The Elysian Fields

The System is a universe of alternate realities; its purpose remains enigmatic. It throws its captives from one harrowing venue to another at whim. But why? System captives seize an international criminal from a Himalayan fortress, escape from time-traveling aliens, manage a wild Blues band, leap from modern Japan to a medieval Shogun's palace then into an abduction at an American 4th of July celebration, explore a new Andes cave complex and discover illicit research on materials with unstable quantum structures, and try to prevent sabotage of a deep-water oil drilling rig. What is this unfathomable System? What is its purpose?