Standing next to him was Gretchen, but not Gretchen. She was young, mid twenties, a vibrant energy coursing through her. Curly copper hair stringing down over her shoulders, set off against the bright green eyes that sniped out at you from under her fringe.

“Time never means much on this side, but even so, this was long ago. Look.”

Babbage reluctantly let his eyes slip from her face and follow her hand out to a point on the horizon. He stared a moment uncomprehending before he realised what was wrong. Something was missing. The Grid.

Where there should be towers of bright steel, glowing with power and energy, shining out against the darkness, there was simply empty space. He looked harder and the area morphed into a white sandy beach, then a moment later into a verdant forest. It kept on shifting, turning and glinting in the sun.

“This is how we began. Creators in our very own playground, providing visions and experiences for all. What is for you a forest is for someone else a mountain, for others still a desert. There is no definitive. As time passes, our areas grow.”

Babbage stared as the world seemed to explode outwards in all directions at once, making connections, feeding itself, growing like a fungus. Definitively alive.

“There are those, however, who are never comfortable with freedom without control. These people took a foothold in the universe and built what is now known as the Grid.”

The view seemed to shoot back in again, zoom to a level where details were clear. A pair of golden towers were beginning to rise, and a straight strip of darkness edged its way across the horizon.

“At first we ignored it. Sniggered. This was merely a corporate block in the playground for those not strong enough, or brave enough, to weather life outside without a parent. It was unsurprising. Let them have their slice of the Boulevard. Let them have their Grid.”

More towers sprouted, glowing with energy now. The areas around them seemed to fade by comparison.

“It wasn’t long before we became aware of the true effects. Power is not infinite. For someone to become stronger, another must weaken. As the Grid began to glow, other nodes became dark. By the time those of us who had any real power noticed it was too late to easily stop.”

The sky around them darkened, and a steady rain began to pour. From far above they looked down, and all Babbage could make out were various angry bright flashes on the edge of the Grid. Red splotches of light flaring up and quickly darkening as they were overwhelmed.

“Many tried of course, but one of the main weaknesses of ultimate freedom is the lack of organization, lack of unity. Even then, if we had found a leader willing to stand up, willing to work with us, focus our efforts, the Grid would never have withstood us. Unfortunately, that was not to be.”

The Grid had grown a hundred fold, swelled both in size and brightness, until it took on the shape Babbage recognised. The off Grid areas were dark now, the shady, wet streets that he knew snaking off the Boulevard. Dark corners filled with danger.

“Then came our final mistake. Not content with mere fumblings, we planned a final assault. In it, we introduced a virus code, designed to break the fabric of the system down from the inside. We cannot see this from here. Come.”

Immediately they zoomed into a point just off Grid, a lonely twisting street, just another extension of the Boulevard.

“Watch.”

A lone man walked along the centre of the laneway, head down as the rain dripped off the brim of his hat. Babbage felt a shock of recognition and energy. It was him. And there was something else, a buzz in the air. The man raised his head and stared off into a dark alley. Babbage knew what he saw.

There she stood. A dark clad figure, hands clasped in front of her, standing erect and still. Eyes flashing back from under her fringe.

Babbage tried to keep his eyes on her but couldn’t, he dropped his head and held his ears, blocking out the song which was not there, but which played itself in his memory. He watched the figure close in and engulf the man, absorb him. Then she paused and turned towards him.

“Enough.”

He opened his eyes and stared at the cables on the floor. They were back in Gretchen’s control room. They were safe.

“Her power is too great.”

She pushed her chair back and fiddled idly with some more controls lining the wall.

“We didn’t understand what we were doing. It was all his fault, he drove us to it, just because he’d started it all in the first place. Now it’s out of control. Only a matter of time, hmm? Time and melody.”

Babbage let his eyes scan across the room again, at the speakers lining the walls, the microphones hanging from every fixture. That’s what this place was, a bunker. A hideaway. He looked up at Gretchen with fresh eyes. She was just a scared old woman. She couldn’t help him anymore. Unless.

His intellect made the leap as the words left his mouth. “Who’s ‘he’?”

Gretchen stared back at him and a smile crept around the edges of her mouth.

“Of course, you wouldn’t know any longer, would you detective. You were severed at the time, you all were. A catastrophe of epic proportions, now completely forgotten, at least on this side. Now the dreams are free, hmm? ‘He’ is the one who designed this universe. ‘He’ was the leader of our little group. ‘He’ is the one now missing, hiding away somewhere, watching his creation fade into darkness. ‘He’ is the one who stranded me here, forced me into hiding. ‘He’ is your father, detective, your dreamer, your connection to the other side. And you’re going to help me find him.”