“What the actual fuck.” Mel stared up at the Earth through the gap between two buildings then turned to Derrick with eyes wide. “Where are we?”
“I’ve heard of universes where space is colonized but I’ve never been before.” He looked up at the Earth and his eyes squinted in thought. “We can’t be too far, the moon maybe? Or some kind of station.”
“How are we breathing? What… Where are we supposed to go?” Mel looked around frantically and crept to the edge of the alley.
“Mel, just take a deep breath. That dome must be providing some kind of atmosphere and gravity for us. We’re going to be fine.” Derrick came alongside her to look out of the alley as well.
They stood at the edge of a street of some kind, thinner than a typical Earth street. As a vehicle drove past they noted that it was a small compact electric car of some kind. It was much smaller than the cars they were used to. Across the street, there was a small park area. They crossed to it and Derrick leaned down to inspect the grass.
“Turf. Not real grass. Interesting.” Derrick stood and looked around again. “There’s a cafe on that corner. Maybe we can find out more there?”
Mel nodded and the pair walked through the park to a cafe called Luna’s. After having a seat, they were approached by a stocky man in a blue apron. He smiled warmly and took their order before turning to head to the back.
“Wait, we’re new here, um, any must see places or…” Mel trailed off awkwardly.
“Oh sure, are you just visiting? Lots of tourists come from the first world nations. You must be lost though.” The cafe owner laughed and continued, “Most folks don’t come to this side of Moon Base Delta. It’s not especially unsafe, just not where the tourist traps are! You’d want to head right out of the cafe and walk till you see the Alpha Memorial. Huge Moon shaped statue, you can’t miss it. Us locals call that area the Stalks. Tall thin buildings there.”
“Thank you, we’ll head that way after this.” Derrick nodded and gave the man a warm smile. A few moments later he returned with a pair of drinks for them and left them to chat.
“So, the moon. The actual fucking moon.” Mel shook her head and spoke in a hushed tone. “I thought I’d seen it all…”
“The multiverse is endless, Mel. Trust me, you haven’t seen anything.” Derrick glanced around for the owner and sipped his cappuccino. “There’s a whole Earth full of people like me, for example.”
“Yeah, what is up with that actually?” Mel’s head turned to the side curiously. “Like how’s that work, isn’t crime out of control?”
“It’s actually extremely controlled.” Derrick’s eyes almost rolled at the question but he maintained composure and held up his right hand. A strange symbol was tattooed onto the back. “We’re all marked from birth. Oh, and wearing anything over your hands is illegal before you try to figure out a loophole.”
“Nobody ever hides a child?” Mel’s forehead was scrunched up in thought.
“Impossible. Childbirth is carefully regulated. Population is small, as well. Our Earth was nearly destroyed by climate change, that was about two generations ago. Population has been very carefully monitored since.” Derrick absently scratched at the tattoo on his hand and looked out the cafe window. “It’s a very different Earth.”
Mel watched Derrick carefully. His face was often closed off and carefully maintained. He didn’t reveal much and it wasn’t lost on her that this was the most he’d shared about himself in the couple days they’d been traveling together. She finished her own drink and thought again about the Earth hanging in space outside.
“Why the fuck are we up here?” Mel broke the silence and reached into her pocket for a wad of cash. “Oh shit, what currency do you think they use?”
Derrick’s mouth opened and closed once and he produced a billfold from his jacket’s inside breast pocket. Rifling through it he pulled a credit card that had been marked with a number 4 in sharpie. Confidently, he stood and called to the owner, “Sorry, do you accept Quantra?”
“Oh sure, can never be too careful right?” The man laughed and took Derrick’s card to run it. Mel had heard the word before but she mostly stuck to cash in her dealings on various Earth’s. Her experience had been that digital currency didn’t often work when she jumped to a new Earth. Quantra was some kind of new private currency used by upper crust elites and criminals from what she knew of it.
“I can see your face, try to act normal till we get outside.” Derrick could obviously read the questions forming in her head so she busied herself with standing and preparing to leave as a distraction. The owner returned with Derrick’s card and passed it over without issue. When they stepped back out onto the street, Derrick turned them right and led the way towards the area apparently known as the Stalks.
“So… Quantra.” Mel snuck a look at Derrick and was met with his customary almost frown. “I mean, I thought it was just for criminals and rich people. So I guess just for criminals.”
Derrick let out a small chuckle. “Yes, Quantra is used by criminals. It was designed on Earth 6, which is a…”
“Multiversal crime haven.” Mel finished. Earth 6 was close enough to Earth One to be nearly identical but a small difference in their development of multiversal travel meant the population was far more open minded and actively resisted the IPF’s rule over the sector.
“Exactly. It’s designed to work across universes. I imagine it’s similar to Thorn’s personal network.” Derrick looked up as they walked under a bridge. A series of pipes intertwined along its underside and a man in a white jumpsuit was currently doing some kind of maintenance on them.
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“Damn, I’ve been carrying cash like a fucking idiot this whole time.” Mel frowned as they continued down the lane, moving to the side for another small vehicle. The streets seemed to be designed for all traffic, including pedestrians and she noticed that the small cars only moved at about the speed of a human at full sprint. “I’ve even got some caches stashed around the multiverse. I really should go around and gather those up. Probably twenty grand tucked away here and there.”
“Twenty grand?” Derrick couldn’t hide his face or the incredulous tone. “That is completely foolish.”
“Oh fuck off, I’ve got money somewhere if I need it. Where’s it leave you if your fancy wallet falls out.” She snatched it out of his breast pocket and waved it in his face as they walked. The Alpha Memorial came into view ahead and they both looked around in surprise. The Stalks really was an apt name. Dozens of buildings rose in this area nearly to the top of the dome. While the buildings followed similar designs, tall, thin, and cylindrical with various wide disc shaped sections near the top, they were surprisingly unique. Some were covered with shining reflective solar panels, others had massive windows showing off stores, restaurants, casinos, hotels, pools, and museums. Mel could make out one that was wrapped in an odd scaffolding. Squinting, she suddenly recognized that it was the track of a rollercoaster. She’d almost forgotten she was in the middle of teasing Derrick until he grabbed back his billfold.
“It’s not going to just fall out of my pocket. I keep it safe at all times.” In imitation of Mel, he waved it under her nose, but before he could tuck it away it flew from his hand and a teenager in a black hoodie went sprinting down a street to their left.
“Yeah, see, this is exactly what the fuck I’m talking about.” Mel almost laughed at the irony but Derrick took off at a run after them. “Ok, I guess this is what we’re doing.” She took off after them.
“Stop!” Derrick yelled breathlessly as he ran. He wasn’t in bad shape, but Mel quickly caught up to him. While they were both “on the run”, Mel seemed to end up having to take that literally more often than Derrick.
Mel got a few steps on Derrick and kept pace with the small framed human running ahead of them. They took a turn into an alley and Mel followed, hopping over a square box that seemed to be some sort of recycling machine and losing a couple steps. The figure ahead jerked to the right then changed their mind and smashed through a building's back door.
Through the door, Mel looked around at a sizable storage area full of crates. She heard a shout and saw the dark hoodie pushing past a pair of workers unloading clothing from the pallets. Derrick nearly smashed into her back as he burst through the door. Together, started running again, following the figure out of the storage room into a department store, then across a hallway, through a door labeled Kitchen Staff Only.
The kitchen they’d entered was bustling, whatever restaurant this kitchen was attached to was very busy. The figure in the hoodie was making a ruckus halfway through the kitchen, having knocked a kitchen assistant to the floor and causing a large vat of something to spill across the floor.
Mel and Derrick skirted the spill and dodged around the chefs but the hoodie managed to get out through a far door before they could catch up. It led out into another alley that led straight away from them and hoodie had almost made it to the street at the end. They took off after them and Mel looked around for something to throw. The lack of trash or debris frustrated her. She was used to cities with bricks and garbage just lying around.
As they came out of the alley, the figure was slowing down and approaching a row of large greenhouses situated across a turf lawn from them. They caught up and entered the greenhouse almost right after the hoodie and came to an abrupt halt.
Mel put both hands up slowly in reaction to what appeared to be a gun made of PVC pipe pointed at her face. It was held by a bulky man with a shaved head whose expression at the moment was bored. In Mel’s experience a bored man with a gun was dangerous. Beyond him, the greenhouse was full of screaming.
“You fucking led a mark straight back here, that’s the last damn straw Aloysha!” A thin, muscular man with a thin mustache was shouting at the figure in the hoodie.
“They’re stupid tourists, just space them then!” The figure pulled back their hood to reveal hair roughly cropped short and several piercings in their nose, lips, and ears. They snarled at the taller man despite appearing barely into their teen years.
“Sorry, Aloysha, was it?” Mel waved a hand at the pair as they turned in confusion. “We really just need my friend’s wallet back and we’ll be on our way.”
“Shut up bitch.” Aloysha shouted then turned to continue shouting at the taller, older man. “Grigor, they’re nobodies. Fucking shoot them already and let’s see what they got.”
“Nobody calls me a bitch.” Mel’s voice was low and menacing and Derrick let out a sigh next to her.
“There’s two more.” Derrick said matter of factly with a slight nod to the right. A pair of thugs stood dumbfounded watching the argument unfold. This greenhouse obviously housed some sort of illegal operation. From the obvious blanket of scents in the air that Derrick guessed was meant to conceal the true smell of the place, he assumed they were growing some kind of drug.
“Like I fucking care. Little one is mine.” Mel snarled as everyone in the room’s expression grew confused. Derrick dove to the side as Mel made her move, leaping forward onto the bulky man she clawed both hands across his eyes and in the ensuing screaming Derrick was able to clobber him in the back of the head with a shovel. The ensuing panic made it obvious this gang had never encountered the tiniest bit of resistance. They clearly had just the one plastic gun, their eyes widening as Mel stomped on it, breaking the barrel.
“You!” Mel screamed at the small one called Aloysha and sprinted at them. Derrick made for the two on the other side of the room. He wasn’t as much of a fighter as Mel, but he was well trained. Where she was fierce and wild, he was methodical and controlled. He met the first thug with a hard jab to the throat then dodged the second’s big swing and kicked his knee hard. The crack of his knee cap was followed by an eruption of screaming joining the first who was gasping for air.
Meanwhile, Mel leapt onto Aloysha, pulling the hoodie tight around their throat and causing the two of them to tumble into a table covered in cash. She grabbed a clay pot and flung it hard at the one called Grigor and it exploded against his chest. Following it up with another as she kept Aloysha in a choke hold, it erupted into fragments against his head and he grabbed at a cut on his cheek. As he got to Mel and began to reach for her, Derrick hit him hard in the temple.
“You’re the bitch.” Mel kicked Aloysha once for the road and tossed Derrick his billfold on the way out. After looking around at the mess, Derrick hurried after her. They hurried down the street trying not to call attention to themselves, still feeling rudderless despite their small success.
“Look, check that building out.” A huge gray building rose up to their right on the edge of the city, at the top they recognized the symbol of the Singularity.
“Yes, come on!” Mel ran the remaining distance and was crossing a parking lot when Derrick caught up and grabbed her arm.
“Wait, we need a plan. We can’t just go sprinting into every…” But before he could finish the sentence there was a rippling in the air around him and he was flung backwards onto the pavement.