CHANGE OF SCENE, BUT A RELATED SITUATION:
Readers may recall that, when the combined good-guy force defeated the Dune-related villains on Federation Earth (as referenced in the previous post), my version of Obi-Wan Kenobi was also involved. Mopey-One Kanoli, later dubbed Only-One, met a fanatical atheist named Tyrone Glass Neilsen. Seeing that so many Human Federation humans kept on believing in God, Neilsen eventually relocated to a second-rate human world still within Federation space, where he became the president of a university dedicated to atheistic existentialism.
We pick up the action at this university's administrative building, whose main entrance was adorned with the slogan of the faculty:
"We know that supernatural events cannot happen, because all REPORTS OF supernatural events are false. And we know the reports to be false, because supernatural events cannot happen."
Neilsen was working on a revisionist history book. Federation Earth's pre-starflight history was nearly identical that of Original Earth, and Neilsen wanted it to be different. On this Earth as on the original one, Christians had spearheaded the fight to abolish slavery. This, of course, infuriated Neilsen, so he was changing the historical record to say that all the abolitionists had been Hegelian atheists.
He was interrupted at work-- but by something which would prove pleasing to him. Appearing before him was a coldly beautiful woman, who radiated narcissism and cynicism identical to the scholar's own. "Greetings, Tyrone, and may nothingness bless you."
"Who might you be?"
"I am called Ickylinn. I am native to a planet called Alwaysurnia, where I promoted the power of unrestrained human will, as you do in your own way. But sickening hypocritical idealists have seized power there, contaminating the public intellect with toxic nonsense like a belief in life after death."
Neilsen perked up. "And forcing religion on everybody, right?"
"Yes, it's disgusting. Totally hostile to the ideals of the People's Republic of Heaven."
Offering Ickylinn some refreshment, the professional skeptic asked, "Do you want me to help restore logic on your planet?"
"Something better, actually. I'm inviting you to help mold a brand-new galactic sector." She conjured a holographic image of the galaxy. "Billions of people," she continued, "fail to understand that the galaxy is THREE-dimensional. What I'm speaking of is a LAYER of universe, BENEATH all of the sub-universes you ever heard of. No civilization you know of has ever had contact with the zone I'm indicating."
"Is there species diversity there?"
"Yes, though not as abundant in variety as the Bubblewrap Five sub-universe. There are no fewer than five races besides humans."
Neilsen peered at the galactic slice Ickylinn had highlighted for him. "Is there a unifying characteristic which defines this region?"
"Yes. It resembles the premises of an Original Earth roleplaying game called Halo."
