3:08 pm Central Daylight Time on Earth, approximately 810 million miles away from Earth, between Jupiter and Saturn..

Having a seat here at this terminal, in a very comfortable chair, in my very comfortable living quarters, on this vessel beyond anything I could have ever comprehended, I'm at a complete and utter loss as to where to even begin. 24 hours ago, I was a regular joe, trudging along through life just like everybody else back home. A 32 year old widower with an office job. Few friends, virtually non-existent family, and zero knowledge of extraterrestrial life. Needless to say, it's been a mildly eventful 24 hours...

Before I get into the juicy details, I should explain the fact that this communications terminal can access any other network in the sector. I don't even know what a sector is, but I've been told that the internet, or "Earthnet," as they call it, is included. So, for the few people back home who might be concerned about my whereabouts, don't be. I'm not dead, and I wasn't kidnapped. I was given a very unique opportunity that very few people, to say the least, will ever receive. You will still hear from me via this diary, and from what I've been told, I'll even return home occasionally to make visits!

As you can probably tell, I'm stalling on the details. Truth is, I don't think anything has sunk in yet. My brain is still processing stuff, and it doesn't help that I haven't slept in 2 days. Yet I'm obviously wide awake from what's transpired. I'm sure you get the point.

I guess I can start with the ship. Getting on was the interesting part. As they pointed it out to me on approach, I didn't know what to think, because there was nothing there. I thought that maybe I had gone off the deep end, and that I was imagining everything. Or that perhaps I was dreaming, since I've been known to have some pretty strange dreams. But that wasn't the case. They told me to proceed forward, and to watch my step. Sure enough, I almost tripped forward at the first invisible step. I cautiously explored with my foot for a moment before getting a good idea of the depth of each step. I climbed them, and almost tripped again when I hit level ground. But there was still nothing there. I could feel that I was standing on something, but to my eyes, it appeared that I was merely standing on an invisible platform about 50 feet above the ground. I looked straight down, and saw a dog piss on a shrub. I was never afraid of heights, so I found the whole thing to be pretty cool.

But then one of my new.. acquaintances, I'll call them for now, got to the top of the stairs, and pulled out some sort of device from his overcoat. He told me not to panic, and that what he was about to do would seem to be nothing but a simple, painless eye-scan to me. He held it up in front of my eyes, and it wasn't even a scan. I heard some strange noise that let me know that he had activated the device, but I never saw any light, or anything to indicate that it was actually doing anything. Nonetheless, in about the next 10 seconds or so, my true surroundings gradually focused into view, and that's about the best way I can put it. It wasn't like turning on a switch with immediate results, and it wasn't what you would imagine something invisible gradually becoming visible being like. First, all I could see was sky, and the ground below. After the noise, everything was blurred beyond comprehension for a very brief time, and then everything just sort of slowly unblurred itself.

When it was all said and done, I was stunned, frozen in place. Not by them, but by what my eyes were seeing. For all intents and purposes, I was still standing on nothing. I looked down again, and the same dog was circling the same shrub. I looked to the left, and I still saw the downtown skyline. But when I looked to the right, I saw a massive circular building, essentially floating in midair, just like we were. Except each floor of the building has doors spaced out at various intervals. In fact, as I had looked up, a couple of "beings," just like the ones I was with, walked out of one of the doors (which opened up just like the doors on Star Trek!), and also appeared to be walking on nothing. To my surprise, there was nothing "alien" about the appearance of the "building." It looked like something you'd see on the Mediterranean coast, albeit huge and round. It was beautiful!

Xavier, the one who had done my eye scan (he seems to be the most talkative one so far) explained that the entire hull of the ship was transparent, and that I'd get used to it. He also said that everything on the interior was quite visible, and that I shouldn't "freak out" too much. And so I followed them through the door closest to us. To my complete and utter astonishment, I walked into a village. Literally, a village! I took in the sights for a moment, not knowing what to think. I turned to face the door we had just walked through, and it wasn't there. It was replaced by a gorgeous ocean vista, complete with white sand beach dotted with what looked like cabanas. I turned around in a 360 sweep, and it was like I had been transported to southern France. Xavier laughed and asked if I was impressed. He said there would be plenty of time for explanations, but that I must be tired, and he would be bringing me to my living quarters. To my delight, we walked in the direction of the "ocean." After what seemed liked half a mile or so, we reached the end of the cobblestone road, which happened to be where land met the water. The coast was dotted with spectacular homes, and Xavier told me to take my pick. They all looked pretty similar, and they were all gorgeous, so I just picked the one we were standing in front of. As with the door we walked through before, the door of the home just sort of zapped open as we approached.

We walked in, and Xavier bade me welcome to my new temporary home. He gave me a tour. It looked just like the interior of your typical home on the French Riviera, with a few exceptions. Most of the furnishings were similar. Couches, chairs, tables, artwork, etc. One thing I noticed right away was that there was no kitchen. I asked Xavier about this, and he chuckled. We went to one of the tables, sat down, and he told me to watch what he does. He simply said " Xavier terminal," and what looked like about a 42 inch plasma TV materialized right in front of our eyes, floating stationary in midair. There was a menu screen on it with a lot of options, but the ones I noticed were food, entertainment, and data networks. Before I could check out any of the other options, he said "food," and then as another set of visual options came up, he said "Steak, medium rare, with carmelized onions and mushrooms." Guess what happened then? A plate, containing exactly what he had just said, materialized out of nothingness on the table in front of him! I could smell it almost immediately, and my stomach must have growled so loud that he heard it. He laughed again, and said "Terminal off." The screen vanished, and then he told me to give it a try, using my name instead of his in the verbal command.

So I said "Deft terminal," and the same screen materialized again. I followed the same steps he did, except I said "glass of water," since I was thirsty. He laughed again, and said "It's all that simple. Anything you want, food, drink, entertainment, access to your Earthnet, you do it all from this terminal. And all you have to do is tell it what you want. Don't worry about using exact terms, because it'll probably understand what you're wanting either way. And you can access this terminal from anywhere, just use the command, and it'll come. You could be laying down in bed and access it, you could be taking a swim in the ocean and access it."

I was still practically drunk with what was going on. I asked him if we had left Earth yet. He brought up his terminal again, said a couple of things to it, and told me that we were already beyond Mars! At that point, he said that he'd be leaving, but that he'd be back tomorrow morning. He said to try to get some rest, because tomorrow would be pretty long, with the explanations of everything and whatnot. I shook his hand, thanked him, and he left, leaving me to explore my new surroundings. The first thing I had noticed upon entering the house was that there was a large sliding window that opened up to a large terrace overlooking the water. I stepped out and plopped myself down into a very comfortable chair. That's where I'm "writing" this from right now, actually. I use quotes, because I'm not actually writing. Everything is verbal with this thing. I say it, and it's automatically typed. Not a bad way to go, even if it is artificial. I can smell the saltwater, I can feel the sun and the breeze, and I can hear the waves gently hitting the beach below me.

I don't know if I'll be able to rest tonight. Hopefully the whole 48 hours plus without sleep will help. For now, I'm anxious to see what else this terminal can do. I know you probably have a lot of questions. Hell, I do too! I'll be back though. I'll explain who these people are, and why I decided to go with them. And everything else I happen to learn in the coming days. Don't cry for me, Argentina. Indeed, it is I who am crying for you.