I Sent My Children to Another World with Cheat Abilities
A Short Story by Lumia
“Promise me you will keep them safe.”
I held her hand as tears fell from both of our eyes. “Always.”
“I love you Eric.”
~~~
“Daddy where are we going?” My Daughter Mia asked from her car seat in the back our moving truck.
“A town called Silver Falls, my friend has a house we’ll be staying in.”
“What about our house?”
“We said goodbye to it, remember?”
“Mm.” She nodded her head. The sadness was clear, but I couldn’t comfort her while driving.
Mia was the cutest little girl a father could ask for and looked just like her mother. She had long light brown, big brown eyes, and light skin.
“Dad look at that! Are our neighbors going on a trip too?”
My son asked a question that I had to lie about. He was a smart and proud boy who always looked out for his little sister. Like me, he had short dark brown hair, brown eyes, and light skin. I loved them both more than anything.
~~~
“Professor, what do you make of it?”
“A ripple in reality itself… How far is it?”
“It’s Estimated to enter our Solar System in two years.”
“If this report is correct the possibilities for it are endless! Have every team change to studying it.”
~~~
“It's so big! Can I pick any room I want?”
“I want to stay with you, Will.” Mia was holding her big brother's hand.
“Don’t worry Mia. We’ll share the biggest one we can find!”
“Yay!”
The mansion overlooked the small town we would be living in from now on. It belonged to a colleague of mine who went to the Rocky Mountains.
~~~
“If we time it correctly we can harness the power and energies from the ripple. No one on earth would go without electricity ever again!”
“The ripple is only passing by. How will we ensure we can even keep the energy?”
“Batteries, special ones, I already have an idea for the design.”
~~~
“Daddy, I’m scared.” The loud noises of the nearby waterfall were frightening her.
“Don’t worry Mia, after Dad places the last box thing we won’t have to go to the Hydro Plant anymore.”
I picked up my daughter. “These will make sure we have lots of power stored from the waterfall. You don’t want your nightlight turning off do you?”
She shook her head and hugged me.
‘To think they would be used to store power from here.’
~~~
“Professor!” My assistant burst into my office out of breath. “Please look at this report!”
The probe passed through without issue. Not only did this give us hope the ripple would be safe, something remarkable was hidden in the data.
~~~
“Can we really have whatever we want!?”
The prospect of unlimited candy from the small mom and pop shop was a dream for them.
“We’re the only ones in town. The whole place is ours to enjoy and explore.”
They were already too busy eating candy.
~~~
'At just the right angle you can see distant worlds in the ripple, possibly other dimensions entirely?'
“Sir, does this new data change anything regarding the original project?”
“No, it shouldn’t.”
~~~
“Dad, are you almost done?”
Will and Mia wandered down into the basement again.
“Will its dangerous down here. Take your sister upstairs, alright?”
“You spend so much time making those machines though…”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“How about we go to the park in an hour then?”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
~~~
“The government gave us the clear for going public.”
“Keep the discussion limited to the Energy Project. The new data is still top secret.”
~~~
“School time with Daddy!”
“That’s right, do you have the rechargeable notebooks I gave both of you?”
“Dad I don’t get any of this stuff…”
“We’re just going over the categories so you understand how to use it later.”
“Look Will! This page shows how to grow a french fry plant!”
“That’s a potato Mia.”
~~~
“Recently our distant satellite project stumbled upon an event never before seen in Human history. In one year a ripple in the fabric of reality will pass through our Solar System. With further research, we have discovered that we can harness the energy as it passes us. After which, Humanity will never need to generate power again.”
Questions burst forth from countless reporters.
“Will the United States be sharing this power?”
“We will.”
“Professor is the ripple dangerous?”
~~~
“Happy Halloween!”
“A new box of Candy!?”
“Did you think the only thing in our truck was parts and canned food?”
“Can we have it now?!”
“Not until you pick the costumes you both want.”
“I want to be a doctor like Mommy was!”
“I’ll be a Hero so that I can protect both of you!”
~~~
“Congratulations everyone! The Energy Project is now complete with half a year to spare!”
“Where’s the professor?”
“He wants to keep researching the data from the first probe, no time for celebration I guess.”
~~~
“Mia if you could live anywhere where would it be?”
“With Daddy and Will!”
“Will how about you?”
“I want to go somewhere we can defeat evil monsters and save people! …But only if we’re together.”
~~~
“Take a look at this! You can pinpoint exact locations and even gain data on those worlds.”
“Professor I fail to understand how this will help the current project.”
“This is for discovery, we’ve already finished the Energy Project.”
“Even if we could send a probe to one of these worlds, we would never have a way to retrieve it, and that’s putting aside the amount of energy needed for sending something through the ripple.”
“What if we didn’t launch it through? Using the ripple, we could send it directly there!”
“Are you suggesting that you can teleport something through it? We still wouldn’t be able to retrieve it.”
~~~
“Merry Christmas!”
“Yay, presents!”
They already had all the toys that could ever want from a nearby store, so I had something special for both of them.
“I know we don’t have many gifts this year, but I have two very important ones for both of you. Will this one’s yours.”
He opened the small package revealing a pocket watch. On the inside was a photo we took earlier this year while on a hike through the nearby woods.
“You made this Dad?”
“Yep! With my own two hands.”
“Thank you!” He ran over and hugged me.
“Mia this one is yours.”
Her gift was my wife’s locket. She asked me to give it to her when she was older, but time was unfortunately limited. Inside the locket were two photos, the original photo of my wife and I, and the same photo Will had.
“Mommy’s?”
“That’s right. It's yours now Mia.” I put it around her neck. “Promise me you will take good care of it, alright?”
“Mm.” She nodded and started crying. I held them close hoping the moment would never end.
~~~
“Professor… The data from Neptune… Its…”
“Let me see it... How?! Every test, every probe, they all passed through without the slightest bit of damage!?”
“The planet’s core sir…”
~~~
“Happy New Years Eve, are you ready to stay up late?”
“Dad will there be a TV countdown with the ball?”
“They decided not to do it this year. We can have our very own though!”
“First Daddy promised to play in the snow with us today!”
~~~
“Is there any way to stop it?!”
"No, but I have a theory. There is a part of the ripple that, if accessed at the right time, will allow us to send at the very least 10000 people through to start over somewhere else.”
“We are trying to save everyone, not just 10000 people!”
“Its already over, you can’t save everyone!”
“Get him out! We’re going with the deep earth plan.”
~~~
“Today I want you all to pick out your favorite things for me. Food, toys, anything you love.”
Mia ran over and hugged me. “I love you!”
“It can’t be me, I’m sorry.”
“Like Mr. Bunny?”
“That’s right.”
~~~
“Professor are you truly not going?”
“You’ve seen the data. Hiding underground won’t save anyone.”
“I’m going to meet my family. You should give up on the theory and be together with your kids.”
“I won’t give up.”
“I knew you would say something like that… The lab’s yours, here are the keys to my family’s home… Professor… Thank you for everything.”
~~~
“Did you write down your superpowers?”
“Look at mine Daddy!”
“All healing and protecting superpowers, Mommy would be proud.”
“Mm!”
“Dad, mine are amazing!”
“Powers that will make the very best Hero, what’s this one here?”
He puffed out his chest and put his hands on his side.
“Mia Protection is my most special ability. Until you go through me, you can't hurt Mia.”
~~~
‘When something is forced through the ripple, for a split second, the object or living creature will be altered by the new laws of that dimension. If I can force a splinter of the ripple’s energy to enter them during that time, I should be able to control the outcome of the change.’
“Dad, are you almost done?”
~~~
“Daddy, what are we doing today?”
“For the next week, we are going to spend every moment together.”
“Really!?!”
“All seven days, whatever you two want to do.”
~~~
The charge was just above what it required. 8 Days, 14 Hours, 52 Minutes, 27 Seconds until transport, everything was online, everything was working. I finished packing their favorite canned foods, toys, lots of water, new clothing, the rechargeable books, and my letters into the bottom of the Pods.
‘Its time to cherish every last second I have with them.’
~~~
2 Hours, 30 Minutes, 17 Seconds until transport.
“Daddy, why do we have to get into the machines? Can’t we play again today?”
I hugged them both one final time. It took everything I had not to cry.
“Not today sweetie, but you will have many more happy days soon enough.”
“Don’t worry Mia. I’m sure Dad will be free to play again soon!”
‘I would give anything for that to be true.’
“Will, Mia, I want you to know that I love you both so, so much.”
“I love you Daddy!”
“I love you too Dad!”
“Sit down and take a deep breath for me.”
They both sat in their connected pods and took a deep breath, shortly after they drifted off to sleep. I double checked, triple checked, and quadruple checked the machine I had already inspected over 100 times. When there were 10 minutes left, I sat in front and said goodbye. I didn’t take my eyes away until the pod vanished.
‘Please forgive me for deceiving you both. I didn't have the courage to tell you what was happening in person. I hope my awakening video will suffice. It’s the best this useless Father could do.’
I cried until the shaking began. Just as the data predicted, one hour after the ripple passed the planet’s core it began to erupt. Holding the same photo they had in their gifts I made my way to the balcony overlooking the burning town we had so many memories in. And for those last few moments of my life, I was able to smile, because I knew that my children would live long and happy lives somewhere far, far, away from the dying world before me.
“I love you Will, I love you Mia.”
~~~
When the Kingdom's grand birthday celebration came to an end, I returned to Mia who was sitting by our bag from home.
“Will, let’s read Dad’s letter together.”
“You're going to cry again.”
“That’s not fair! You cry too!”
We both laughed. It wouldn’t be long before our faces were drenched in tears.
“Dear Mia,
If your reading this then today’s your 18th birthday, you’re an adult now. I’m sure you are just as beautiful as your mother was. –"
End.