bliss? It's your son," one of them asks.

	"Well... let's just exclude him. Formally and actually. He doesn't like these, 
anyhow." Bliss says, with finality.

	"Good. Then it's agreed. No 'if's, 'and's, 'but's or 'maybe's. We all get what we
want." that guys says.

	And so it is agreed that Ichi is to be kept a bit of a distance away from the 
family to avoid bad publicity. After all, most of the people in the family hate his guts,
and he's always been the family's black sheep, so his exclusion was no surprise to them
nor to him. A figure can be seen by the dimly lighted doorway where this meeting is being
held. The shadows from the vertical light clearly show the shadows of the smoke coming 
from his cigar. It is August Mitchell, the watcher, as usual. But now, with the splitting
of the family wealth and the death of his employer, he also becomes somewhat outcasted
from the family. His former influence has disappeared. He used to have power; his place
beside Goober made his vote count more than all of theirs did. But, nonchalantly, he counts
his losses and moves away. No one minds or takes mind to this.

	Ichi hears this news from his parents. He is a bit disappointed, not having heard
the rumors, of course, but also relieved. Because of his grand uncle's invention, there is
little need for money, and he has his own political influence, although it is quite small
compared to his family's. He works as a state official; the representative of his colony
in Asnas. 

	Asnas is part of the contiguous colonies in the main island or Creed. Ichi had
studied this. Long ago, the nation of Creed only made up the top half of the main island.
Back then there were 7 distinct areas. There was the nation of Creed, up to the North,
the Automaton Empire that made up most of the West, the State of Byron made up the East,
and a small portion to the South of it was the area controlled by a fierce female warlord,
Bloody June. Then, to the South East, till almost a perfect half of the island's South was
Terran. In the South West was an unused area called the desert, which till now remains
to be used formally. That is where the Gaelics live in this age of Imajin. Then, right to 
the North West of the desert, a small area of land known as Andante lay there. Thet is where
Asnas is now. It was said that a unifying war known as the 'War of the Arc' was waged for
centuries in those areas, mainly the Automaton Empire and the State of Byron. When the
war ended, both areas and the whole of the main island were taken by the nation of Creed.
The Andante area actually has its own story.

	The Andante area was a self-destructing place. The last leader's sole heir was
a young woman. Soon after his death, she was charged with treason and many other crimes.
Despite the Prime Minsiter's suggestions and defense of the child, she is taken out by
her rivals, and in the War of the Succession, all the leaders except for the child and
the Prime Minister are killed. But the government exiles both of them, and the nation
falls into chaos. That and a plague destroy the nation. 

	Actually, that's part of this story, too. Many centuries passed and no real city
nor colony nor any other type of real living is set in Andante for fears that the plague
might still be residing in the areas. After all, plagues like that have been known to 
rest in the soil where the dead are buried, and oftentimes even the grass becomes diseased.
But a young Goober Rouri decides to build there. Goober, at the age of 20, is quite a 
family and social outcast, and is, for tampering with sciences that eventually lead to the
invention of the Imajin system, exiled to that area. Goober flourishes and eventually
creates the Imajin system, at age 44. Then everyone suddenly forgets his treason and 
science against religion charges and embraces him as the hero of his time. But everyone
does not realize that his real crowning achivement is not this thing that brings convenience
and pleasure, but that he created a fully-working city from available materials in 24
short years. Asnas happened to be one of the cities he did not build. 

	That was one of the reasons why many other politicians could not make the excuse
that it was because of family ties. Ichi is always tied to his family's reputation. He
can not escape it, where ever he turns. This is another reason why Ichi's exclusion makes
him feel relieved. Now he would be seen for who he is, and not because of his grand uncle's
success. Ichi has some ambitions; some dreams and all those. But, his will is a bit weak
and he is submissive. He doesn't deny his ancestry, he just doesn't like it getting in the
way. It's not his choice that he's different; it's just that he is different.

	Ichi is not a very ambitious person. He's got some ambitions, though, unlike most
of the kids in the Imajin society. Some of them are getting married, having children, 
seeing the world, and being happy. He was engaged once, but that did not work out too well.
Ichi's fiancé, Emily, found him too detached. He is not completely dependent on the Imajin,
not for every little thing. Instead, he does some things by hand, but not always with the
smoothness that is often expected. She ran off with another man, but Ichi had expected it.

	Ichi is not such a tall young man, he's around 5'6, with a medium-dark tan, and 
dark brown, almost black hair, long enough to go down halfway to the elbows. His eyes
are a strange dark redish brown. He has a medium-thin build, which is strange to see at
this age. He has little upper body strength, but is a fast runner. The only person,
really, who still has the ability to run for long distances, in the whole of the former
Andante area. Except, of course, for the Dream Chasers. 

To be continued...