Original Fiction: JACKED, The Origin Dime Chronicles book one, Episode 2

Jack stood looking over the rail of the stairs, this night had gone from one of the most boring of his short life to date, to the weirdest experience he’d ever been part of and now this odd visitor seemed to be reading his mind.

“Did you just call him Thing Two?” Jack asked the first man, as he paused at the top of the stairs.

The stairs went down below street level what felt about ten feet. At the bottom, a large, concrete hallway opened up. As Thing One reached the floor, white light panels lit up in sequence running down the hall. The walls were bare and the ceiling and floor were painted white.

Thing one took off down the hall at a good steady pace. Jack followed. They had gone about three or four city blocks, when it ended in a double door. Thing one looked at Jack. “The key?”

Jack stared back, “The key? I didn't even know this door existed, what key?”

Thing One put a hand behind Jack's head and reached two large fingers inside his mouth. He was surprisingly gentle as he pushed Jack's tongue aside. He pulled what felt like a metal door key out of Jack's mouth.

“Where did that come from?” Jack rubbed his jaw as Thing One used the key to open the door.

The doors slid open with a whoosh, like something off the original Star Trek set. Bright white light flickered to life, starting at the center of a large room, about fifty feet across. In a matter of five seconds, the entire space was lit by an even glow.

Thing one walked to the center of the room. A round pedestal rose up from the floor as he approached. It came to life in a multitude of colors, flowing up from the base in brilliant stripes. Each color overtook the last, until the entire pedestal lit up in a soft blue.
Jack walked up beside Thing one.

He watched as the man pressed a series of primary colored keys around the top's edge.

They looked like the Simon toy he had when he was a kid. That is, until his mother, stepmother threw it out the window of his father’s SUV. It had rolled under the wheels of an oncoming bus in the 500th mile of a 2000 mile road trip. Jack was six at the time.

The walls of the round room flickered, and came to life. Jack realized the room's walls made up one gigantic, projected monitor. It flickered through a series of images. Thing one, deftly selected options as they went. Now a huge satellite map covered the walls. It had little blueish white street lamps, lighting streets that Jack recognized.

He turned and followed Thing One's gaze, until they both saw it. There was a small, green dot, blinking as it moved along one of the streets. Thing one poked at the wall, where the dot was traveling. “There, the Nosher he's on his way to meet the others. Once he get's there, it's only a matter of time."

“Wait a minute. Are we talking about the creepy guy with the sweaty skin?” Jack watched the green dot in disbelief.

“Why would I want to do that? He stole some stupid thumb drive I never saw before tonight, and then he left. Pretty sure he wanted to kill me, so meeting up with him is not real high on my to do list right about now.”

Thing one grabbed, the back of Jack's head and nearly pressed his nose against the green dot.

“When that,” he tapped the dot, “Gets there.” He spun, and walked to the opposite side of the room, indicating a blue arch shape that was glowing. "All of this,” he swept his giant arm around the room, “will be like that!” And with this last he snapped his fingers right under Jack's nose.

They were suddenly somewhere else.

Jack could no longer feel his feet on the ground. He looked down, and immediately regretted it. The earth, he guessed, was a small blue orb, spinning between his feet. He looked back up, and realized that he was weightless. They were floating, in what appeared to be outer space. Jack looked at his arms, but there was no evidence of a pressurized suit. All of this must be a trick, or he would have been a popsicle by now.

“Where are we?” Jack demanded.

Thing one looked around, unconcerned, “I don't know, this was your idea.”

He turned and started walking back up the staircase they had come down. Jack followed, up through the floor of the restaurant and into the room behind the office. It was as if their trip into the vacuum of space had never taken place.

Thing two looked up from his paper, a jelly donut in his fist.

“How'd he take it?” Thing two asked, jelly oozing from his mouth, as he chewed noisily.

Thing one brushed his suit as if he had just climbed out of a chimney, “Idiot took us into space. I'm not so sure about this one.”

Thing two smirked, “Space? Kid, come on! Don't you know you need protective gear out there? You coulda killed Thing One!”

He stood up and whacked Jack on the head with his rolled paper.

“Alright, that's it! OUT! Everybody out. I am done for the night. It is time to lock up and go home. You two nutbags get lost!” Jack yelled.

Thing one silently pressed the back of the safe. The room spun back into place. He dropped the desk into place. Thing Two folded his paper and stuffed the left over donut into his inside jacket pocket.

“Okay, kid, okay. But, when he gets where he's going, and you experience cellular disintegration - which I hear is highly uncomfortable- do not come crawling over into our dimension to complain about it. We warned you. Let's go Thing two.” Thing one said, marching out of the office.

“How long you gotta call me that?” Thing two asked, “I gotta name you know. Just once, I'd like to hear you use it on mission.”

Thing one stopped at the end of the hall, “You know I can't do that. Numbnuts here keeps thinking of us as Thing One and Thing two. You know I can't override an Aedapt. Jack, you take care now. From our experience, you have about twenty-four hours until that Nosher manages to sniff out the threshold. Then it's time for a dimensional implosion. Enjoy your last day.”

He turned to leave, then turned back. He checked his watch. Then looked at Thing two, “I think we have to tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Jack asked.

“It's your birthday,” Thing two said.

Jack looked at the clock, it read five to midnight. In five minutes Jack would be 21, he had completely forgotten. “Yeah, so?”

“Yeah, so? Whadaya mean, yeah, so?” Thing two balled up a fist and looked for something to punch.

“What my partner is trying to tell you is that this is all yours.” Thing one indicated the entire restaurant.

“Oh, right. I guess so.” Jack shrugged, “For what it's worth.”

Thing two's entire head turned a violent shade of Fuschia, “For what it's worth! Kid, this is an inter-dimensional vortex you are sitting over. That place down there? There are only thirty-nine of those rooms in the known universe! For what it's worth. Good thing your father can't hear you right now!”

“What does my dad have to do with this, he has been dead since I was nine.” Jack swallowed, hard.

Thing one reached into his pocket and handed Jack a small vial. It was about the size of an old fashioned film canister. “What is it?” He started to open the lid.

“Whoa! Not so fast there. I wouldn't open that unless you are ready to fulfill your objective. If you change your mind, here's my card.”

He tapped Thing Two on the shoulder. Thing Two's eyes went black, then a bar of white light, like a copy machine, ran through them from right to left. A small, neatly printed business card, dispensed from between his lips.

Jack took it.

“Good night.” Thing one said, as he and Thing Two both dropped into the solid concrete floor.

What was in the canister? Will Jack go after the freaky stranger, and who are Thing One and Thing Two really?

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