The hobby horse was a child’s toy that had somehow escaped the notice of adults. Somehow adults bought this device for their children without realising it’s potential for them.

Running on only four AA batteries, this silver plastic box had a small black saddle, rudimentary handle bars, and a long extendable antenna.

Sliding a switch on the side of the body activated complex chemical reactions within a shielded and inpenetrable box. The hobby horse would take on a life of its own, rising into the air to a height of three metres if not held down by a child’s weight. An adult’s weight would push the hobby horse down to the ground rendering it useless. By turning a small dial located next to the on switch, the power of the horse’s lift could be adjusted – without this a small child might find herself lifted to a dangerous height.

Once set to a height where the child’s feet could reach the ground the hobby horse could be propelled along by running and skipping.

How was it that the discovery of anti-gravity hadn’t propelled mankind further than a simple child propulsion device? No one was really sure who had discovered the processes needed for the levitation effect. Neither was it known how the box inside had been manufactured in such a way as to prevent any tampering or discovery of what actually happened inside. Nor did anyone really know who manufactured the box – the hobby horse was built and manufactured by a Taiwanese company that dealt in no other products – they themselves ordered the anti-gravity mechanisms by sending morse code messages at a particular short wave frequency. No other company had been able to place an order by this or any other method.

Enthusiasts bought numerous horses, dismantled them and combined the boxes in an attempt to make an adult carrying version of the horse. Somehow though combing boxes did not result in an increased levitation effect. In fact, combining more than three boxes together negated the anti-gravity altogether and the boxes together seemed to weigh more than the sum of the parts.

The revolution that this device might bring to humanity was limited to the hobby horse, bootleg wheel-less perambulators that sweat-panted yuppies would push before them on their off-road jogging sprees, and various diversions such as floating drink holders. Mankind stayed motionless until the man who had hidden at the end of a ham radio decided it was time to step forward and then everything changed forever…