“How much longer until the ship gets back?” grumbled Flash.

“Who bloody knows?” snapped Evie. John had gone for a walk around the area within the boundary. Every day he walked the perimeter alone, if anyone else joined him he would walk it again on his own afterwards so the team had given up. They had opted to use their rooms inside the stash while they waited. Flash and Evie were standing just to the side of the churned mud that formed the ground outside the portal at Doris’ right foot.

“He seems to be getting better,” said Flash cautiously.

“Does he? Do you think you knew him well enough to judge?” snapped Evie.

“I’ve known him for over a decade, Evie! I was with you when we took down the Scunners for god’s sake!” Flash caught himself and controlled the heat in his voice. “He’s less like he was when he first woke up anyway,” he said, hoping that phasing wouldn’t piss off the increasingly unbalanced woman. Evie’s shoulders fell slightly and she blew out a long breath.

“Yeah, a bit. But something’s off. He’s not telling us everything. One thing Dad never did was lie to me. You know he fell out with my mum about pretending Santa was real? He thought it set a bad precedent and kids figuring out their parents were liars wasn’t healthy,” she said softly.

“What about the tooth fairy?”

“I woke up with him with an arm under my pillow. He wasn’t as stealthy as he thought he was,” she said with a wry smile.

“So he did lie to you a bit then?” Evie scowled at him and he figured he’d stop while he was ahead. “It’s frustrating to us all. I understand.”

She turned a glare on him that could melt steel just as Bob-prime came out of the stash. Flash breathed a soft sigh of relief for the distraction.

“What are you two bickering about? Just screw already!” Both of them turned glares on the robot who somehow failed to burst into flames. “I’m going to have a chat with John. You two are wanted inside. Vic is busy cooking up plans for when we get home.”

“Fine.” Evie stomped past the spider-bot, showering the machine’s legs in mud, followed by Flash who was wearing a much more thoughtful expression.

“Kids,” muttered the drone as it moved on six legs. Bob hoped he would get some more sense out of John this time but even if he still had to breathe he wouldn’t hold his breath.

The grass and brush around the perimeter of the barrier, which was considerably larger than the one they’d been caught in so long ago in Normanby, had been worn flat. John’s endless marching in circles hadn’t reduced it to a muddy slush like the ground around Doris and the stash but the daily walks had reduced it to a mat of crushed greenery that gave off a faint chlorophyll scent, like broken ferns.

The spider-bot headed anti-clockwise. There was no point chasing him and John always walked clockwise so it was easier to intercept him than catch up. Bob was careful that his drone kept a good distance from the barrier. It was a long time ago but one of his many “blessings” from the system was a functionally perfect memory and he remembered what happened to anyone who touched the barrier that the system hadn’t cleared for it.

It caught sight of John as the man emerged from behind a patch of trees, Zeeg trailing along in his wake. Since whatever the hell had happened to him Zeeg had become glued to his side. The bot waved one of its front legs and hurried over.

“At least the weathers better today, eh?” said Bob. Zeeg sniffed the wind and snorted.

“It’ll get bad again this evening,” the dog said.

“Just like being at home eh?” the bot said cheerfully.

“Not really,” the dog replied flatly. The bot moved to the side and passed the dog who had blocked his access to John who was studying the barrier as he moved and muttering nonsense to himself.

“How are you feeling mate?”

“Juxtaposed across the bridge the concept is anathema to- hmm? Oh hi Bob,” said John turning the purple embers that replaced his eyes on the drone. The purple light flared for a split second. “Interesting. You’re not really there are you? You’re partially Outside as well but you’re shielded from the knowing.”

“Yep, no one ever accused me of being too knowing. John, we’re worried about you.”

“Such is life. To see but not know.”

“You’re sounding like that floating bastard more and more mate! Whatever Magic did to you we need you to come back. All the way back!” John stopped when Bob said Magic and his eyes flared brighter again. Zeeg growled low and deep as she moved round to put her shoulder against John. “Vic and Evie need you.”

“I’m still here,” John said with a shrug before looking back to the barrier.

“No your fucking not. You’re like a shit actor pretending to be you!” snapped Bob. This drew John’s gaze back to his friend and he paused.

“I’m sorry. It is as it has to be if we’re to thread the needle. I’ll- I will make some time for Vic and Evie. I know it’s hard to understand but I can’t explain. If I do… it’s like a butterfly farting in the Amazon!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“You don’t read out like you used to on Identify John. I just get squiggles and random symbols now,” said Bob quietly as John resumed walking the perimeter of their temporary prison, leaning slightly on Zeeg as he went.

“That will cause some problems,” said John.

“Why? We’ve been together since the fricking start! Remember? I’m your friend but you won’t talk to me?”

“Want and won’t aren’t the same. Petunias falling like autumn rain. Your speech when I launched Bob Sat One was far too florid,” John replied absently. “If I can’t talk to Vic, why would I be able to talk to you? Remember the wasps?” The bot stopped in its tracks then scurried to catch up.

“The pain wasps?” the bot asked in confusion.

“Those wasps. The poison was a bit like this. It burned through me and while it was there I couldn’t be me. That’s all I can say. For their sake I daren’t say anymore.”

“Fucking riddles! Speak plainly! Whose sake?” barked the bot.

“All of them. I’m sorry Bob. I’m getting a handle on it. The bridge is stabilising but it’s like after I got a dose of the poison. Different kinds of poison. Of the soul, not the body,” John said softly. “It’s not poison. I’m not being harmed by it. Just changed.”

“You aren’t exactly reassuring me here mate,” grumbled the machine.

“It isn’t his job to reassure you. It’s our job to trust,” said Zeeg. The drone ran a scanner over the dog and found she was exactly the same as before. Zeeg Identified the same as well so whatever the hell was wrong with John didn’t seem to be infectious. Despite becoming emotionally distant he had continued sharing a room and a bed with Vic and she hadn’t suffered any glitches on her status screens either.

“We won’t be here much longer. Then circumstances will change and the infinite can be reduced to the finite again,” said John. “It’s like a tear. Like a rip or a drop of water,” he muttered as he reached out a hand to the barrier. Bob lunged forward but Zeeg knocked the drone aside as John’s hand ran down the rainbow waterfall and the colours below where he touched it faded to black.

“He’s been able to touch the barrier since it happened. He ran his hand around the entire thing on the first day. He hasn’t let the others see,” said Zeeg as the drone righted itself.

“Can’t see the bridge. Maybe that’s the problem?” His purple sockets focused on the dog and he smiled, a genuine smile. “There’s nothing to see! Good girl Zeeg!” her tail wagged and knocked the drone off its feet once more.

“John, we need to work this out. The twins… they’re pissed. They think the change in your status means something. Something bad,” said the drone.

“They’re right and wrong. It means something but it’s Magic’s solution and I can’t see another way,” said John absently, stepping back from the barrier. “Let’s go. It won’t be much longer now. Then we can all see.”

“Longer?” asked the drone as it scurried to keep up with John and Zeeg.

“Or shorter. It depends on your perspective,” said John as he sped up to a fast walk. The drone and dog trotted along behind him as they approached the towering mech in the distance.

“What about the portal?” called the drone.

“The portal is only temporary. All of them are,” said John.

“The permanent ones?” asked Bob.

“Will fade when I die. That’s why I need to show you the concepts,” replied John calmly.

“Will this portal last after we get picked up? What the fuck are Concepts?”

“It won’t. Leaving it open on a world being semi-bridged would draw too much attention. It sees everything but it’s hard to pay attention to so much. The details get lost to the black and the gold in the sheer volume,” John muttered. “But that they would certainly see.”

“The twins? The black and the gold?”

“Bob, I’m not talking about the twins,” the purple motes narrowed on the drone as it caught up to John. This was the most lucid he’d been thus far. He was almost making sense to Bob. Well, kind of at any rate. The hive mind of many Bobs was still largely baffled by John’s semi coherent ramblings.

“Then what the hell are you talking about?”

“The Great Old Ones. The Cthulhu's of our little thread. They’ll wake up sooner or later and it needs to be not this now. Otherwise we’ll all unravel.”

“Sounds bad,” offered Zeeg.

“No shit,” John laughed. It sounded almost sincere. “Let’s go have a chat with our errant non identical Prospero’s.”

“Eh?” said Bob as they squelched through the mud and into the stash. They moved past the magitech machinery and construction facilities and swung open the door to the soundproofed living quarters.

“-we must take this further! He is putting us all at risk!” snapped Felicity.

“Risk! If he is compromised then we must act in defence of the system!” added Felix. Their backs were to the door and as the sound of outside washed over them they spun. They both stepped back, bumping into the table around which the rest of the team was sitting.

“Yeah. No. You fucking zealots can fuck right off,” growled Evie from where she sat at one end of the table.

The twins moved around the table, keeping an eye on Zeeg and John as Prime shuffled away into the stash, letting the door swing shut and ending the quiet rumble of the factory. There was a drone at the table already so if things got tense Bob was more than happy to have his prime vessel away from any danger.

“Who are the black and the gold?” demanded Felicity. “Tell the truth!”

“You already know what I’ll say. If you make me say it we unravel all the threads. I know you don’t want that for humanity,” John replied.

“Now you step into the messianic mold? Why should we trust you?” snapped Felix and chords of black power wove around his body. Felicity quickly summoned bands of gold to orbit herself.

John raised his hands defensively while Zeeg crouched down and snarled. Evie rose to her feet and her chair scraped backwards, freeing her for action.

“Easy! No need for this to go bad!” John pleaded.

“Bad. Unravel. You spout nonsense half the time but you’re lucid when you need to be!” Felix argued.

“You have been weirdly selective in when you babble, love,” said Vic quietly, a thread of hurt in her voice. John smiled sadly at her and nodded.

“It’s not my choice. Just like this isn’t.” His eyes flared purple and the twins collapsed, their power vanishing. He siphoned the Essence they had gathered back across the bridge and he felt the promised item begin to take form just beneath the skin of his right hand.

“Bloody hell Dad! Did you kill them?” asked Evie, glancing in worry at her father. The rest of the team had risen to their feet and were eyeing him askance.

Kipragtsek will collect you in 4 time units.

“They won’t be quibbling with kibble for a few narcons-” he cut off as he fought to suppress the impact of the bridge on his ability to communicate. “They’ll be fine. Just out cold. Bob, how long is it going to take you to build a ship like a voidliner and arm it to the teeth?”

“Construction for a much smaller ship is underway. Wouldn’t a fleet of smaller ships be better?”

“No. We’re going to need one massive ship with all your nastiest toys on the outside. How long?” said John.

“About five years? Give or take?” replied Bob.

“That will work with this thread. Please do it.”

“What about reconstruction?” asked Raoul. “Wouldn’t those resources be better-”

“We don’t have time and the threads won’t weave that way,” John interrupted.

“You’re really starting to worry me John. It’s like that movie-” Sam began.

“No more bloody movie references!” groaned Reg.