You know, until you and monanotlisa below mentioned it, I'd never heard of the monoliths in 2001. (Never read, nor seen, unfortunately.) My influences were primarily Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott and a summer long discussion about 12 years ago on the nature of non-3D-dimension space and what sort of things intelligent creatures might perceive. With a bit of Star Trek tossed in, too.

I'm really glad this worked for you. Thanks so much for commenting!