《The SyStem: Multiverse》
Prologue
A red man will rise, a man unknown and unheralded, and He will remove the curse. He has no past but his future will be the freedom of us all. ¨C Tel¡¯taxl folktale
¡°What do the seers report?¡± An olive-skinned man in a crisply tailored uniform walked briskly down the marble hallway, each step echoing off into the distance. His bloodline had been an issue earlier in his career, a distant grandparent¡¯s dalliance in the former Greek isles nearly derailing his destiny. He could hear his underlings struggling to keep pace, his long legs extending and slightly increasing the pace. He was aware it was petty and beneath his station, yet he continued, increasing his pace again.
¡°They foresee seven intrusions. Four of these are in the opposite direction so not a concern. Of the three only one is notable. It is the focus of the report.¡± Entering his office, he moved behind the massive mahogany desk that had been a gift from the Transleithanian prince prior to his rise to Grand Emperor. Considering the favour he had provided the prince the gift was paltry indeed.
¡°Summarize.¡± He tired of these endless reports, especially so knowing that the Brazilian legate¡¯s wife was waiting for him in a nearby hotel. Officially frowned upon but frequently occurring, vassals would often take advantage of favourable circumstances to find a suitable position closer to the seat of power. He typically abstained, but the sensuous allure and devastating beauty of this woman had proven too hard to resist.
The man in front of his desk stood at attention, bringing his fist to his puffed-out chest before continuing. The pomposity and bureaucracy of the middle and lower management castes within the empire continued to astound him. If his memory was correct this man was the distant nephew of some lower bureaucrat. He was regularly assigned these people and he found them tiresome in the extreme, their eagerness to please simply nauseating.
¡°The intrusion is .00013-adic[i], too far to easily reach.¡± Sweat could be seen on the man¡¯s brow as he continued his report. ¡°It is a very small intrusion, a maximum of 1^-45cms in width.¡± His hands began shaking ever so slightly as he continued. ¡°It originates in the Sol system.¡± Closing the report, the man backed away from the desk, eyes fixed downward.
This was interesting. A universe so distant was unlikely to have the necessary technology to create dimensional nodes. ¡°Prepare the DBV team. Two people only. Include Lt. B¨¢ny¨¢sz and let him chose his partner. Prepare for their departure immediately. Eliminate, do not capture. Dismissed.¡±
1
¡°What are you doing here?¡± Shit. Best to pretend I didn¡¯t hear her.
¡°You heard me. You don¡¯t belong here, so get out.¡± Each time he met her it was worse. He should have known she would be here, but he¡¯d been so excited for a night out with free food that he hadn¡¯t thought about it.
Turning around, Jenna stood there tapping her foot in annoyance. ¡°Well? You¡¯re not a grad student. The door¡¯s that way.¡± Her voice was rising, and people were starting to watch the embarrassing episode.
Jed walked over, giving me a fist bump. ¡°Jenna, cool it. I invited Brett.¡± He turned to me. ¡°Glad you could make it, Brett. Get something to eat and glass of something strong and I¡¯ll show what we¡¯ve been doing.¡±
Jed was my roommate in our small two-bedroom apartment on the backside of Capitol hill in Seattle. Built in the 1940¡¯s and likely rented thousands of times of times over the years it had a timeworn look that was at odds with the gentrification happening just blocks away. Neither of us had money to afford better, although our reasons were different: Jed was a grad student at the UW, which paid in reduced class cost more than in cash, and I worked at a bookstore near Seattle University.
The bookstore was the ideal job for an introvert, and I was rarely found without a book in my hands or in my backpack. I read almost anything, from sci-fi to fantasy, fiction to non-fiction. The only genres I couldn¡¯t stomach were romance and self-help. Romance because my life had so little of it and self-help because I refused to have any of the personality quirks I had reduced to seven easy maxims.
Jed and I had met during our first year at the UW, as we had the some of the same classes. Our love for sci-fi, gaming, Marvel anything, good pizza and old video games was what quickly made us friends. Making the decision to move off campus our junior year had been the best decision I¡¯d make in years. There was a certain slob mentality present in the house and the kitchen wasn¡¯t what you showed a first date, but we loved the place. Easy access to Dick¡¯s for burgers and fries made it perfect, as evidenced by numerous bags scattered around the living room.
We didn¡¯t have a car since we didn¡¯t need one. Jed rode his bike to work which gave him some green cred, and I walked to the bookstore. The persistent rain didn¡¯t stop either of us, although Uber was always available if things got too dicey.
If you wanted to survive in Seattle and sound like a native, you embraced the rain. It took me three years to reach my adopted native status, although my mellowed Boston accent even after seven years spent out here could still give me away. I never complained about the rain though, at least not in public, no matter how depressing it got. It definitely got depressing, especially in the winter with the short days and consistent low clouds blotting out the sun. The summer tried to make up for the winter, although that was hard to remember when you didn¡¯t see the sun for days on end.
The party was in the physics department at the UW and was still going strong. They¡¯d brought in some fabulous beers and I was still making my way through the selections. I liked to think of myself as a beer snob, but the fact was that being a beer snob required money which I didn¡¯t have. There wasn¡¯t a huge crowd present, maybe sixty or seventy people but in the small space it felt like a lot more. The party atmosphere, the smell of roasted chicken and beef and a steady buzz warming me from the inside was a nice counterpoint to the downpour happening outside.
A three-piece string band had been playing while the professors had been joining us, but soon after they left the band joined the party somebody put on some hip hop. Bottles of Jack and Jim appeared shortly thereafter, and someone was kind enough to include a beautiful bottle of Glenmorangie to round things out. I tucked the single malt scotch way in back behind some empty bottles, keeping it for my own use and would hopefully be bringing it home with me once the party ended.
Jenna had walked away with Jed, which was my cue to get some food. I was already on my second scotch ¨C neat, the way god intended ¨C and had grabbed some sashimi and rice when Jed walked over.
¡°Hey, glad you could make it. Sorry about Jenna, I don¡¯t know why she doesn¡¯t like you. You¡¯re clearly awesome.¡± Another fist bump. ¡°I¡¯ve asked her to cool it for the party.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. And before I forget, congrats!¡±
¡°Thanks.¡± Jed was scanning the crowd, obviously looking for someone he couldn¡¯t find. ¡°Hey, why aren¡¯t you mingling and meeting the ladies? Don¡¯t just stand there drinking all night.¡±
It was a familiar discussion. Jed simply didn¡¯t understand. How my palms would sweat around woman. How my throat would lock up if a woman approached me. If alcohol didn¡¯t exist I would probably be deemed an honorary monk due to lack of activity.
Jed had heard my dating woes for the past six months now. What I hadn¡¯t told him was that they weren¡¯t really dating woes anymore, as I had kicked dating to the curb. At 1.65 meters and 114 kg, who was I kidding ¨C I was solidly overweight. Maybe obese, although I hated that word. It made me a tough sale when it came to the ladies.
Realizing I had said nothing in response, Jed fixed his gaze on me. ¡°I will, I promise. What is this party for again? In terms I can understand, without all the equations.¡± I smiled, hoping Jed¡¯s love for science would cause him to overlook the change in subject.
I had meant it when I said I didn¡¯t understand what his group had been working on though. Jed had led the team working on the project, which resulted in him getting home at all hours for the last eight months. Jed was a great roommate, paying for more than his fair share at times which was greatly appreciated but also slightly embarrassing.
¡°It¡¯s an alternate dimensional node. In laymen¡¯s terms we think we briefly connected our universe to another universe. We don¡¯t know which universe yet, but it kind of doesn¡¯t matter. Alternate dimensions were proven mathematically over a century ago, but physical proof is on a whole different level. It could be a parallel universe or something else entirely.¡± I could see the relief on Jed¡¯s face. Although I hadn¡¯t followed the science, I had seen the strain growing month by month as they pushed for this breakthrough.
¡°The party is to celebrate the discovery and let the team blow off some steam before we start writing papers and push for additional funding.¡± The pride was evident in Jed¡¯s voice, and I was very happy for my friend.
¡°Does that mean that aliens will be invading our world now? Chitauriroaming around on speeders kind of thing?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile, picturing a scene I had watched dozens of times.
Jed smiled as well but shook his head. ¡°No, the node we created was small, really small. So small it has to be measured in alto units.¡±
My smile turned to a grin. ¡°So, you created a wormhole. Damn that¡¯s awesome! I¡¯m proud of you man.¡±
Jed shook his head again saying, ¡°No, not a wormhole. A wormhole crosses vast distances in space by folding the points closer together to make the distance much shorter. The node we created causes the plane of our universe and the plane of another universe to bend towards each other, with the node bridging the gap. Think of pieces of paper one on top of the other, each representing an entire universe and separated by a small amount of space. What we think we did was bend either our universe or the other universe closer to each other, bridging the gap between two universes at a single point. The bigger the node the farther apart the universe planes can be. Ours was a very small node meaning that the two universes were already very close together.¡±
Jenna chose that moment to walk over, possessively taking Jed¡¯s elbow while ignoring me. ¡°It¡¯s such an accomplishment. Now you just need to replicate the results and write the papers, and a Nobel could be waiting on the other end.¡± I noticed Jenna had stars in her eyes at her own statement, while Jed looked exhausted just thinking about it.
Jenna was hard to ignore. Even when you wanted to, she wouldn¡¯t let you. She wasn¡¯t tall, maybe1.7 metersbut between her sun-washed blonde hair, green eyes, and small, pert breasts she was shockingly beautiful. With high cheekbones, tanned marble skin a natural grace she was charismatic, athletic and beautiful ¨C a perfect trifecta. And she knew it, using every attribute to perfection.
I didn¡¯t know for sure if she had asked Jed to move out of our apartment and in with her, but I strongly suspected it. Fortunately for me, Jed had kept his independence and stayed. I¡¯d asked Jed once why he hadn¡¯t moved in with her. He hesitated before answering, but eventually told me that Jenna¡¯s father wanted him to work in his new start-up and perhaps one day taking over the business.
I didn¡¯t see what the big deal was. He enlightened me. ¡°The problem is that I won¡¯t have built any of it. I¡¯ll be the manager for something her father built. He also wants me to quit grad school and start immediately. I¡¯ve worked damned hard for my PhD, and I¡¯m not giving up now, especially with the success we¡¯ve had on the project. So, I said no.¡± That response had pushed Jenna away for a while, but she was back now.
Jenna tried to move Brett away, steering him toward some of the donors to the physics program. ¡°Hold on Jenna, I¡¯m talking with Brett right now.¡± A brief flash of annoyance played across her face.
A hand waved Jed forward from the front of room. ¡°Actually, if you don¡¯t mind too much could you keep Brett company right now while I do the formal congratulations for the team. It will only take me a few minutes and then I¡¯ll be back and all yours.¡± He said with a wink as he left for the front of the room.
I looked awkwardly at Jenna, only to see that she was studiously avoiding me. I was about to move away to nowhere in particular when she turned to me, her voice a whisper but still vicious.
¡°I told you before to leave. I don¡¯t care if Jed invited you, you¡¯re not welcome here anymore. You¡¯re not a grad student. And you¡¯re definitely not a physicist. You¡¯re dragging Jed down with you, and if I have any say in it Jed will leave you behind. I¡¯m his future, and it¡¯s time you realized it and got the hell out of the way.¡± Under her breath I heard her add ¡®fat loser¡¯.
I reeled a bit from the attack. Not that fat loser comment, I had heard that one before and much worse.
No, what had surprised me was that this was the first time Jenna had laid her plans out so starkly to me. I didn¡¯t know if this was what Jed wanted, but if he chose to move out to be with Jenna I wouldn¡¯t stand in his way. I wouldn¡¯t fight it or try to sway him to see Jenna as I did. I owed it to my friend, but not to her.
I was about to give a scathing retort when I heard noise coming from outside the party, vague at first but growing. With the party still going at full tilt, it took my brain a bit to work through the alcohol in my system to discern that this was a different sound. I looked at Jenna, but her face told me she hadn¡¯t noticed anything.
It wasn¡¯t until the sounds of bullets and screams were audible that everyone¡¯s attention turned to the door. A sense of dread slowly overtook me. This couldn¡¯t be happening at a university. Surely it was a prank of some kind, nothing else. Although it sounded real, we didn¡¯t have student shootings in Seattle. Everyone was too mellow to do something stupid like that. Weren¡¯t they?
The sound continued to grow in volume, the screams clear like glass shattering and the bullets a fierce staccato. Something or someone was coming. It was time to move but I stood paralyzed by indecision, not knowing whether to flee or make a stand and fight.
I quickly recalled the three tortuous years my father had forced me to learn Hapkido as a kid and realized that my rusty skills didn¡¯t provide a way to fight guns. Flee it was.
I looked to see the two doors into the room, one at the right-hand corner and another at the left-hand corner. The sounds were coming from the right-hand door, so I grabbed Jenna¡¯s hand and started to make a run for the left-hand door.
Before I could get a single foot moving in the correct direction, I felt Jenna¡¯s hand pull me back towards her. She immediately fell to the floor, her whole body shaking in fear and her face drained of blood.
The door to our right swung open and two men dressed completely in black stepped through. They wore black armor covering their chest and thighs, with a reflective black helmet on top and a couple short antennas coming out of the helmet. They weren¡¯t tall, maybe 1.5 meters or more. They gave off a sense of wrongness that made my stomach churn and my head reel.
My mind was overwhelmed from the scene, the alcohol, and the sudden violence intruding into a peaceful party. Fear seemed to kickstart my brain and somehow my memory kicked in. I had seen men like this before but where? My mind latched on to the problem, as it was a way to avoid the insanity of what was happening. Finally, the memories coalesced with the present and I blurted out, ¡°Boba Fett?¡± Wait. That can¡¯t be right, can it?
I could see they both were holding something in their right hands that looked a lot like weapons. The weapons pulsed a dark blue from front to back, with a sweeping guard going over and under the hand holding it. Even with my lack of weapons experience, I knew menacing when I saw it.
¡°Down on the ground. Quickly!¡± came a mechanical voice. We were already on the ground but we flattened ourselves out behind a large desk, moving out of eyesight from the surreal threat.
My heart started racing and I tried to breath quietly, but I needed oxygen. Taking deep breaths to calm myself didn¡¯t work. I heard heavy metallic footsteps in front of us and Jenna clamped her hand over my mouth.
Gasping for breath, I pulled Jenna¡¯s hand away before taking more deep breaths. I knew I was hyperventilating but without a bag to assist I would have to ride this out. Warmth exploded through me, quickly turning into raw heat and sweat poured from my body. Whatever was happening, it was a lot more than hyperventilating.
Closing my eyes, I found myself in a freefall. My body was gone, only my mind¡ªmy spirit¡ªremaining somehow. I desperately tried to breathe but nothing happened. I was lost in space and time, floating along with eyes that could no longer open. It was terror and bliss, too overwhelming for my mind to decide which was the truth.
I could feel something pulling me, not up, down or sideways but out. Pain overcame terror as I was wrenched free from something I couldn¡¯t identify. I could feel my body now, nerves on fire and pain wracking my head. It felt like my soul was reforming in my body as a kaleidoscope of colors swam through my vision. With my gorge quickly rising I sensed death approaching, and darkness overtook me.
[i] P-adic numbers were developed in1897 by Kurt Hensel. In a multiverse situation, p-adic numbers can theoretically be used to measure the distance between one universe and another universe, typically using a branching methodology. P is a variable, where the higher the value of p the closer the two locations; the smaller the number the farther away the two locations.