Dr. Bolt
What had he done? Lost in his own hysteria, Dr. Bolt didn't even react to Ironclad's clammy hands touching his hair.
Something went wrong and it wasn't on Dr. Bolt's end. He had done everything perfectly. In fact... it was still going... "The cycle isn't broken." He mumbled. "I should've realized it when the car hit you. I did nothing wrong. In fact, the problem might be that things went too well. My competence is the issue. How ironic- I didn't think that was possible. I need to give myself more credit- owe!"
Ironclad pulled on Dr. Bolt's hair. "Stop rambling and wipe that smile off your face. What. Did. You. Do."
Dr. Bolt gritted his teeth and pulled on Ironclad's wrist. "Let go."
They glared at each other, or more like Dr. Bolt glared at him while Ironclad just intensely winked at him with his swollen purple eye. Without breaking eye contact, Ironclad slowly let go and stepped back. Dr. Bolt distastefully eyed the space between them. Ironclad stepped back again, his good eye disappearing with the intensity of his glare.
Moronic brute. Dr. Bolt exhaled deeply before carefully stringing his thoughts into words. "Valpine can transport matter, with a couple of limitations determined by their mass, volume, density, and chemical stability." He closed his eyes. That's not relevant. Focus on what's relevant. "When she transports a subject, she can't control the location with something as accurate as coordinate points or any other geographical measurement. Instead, she relies on a vague... sense. It's very curious. This innate sense could be unique to her, but it's also possible that everyone has it buried inside of them. If we study her abilities, I suspect that we could learn a lot about human consciousness and unconsciousness. It could even- " Out of habit, Dr. Bolt had placed his hands together with a grin and was expecting to see Critter sharing his excitement, but instead of seeing his friend, he saw the scrunched up face of an ogre that was trying to use unfamiliar parts of his brain.
I'll have to save that pitch for Critter. "The Exergist can teleport its subject like Valpine can, except it's more... specialized. It indefinitely teleports them to a location where the present conditions create a uh, hazardous environment for human life."
"A hazardous environment for human life?"Ironclad repeated.
"Yes. Like a cave filling with water or a sudden sinkhole." That experience has certainly been hazardous. "Once the Exergist is activated," Dr. Bolt continued, "it was to continuously seek such environments for itself and its subject. I figured that no matter where I would send you, you would find a way to get out of the situation like you always do. The moment you did, the conditions would no longer meet the criteria, so it would've automatically sent you to another location, thus creating an endless cycle." Dr. Bolt rubbed the temple of his head. It would've worked. It all made sense, but just like all the other times, one domino out of the millions that he had carefully set in place, was knocked by the gist of the wind, bringing all others down with it.
"Valpine teleported me to the beach along with the Exergist." Dr. Bolt explained. "I can't say for sure, but I believe the process had an effect on the Exergist. When we were at the beach, a puddle of the substance that makes up Valpine's powers had oozed out of it, as if there was too much. It even cracked tha vial. That's probably why it ended up taking both of us. The only reason we're not trapped in an endless cycle is because you weren't able to get out of this one. The car hit you."
"That doesn't explain- Look at my face, Dolt." He aggressively gestured to his face. A new bruise was appearing on his check. "Why am I not healing? And what was with the two women from before?"
And that is where the element of the unknown factors in. The concept had excited Dr. Bolt when he was making his plan but now that he had been dragged into it, well the unknown was not something he wanted to involve himself with. "I said earlier that Valpine's power is guided by a vague sense. Well, the further the destination is, the harder it is to direct until it eventually becomes impossible to reach, or at least for Valpine. I modified it to surpass her limit. From what the numbers tell me, its reach is infinite.I closed off the distance closest to the city, where people could find you. I even closed off the distance Valpine could reach, so that even she couldn't get to you."
They were both quiet. "How far does that leave us?" Ironclad finally whispered.
"I... don't know." The plane had surpassed what could be mathematically measured. Even if it could be, the numbers would make little sense to him. Dr. Bolt tried to push through the heavy pit in his stomach. "It could be a causality, but that might be why your powers don't work. Perhaps they have an unknown source that we are too far from, or perhaps they don't exist here. As for those girls, I honestly have no idea." He shuddered as he thought back to the encounter. "I suppose there are lunatics in all worlds."
"But I'm still alive." Ironclad said with a hopeful smile Dr. Bolt knew he wasn't feeling. "See, the car wacked me up but I'm still alive, so I survived the hazard. Now that we have a break, you can just redirect that thing to send us back right?"
"Even if I was dumb enough to put such a feature on the Exergist," Dr. Bolt said, feeling tired, "It wouldn't work anymore. When we got here, I thought the cycle had been broken and that we had been sent back home. I destroyed it before it could pull me into another cycle. I was wrong about the cycle being broken, but it was the right thing to do since it would've sent us away once you awoke."
"You destroyed it."
"It was too unstable."
Ironclad laughed and threw his hands in the air. "Of course, you did!"
"I can recreate the Exergist, but it would have to be repurposed. It'll take weeks, maybe months..." he nibbled on his fingernails as he started making mental calculations and a list of supplies.
"Aggghh." Ironclad smacked his hands against his face, and then groaned again from the pain.
Dr. Bolt stepped forward and dragged Dr. Bolt by his arm.
"Food." He said. "I need some goddamn food."
YOU ARE READING
Dr. Bolt
Humor"Uhhh." Dr. Len leaned away from the man. She had planned to discharge him once he had woken up but now, she was wondering if he had severe head trauma they had overlooked. "I'm afraid I have to ask for your help." He grabbed her hands and clenched...
