Two people. A place to talk. A choice of rules.

First, the ordinary bits.

A message is a piece of text you send. A chat is the conversation between you and another person. A traveler is a person using Earth. You are one. Your luggage is mostly unfinished thoughts.

A dimension is the rule set you are currently using. Your location means that dimension, not your physical address. Being in Decay does not require moving house.

1. Enter Earth, sign in, and set up your name and username.
2. Invite someone to a chat, or find them by their exact username if their settings allow it. Public profile links depend on their visibility settings, too.
3. Start on Earth for familiar messaging. Open the dimension map when you want a different rule.
4. Choose a destination, invite the other traveler when needed, and pay attention to your connection status.

Linked is a state. Tethered is an agreement.

Think of two people in a building full of rooms. If they are in the same room and connected, they can talk together. They do not need to promise to walk everywhere together first.

LINKING

The app is establishing the conversation connection. It is checking where everyone is before calling the room ready.

LINKED

You and the other traveler are connected in the same dimension. This does not automatically mean you have a tether.

UNLINKED

The app does not currently have you connected together in the same dimension. The other person may be offline, in another dimension, or not present yet. A failed connection can also show this state. It does not delete your chat or diagnose your relationship. The software has enough responsibilities.

PARTIAL TETHER

You have an active tether, but exactly one traveler is in Zen. The other can keep moving outside and leave messages without interrupting that quiet. This describes the tether arrangement; the visible connection label also depends on live connection state.

Travel means changing the room’s rules.

Selecting another dimension changes your location in the app. With no active tether, choosing another shared dimension while you are together sends a travel invitation. The other person can accept or decline. When you are apart, you can explore by yourself. Returning to Earth does not require a travel invitation.

A chat invitation gets someone into a conversation. A dimension invitation asks someone already in that conversation to join you in another world. One opens the front door. The other says, ‘Come look at this very questionable room.’

If you end up in different dimensions, ordinary shared messaging may be unavailable until you rejoin. An active partial tether has special behavior for Zen. Read the state before assuming the other person received what you were trying to say.

A tether says, ‘Let’s keep traveling together.’

A tether is a standing travel agreement in a chat. One person requests it, and the other accepts. Once active, ordinary dimension moves bring both travelers along, without a new invitation for every move. Either person can untether.

Being linked is like standing in the same room. Being tethered is agreeing to move through the building together. You can be linked without a tether. A pending tether request is not an active one, and silence does not accept it.

Zen is the exception. Nobody gets dragged into quiet time. Entering Zen is individual. If just one tethered traveler enters, the tether becomes partial while the other continues outside. Leaving Zen rejoins the online partner’s dimension when possible, otherwise it returns you to Earth.

Untethering ends the agreement to move together. It does not end the chat. Independence should not require a dramatic soundtrack, though you are welcome to supply one.

Linking a device is a different kind of link.

Device linking connects another device to your own account. It is not a tether to another person and does not move a conversation to another dimension. Approve only devices you recognize and control. A mysterious QR code is not a personality test.

A few reasonable questions.