THE WANDERER

SLIPPERY SLOPE

Katy has always been troubled by the fact that her mom has always been uneasy around Eric's sister, Erica. She can't wrap her head around it. The issue isn't the one of dislike, her mom doesn't dislike Erica, she just acts awkward around her.

Katy had always tried to understand the situation, but her mom, Evelyn Smith always finds a way to evade the conversation whenever it is brought up. Even at the grocery store, the supermarket, or even during casual meetings, Katy's mom has always been terrified of Erica. This recent situation has changed the whole outlook on Katy's mom 'Erica-phobia', at least for Katy.

Perhaps the dreams have something to do with it, she thought.

Unknown to Eric, Katy has also been having transdimensional dreams. The sight of Dr. Smith through the wormhole gave her chills. She was pretty sure Dr. Smith was the lady in her vivid dreams. She assumes her Mom's also having the dreams, it was a stretch, but still yet, what could her mom have dreamt of to be so scared of Erica? What's the connection between Evelyn Smith and Erica Norton? She thought to herself.

Is her mom Erica's doppelganger from the other universe? Could the appearance of the wormhole be a recurring event, which would mean it has happened before? Perhaps her mom is also having weird dreams?

Katy tried to make sense of the situation as she drove her way to Vicki's place. She wasn't going to see Vicki. Vicki's house just happens to be close to the location of the event, the wormhole event that occurred the previous night.

As she drove by, heading towards a clear path that led to the woods, she saw an approaching feminine figure waving at her. It was Vicki.

"Fuck," she muttered to herself.

"What now?"

"What's up Katy?"

Vicky who was always full of energy inquired with an annoying shriek.

"I'm good Vik. You sure know how to throw a party."

Katy said, faking a smile.

"Aww. Thanks, I'm glad you were able to make it."

"Of course."

"So, what really happened last night? details please,"

Vicky pried with a piercing gaze.

"What are you talking about?"

Katy asked. Her poker face was impressive.

"C'mon, don't give me that. We all saw you guys heading into the woods."

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that."

"It's no big deal. we just did some star gazing."

Katy said, indifferently.

"I see. I hope he got a good gaze at your star."

Vicki said with a seductive wink.

"Get out of here, nothing like that happened,"

She replied defensively.

"But you sure wish it did."

Vicki asserted.

"Uhm, what do you mean?"

Katy tried to hide her embarrassment, but the blood rushing to her face betrayed her composure.

"Don't give me that."

Vicki said leaning in through the side window.

"We all know you got the hots for the weirdo."

"Weirdo eh?"

Katy protested.

"Calm your horse sister, that was a compliment."

"At least he's a weirdo with a beautiful mind. But he should try to be less annoying."

"Wait, don't tell me you have a crush on Eric. Do you?"

The table turned, and Katy now dominated the conversation.

"Well...."

Vicki hesitated.

"Oh my God."

Katy exclaimed.

"This is new info, I need time to process this. In what universe is this possible?"

"Eric's not that bad."

Vicki stated.

"Is he aware?"

Katy inquired further.

"What?! He's so oblivious. He wouldn't notice it if I printed it into his brain."

"Yup, that's Eric alright.

Katy confirmed.

"Besides, I thought you two were already a thing."

"What gave you that idea?"

"You guys are always together............"

"What, always together? doubtful. Most times, we're at each other's throats".

Katy defensively interrupted her.

"Yeah, but you guys spend a lot of time together."

A dysfunctional relationship at best."

Are you alright Vik? If I didn't know you, I'd say you sound jealous."

"So, If you're not into him, can you please step aside?"

"Look Vik, there's somewhere I gotta be right now. Don't have time for this."

"You do like him. Why don't you just admit it? What are you scared of Katy?"

"Listen, Vik, I gotta go. We'll talk about this later. Gotta run."

"You're evading my question. I'm onto you, Katy."

"Yeah, whatever. Will be seeing you around."

"While you're still indecisive, I'll be working on how to get Eric for myself."

"I'd like to save you the time and energy by telling you that you're not his type."

"And you would know his type right?"

"Later Vik"

"Sure, Katy."

Vicki walked away, leaving Katy watching through the side mirror.

Katy found the discussion upsetting. She was confident she handled the situation well.

The thought of another besides her, liking Eric was a disturbing one. Given Eric's personality, she assumed she wouldn't have any competition. But she was wrong.

Eric was a chick magnet, a fact he was oblivious. His obliviousness to the effect he has on girls made the ladies more desperate to have him. The aloofness, goofiness, and innocent ignorance, added to his attractive features. It made him cute, this is what the ladies thought.

Katy tried her best to keep her feelings in check. These feelings were for Vicki, not Eric. There were feelings of disgust and repulsion. The thought of Vicki and Eric being together was an irritating one, so irritating it led to a bowel movement that almost made her throw up.

"Eric would have to be brain-damaged to fall for someone like Vicki,"

she muttered to herself.

Arriving at the scene of the incident, she pulled over under a tree, locking the car door with the remote control. She slowly approached the location where the wormhole was supposed to be. She was intrigued by what she saw, dirt and water droplets slowly levitating. A ringing sound, almost like a steady hum could be heard. She slowly walked, exercising caution. As she got closer, she could see that the dirt and water droplets formed a sphere, only then could she hear the clicking sound coming from the side.

She leaned in close to get a closer look at the source of the sound, and what she saw surprised her. It was Eric, typing away on the keyboard as if his life depended on it.

"What are you doing here?"

She asked.

She walked carefully towards him, avoiding the sphere of levitating dirt and water droplets.

"Took you long enough."

Eric said.

"How long have you been here?"

Katy asked as she inspected the equipment set up by Eric.

"I've been here all night. Came here after our chat."

He said, focused on the computer screen as he continued typing.

"What are these for?"

She asked, pointing to the equipment.

"And where did you get these?"

"A thought came to my mind last night. Wanted to confirm a hunch."

"Where did you get this stuff?"

"Went through some of my Dad's old stuff. You know what's fascinating?"

Eric rhetorically asked with a look of curiosity on his face.

"My Dad had just the right tools. He had everything I needed."

"Like it was planned or this thing has happened before?"

Katy cut in.

"Yeah."

"I think it's time I start asking my mom some serious questions."

"What did you find?"

"You wouldn't believe it. come take a look."

As Katy approached him, she put down her backpack and asked,

"How did you get these here? You don't drive."

"Will I die or end up in a coma if I Jump from this height?"

A voice came from the top of a nearby tree. It was Tyrell.

***********************************************************************************************

"Do you think Dr. Tyrell is going to be a problem?"

Dr. Smith asked Dr. Norton Nonchalantly.

"I don't know why you had to ask that question. This isn't our first marathon."

Dr. Norton said, passionately stroking her hair.

"We're trying to end the cycle, this endless loop of misery. We've been doing this for eons, If there is a chance that we can put an end to it, isn't there a chance that Tyrell could cause problems?"

"We've been through this Kate. All time exists now, we're just moving through the cycles. We have already closed the cycle, you're already back in your universe as we speak. The chain of events has been altered and things are running their course."

"I know, I know,"

She said, adjusting her head delicately on his chest as she let out a moan.

"But,"

She continued.......

"We are not the ones experiencing these, these experiences are not registered in our consciousness. It's not a part of my memory yet, It doesn't exist to me. It's more of a fantasy, I feel like I'm living someone else's dream."

"Your attachment to an individual experience of that which reality is will be an obstacle to your understanding of that reality which you seek to have in your individual experience."

"Spare me the metaphysical nonsense. How about we stick to things we can measure?"

Dr. Smith protested.

"Well, given that the block theory of the universe has been experimentally verified......"

"Yeah, I know, I wrote a paper on it. How many times do I have to show you my Nobel Prize?"

Dr. Smith interrupted him.

"We already know that we're all guinea pigs stuck on the wheel. Forever caused to keep running while we're fed the illusion of progress not realizing we're stuck in the same position. The illusion of free will, the bliss of ignorance, and the obliviousness of something beyond our current wealth of knowledge prevent us from realizing these facts. Free will is bullshit and we're all ignorant apes striving to be gods, a status we can't handle."

"Careful there, you're sounding like a philosopher. I thought you were a physicist?"

Dr. Norton mocked.

"Philosophy is what you get when you don't have quantifiable data with a high demand on objectivity. You just get semantics and verbal diarrhea. Just like what you were doing."

She said as she slowly got up.

Dr. Norton tried pulling her back to bed. She playfully protested but gave in. She slumped back into his arms.

"Tyrell isn't going to be a problem. He's one of the pieces that complete the puzzle. His interaction with the system will lead to its evolution, eventually bringing about the predetermined end. We can't escape causality. But even at that, there are hiccups in the causal chain. Little quantum blind spots, probabilities that will never be made certain. We're going to exploit these quantum gaps to peer beyond."

"We can't escape causality, remember, Causality is reality."

She responded to his explanation.

"No, we can't. But we're not escaping causality, we're moving beyond our current level of perception, our perception of causality. Think of a 2-dimensional being moving to a 3-dimensional world. He's still subject to causality but the scope of experience has evolved, it has been upgraded."

"You forgot something."

Dr. Smith Cautioned.

"What could that be?"

He inquired mockingly.

Dr. Smith responded,

"Well, a 2-dimensional being can never experience a 3-dimensional reality because his brain evolved in a 2-dimensional world. His biology and cognitive properties would have to evolve to 3 dimensions to fully enjoy and grasp the experiences of a 3-dimensional world.

Heck, humans can't even visualize any dimension greater than 3. We can simulate with math but that's only a shadow, not the real deal."

"Do you think neuroplasticity will account for the change in environment?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm not a neuroscientist Eric."

Katy said as she slowly got off the bed again, pulling the sheets with her.

"Are you saying we can go beyond time, that is, live in a world not bound by temporal dimensions?"

"Yes. That's the plan."

"Wait, when did you plan on telling me this?"

Katy inquired as she put on her underwear.

"It was going to be a surprise. Imagine living in a world where you experience all of your time simultaneously. Nothing would be hidden from you. You'd be a God.

"How the hell are you planning on doing that? You want to make a Laplace demon?"

She asked as she fixed her hair.

"I don't think you're taking this seriously,"

He said, disappointed.

"Not really. I'm just making inquiries about your great plan to break physics."

She said, leaning in to kiss him.

"We're currently struggling to understand 4% of the observable universe, we're still ignorant of the other 96%. I don't think anyone has a say in what can be considered as physics breaking."

"Send me an email explaining your idea. My students would analyze it. Everyone would like to make suggestions to the great Eric Norton."

"That's not such a bad idea."

He said thoughtfully.

"I was joking."

"Well, I'm serious. Would love to see some interesting ideas from your students. At least your academics are not useless."

"Funny enough, you used to be one."

"I'll be waiting for your email."

She said as she walked towards the door.

"Handle Tyrell, or I will."

It was more of a threat than a request.

He watched her graceful figure as she elegantly floated out of the room.

***********************************************************************************************

"Dude, what are you trying to prove?"

"How do you mean?"

"You're an embodiment of stupidity already, there's no need to go further."

Tyrell wasn't pleased with Eric's answer.

"That was harsh, even for you. you have to apologize."

Katy admonished.

"Okay, fine."

Eric conceded.

"I'm sorry you think you deserve an apology."

Eric responded.

"For fuck sake,"

Katy muttered under her breath.

"How the hell do you put up with this guy?"

"He's a mentally disturbed patient and I'm his dedicated doctor who also happens to be his best friend."

Tyrell concluded.

Eric looked up, shook his head, and said,

"Yeah, Yeah we get the joke. You can jump now, you won't die or end in a coma. Gravity will make sure of that."

"Haha, very funny."

"So, you guys are already a thing?"

"Why does everybody keep asking that?"

Katy complained.

"What do you mean by 'everybody'?"

Tyrell inquired, using air quotes.

"Wait a minute, you're not even supposed to be here. Eric, does he know?"

Katy inquired a cloud of fury over her face.

"Of course, I know. I'm his best friend and loyal driver."

"What! I can't believe you told him."

"Don't get yourself worked up, he doesn't understand anything."

Eric said curtly.

"He's right you know. He was just spitting nonsense about a rose bridge Einstein made......."

"You mean Einstein-Rosen Bridge?"

"Oh yeah, that. I didn't believe him at first, I couldn't even understand what he was saying, how could I? It was freaking 1 am, 1 am."

Tyrell gestured with his fingers for emphasis.

Katy gave Eric a condescending look upon hearing this.

"What?"

Eric inquired.

"1 am?"

"It was a matter of utmost importance. It was necessary. Besides, I can't drive. I also needed help in moving these stuff."

"Tyrell, when are you going to kill this guy?"

"Soon Katy, soon."

"I didn't believe him until I saw the floating bubbles. That's some weird shit. I honestly think you guys are tripping. I have to see the Einstein rose thing myself."

"You can just call it a wormhole, Tyrell.".

"Oh yeah. Thank you. So, when is the wormhole opening? Damn, wormhole sounds better."

"We don't know how it works."

Katy responded.

"Not really, just give me time, this baby will be back up."

"You found a way to reopen the wormhole?"

"That's the thing, it was never closed. Just dormant. a good example would be minimizing an app."

"So, how do you plan on opening it?"

"We just need a relatively huge amount of energy to make it open up again."

"How much energy are we talking about here?"

"Well, given that the Einstein-Rosen Bridge is already weak......."

"Please, just call it a wormhole."

Tyrell protested.

"Anyway, if my math is correct, which it always is, we'll be needing approximately 5 gigajoules of energy."

"What?! Where are you going to get that kind of juice?"

"A lightning storm."

Eric and Katy replied in unison.

"Can you please get down from there, your voice is more annoying than usual from that height?"

Eric demanded.

"How are we going to capture that amount of energy in such a short amount of time? 5 gigajoules over 10 microseconds, that's equal to 500 terawatts."

"Fuuuuuuuuk."

"Yeah, that's a lot."

"We're not capturing it, we're only redirecting it."

Eric concluded.

"How exactly?"

"We could use directed plasma channels or rods"

"Would that suffice?"

"We can't know if we don't try."

"Or......, we can just wait for the dudes on the other side to open it. You guys said they were from another universe right? If they were smart enough to open a wormhole between universes, don't you think they'll be smart enough to keep it open?"

Katy and Eric exchanged glances in astonishment.

"That's a wonderful insight, Tyrell."

Katy commended.

"That'll give me more time to work on my invention."

"The plasma nuke?"

Tyrell inquired.

"Nope."

"Karen?"

"The matter-phase shifter?"

"The surveillance software? Please tell me it's Horus."

"A plasma bomb?"

Katy sounded confused"

"Yeah, Eric plans on exterminating the human race."

"And who's Karen?"

"Oh, that's a general-purpose AI he's working on."

"Are you his mouthpiece?"

Tyrell felt threatened by Katy's tone."

"I've been working on a battery, more like a capacitor for harvesting electrical energy from lightning storms. The readings on the spectrometer after analyzing the field around the wormhole made the challenge more interesting."

"Oh, I see. would you like a hand in your little projects?"

Katy inquired.

"Oh boy!"

Tyrell complained.

"Little? There's nothing little about my projects."

Eric protested.

"Whoa, Whoa, chill. It was only an expression."

Katy explained.

"Fine. I'll send you some of my prototypes."

"Dude!"

Tyrell complained again.

"If you can spot any flaws or make any reasonable adjustments, I'll consider it. I'm giving you a week."

"Cool." It's a deal then."

"Just so you know, I was here first. You must respect the chain of command."

Tyrell demanded.

"Ok. Whatever."

As they spoke, the faint buzzing sound intensified. There was a loud crack in the air. The hairs on their head stood on end due to the static electricity in the atmosphere. The buzzing sound intensified. The ringing got louder. The wormhole began to expand little by little as it slowly opened.

"They're coming. They are coming....."

Tyrell was scared to death as it could be heard in his voice and seen on his face.

As they all watched the wormhole open, they saw a man slowly walk through it.

There was an aura of authority around him. His appearance commanded respect, fear, and awe.

Somehow, the three of them knew that this isn't someone to joke around with.

"Hello, Kids."

A commanding voice said.

Tyrell took in a gulp as he fearfully held on to a branch. Katy had a straight face. Eric had a face of intrigue and fascination. He already knew who he was staring at, It was Dr. Norton.