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Prologue
Brad and Angie's agent drove out of the suburbs toward downtown Chicago. "I want to show you some new listings that you might really like," she said. "It looks like we're getting closer to work," commented Brad Childress. The young couple had reached a point in their lives when they finally realized that they weren't starving college students anymore. They were a real married couple, and they had the funds to move away from the traffic jams and constant reminders of work. They were eager to move as far from the city as they could possibly go without being unable to drive to work. The most remote properties however, had been too far from the amenities that Brad and Angie had gotten used to. Due to Brad's promotion to head of the it department of the internet provider where he worked, as well as Angie's steady position as head nurse of pediatrics at Cook County hospital, the couple had the funds to buy something nice, so they tried for the more pricy suburban homes that were closer to town but still out of the way enough that work could be left far behind. Beth Sampson turned on to the bipass. Traffic wizzed by them, but at least it wasn't at a standstill. "I'm sure you'll like these," she promised, "it's a new developement, very conveniant." All Brad and Angie could see were more and more office towers. Beth pulled in to a parking lot that up until that day had been surrounded by construction equipment even though it was small, and no one could see any large structure sticking up out of the middle of it all. They could see why. The building on the lot was small. It looked like a garage. There were two doors. One was like a regular garage door, the other was larger. It appeared to be used for large trucks. As they pulled in Beth said, "Technology is amazing. I didn't know such a thing existed until yesterday. Next Geneeration Homes is the company building this subdivision, and I have never heard of them, but they had a seminar for real estate agents this past weekend, and they put us all on a bus and took us to this place." "It doesn't look like there's anything here," pondered Brad. Angie wasn't talking, but she was observing. She would speak when she had something to say. "Just wait till you see it," remarked Beth. She pulled a plastic card from her wallet. They entered the garage through the smaller door. As they aproached, a semi truck pulling an enclosed trailer with the words Industrial Supply painted on it had entered through the larger door, but when they entered, Brad and Angie couldn't see it next to them. Beth stopped at an electronic device standing on the cement floor of the structure. She swiped the card through the slot on the side of the small machine. A red led glowed on the control pannel. Beth pointed at it and said, "When that turns green," it did, "Well, here we go. Ahead of them was another garage door. It slid open, but the busy thoroughfair with the skyscrapers climbing out of sight in the mid morning sky wasn't there. Instead, another parking lot appeared. ON either side, trees and shrubbery grew pristeenly. They exited the garage and turned on to a two lane road with woods on either side. Before they passed the first driveway, Angie finally spoke. "Okay, I'm officially confused now." Brad added, "Wel, Hudini, how'd you pull this one off?" Beth explained, "Next Generation Homes has been working closely with a company called Quantum Horizon Technologies for years to build this unspoiled paradise. I plan to move here myself when it opens to the public." "You mean it isn't yet?" asked Brad. "Nope, just for special customers. The company wants to bring some suitable people into establish the neighborhood before it is presented to the world. This is the first community of it's kind." Brad agreed. "Yeah, it's an outer suburb in the middle of the corporate district. Did we teleport or something?" Beth laughed. "No, this is another dimention." The couple laughed, but Beth was serious. "So this is for real?" asked Angie. "Yes, from what I was told at the seminar, scientists have figured out that there are other worlds right here. They occupy the same space we're in now, but to actually go to these worlds, we have to change channels so to speak. Instead of moving to a different place, you simply switch to another world. Look up," she said. They did. The sky was blue, not grey, not greyish blue, not blue with a nasty grey/brown haze, but blue with puffy white clouds in the distance. "Until now, this planet on this world, hasn't been inhabbited by humans, at least not the kind of humans that build skyscrapers and blast smog in to the atmosphere. The realization of what was happening and where they were finally sank in. Amazed, Angie had a lot to say. "This is incredable! I can't believe this is so close to where I work!" Brad had questions, lots of them. "So how much are houses going for out here?" As they spoke, the car entered an area with some small buildings. "Well, I'll be honest," she said, "you get what you pay for, but prices are negotiable." They stopped in the parking lot of a small, one story office building. "So where are we now?" asked Angie. Beth said, "This is the community office. There are two people working here who also live in the subdivision, or as we say, they live in town. After all, this isn't Chicago." Brad hadn't thought about that, but that was true. Beth continued. "The people who work here can help you with any problems you might have. Most of what you need can be taken care of by the two who work here, but if they have to, they can contact Next Generation Homes for a more complicated problem." "How does the phone work?" asked Angie. "Telephone signals, tv, radio, even internet signals are received and converted to this dimention, or from this dimention to the other one automaticly. I was told there might be a half second delay, but you can communicate with the other world in any way. The entire community has free wi/fi by the way. You will notice though that the weather in Chicago isn't the weather here. The climate is about the same, but if it's raining there, that's no guarantee that it's raining here. That's why, just up the road, there's an automated information center. It's a weather station and a radio station. Everything is computer generated, but the voice sounds remarkably human. The station broadcasts weather forecasts and other information like road maintenance schedules or even not for proffit announcements. There's only a few people living here so far, and most of them haven't moved in yet, but this place is expected to grow exponentially. Other access points are being planned throughout Chicago. This means, there will be more of them on this side as well. They will be strategicly planted throughout this area, so no one has to drive very far at all to go anywhere in Chicago. The idea has been brought up that some people will try to use this community as a way to get across town faster, but that problem should be managed by the id card." She showed them her's. "You use this to get in the door and to return to Chicago. Only residents or people otherwise needing to enter are given one of these. If you don't have it, you can't use the access point." The dicision was easy to make. Nothing compared to this, so Brad and Angie decided that day to buy a house in the new community which had been named New Chicago. They planned on having children, but right now, the young couple was content to buy a small home near the buildings that were being called "downtown" by Beth Sampson and the workers at the office. There was also a police station and a small fire department, but they had yet to be fully staffed. The Chicago police and fire departments had all been issued access cards, but the plan was for the community to be self-sustaining. Eventually, the police and fire departments would be fully functional, and the other departments would only be needed in the event of a serious emergency. There was a small medical clinic that functioned as an Emergency room for minor medical problems. Serious trauma or life-threatening conditions that required a real hospital were dealt with by transporting the patient to Chicago in one of the two ambulances. It only took a month or two to get everything finalized and put in to motion. On a saturday morning in mid October, Brad and Angie found themselves standing in front of their new home at 106 East Maple Street in New Chicago. Beth Sampson handed Brad the keys. "It's all yours," she said. Their two vehicles were loaded down with belongings, and more waited inside. The movers had finished unloading before Brad and Angie arrived, because they chose to spend the night at a hotel so that they would simply have to arrive and unpack. They wanted to get everything in it's propper place by Thanksgiving. Angie was eager to host the family get together. This would be the first time that she and Brad had done that. Until now, the young professional couple didn't have a pet and hadn't shown any particular interest in having one, but now they were eager to adopt a dog. Some of those moving to town decided to build their own homes on more rural lots further from town while others bought homes out there further from the quaint downtown of New Chicago with larger more wooded lots. Where Brad and Angie lived, the houses had already been constructed. They were closer together than the rural properties, but not at all crowded. When the story broke, and the community opened to the public, it was big news. The population exploded. Some environmental groups were concerned that man kind had found what we had always thought didn't exist, another Earth, but we were well on our way to destroying it as well, but New Chicago was a green community. All of the homes used solar energy, and emitions standards were strict. At first, Brad and Angie had no neighbors. Neither of the two had been all that social in their old neighborhood, but when people began pouring in to the small community, Angie became fast friends with Maridith Johnson, a single farmecutical sales rep with two daughters. She found herself volunteering for the decorating committee. As the town grew, a church went up, Brian and Nikki Hunter moved in down the block, and Angie began walking with them and their two greight danes in the evening. The Hunters were both fitness coaches in Chicago. Even Brad found a friend. Another it manager named Bill Cosgrove moved in next door opposite from Maridith. He was an it manager in Chicago, in New Chicago, he wasn't. The life that the residents lived in Chicago soon became like secondary lives. A person may be one thing in the city, but something entirely different in New Chicago. The CHildress family grew. They adopted Franky, a jack russell tarior puppy from a not for proffit organization in the city. Thanksgiving and Christmas were big hits in New Chicago, but it was decided that publicly, it wouldn't be called Christmas. Winter holiday was used or simply the holidays. Secular Christmas decorations were applied to the downtown area by the committee, but anything christion in nature was reserved for the church and the private homes of New Chicago's residents. THis was done so as not to offend the nonreligious in the community. Life settled in to a comfortable rhythm as spring aproached. |
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"I want to show you some new listings that you might really like," she said. |
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Due to Brad's promotion to head of the it department of the internet provider where he worked, |
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Next Geneeration Homes is the company building this subdivision, |
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"No, this is another dimention." |
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The realization of what was happening and where they were finally sank in. |
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"Telephone signals, tv, radio, even internet signals are received and converted to this dimention, or from this dimention to the other one [color-red]automaticly[/color]. |
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They will be strategicly planted throughout this area, so no one has to drive very far at all to go anywhere in Chicago |
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The dicision was easy to make. Nothing compared to this, so Brad and Angie decided that day to buy a house in the new community which had been named New Chicago. They planned on having children, but right now, the young couple was content to buy a small home near the buildings that were being called "downtown" by Beth Sampson and the workers at the office.
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They wanted to get everything in it's propper place by Thanksgiving. |
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At first, Brad and Angie had no neighbors. Neither of the two had been all that social in their old neighborhood, but when people began pouring in to the small community, Angie became fast friends with Maridith Johnson, a single farmecutical sales rep with two daughters. She found herself volunteering for the decorating committee. |
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Angie began walking with them and their two greight danes in the evening. |
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They adopted Franky, a jack russell tarior puppy from a not for proffit organization in the city. |
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"It keeps saying no atmosphere, whatever that means." |
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