“Uh, what’s going on?” Andy asked as he was ushered to the side while the attendant produced a large paddle-like object from their jacket.


    “As I said, sir, have you ever left the universe?” they asked again, their voice now losing a lot of the initial patience.


    “Yes, four of us have. Is that going to be a problem?” Andy said angrily as the attendant started using the paddle to jab at him in various locations. Cal, for his part, tried to stay calm. He hoped this was just something akin to air travel and would be over soon enough. Then again, he himself had left the universe, at least briefly. Why hadn’t that triggered the scan? What made Andy different?


    “Which four, and where exactly have you been out of the universe?” they asked, relaxing slightly at the compliance.


    “Well, Cal was one of them, you already scanned him, so I’m not sure that’s the real answer, but myself, Bill, and Twonger have been to several places outside the universe. I don’t even have names to explain all of them honestly,” Andy answered again, his voice growing panicked.


    “Hmm, we may need to hold you for deeper examination. I don’t like the way your internals look,” they said, now waving the paddle in front of Andy, up and down rapidly.


    “I’m sorry, what? What’s wrong with my inside?” Andy asked.


    Twonger burster into laughter. “Sorry, sorry, Cheryl, you’re good. I couldn’t keep the laughter down anymore,” Twonger said through loud gasps of laughter, the words barely making it out of his mouth.


    “Dammit, Twonger, I had a whole routine planned. I was going to convince the kid he was pregnant. You don’t get to do that twice!” Cheryl started laughing herself. Cal joined them. Now, this he could get behind. Some nice practical jokes were exactly what they needed more often.


    “Okay, so I’m fine then? Nothing bad is happening?” Andy said, still sounding a bit worried and a lot annoyed as he looked from Twonger to Cheryl, finally setting an angry stare on Cal.


    “You’re good. Just messing with you. The look on your face makes it all worth it. Now, hopefully, this means y’all remember what I said about not touching anything,” Twonger said, his laughter slowly dying.


    “Yeah, you should listen to him. He knows a thing or two about pissing off the wrong people, speaking of which. Klorn is currently docked, but it’s a big place, so I figure you should be good,” Cheryl said, giving Twonger what Cal thought was a look of warning.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    “Uh, you’re sure he’s here?” Twonger asked, confusion spreading across his face.


    “Yeah, flagship and all,” Cheryl answered.


    “Alright, I’ll stay clear. Especially since, now you got me really worried. Come on idiots, we got some people to track down,” Twonger said, walking through the detector and out of the room.


    “Who is Klorn, and why are you so worried?” Cal asked as soon as they were in the corridor out of earshot.


    “Good question. I mean, I know who he is and why he wants me. The issue is why the hell he’s even here. He shouldn’t be. Last loop he was off in a whole different nebula buying weapons. I don’t really see how anything I’ve done could have changed where the hell he was at this early in a loop, so something weird is going on, and I don’t like it,” Twonger answered.


    “So a butterfly effect we can’t account for then?” Andy replied.


    “Looks that way, and I’m with Twonger then. Changes outside of Earth shouldn’t really be happening just yet unless we have another player out here we don’t know about,” Cal said, worried. Another unknown in on the time loops was a problem they didn’t need at the moment.


    “Could be something I’m missing that caused him to be here though. I suppose it’s possible he starts tracking me once I go to Earth. Didn’t do that til later in the last loop, but that would mean he has ties to Earth too, which is another can of worms,” Twonger said.


    “It is, but it would answer some of the alien tech questions we have. What would happen if we ran into him? Is it a talk or possibly buy our way out of it problem or a no way out but death problem?” Cal asked, curious how much the guy hated Twonger.


    “If we had the money, buy our way out of it, everything is a buy our way out, but yeah, let’s just say we ain’t anywhere near flush enough to buy away this problem, though considering our situation, I’m sure we could find a way to do it in future loops,” Twonger said.


    “Alright, avoiding your creditor it is,” Cal said, shaking his head. Just how much did Twonger owe the man, and what did he owe him for?


    “Come on, I know a place we can grab some lunch, should fit in pretty well with what you guys eat on Earth too. Reminds me a lot of the barbecue your dad likes so much,” Twonger said turning down a passage that opened into a giant open mall and nearly vanishing into a bustling crowd as Cal and the others gave chase. How had they not heard the noise before they stepped out?


    Cal looked around after catching up to Twonger and couldn’t believe the sights around him. Everywhere he looked was a different species, all talking and hustling about on their way. There were more people standing in front of shops yelling about their wares, some dressed in mascot outfits just like Earth. The scene was something out of a movie, and then again, so were their lives these days, so amazing or not, this continued to be his new reality.


    “Hey, are those guys chasing us?” Bill asked, pointing to several people behind them who certainly looked to be chasing them. Cal sighed. Well, that hadn’t taken long.


    “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Twonger yelled as he suddenly sped up.