“The hell was that about!” Alice shouted at Jake, bent over panting as the two hid amongst the shade of the apple trees, hidden from the perusing crowd. The chasing crowd of upper-crust socialites and their servants had seemed to lose interest in continuing to follow Jake as soon as he crossed the boundary of the market, seeming to be content with just driving him away from the market. Still though, having managed to find and rejoin him she didn’t let her guard down, cautiously surveying around her for any would-be pursuers or attackers. "What did you do!"


    “Nothing!” Jake shouted, clearly annoyed as he leaned against the closest tree his head resting against the green book he was still clutching.


    “Nothing, huh?” Alice asked, before pointing her finger toward the book prominently displayed before her.


    “Yes, nothing! I paid for this! Well, at least I think I did. It didn’t have a price tag! I still gave them all I had on me, so…” She interrupted him with a sigh, shaking her head for a moment. She was happy to hear he hadn’t stolen the book, or at least not completely. Still though, to pay so much for it…


    “Why did you want it so bad?” She asked, glancing toward him as she struggled to grasp what exactly the rather plain-looking book made it worth wasting half their cash supply.


    “Seemed helpful…” He began sheepishly, scratching behind his head as he passed it towards her, “It’s on poisonous plants. Thought it might help us not kill ourselves. Plus…” He seemed embarrassed about the next reason, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot before adding on, “I thought you might like it. You always seem so into plants, and we’ve been so bored and all…”


    “…oh,” Alice replied, taking the book and flipping through the pages. She caressed the hand-inked pages, her fingers pausing over one of the more intricate drawings displayed inside. “Thank you. It’s rather nice. Still might have overpaid though.” She smiled at him, hoping her slightly snide comment hid the unbridled joy she felt at receiving the gift.


    “Maybe.” He said with a slight laugh.


    <hr>


    “The hell?” The elderly traveler exclaimed, confused. Atop the table he had left his collection of memoirs and stories handwritten and available for the public he noticed immediately one of his tomes was missing. In its place was a pile of coins. Moving forward, the man picked through the pile, confusion clear on his face.


    Roughly eighty coins in total. The total value of the pile varied depending on the size and material of the coins but a rough total of eighty coins sat piled before him. Eighty coins for one book. The man grasped his head, a low laugh starting to escape his frame.


    He almost felt bad. Someone had clearly overpaid. Despite its location in the bazaar, the wares the man sold were not particularly valued. His books were written not for profit but merely as the hobby of a lonely elderly man who wished to pass on his knowledge before he passed on. Often, he couldn’t give his books away yet now someone had paid him for one? And such a generous amount at that!


    He smiled to himself, slowly scooping the pile of cash together into his hands and pocketing it before whoever took his book could change their mind. While he may feel a tad bad for the poor soul who overpaid him, he was not foolish enough to deny free gold.


    <hr>


    Dr. Lewis held his breath, unable to properly breathe as he fired up the device sitting across him. The device, large and towering over him, began to hum as the air around him began to be sucked forward towards the machine. The machine began to rumble violently shaking back and forth across the floor sending shockwaves across the expanse of the lab. The metallic frame of the device flexed a bit, straining under its own weight. Several metallic panels were seen resting at the side of the device, either having fallen off due to age or removed due to maintenance.


    These panels were of little consequence to the doctor. They would do little to help the device withstand the stress it was currently being subjected to. They were purely aesthetic, installed to make the machine more palatable to look like. Right now, Dr. Lewis didn’t care how ugly the device was. He only cared if it worked.


    Biting his lip as air rushed faster and faster toward the machine, the shaking and rumbling escaping its metal frame growing worse and worse as its construction bent in closer and closer upon itself…


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Then it stopped. Mangled and bent, the device sat still, unmoving. Blinking, uncertain of his success, Dr. Lewis quickly read through the printout of data flying towards him across the screens surrounding the lab. Most of it was unimportant right now. Damage reports or worries about the electrical disparages the machine was likely to produce. All that mattered was the last line of the report. Scrolling fast down the pad, his heart stopping and his breath held, he read the all important line.


    “BREACH: STABLE. DATA TRANSMISON: POSSIBLE”


    His scream of triumph could be heard from out in the hallways, possibly from outside the building itself. He danced, alight in the ecstasy of his success. He’d done it. HE’D DONE IT! The data from the pair''s departure had been all he’d needed to force this old, rusted, piece of crap to work. Provided the right wavelength needed to slip between realities he simply needed to fine-tune his machines, work till he could reliably maintain that frequency without being pulled forward to a new dimension.


    Still, this breach was nowhere near perfect. He doubted physical travel would be possible. Looking at how collapsed the support structure had become just holding this small tear open, trying to physically pass through would likely destroy everything. And that was just the minimum damage possible. He had no idea of the possible ramifications of undergoing an incomplete Breach. He had no clue what it could do to his body or the wider reality around him.


    It was too risky. At least for the time being. Data, though. That was easier to transmit. Thankfully, he had two lovely test subjects waiting for him, signals waiting to transmit back to him as they bobbed about the infinite cosmos of realities.


    He hurried away from the machine, leaving it in its stable state as he hurried toward his personal workstation. Really, any computer in the lab was theoretically capable of tracking the signals. However, most were dilapidated or outdated. Only his personal workstation was still clean and still up to date. His computer would have the best chance of finding the transmitting signals beyond the bounds of reality… he hoped.


    He had done the math before the test subjects'' departure and theorized it to be possible that he could find and track them after they left. But it was all theoretical, all based on assumptions he’d thus far been unable to properly test. Now would be the first time he could properly put his theories to the test. If they failed… it would be an inconvenience. Not world-ending. Not now he could maintain a breach. That alone opened the door for infinite possibilities in his research moving forward. But losing track of his free guinea pigs as they wandered from world to world would certainly be a setback.


    Sitting forward as he began to work on his computer, he paused and glanced around the lab. It was quiet. To quiet. Frowning he glared at his intern’s empty workstation before he shook his head with a sigh and wondered where the fool had wandered to now. He seemed to have been wandering off more and more lately…


    Unbeknownst to Dr. Lewis, Simon sat hidden in one of the lab’s corridors. With a smile on his face, he lowered his communicator down from his ear, his call completed. His outdated model of communicator that tended to leak his private calls had meant he’d needed to hide away to ensure Dr. Lewis couldn’t hear what he was talking about.


    That was well worth the effort though. Smiling brightly, Simon reviewed the meeting made for tomorrow. He’d managed to secure a visit to Lab 46. Not only that, but he’d also managed to sweet-talk his way into a private talk with the lab’s director. An evil smile grew across his face, he couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come. The next step in his project was nearly at hand.


    <hr>


    “Think this one is ok?” Jake asked, leaning back against a tree as he held a random fern up to the crackling firelight for Alice to observe.


    “Let me see…” she said, flipping through the book. He chuckled to himself as he watched her, enjoying the obvious joy she was trying to surprise. Why she was trying to hide her excitement he didn’t know, but she was rather bad at it. It made him want to keep questioning her, keep offering her random plants or leaves to hear her input.


    “Oh… oh dear…” She suddenly said, voice growing serious as she looked up from the book, eyes shaking a bit as she looked toward Jake, “You didn’t touch that with your bare skin did you?”


    “Yeah!” Jake said, quickly dropping the plant as he wiped his hands across his pants leg feverishly trying to clean his hands, “Yeah, I did! Am I going to be, ok?!”


    “Oh… oh god…” she set the book beside her, her hands slowly coming up to cover her mouth. Her eyes were quivering more now as she looked at him.


    “What, what is it!”


    “I’m sorry, really I am…” Sorrow evident in her voice, she looked away from him as she curled up her head dropping toward the floor. “I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do. You’re completely fine. It’s just a weed.”


    “Wha?!” Jake shouted, grabbing hold of her shoulders and shaking her in surprise at this sudden de-escalation of tension. It was only now that he held her, saw her head lolling about with laughter that he could see the quiver in her eyes had been joy, surprised laughter. Sighing deeply, he let her go.


    Realizing the book had become another tool the two could use to tease one another, he realized he’d need to make the time to study it and read it over to be better prepared. For now, though, he’d let her enjoy this moment. Enjoy her laugh that rolled through the grove up into the night sky.