Macky From Another World –
Do you ever wonder what dreams really are, or where they come from? Perhaps they are past events that have happened to you, or premonitions of the things yet to happen. Do you ever think that dreams might be visions of yourself in real life? Maybe you have dreams about the past, but some of the details aren't exactly how you remember them, or the situations have changed? Or maybe you have dreams about the future, and discover they come true, but some of the facts don't quite match what you dreamed. The details aren't the way you anticipated.
But I bet you have never thought that dreams are visions about yourself, your other selves from parallel realities. What if every single "you" has the same dream every single night, regardless of the events that occurred the day they dreamed? What if you can share your experiences with your other selves through your dreams? And at certain times, the different "yous" have varying degrees of control over them, depending on specific variables. This, of course, might only be possible with quantum entanglement.
My name is Thighbolt Mackabias Renner. So, assuming my previous assumptions are correct, I am a buff dude who has just met two new prisoners. One looks almost identical to me, and the other is a skinny guy. That would mean I am in a cafeteria which is inside a sort of compound or prison camp. Hold on, let's put the present situation on hold for just a moment. I need to tell you how I got here.
Before all of this, I got too curious about time travel, mainly because I lost my girlfriend to it. All I knew then was that she could be in a different timeline, living an old, retired life. Perhaps even with an older version of myself, not even knowing she was in the wrong place. So, I was experimenting with space and time, and somehow breached the dimensional barrier between them. Long story short, I wound up in an alternate reality, in a ruined version of my city, and managed to get abducted by these things called Vexon or Rogues. Then I was brought to a concentration camp where I met my doppelganger. He looked strong and muscular in this reality as well, but he was not nearly as big as me.
Unfortunately, for the time being, I am unable to get back to my home timeline. For the most part, this reality is quite similar to my own, except for their tech age, which is younger, and a few smaller details that aren't important.
The other me sits down across from me. Good, at least he doesn't recognize me just yet. I told him and his roommate, Jeff, about their new lives in the compound and how to survive.
"Do you have the schedule?" Macky asks.
"I think so…" I pat my pockets until I find it, then pull it out and hand it to him.
"After lunch is more cell time." He sighs. "Cell time until lights out at ten?!" He looks exasperated. "No dinner?!"
"Yeah, but I already told you," I say.
"I thought you were being funny," Macky mutters.
"Wait, you didn't tell us about these," Jeff holds up his ankle with the clamp.
"They are to ensure we don't leave this sector. At least that's what we've been told," I say.
"Right, but isn't there a different purpose?" I have to agree with Jeff, these clamps are definitely suspicious.
We continue in casual conversation.
Natasha From Another World –
Arrant children are so annoying. There's nowhere to run, so why bother trying? I head back inside the facility to assist General Vexon in preparation for the "testing." I head to his office on foot, because navigating to it in a jet pack would have been difficult. So many tight corridors. I come to the door labeled "General Vexon," and I enter.
"All the Anklers have been engaged," says General Vexon, staring out of a giant window that overlooks the lunch bay in Block 101. He turns to face me.
I myself am not Rogue, though the things I do might be considered Rogue-ish. He hands me a tablet.
"The computers are running all the different possible compatible pairs." He pauses. "Thanks to your tech and knowledge, we can now analyze the necessary blueprints for each of the ten thousand prospects. Each is very unique and extremely special, and most will have a part to play. But, only one can be a suitable sacrifice for the uprising." I nod, knowing fully well that his plan to revive the fallen starship in the eastern Lar lands is flawless.
"Which one do you speak of?" I ask, handing the tablet back, but he doesn't take it. The device buzzes, and I take another look. A single name appears on the screen. "Briana Rose Renner," I say. General Vexon nods.
"Find her. She must stay safe at all costs. Relocate subject to Cell Block 101." I set the tablet on a nearby table and march out of his office through a side door that leads to a balcony overlooking the lunch bay.
I bring my Cufflink device up to my mouth and press a small hexagonal button on the side.
"Locate Briana Rose Renner," I speak into a small microphone on my wrist gadget, and a few seconds later, an alarm blares from below. "Gotcha!" I sprint to the edge of the balcony railing and vault over, activating my jetpack a split second later. I have located my target.
Briana kicks and screams as I lift her into the air.
"Macky!" she screams, and two heads watch us fly away.
Mackabias Thomas Renner –
I look up in horror as the same jet-packer I had seen outside takes off with my sister.
"Briana!" I yell, but there's probably nothing I can do, or anyone else, for that matter. A few moments later, a horn sounds, and Thighbolt lets out a robotic sigh.
"Lunch is over," he says, and stands up. He looks down at me with sympathy. "That sucks man. I take it she's your sister?" I nod, and we trek back to our cells for the day.
What's really going on here? What are the Vexon planning? Many questions, and no real answers.
As I am sure you can imagine, the time I spend in my cell is boring as crap! Neither Jeff nor I have anything to do.
"I wish I were dead," Jeff finally says after a long silence. I roll over on my cot to look at him, sprawled out, staring at nothing.
"I hope my sister is doing alright," I say, concerned. Jeff slowly nods, and just then, the jet-packer appears outside our cell door. They unlock it and enter.
"Mackabias Thomas Renner!" they shout in a robotically disguised voice. I slowly stand up.
"Where is my sister!" I say, frustration and worry creeping in.
"You must come with me immediately," and before I can do anything, they lunge forward and grab my arm. The jet-packer drags me out of the cell and positions their hands under my armpits and launches into the air, carrying me away. We set down momentarily so they can disable my ankle clamp, as we are about to exit this sector. When it is free, we take off again, flying through corridors lined with offices. I don't know where I am being taken, but I hope I'll see Bree again, no matter where it may end up being.
Nat From Another World –
As I fly, my thoughts turn back to my old life, when time travel was just an expensive vacation-type adventure for the wealthy. But once the tech used to time travel hit the consumer market, new and crazy possibilities became accessible for anyone. Lots of people went missing; either they died in the past or came back to the present, only to find that the timeline they were on wasn't the same as the one they left. This is what happened to me. When I was only fourteen, I had saved up enough money to buy some second-hand time travel tech from a shady retailer.
Shortly after my fifteenth birthday rolled around, I was gifted the newest gen Jet-Wing Nitro Flight suit. So, I spent weeks of training and preparation. Finally, I installed a time module in my suit and traveled to the past. But when I tried to get back, things were drastically different. I then remembered what my boyfriend Thighbolt had said.
"If you go to the past and return to the exact time at which you left, the timeline where you existed before will be unreachable, hence you are now in a different timeline." I was too scared to find out what else was wrong with this other timeline, so I returned to the past again, and obviously, this past was different from the one that I first visited.
I was almost a year into adjusting to my new life in a downgraded society. I had a job, a home, a few superficial friends, then this thing called the coronavirus happened. Once it started to get smarter and physically control people, I knew it was not a virus but a parasite. One day, a possessed man calling himself General came to me asking for my tech skills.
I quit daydreaming so I can focus on the mission that the General has assigned to me. He has already discovered all of the compatible prospects, and I am to bring them to Cell Block 101. After flying for several minutes, we arrive, and I set down. As we land, I can feel Macky tense, almost as if he's getting ready to make a run for it. It reminds me of Thighbolt from my original timeline. I always noticed my boyfriend tense whenever he was about to bolt, and because of his size, he would usually bolt towards the danger.
Thankfully, Macky has surrendered, and I don't have to fight him. We enter Cell Block 101, and I pause to admire the magnificence of mine and General Vexon's work: 999 fully compatible human teens. I half-drag, half-push my prisoner around this massive sector, the size of a full city block. I find the last cell, its occupant, a single unrelenting teen. Getting her here was a pain. I pair them up so that they will be recognized as compatible, then close the cell and contact the General.
Finally, all five hundred pairs are ready to be transported to the Far Lands.
Mackabias Thomas Renner –
Evidently, the person I get paired with is Nat, but she's no longer the Nat I know. She seems emptied of life, almost robotic, with no expression, just like the rest of the pairs. I wanted to see her again, but not like this. It sucks to find that the person I love is no longer there, only a mere shell of the beautiful person I once knew and still hold dear. To be honest, I kind of feel the same way, just an empty husk of my former self, mostly emptied of life.
A Vexon enters the cell block, and it seems to have authority, though in my depleted state, I can barely tell. Then, like a quiet voice in a vast universe of emptiness, a faint memory sparks, and I recall something that Thighbolt had said. I think it was—General Vexon. I'm now able to place a name, or a title rather, on this new Rogue that has just entered our vicinity. I watch as the jet-packer and the possessed man exchange a few words. Then, the Vexon disappears through a door, and just as it does, the floor starts to tremble. It's almost as if we are being lifted, like the feeling of being in an elevator going up.
I turn to my right to see light pouring through a giant window I didn't realize is there. Most likely, it had been blocked by a wall only moments ago. I continue to stare out, not really knowing why, maybe because light means hope, but I know that this isn't the case. I see a control tower of sorts pass beneath us, and I look around to see a few others staring out their own windows just like me, wondering what the hell is going on. For some reason, the jet-packer is still standing guard outside our cell.
I feel the vessel accelerate as it climbs higher, and out the huge bay window, I can see more and more cell blocks just like this one, fall into formation as the giant cubes travel onward. Must be more cell blocks from different facilities around the world. I notice that we only accelerate in small increments because nobody has seat belts. Soon enough, the clouds outside are a blur of motion.
Time passes as the engines rumble somewhere beneath this flying wonder. Eventually, the speed of the cell block seems to decrease, and I suspect it will take a very long time to decelerate fully.
Watching the sun hang just a few hours above the horizon should be breathtaking; it's so big and looming, but there is hardly any breath left in me for the captivating scenery to take.
The massive cell block finally sets down, and one of the giant walls opens horizontally, letting the remaining daylight fill our transport vehicle. About nine more cell blocks set down as well, and for the first time, I noticed that we are in the middle of a desert. If there are one thousand teens in each transport, and ten transports, then that makes a total of ten thousand teens. I shield my eyes from the sun and see many jet-packers fly in large numbers like a swarm of wasps and land inside Cell Block 101. Each pair of compatibles is forced to their feet. We are then marched out of the transport and made to stand still in the sand. I can see more of the same from all the other transports as well. When everyone is in formation, we head west in the direction of the setting sun.
I might have actually enjoyed this little trek if it weren't for the stakes. Wait, is it hot out here or just me? What is this feeling?
A massive shape materializes out of thin air, blocking out the sun.
The sky is still light, so it obviously didn't set. This thing is a giant. Is that a spaceship?! It's completely split in half. I guess it crashed on Earth in this desert. The fact that it has appeared out of nowhere reminds me of the mirages I would sometimes see on really hot days. I guess it's a pretty hot day. Only a mirage could have hidden this ominous wreck for so long—must have been here for decades.
I have become delirious, and whatever evil plan is unfolding, I can do nothing about it.