It was supposed to be a simple assignment. Tag along with the wide-eyed science majors, take a few pictures of impressive-looking technology, maybe even wrangle a quote out of Dr. Redmond about the new facility’s capabilities if the chance came up. Over two weeks later, Chase could admit that things hadn’t gone quite to plan.
He couldn’t even say it started well. This was supposed to be Raymond’s article, physics minor that he was, but he just had to procrastinate on his history paper and call Chase last minute to beg him to cover. Like an idiot, Chase had seen it as an opportunity to hang out with Ellie and jumped at the chance. Never mind that Ellie had never shown the slightest interest in him or anyone who wasn’t teaching her the fundamental underpinnings of the physical universe. Hope springs eternal, but spring falls inevitably. Ellie had barely given him a second glance as they meandered through the vaguely futuristic hallways listening to the postdoc conscripted as a tour guide drone on about the state of the art research compound complete with dormitories and apartments for on-site staff and visiting scholars. If that’s where it had ended - with a boring tour, no romantic connection, and a subpar article - Chase would have been disappointed but otherwise fine. So that’s when the old bastard Murphy polished off his law degree and everything went to shit.
Alarms and red emergency lighting are not usually part of any facility’s tour. Automatically sealing blast doors, while very futuristic and technologically impressive, do not tend to inspire wonder in your average college junior. And a sudden quaking that even the most Californian among them would describe as “pretty gnarly” was just the icing on a moist, succulent panic cake. Predictably, none of his group could resist indulging, and the screaming really brought the taste to the next level.
By the time the building had stopped making a martini for the most discerning of British spies, Chase had learned three important things. One, Kayla Masters had a future in horror voice acting if this whole college thing didn’t work out. Two, his mind made some weird metaphors when it was pumped full of adrenaline. And three, that was not a natural earthquake. In some cosmic coincidence, their now-trembling postdoc tour guide had mentioned how the whole facility had been built with steel plate shear walls and advanced polymers that should allow work to continue undisturbed through quakes up to 6 on the Richter scale. Either they had gotten fleeced by some shady contractors or something strange was going on.
Of course it had turned out to be the latter. Once the group had dusted themselves off and tended to their bruises, the blast doors had opened to the soundtrack of repeated announcements to stay calm and proceed to the conference center. That advice didn’t stop anyone from noticing the tension permeating the researchers and staff, nor how they redirected Jessica McDaniels from checking on the bus in the parking lot. But the one factor that truly convinced Chase they were in deep trouble came from his cell phone - no bars, no wifi networks in range.
Of course, you couldn’t keep scared and curious college students corralled forever with polite requests and calls for patience. He’d been in the throng that finally broke through to the outer sections of their building, and the sight outside those doors was as beautiful as it was terrifying. Shifting, iridescent patterns of green, purple, and blue, like the Northern Lights had wrapped themselves around the perimeter of the lab. The brief moments where they parted there was simply nothing, like a void had swallowed the trees and hills they’d driven past on the way in. The bubble extended in a perfect sphere, filling the sky and horizon with eerie light as the group stood dumbfounded.
That was how it all began. Now Chase wanted nothing more than to go back in time and slap his younger self, and Raymond too for good measure. He’d certainly seen more of the facility than he ever expected, and even got a few quotes from Dr. Redmond for all the good it did him now. It was an impressive place, certainly well-stocked and with comfortable accommodations. They’d needed all of that, because Chase wasn’t sure they would ever leave again.
“A completely unprecedented interaction between rapidly decaying bosons and mesons that has led to a dimensional quantum locking similar to the Meissner effect on a large scale.” Dr. Redmond had called it, as if that meant anything to those without PhDs. Chase thought the groundskeeper Julian had put it best: “Can’t leave, like we’re in a snowglobe.” Chase had a newfound sympathy for those trapped snowmen and vowed to free them all if he ever got out. Sadly, that promise felt like yet another entrant on the failed faustian bargain list.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Chase sighed and shoved his notebook back under his pillow. Getting his thoughts out on paper, pretending he was recording his thoughts for an eventual article, it kept him relatively sane. At least thinking about that first day was easier now, further from the paralyzing terror that had left all of them nearly catatonic. But the human brain was nothing if not adaptable. Things had mostly settled into an uneasy routine, with the researchers sequestering themselves in their labs trying to find a way to reverse the stasis bubble and everyone else trying to keep each other from snapping. That left everybody else attempting some facsimile of their normal routine, desperately ignoring the unnatural shimmering spilling in through the windows. Of course, there were those who had no routine to return to - namely, six lucky college students.
They had stuck together by virtue of being the youngest people present and clinging to the vague familiarity that a recognizable face from campus could offer. Currently, Tom was either sleeping or listening to music, reclined on his bed with his eyes shut tight. Kayla had resumed her nightly pacing habit, and Miles was probably either begging one of the researchers to let him assist or commiserating with Ellie about how they were being sidelined. Chase hadn’t seen Jessica for a few days - by all accounts, she was taking this confinement harder than anyone, staring at her phone for hours on end as if it would light up any second with the way out. Chase frowned. Maybe she was onto something, he hadn’t exactly spent much time on his phone since it became a glorified alarm clock and music player on that first day.
Pulling it from its charging station, he noted it was ten minutes past midnight. Regular hours had been tough to stick to since the aurora had made every hour the same brightness. Some people still tried, but in such a new facility no one’s routine was exactly ironclad and it was all too easy to drift. Thumbing through playlists and old reminder notes, Chase couldn’t help but smile. At the very least, it was a reminder of the outside world. Those were all too hard to come by lately.
At least he’d managed to kill ten minutes. 12:20 on April 15th stared back from the screen showing his eternal background, a snapshot of his 14-year-old self riding on his dad’s back. What would he tell me now? To keep going until I can’t go any longer? No, it would be something more colorful. To make science regret ever making an enemy of Chase Adkins? To find the story and chase it until I live up to my name? To - wait, April 15th?
Chase froze, but the digital display continued to glow innocently. It was April 15th. Not usually a big deal, no major holidays or anniversaries - but it had been April 14th when he piled onto the school shuttle with the others to come on this tour. It had been April 14th when pocket dimensions suddenly became real. He would never forget that date again in his life, but somehow, after more than two weeks, only a single day had passed. What was going on?
It wasn’t like Chase was an expert in how phones worked, but he didn’t think they were dependent on pinging a network to keep track of the date and time. Clearly the clock was still working, so there’s no reason the date wouldn’t update, right? He wished he’d looked before midnight, just to see if the date was moving backwards or something. Normally he wouldn’t even be considering something that outlandish, but being trapped in a ball of aurora borealis had a way of rearranging what he thought was possible.
There! It was just for a second, but the 15 seemed to flicker and Chase nearly dropped his phone. By the time he had the display facing him again, his blood went cold. 1:00 on April 14th, the display claimed. It had been just long enough to fumble his phone, certainly not over half an hour and the day before to boot! So. That was a thing. Not only was he confined in a lab surrounded by a captive lightshow, but the date was broken and time was skipping backwards. If this wasn’t a story worth chasing, he wasn’t Stephen Chase Adkins. If he was lucky, one day he’d even be able to tell it to a non-captive audience.
He moved on instinct, grabbing his phone and quickly crossing the common room to the girls side of the dorm. Hopping from foot to foot, he knocked and fidgeted and hoped Jessica was still awake and responsive. After what felt like hours but was probably thirty seconds, the door eased open to reveal two bloodshot brown eyes framed by pale skin and stringy black hair. Jessica clearly hadn’t been taking care of herself, but she must have seen something in Chase’s own wide eyes, because she sucked in a breath and gave a shaky nod.
“You’ve seen them.” She breathed out, almost too low to hear. “You’ve seen the blank 34.”