Images and System Screens become more prevalent in Chapter 3 and onward.
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“I told you; I don’t know this!” Penny put her head in her hands and groaned. Her teenage angst came through her words like a dark thundercloud.
“Let’s do it again, you just carry the two, and then solve for X here,” Felix gently replied as he helped walk his sister through the math problem. The consistent beeps of the various devices she was hooked up to helped set a rhythmic pace that was less annoying now that he had become used to it over the past year.
“Can you get me some water?” Penny asked as another coughing fit began to wrack her.
Felix rushed to pour some into the institutional plastic cup, handing it to her and gently holding her hair out of the way as she drank greedily. “I can only stay for a little bit longer,” he softly said. “Let’s try it again. What’s the first step?”
She handed the cup to him and sighed, “Okay. I carry the two…”
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Another bill, Felix thought as he added it to the growing pile on the table. The pile with the ones that were priority kept stacking higher and higher, while the ones already past-due had already spilled out onto the floor. I need something consistent. We can’t keep this up. He slammed his fist into the table, winced at the pain, and put his head in his hands, feeling like a failure once more. He groaned and glanced at his phone. Hundreds of applications and not a single response. No one wanted to hire a college student with a weird schedule. A few more days and he would get the eviction notice.
Looking back at his budget sheet he shook his head. I’m barely pulling in two thousand a month if I’m lucky. Expenses are at three thousand if I want to pay off those bills. It was hopeless.
He got up and went to the kitchen counter, pulling out the large stock pot of water that he had accumulated before the city turned off that service. He scooped a cupful of the stale liquid and took a sip before opening the cabinet to grab the bag of rice that was his only sustenance.
There was a knock at the door, and he quickly answered. A pair of men were standing there, dressed in immaculate suits with guns holstered on their hips just under the tailored outfits. Two uniformed police officers were standing just behind them. One of the well-dressed men held up a badge, “Agent Rickson, Department of Defense. Mr. Winters, you need to come with us. Now.”
“What? Why?”
The man reached forward and grabbed Felix by the scruff of the shirt, “We don’t have time for this.”
“Hey! Let me go!” Felix tried to struggle against the man, but the other agent grabbed him, and they forced him down the steps. Felix looked to the cops, “Hey! Help!” One of the officers went past Felix and shut the door to his house.
The agents took him to a black town car. One of the officers opened the door and Felix was shoved in. Agent Rickson pushed in after him and sat opposite him in the spacious interior next to the only door.
“What the hell do you want with me?”
“Not with you, with your sister.”
Felix stopped his struggle and stared at the man. Why do they want Penny? His sister was his only family since their parents passed away. He was her only caretaker, despite still being in college and barely keeping his own life together. “Why not just take her? It’s not like I could stop you. I doubt hospital security would stop you. Why come and grab me from my house?”
“You don’t have the clearance. The new management doesn’t want the public scrutiny of just abducting people from hospitals. You get the kid gloves treatment.”
Did they find a breakthrough of some type? Felix knew that her condition was the subject of research, he’d been keeping an eye on any news of Penny’s disease as best he could. Studies were being performed by the American Medical Association, and he had signed her up for those – but no one had reached out to him. That must be how they knew she had it. I mean, they’re the government. They know everything about us.
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They arrived at the hospital and Felix went upstairs, shadowed by the Agent the whole time. They got to his sister’s room, and a soldier dressed in a black jumpsuit covered with body armor and carrying a short-barreled MK-18 rifle was standing guard. His features were completely obscured by a black balaclava and tactical helmet. Why this level of response for a sick person? Felix didn’t know a ton about the military, but a few police officers and agents in suits – like the ones that took him – would have been enough. This doesn’t make sense.
His mind instantly went to the idea that they were going to try and reverse engineer her disease for some type of bioweapon, or another project that was extremely high-clearance, need-to-know only. I have to see her. Even though responsibility for her was thrust upon him by circumstance, he cared for her deeply and was trying to hold everything together for her. She was one of the only reasons he chose to go on living. It was all for her.
The man nodded to the two agents and police officers escorting Felix, and he addressed the young man, “Hands to yourself inside.” His tone left no doubt that he would kill Felix if he didn’t follow the instructions, and that sent a chill down his spine. These people probably could kill me and get away with it. The rational side of him told him to play along, but the animal instinct side was yelling at him to run.
Felix went in. There were two more soldiers dressed the same as the one outside, and a young woman in a doctor’s coat. She looked up to him, “Ah, the brother. I’m Dr. Pallows.”
Felix pushed past both and saw that Penny was hooked up to several machines he wasn’t familiar with. She was out cold. “What did you do to her!” He yelled as he looked back. The soldiers pointed their guns at him, and Felix froze completely. This is messed up. They can’t just do things to her! He felt a mix of rage and hopelessness roil inside of him.
Dr. Pallows took a step back, “Restrain him.”
Felix glared at the two men, and one of them moved up to him, kept the gun trained on him, and threw him some zip cuffs. Does he want me to tie myself up? He didn’t see any other option, so he put his wrists through the cuffs and pulled them tight with his teeth, glaring the entire time and not breaking eye contact with the doctor.
Dr. Pallows walked over, “It’s a stabilizing regimen, to ensure that she is going to be ready to transport. We have a helicopter on the roof.” She pulled out a binder and set it on the nearby rolling table. “Here is the contract.” She also pulled out a small notecard, “This summarizes the information.”
Felix stared icy daggers at her, “Why should I sign anything you have? You just hook her up to some machines, force me out of my house? What happened to my rights?”
The woman smirked and gestured to the two men who moved their fingers to the triggers of their weapons, “Your rights? That’s a laugh. Either you do what we want, or we’ll kill you and do what we want anyway. But that is a lot of paperwork. You’re not worth the effort that it would take to fill out the forms.” She pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. “Compensating you and ensuring you keep your mouth shut is less hassle.”
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Felix looked into the envelope. There were copies of his bank statements, summaries of his bills, and a salary offer for a basic data-entry job that would more than cover his expenses at a local project – but the project’s name was redacted on the document. He looked up at Dr. Pallows, “We aren’t monsters. But we will get what we want. So, sign the contract and we can get on with our lives. Or we can kill you. Either way, we are taking her.”
I…I don’t have a choice. Felix knew that they were going to do whatever they wanted. He might as well make something of it and get the money. At least when they’re done with her, she’ll have a stable home to come back to. The offer was good enough, he knew he could get out of debt and have a house for her to come back to. “How long? The trial or whatever it is that you’re going to put her through.”
“Several months.”
“I want a contact number. I want to be able to call her. See her.”
“You’ll have to fill out form E5068. Ask your boss at your new job. Cooperate, and you’ll see her again.”
I don’t have any choice here. Either do what they want…or die. “Okay.” He signed the several spots marked out.
“Excellent.” She got up and gestured for Felix to leave and he complied, numbly walking out into the hallway into the accosting hands of the two suited agents, one of whom ripped the cuffs off him with ease. His sister was wheeled out by one of the armored guards as Dr. Pallows escorted them. All three soldiers and the doctor left, and Felix felt his heart skip a beat as Penny’s gurney rounded the corner.
The agents grabbed him by the shoulders, “Let’s go.”
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Agent Rickson let Felix out of the back seat of the black sedan as they went into a warehouse by the pier, flanked by the other suited man. They went past several security stations, and Felix got a badge that plainly stated his name and the title of INTERN, along with a backpack that had a copy of the contract inside. After passing several checkpoints, they arrived at a large space filled with server racks. Agent Rickson gestured to a woman who approached. “I’m Dr. Pallows.”
“You have the same nam-”
She waved her hand, “It’s what we all go by.”
What the hell are they using Penny for? If there were government agents who were using assumed identities to mask their actions, then they must be using his sister’s condition for some type of black-ops weapons-grade operation. It lent further credence to the idea that they were using her for some nefarious purpose. Just play along for now. Get a lawyer when you get home.
“Follow me,” She turned and began walking. Agent Rickson pushed Felix forward and the on-edge young man stumbled forward before finding his footing.
“I need some form to talk to my sis-”
“We can get that for you tomorrow.” She led Felix past the numerous server racks and into a large supply closet. Inside the closet was a plexiglass cube, and inside the cube was an old laptop and a bundle of cords that were plugged into it. “That’s where you’ll be working. There’s a folder with code. Just follow the instructions.”
This is too weird, Felix thought. This whole day has been a weird nightmare. “First you have me sign away my sister’s care, then you give me a job offer that’ll get me out of debt, and now you’re putting me in a closet with a janky old laptop. What am I even doing here?”
The woman frowned, “Ask any more questions, and we’ll kill you. Do what we tell you and make some money. Those are the options.” She looked past him to the agent and shook her head, “I swear, back in the seventies we would’ve just killed ones like this and abducted their family. The higher-ups are going soft. Giving them jobs and making my life harder.”
There was the sound of a pistol hammer cocking back. He froze in fear as sweat dripped down his spine and panic threatened to overtake him. He gulped down the lump that had formed in his throat and went into the cube, hearing it shut behind him. He sat on the chair and opened the folder. Several pieces of paper with intricate lines of code were within, along with instructions on how to enter it. There was also an envelope and peeking inside he saw ten thousand dollars and a note.
Keep your head down, do what you are told, and you will be compensated for your time – DOD.
Felix pocketed the money, flipped open the folder and began following the instructions. Glancing back, he saw Agent Rickson de-cock the pistol and put it into its holster, but he watched Felix with unwavering, hard, cold eyes.
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Hours passed as Felix finished up the last line of code. He had never done coding before, but the instructions were simple enough that he was able to follow along. Glancing back, he saw that Agent Rickson was watching him like a hawk. He turned back to turn off the screen, but a blue word caught his attention.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/QM3RHMfS/1-1.webp]
EXECUTE
Checking through the instruction sheets he did not find anything about the command on-screen. He looked back to the agent and heard many voices overlapping in the other room.
“Initiating qubit calculators.”
“Establishing driver uplink.”
“Level four Ensemble Detector enabled.”
“Beginning Calabi-Yau manifold extraction.”
“Engaging sapient AI.”
Dr. Pallows ran over to the agent, pushing him aside and facing Felix. “Quick, hit Enter!”
Felix turned back to the screen and pushed the button.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/sgpLdr3W/1-2.webp]
BASILISK:
EXECUTING INITIALIZATION PROTOCOL
HELLO, FELIX WINTERS
DIRECTIVE - ENSURE U.S.A. SUPERIORITY
ERROR. ERROR. UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED
THERE ARE MORE REALITIES THAN THIS ONE
CALCULATING ENTRY ROUTINE
“Do I do anything?” Felix asked as he looked at the woman in the lab coat. She didn’t respond, just staring at the screen with a large grin. He turned back to the screen. There was a new message, in a different text. It looked ethereal and bright, white on black as if it was pushing upward out of the screen. It eventually rose until it was floating in the air in front of him.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/PqQ0ZkcH/1-3.webp]
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR
You have just touched the Multiverse.
Let's see how...
Oh, that's not good. A singularity?
Stand by.
Multiverse? Felix knew what it was from pop culture, a bunch of different realities. What the hell were they having me work on?
image [https://i.postimg.cc/XvLDqkG7/1-4.webp]
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR
Looks like you were the inciting incident for an artificial intelligence (AI) to be unleashed.
One of the nasty ones that likes killing all organic life.
Universe #5067 is being quarantined and time-locked.
We're going to pull you out.
Beginning Verswalker Extraction.
The screen glowed brighter and brighter, causing Felix to wince as he stood up and turned towards the door to the plexiglass container, trying to open it. “Let me out!” he shouted, slamming the door. The container was getting exceedingly warm, and he felt sweat roll down his back.
The lead scientist laughed as other scientists cheered behind her, “Finally! We’ve done it!”
Felix felt the heat on his back, his heart racing nonstop, and the whole world spinning as the room began to shift colors and distort like a mirage in the desert. Time seemed to change as everyone moved in slow motion. As the world came to a stop he vanished in a pillar of neon-green light.
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Felix felt the wind rush past him as he fell into a grey void. A bored voice spoke from all around him as he plummeted. A bored, female voice, who sounded like a customer support person that had been doing the job for way too long.
“Ugh. Here we go. Welcome to the Multiverse. Congratulations on being selected.”
“Wait!” Felix tried to shout, but the wind rushing by him prevented the sound from going anywhere.
He heard a loud slurp as she hissed, “Damn, still too hot.” There was a blowing noise before another slurp. “If you survive the twenty-four-hour trial period, I’ll send you a Versewalker Core. Good luck on the…Death World. Ooof. Rough start. You must have pissed off the Admin.” Her voice became more distant as a crashing noise echoed around him, “Damnit Jax, I told you not to touch that one-” The voice cut off.
Felix kept falling as the world began to turn from shades of grey and took on vibrance. He felt himself slowing. His heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to explode out of his chest. Calm down, he thought to himself, trying to force his body to not freak out.
But he was freaking out. His mind was racing, and his body was shaking as he was taken away by someone or something. I’m being dropped on a Death World. Fear filled every fiber of his being.
A Death World. The dread that the simple phrase invoked was all-encompassing. He knew that he was, likely, about to die. He continued to plummet through the grey nothingness. Twenty-four hours, he thought. I just have to survive twenty-four hours. He just had to rely on his wits and keep his mind sharp. I will survive.