Ripped Apart: Quantum Twins – Adventures On Two Worlds (12 page)

Tazian mathematical theory stated that there must be a boundary between each of the definable nine dimensions, the tenth being The All and thus encompassing everything and without definition or boundary. Having existence meant that a boundary must possess space-time-consciousness, yet without depth or it would form a separate and distinct dimension itself, its spatial component therefore evincing only two dimensions.

In theory, the Twins had to be trapped between the third and fifth dimensions, within the boundary that was an infinitely convoluted plane, warping through space-time-consciousness.

With each and every individual component of their selves reduced to the ultimate constituent of all matter and consciousness, the Kwozakubezeninii, all their multitude of wave forms were spread across the whole universe, in the Timelessness that was the ineffable signature of The All.

Far out at the edge of a minor galaxy an energy rippled. Like a seed crystal dropped into a supersaturated solution, nucleation occurred and the wave forms collapsed. Uncountable numbers of Kuznii raced inwards from the furthest corners of the galaxy as recrystallisation occurred. Combining, Forming, the now particles recreated their original energy-lattice and each twin returned to sentient awareness. Painful awareness. Scenes seen from inside the stairwell ripped through their minds.

Scenes, seen, seeing. The words tumbled through their minds. Their minds played with the words. Timebled?

Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away: now they’re here to stay. Am I in yesterday?? And where is yesterday now that it’s today??

? where or when am i ?

? AM I ?

! I AM !

Qwelby was seated astride the Stroem, whooping with excitement as though he was on a DareDragon Ride on an KeyPoint FunDay. Only a few more minits to go. He had already lasted longer than Wrenden and their other friends. Just Kaigii’s time to beat. The Stroem disappeared, sending him spiralling down towards…
towards?

All was pitch black.

He was being scraped on all sides.

Fifty trillion cells in my body and every one of them hurts!

The awful scratching ceased. Moments later it seemed as though he slid into a cold tube and slowed to a stop. He opened his eyes. Nothing to be seen. Was he still in deep space? But where were the stars? However few, he knew there were stars at the very edges of the universe.

He tried to move. That was frightening. His arms were pinned to his sides by the coldness. Panic set in as he struggled. Realisation! His legs were moving. The panic lessened. Another fact slipped into his mind. There was no ground beneath his feet. He took a deep breath, and coughed on the cold air. Now his nose was running. But? Controlling the rising panic, his senses told him he was upside down. He waggled his fingers.
Good. Whatever this cold is, it only goes as far down, or up, as my wrists. I can move!

He lay still for a moment, checking all his sensations.
I think I am me again.

As he started to wriggle he discovered that the tube was not solid. The more he pushed with his arms, the more space he was able to make around him. It was like the time when he had fallen off his twistor and gone head first into a snowdrift. Old, packed snow, partly frozen and semi-solid had made a tube with icy walls.

As he flailed about with his feet they hit something solid.
Great, leverage.
He pushed, relaxed, pushed again. Whatever the cold was, the hole was widening. Several more heaves and something slid down by his head. It was his bag, Fill Me. With one hand he pushed it to the bottom of the hole, tilted his body the other way, brought up his other arm and pushed against the bag with both hands. It moved a little way then held firm.

As his arms extended, pushing him along the hole, he tilted and realised that he was moving more backwards than upwards. His waist passed the edge of the hole and he slid down, closing his eyes against possible damage.

The sliding stopped and he opened his eyes. It was very dim. Everything was white. Cautiously he lifted his head. Darkness all around. Carefully he moved on the hard but yielding surface. He started to shiver with the cold. As his eyes adjusted he made out… trees? With sloping branches covered in white!

Where were the buildings? His pursuers? His friends?

A torrent of thoughts assailed him. Pictures flashed through his mind. He put his hands over his eyes. ‘NO!!’ he cried out, slamming the doors on all the intruders. His shivering increased. Panicking, he scrambled to his feet, falling over as the ground gave way. Finally, standing almost knee deep in softness, he looked around, saw a lump at the edge of the trees that looked different, trudged over to it, pushed at the covering and found a fallen tree. He cleared the cold white stuff from it and sat down. More thoughts were hammering on the doors of his mind, trying to force their way in.

He shoved them aside.
Must get warm.
Skin-tight tank top and shorts, normal wear under a fashionable, figure-hugging bodysuit, were no protection from the cold that was penetrating to his very core. He took a deep breath, coughed and spluttered as the icy air reached his lungs. Eyes watering, nose running, he yanked up the bottom of his red top. By bending over and tugging he just managed to blow his nose, then ducked, gave a wry smile as he realised his twin was not there to give him a slap. Panic rose, was quickly squashed.
Must get warm first. Then find Tullia.

Tullia? I’m alive!

Covering his mouth with his hand he breathed carefully and settled into his well practised rhythm. As he relaxed, he imagined his heart a furnace, pumping warm blood around his body. He was to discover later that Azurii did the opposite: imagined themselves colder so their bodies would become warmer. It was one of the many ways in which Azuran lives seemed so contrary that he would wonder how they managed to survive on their planet.

Warm at last, he had a good look around. The white stuff was indeed snow. He must have fallen through the trees, but there was no sign of his passage.
Surely I would have knocked snow off the branches? Ah, but not if I was still all those kuznii and didn’t become me until I landed. So where was I with all those grey buildings? And where are the others? Too many puzzles!
He firmly locked them away. He would have the time to find answers when he was with Tullia.
Where is my pesky twin?

The only marks in the snow that he could see were from the hole where he had landed in the snowdrift to where he was sitting. That meant that she had not got up and wandered off. Calling out ‘Tullia!’ he got up and looked around, becoming more and more worried as he continued calling yet there was never an answer. Trembling with dismay he finally accepted she was not there.

Then a shock hit him so hard he gasped aloud and collapsed back onto the fallen tree. Not only was he alone, and didn’t know where or when, his twin was not in that special place that each of them had in their mind where the other lived. For the first time in his life he did not have a mental connection with her. He put his hand to his torc, feeling the chunky, interlinked metals. Its energy was muted. Fearfully, he grasped his crystal of red Drakobata. There was no tiny tremor. The final confirmation. There was no contact with his twin’s necklace. They were totally apart.

He felt completely bewildered.
I panicked when I had no need. Normally, I would MentaSynch with her and she would come to help me. Why didn’t I do that? Did I try?
He stood up and pounded his chest with his fists. After everything he had been through, hurting himself made him feel real, physical, solid. But. He was a Quantum Twin. Without Tullia in his mind he was not complete, only half a person. He roared into the night, a mixture of rage and anguish.

Feeling exhausted, drained, hopeless, he stared blankly at the snow and trees. A picture came to him of a sandy, scrubby sort of desert. The lantern had shown them two scenes, snow and desert.

I am in the snow. Is Tullia on Haven?
He felt panic welling up inside him again.
What have we done? What have I done? If I’d not sulked. If we’d gone to the Elmit room. Can my wanting so much to explore Azura really have caused this to happen?

He took a deep breath. The freezing air swooping into his lungs turned into a coughing fit. He got up and stamped around, putting his hand over his nose and mouth to warm up his breath. As he wiped away the tears the coughing fit had caused he realised something was missing: the bag. He had left it in the hole. Reluctantly, he squirmed inside, grasped the strap, and laboriously heaved himself out.

He was now thoroughly wet. That reminded him to focus on his inner fire and feed more energy to it.
This can’t go on for long. I dare not run out of energy and fall asleep. I will die in this cold.

Trying to force a sense of calm on top of all the panic, he sat back down on the log and opened the bag. As he bent over to look into it, everything went blurry. He lifted his hand in front of his face. It was expanding and contracting. The trees were circling around him. A big hole opened up inside. He felt his body shrinking. Unable to stop himself he toppled onto the snow.

*

He was cold, Xzarze! he was cold, and wet. Memory came to him. Feeling dizzy, he used the fallen tree to pull himself up and sat on it, hunched over. One hand over his mouth he breathed steadily and focussed all his weak energy on building his inner fire. As his vision cleared he noticed that the in-side out globe had fallen out of the bag. As he bent down to pick it up he saw that it was brightly coloured and no longer in-side out.

It looked like a map of a planet. There were two patches of white on opposite sides. Holding it so one was on the top, he turned the tennis ball sized globe around. It looked vaguely like Vertazia.
Vaguely?
There was some small lettering on the white patch. He peered closely and read out: ‘Third Planet.’

Normally, he would have been sure that Vertazia was the third planet from the sun. Just then he didn’t feel sure of anything. He certainly did not want the answer that he was afraid he was going to find. He counted on his fingers.
First planet from the sun is Little Friend, second is the Joker, third is Vertazia, fourth is Haven.
Panic overwhelmed him, made worse by the lack of contact with his twin.

‘Tullia! Where are you?’ he yelled aloud.

Recovering, he remembered the previous day’s weird adventures. They had been in a NullPoint Bubble. What if he was in one now? Or what if he had jumped into a HoloWrapper? Sometimes you started in the middle of an adventure, not knowing where you were, what was going on or even what characters you and your friends were.

‘Yes, that must be it,’ he said aloud. ‘An Azuran style one where there is no mental contact.’ He had never experienced that before but, that had happened in the staircase. He felt reassured that he knew what was happening.

Right. Let’s get on with it. Find the others. Or at least Kaigii.

It had been dark when he had first opened his eyes. Then as he got accustomed to his surroundings it seemed lighter, now it was dark. Fortunately, the skies were clear and the waxing moon was almost full, its light reflecting off the snow set the landscape in a clear contrast of black and white. Millions of stars twinkled at him. He recognised Orion and several other constellations. Even so, without any of the usual inner sensations of a HoloWrapper, he felt very alone. Covering his mouth, he took a few slow, deep breaths to calm himself.

He looked back at the moon. It was a quarter older than at home. He sighed, reassured. He must be in a HoloWrapper. Admittedly it was unlike anything he had previously experienced, but it linked with the previous frightening scene in the snow.

The fallen tree he was sitting on was at the side of a large area of snow. Shaped like a long, thin triangle, the trees met in a point near the top of the hill. Downhill they formed what appeared to be an impenetrable barrier. Looking behind, through the trees where he had arrived, he thought he could see another expanse of open snow. He would go that way and hope for the best.

Progress was slow as the snow was deep and soft. He concentrated on keeping himself warm and being very careful where he was stepping. It was with relief that he found himself at the edge of the trees, looking over a very wide, steep slope, glistening in the moonlight. Feeling too disoriented to think what it might be, worn out from the effort of trudging through deep snow, seeing a smooth path downhill, he stepped onto it and immediately slipped over. Wow! That was like glass.

He lay for a moment recovering from yet another shock. Everything was so solid and he had not been able to use his energy skills to prevent the fall. As the cold penetrated his thin and wet clothing he rolled onto his hands and knees and crawled to the safety of the thick snow underneath the trees.

Using a tree to pull himself up, he looked downhill and saw what had to be houses with cheery lights. People and warmth! But there was something wrong. What were those little lights on stalks? Nervously, he swallowed. They looked just like buildings in Azuran flikkers. An insidious thought said that since his arrival amongst the trees there had not been one single sensation like in a HoloWrapper adventure.

He was trembling again. He wrapped his arms around his chest, trying to hold himself together and fight off the Memories that were clustering on the fringes of his consciousness.

Lights appeared over to one side. They were moving, more or less in a straight line. They seemed to be moving across the snow. As he watched, they passed underneath the stalk lights. They were followed by a dark green box. A box-on-wheels. An Azuran car! The scene cleared in his mind. There must be a road hidden by a long bank of snow. That was why there was the row of lights. Of course! Azurii used roads to get their clumsy vehicles to houses.

Then it struck him. Slowly, not wanting to, but having to, he looked down at his arms, his body, his legs. Of course he was not in a HoloWrapper, he was in his own body. The only time you could be in a real person’s body was when you were there to watch and learn. You had no control, just like when he was in the snowman. And even then, it could not be his body, even if he was ever to be a HW Character that would not happen. The globe was correct. He was on Earth!

He shivered. Again he has stopped concentrating on his fire.
I must get warm! What to do? Well, at least I look like an Azuran. Mostly. They have all sorts of colours. And even if my face is different, well, we all have the same bits! And I have seen them wearing clothes like mine. Shouldn’t frighten them. I hope the compiler works!

He dug deep and found the courage to continue downhill.