The Mandela Effect

Chapter 51

 The heavy door swings open and Jon is staring at an A-shirt-clad chest. The pectoral, deltoid, and trapezius muscles are well defined. Jon is above average height, but this guy was head and shoulders taller than him; he had to be over six five. Jon looks up to find the cold blue eyes and close cropped hair of the inhabitant.

T steps inside and Jon starts to follow him but the stranger holds up his hand, "Just a sec."

T turns towards the door, placing his hands above him, and spreads his legs. The stranger pats him down. Once he's finished, he pats T on the shoulder and he disappears deeper into the house. Once he's clear, the man gestures to Jon who steps inside the door and assumes the position. The man pats him down thoroughly. Satisfied that he's clean, the man pats him on the shoulder and Jon moves out of the way of the door. The man closes the door behind him.

Immediately, Jon is plunged into darkness. He stops moving, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He feels the stranger move past him.

"C'mon Doc," he hears the voice say, "nothing's gunna bite you in here."

Jon starts to move slowly through the house, trying to follow the stranger. His eyes start to adjust as they move and he can make out more and more of his surroundings; mainly, just the hulk-like figure in front of him. A few steps inside, Jon senses, and somewhat sees, that T has stepped into line between he and the stranger. They continue to make their way through the house.

Just as Jon's eyes adjust, and he can make out more than shadows around them, the entire line stops in front of him. Jon has to stop short to keep from running into the back of T.

The stranger grabs something from a table in the hallway and turns towards T and Jon. He holds out a smaller version of the box that T brought with him on his first meeting with Jon.

"Key FOBS," the stranger says, "phones, watches, et cetera please."

Jon empties his pockets and dumps anything that might be offensive into the box. T does the same. The stranger closes the box and puts it back in the same spot on the table. That done, he opens a door on the other side of the hallway. A red light glows from inside revealing a set of stairs downward.

Without a hesitation, the stranger heads down the stairs with T following close behind him.

"Close the door," he grumbles back towards Jon.

Jon heads down the stairs and pulls the door shut behind him. He descends down towards the source of the red light.

Turning the corner, Jon realizes they are in a pretty standard basement. It seems like it occupies the entire footprint of the house. It's standard in size, but not in design. The only light that is strewn around comes from red bulbs, except for the white light coming off of the dozens of screens all around the room.

Along one wall, are all televisions tuned to various news sources. From what Jon can tell, they are from all around the world. At the far end of the basement is a bullpen, similar to the one that T has, with computers and screens arrayed around a center seat.

Allowing his eyes to adjust to the new lighting scenario, he realizes that the walls closes to the stairs are covered in firearms of many different varieties. There are vertical and horizontal wooden slats and the entire thing looks modifiable. But not at the moment, since every available space is occupied by plastic and steel. Along the bottom of the rack are boxes and boxes of ammunition of different varieties.

Following the stranger and T deeper into the basement, towards the computer bullpen, Jon sees a floor to ceiling rack and cabinet system. Every available space seems to be occupied by various electronic devices. Jon recognizes several surveillance items, but others look like they ware straight out of science fiction.