Subject Zero: CONFIDENTIAL (Short Stories)

Adventure Book (4)

EXPEDITION

     Today V came to me in a panic (at least I think she was panicking- it was hard to tell). She said that powering my portal design would require a Temporal Displacement Hyperdrive, and that by her calculations humanity wouldn't be able to invent one of those for another ten thousand years!

     Imagine her surprise when I told her I knew just where we could get such a device! I decided to tell her about World.

     V's reaction did not disappoint! She was in such shock (I think) that she pulled out some of her crystals from her wings! (I do worry about her tendency toward anxiety, even though she has extremely dull emotions; I may need to train her in my advanced forms of meditation in the future.)

     When she finished wrapping her mind around the concept and pacing the room, she became very excited (well, she softly smiled).

     So, it's settled! We've decided to take a two-day hike up to the entrance of CSO to unearth the Hyperdrive and use it to power our portal.

     8/26/84

     Finally, we reached the top of the Peak and made camp for the night. As we stared up at the world's strange constellation patterns, we found ourselves discussing our future as if we were college students. V said that once our project was complete and she got her emotions back, her dream was to become an independent inventor, patenting robotics that would improve people's lives.

     I discussed my dreams of proving my theory. I could finally leave the Mirror World, return home to Norwood, & publish my findings to the world. I'd be the toast of the scientific community, rubbing elbows with presidents and prizewinners, debating politics with Reagan, and discussing turtleneck fashion tips with Carl Sagan. Imagine the look on the dean of my old college's face when he saw that the student he refused was now the next Einstein! Imagine how proud my family would be.

     V seemed puzzled by the scope of my plans. I had already discovered so mang amazing things and recorded them in the journal — was this "Grand Theory" even necessary? Why not publish now, settle down, maybe meet someone and have a family? I laughed at the thought. While romance is far less baffling to me than the greatest mysteries of the world, I don't have the time for it. And more importantly, once the Orphic Reflected Abditory is revealed to the world, it would surely create a "Weirdness Rush" of scientists flocking to the town. If I don't discover the theory first, surely one of them will — and my name would be lost to the history books. It hasn't been an easy path, but I prefer the road less traveled anyway (although I confided in V that I was grateful to no longer be traveling alone).

     8/28
     I awoke the next morning to the sound of glass shattering (which, in the Mirror World, is more common than you might think)! Apparently V had been up early, using her key to take her to the Void, and she was observing a large majority of the Mirror World creatures and our other allies: her loved one, E, and World (the amount of energy she has to observe so many people at once is a mystery of its own), when she saw something menacing standing behind her reflection in the Void. But when she turned around to attack the intruder with her crystal wings, the figure was gone!

     As I surveyed the camp, I felt a hand tapping on my neck. I turned around in a panic, but found there was nothing there. An eerie gust of wind carried my gaze to an ancient, moss-covered wooden sign on which was carved a strange poem: