Splitter-V 7

Splitter-V
Lab Note 7
When a World Shatters…


     Kahai stood still as the mangled creature thrust its right arm towards her. Her mouth twisted into a grin as it slowed to a halt in the mid-swing. The tree-trunk sized arm nearly touched her nose before it let out a violent spasm.

     Flesh decayed in the blink of an eye, shredded apart by some unknown agent. The dark mess spread to the rest of the body before it fell to the ground with a sickening splatter.

     Eric kicked a vile lump as his mind tried to process what had just happened. His eyes raised just in time to catch Ankhite fall backwards.

     Slowly he looked to his hand, shocked that he wasn’t doing the same.

     “Sorry you had to see that,” the woman with orange hair said as she wrapped an arm around Anne, “Biological warfare is gruesome I know, but you’ve probably only been in the upper city.”

     A voice spiraled down from above, the man with green lines on his body sat on top of a broken lamp post, “Use your head: if they were from the upper city they would not have been out in the desert… In fact they’re not from around here.”

     Kahai’s eyes darted up in time to see the man land close enough that their noses were nearly touching, “and who would you be?”

     “My name isn’t important.” Is all he said as he quickly stepped over the woman and raised Ankhite to her feet, “I’m going to take these people home, where they belong.”

     A moment of utter silence passed, then he raised an eyebrow, “anybody have a wrench?”

*******

     The Cy pressed an almost invisible panel on his left arm with his forefinger, causing his metal skin to sink in and begin its retraction. As soon as it has slipped halfway into his arm it stops and began a harsh, grinding noise.

     With the wrench in his other hand he forcefully slipped the cover into place without any indication of pain. Meticulously he went over paper-thin panels, slowly each one slid out of his way with the wrench.

     “Looks like you two will be staying here a bit longer,” he informed as he reached the fifth layer of circuitry and prodded it once with his forefinger, “I cannot call gates until I repair myself…”

     “What did you mean by ‘take these people home?’” Anne asked after a moment of silence.

     “If you can’t tell by the sky and your latest… encounter this isn’t your home world… or even your home dimension for that matter,” the man stated as if it should have been common knowledge.

     “The frick are you talking about?” Eric shouted as he rubbed his head with his right hand in confusion, “Home dimension?”

     A sigh ensued, “Obviously you’re from one of the central unaffected regions or else you would have known about dimensions. To put it simply: each choice a person makes has multiple outcomes; each one creates an alternate reality. Most of the time they aren’t truly dramatic and recombine with the main dimension, but other times, say if Cuba had launched its missiles or Normandy was never taken by the allies, they completely splinter into a full blown world.”

     Anne nodded as though she understood each and every word, though Eric placed far less convincing expression on his face.

     Metal snapped together so quickly that his finger was nearly lopped off, the surprise on his face eclipsed by a circular projection. Scattered across the disk’s surface are a multitude of spheres, a single flare red globe nearing the bottom edge.

     “Fan-damn-tastic…” the mechanical human groaned. His right hand rose to dispel the hologram. Moments later he stood up and drew a bag of white chalk from a pocket in his tattered trench coat, “Looks like we’re going to have to perform a blind jump.”

     His other hand suddenly grasped Kahai’s shoulder to gain her attention, “I’m going to have to ask you to come with us, it’s the end of your world after all…”

*******

     The Cy stopped as soon as the group had entered one of the city’s more decrepit alleyways. Pine green eyes quickly danced along the walls in search of something unseen and in an instant he has begun to inscribe a circle onto the cold stone.

     “Stop,” someone called out from above, her blue eyes shone the complete opposite of the scorched sky, “I wouldn’t call a gate just yet.”

     Disgust was written across the metal man’s face moments before it was covered in a protective mask, “If you’d like to throw your life away that’s fine by me, but don’t involve these three.”

     With a hollow clap he quickly placed his hands on the circle, tearing a rift in reality itself and introducing everyone to the veiled sight of his own world.

     In an instant every person in the alleyway was thrown backwards by a blood curdling scream. Talons screeched as a four legged beast tore through the vortex. Its claws pierced the far wall and held it there, sideways, as it snorted the air with its needle-like face. Teeth gnashed, the ground quickly saturated with saliva as no lips covered them. Suddenly it ceased all movement before letting out a horrendous howl.

     “I don’t think that thing’s very friendly,” Eric said while the two tentacles that had sprouted from the back of his head lashed nervously.