Me, Holly, and Billie were on high alert as we walked down Rainforest World’s main trail. Since I’d found asphalt underneath the soil, I started calling it I-70. We didn’t know what kind of creatures we might meet along the way.


    Both girls wanted to see real-life dinosaurs, and in the end, they weren’t disappointed. When I first smelled the swamp, I pulled us off the trail. We crept through the ferns until we got close to the Jack’s and Reggie’s hunting grounds.  I made sure we were upwind from them, so they couldn’t smell us.


    Like I thought, Jack and Reggie were near the swamp, gnawing on the carcass of a couple of big elk-like creatures. Reggie would drag it away, and in a flash of white mold armor, Jack would come and drag it away. The pair were otherwise preoccupied, so they didn’t care about us.


    Billie’s eyes were like pie plates. Holly, though, looked perplexed.


    Once they’d seen enough, we continued on to the wooden walkway, which would take us over the swamps. I didn’t find any power crystals, which was disappointing.


    We paused on the walkway as the girls took in the black water, the greenery of the trees, and the orange sky under the single yellowish sun.


    “What did you think of the T. rexes, Holly?” I asked.


    “I found it interesting. Predators use liminal spaces like that, between two ecosystems, to catch their prey.”


    Billie made a face. “Liminal spaces like the back rooms? That’s so nerdy.”


    The professor laughed indulgently. “No, liminal spaces are transition or intermediate spaces, where one environment changes to another. I can see why they would be there, but I don’t understand how they can maneuver through the swamp. There is not a lot of dry ground for them. Then again, with the Ravana Storm placing realities randomly, the ecology of this whole place is questionable.”


    “You mean it’s stupid,” Billie finished with a sigh.


    As we crossed, we saw the shapes swim through the dark water, and at the intersection, I considered doing a quick run through the vines to see how far the walkway to the right went. But no, leaving the girls last night for that long period of time had freaked them out. I had to be careful about that.


    Then we heard the drums, in the distance, start pounding. The rhythms were off, the pounding a strange staccato that would start and stop. It sounded far away, but that might’ve been a trick.


    Billie shivered. “What the hell? So maybe the huntress and her besties are throwing a rave, even though it’s like eleven o’clock in the morning.”


    “Or maybe it’s continuing from last night?” Holly suggested with a mischievous little smile. “Back in my misspent youth, we’d sometimes go twenty-four hours easily.


    “I’m sure it’s not that.” Billie blew out her breath. “Let’s just go.”


    “Maybe hillbilly cannibals?” the professor shot me a secret glance.


    “Let’s hope not.”


    We continued on toward the obelisk and soon reached dry land.


    As we walked down the trail through the thick foliage, Billie pressed a hand to her temple. “Ugh. What’s that buzzing sound?”


    “The obelisk,” I said. “We’re almost there.”


    Holly also looked pained.


    I didn’t like it either, but soon, it was worse. We were standing on the black stones around the obelisk, as it rose into the sky, thrumming with power.


    The professor walked around the base, gazing up at the runs covering the four sides. “Without some sort of dictionary, I can’t decipher the runes, but I do find this fascinating. Something tells me that this structure wasn’t originally part of this world, since the stone is different from any that we’ve seen.”


    “Fuck,” Billie cursed. “Yeah, like we’d get any answers about this place. It’s all a stupid mystery, and we’re never going to get home. Can we leave? That thing is giving me a headache.”


    “Which way do we want to go?” Holly asked.


    At first, I was confused. I thought there was only one path. But no, she pointed and across from us was another trail, half-hidden by vines, leading away from the swamp.


    “Get behind me,” I said. “Just in case.”


    Both girls had the working rifles, and I had a pistol along with my ax. I slashed through some vines to clear the trail.


    It was slow moving, but as we fought our way through, I felt a change in the air. It was cooler, and any breeze was good in that humid jungle. It was nearing noon, and I was getting thirsty. The toolbox full of water and the leaves full of rain felt far away.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    We needed a way to carry water, either with pottery or baskets, but it was only our third day. First order of business was to survive.


    “Do you smell that?” Billie asked.


    I sniffed. “Yeah. Ocean.”


    We kept on going down the trail and then came to another line in the dirt. One side was jungle, the other was dryer, grayer dirt and sparse green grass that led to thick plants, but there were no trees. Above us, the sky was a normal blue, a little misty, a little cloudy, but nothing strange.


    A game trail, somewhat overgrown, cut through the grass. We followed the path down to the edges of the cliffs and a view of an ocean. A waterfall to the right tumbled down to the beach below.


    In front of us was a ridge of rock that led out to a single tree. Somehow, it looked familiar.


    The professor looked surprised. “Good gravy, I might be wrong, but I believe that’s an exact copy of the Lone Cypress near Monterrey in California.”


    The tree looked like it was in good shape, but there were other trees that hadn’t fared so well, and they had been lodged in cracks on the cliff face. The ledges led down to a beach, about a hundred feet down.


    I had an idea forming in my head, but it seemed crazy.


    Then Billie saw something even more shocking. “What in the fuck are those?” She was pointing out beyond the waves breaking on the long beach below the cliffs.


    Out beyond the breakers were skyscrapers, though they had seen better days. Plant-life covered the outside, and most of the windows were shattered. Several of the tall buildings looked like they’d been cut in half, thanks to the Ravana Storm.


    Holly pointed at the horizon. “Good gravy, that’s the Transamerica building from San Francisco.”


    That made Billie smirk. “Don’t mention gravy. It makes me think of biscuits, and I’m getting hungry again. So are we on Earth? I don’t get it. We’re not on Earth. So where are we?”


    I’d been thinking about that in an offhand way. “Maybe a pocket dimension. It’s not like we’re on a normal planet on a normal world. The sky wouldn’t be so fucked up, and I think we can all agree, the sky is super fucked up.”


    “We’re not on Earth,” the professor mused. “And I don’t think that the Ravana Storm cut away our section of Earth. I think it might’ve copied it in some manner. In the end, it doesn’t exactly matter. We are in a precarious position, and we must be careful.”


    “So are we like copies of who we were?” Billie asked in horror.


    “Maybe,” I said. I’d thought about that as well. “But even if we were, we wouldn’t know it. In the end, we can’t get too caught up in theories about what happened and what this world is. All I know for sure is that if we could get out to those buildings, we could get some good salvage. I mean, I like the idea of clay pots and watertight baskets, but even if we had an empty Coke can, it would help us.”


    Billie still wasn’t getting it. “But why are those skyscrapers out there?”


    I walked a little more out onto the ridge of the rock that led to the lone cypress. I turned. “The Ravana Storm came and grabbed them at some point, and then it either dumped an ocean on them, or put them in the ocean. I don’t know. There’s also the pavement under the soil in Rainforest World. I’m not sure when that was brought over either, but it kinda doesn’t matter. We need to focus.’’


    That made Billie smile unexpectedly. “There he is, Mr. Focus. What are you focused on? Building a fire?”


    She was teasing me, sure, but after our fight that morning, it also felt like a peace offering.


    “No, I want to focus on a home.” I motioned to the lone cypress. “This place is kind of perfect. The ridge gives us an easily defensible position. One way in and one way out for anyone who can’t fly. We’ll have a rope ladder, so if we do get overrun, we could climb down the beach below.”


    Both the women were listening to me, closely, and I was glad I had their undivided attention. They knew our redwood perch wasn’t a long-term solution. Also, they trusted me, and I felt proud that I’d earned that trust.


    I went on. “Speaking of the beach, the ocean means fish, and that is a great food source. I think the professor can back me up on that.”


    She nodded. “The ocean is an excellent source of food. Not only is there the fish, but also, if we could find edible seaweed, we would get much needed phytonutrients.”


    “Me? Eating seaweed? It would be so fucking gross, but I guess I’m eating meat already, so whatever. But what about monsters? There’s bound to be like dinosaur sharks or whatever out there.”


    “Maybe,” I said. “But if we can kill them, we can eat them.”


    Holly nodded. “I wouldn’t underestimate the bounty of the sea. There’s a reason why early civilizations thrived on the coastlines. And do you feel that? The weather is more temperate here, not too hot and not too cold.”


    “Fucking Goldilocks,” Billie complained. “The little bitch always wanted things just right. Well, the real world isn’t like that.”


    “But we can make it just right,” I said. “We’ll have fortifications, and I think I know what we can use as both a wall and a gate. As far as our home is concerned, those old trees would make good anchors. We’d need to find something to use as nails, but yeah, I could build us a floor, and we’d need a roof. We build it around the cypress. I’m hoping the waterfall’s water is clean, and we can run some kind of pipe from it to our house. Even without running water, this is a good place for a home away from home.”


    Billie folded her arms across her chest. “But it’s only temporary, right? I mean, I don’t want to give up on getting back to Colorado.”


    “We won’t,” I agreed. “But until we can find a way back, we need a safe place. This is going to be our best bet for a place that is secure, convenient, and comfortable.”


    The professor was there to agree with me. “As far as we know. I can see the wisdom of this plan, though I’m not sure about certain aspects of the design. What kind of fortifications were you considering?”


    “I think we can use the bus to…” my words died in my throat.


    The biggest power crystal I’d ever seen sat half-buried in some dirt near one of the dead trees wedged into the rocks of the ridge.


    When I got close, the crystal flew to me.


    Opal came to life. My vision flickered and then I was being given a life-changing update.


    <<<>>>


    Anomalous energy source detected! Utilizing. Charged to 15% of full.


    Evaluation speed increased by 50%.


    Evaluation of current circumstances complete.


    Would you like to hear the results of this unit’s evaluation? YES/NO.


    <<<>>>


    I held up a hand to let the girls know something was up. “Wait. Opal is finally above 10%, and her evaluation ended. Give me a minute.”


    Billie grimaced. “I’d be so surprised if your dumb robot gave us anything useful, I really would.”


    Holly sighed. “Miss Kidd, please. Let’s try and look on the bright side. At least we have something trying to help us.”


    But whose side was Opal on? I was fairly certain her primary mission didn’t have anything to do with us.