Chapter 5: Rolled up trip Aces. A Jail, an update on other verses, someone else dies and an expanding losers lounge that needs a talking stick
밃ttention all Aaron's and Erin's. We have narrowed Aaron-prime down to 2000 of you, and we promise to work in haste to narrow you down to the original as painlessly as possible. Thank you for your patience.?
That was the first announcement any of them had heard (well most of them, some of the cells were moving and making noise) as to their status. It would be a lie to say that any of the Aaron's and Erin's were appeased by this small piece of news. 1 of whom in particular was extremely frustrated, to say the least:
밫his is fucking bullshit. I got here a week ago and the first thing I hear is an announcement that there's 2000 people here with my 1st name. What the hell does that mean?
A voice from a cell to his left was mildly sympathetic in giving an explanation 밯e're the same person, but from different worlds. Find a mirror and tell me your number. It's OK, I'm just a different you.?
밒t says...1-9-8-8.?
밢K, Did Mikhail Gorbachev start economic reforms that lead to a collapse of the Soviet Union?
Aaron-1988 replied, 밳es. The USSR collapsed about 4 years later.?
밪trike 1. OK, Do you recall an interview between Dan Rather and George Bush? Now to clarify, I'm asking about George Herbert Walker Bush and not his son.?
밯ho doesn't. I was still living in Memphis and my parents were shocked that Bush took the fall in the Iran-Contra scandal. He resigned as vice-president about a week later, Dukakis got the election later that year in a walk. Republicans have been a laughing stock ever since.?
밃re you a writer?
밯ell a journalist, but yes.?
밢K, this is going to sound weird but have you ever visited...other earths?
밡o, never. I was a fan of that TV show sliders in my younger days, but that's it.?
An Aaron to the right of Aaron-1988 actually sounded terrified when he said, 밫hen you have no business being here. I don't mean to sound rude but if you haven't visited other worlds then you never should've been captured much less sent here.?
Aaron-1988 was actually relieved to hear that, 밯ell at least I'm not guilty of a crime. Say, what's David Flannagan doing in a cowboy get-up?
밒t's a dim-print, he should be sending you home...we think.?
밐e's already gone, he can't hear you.?interjected Aaron-1924. Other Aaron's noticed that he was a little older thatn the others, but never inquired further.
You would think that the noise in this inter-dimensional prison would decrease with each Aaron that was sent home (or wherever), but it didn't. Until finally an Aaron in the middle of the complex shouted, 밇NOUGH!?
Suddenly, the entire prison went silent. This Aaron was different than the others, and everyone inherently knew it.
밒f we're going to get out of this in a way that doesn't involve the dim-prints, we're going to have to work together.?
The Aarons across the prison silently agreed, This Aaron went a tad quiet on account of a hoarse voice, but the prisoners in the cells on each side could still hear him. 밢K Aarons, spread the word to look for Keys, latches, levers, consoles...anything that looks like it could unlock the cells.?
They did as asked, and word spread across the prison in a matter of minutes. While every Aaron looked around as asked, 1 overly cynical Aaron suggested 밯e should probably look for non-traditional methods of escape, this isn't exactly a typical prison.?
밎ood thinking.?replied the Aaron in the middle as he began his own search.
밢h that's so cute. The Aaron's and Erin's are trying to co-operate. At the rate that his friends are eliminating them, we'll be down to Aaron-prime in a matter hours.?said Inter-dimensional being #1.
Inter-dimensional being #2 re-entered the control room fresh from announcing the end of level 2. 밳ou assume Aaron-prime to be male?
Inter-dimensional being #1 was surprised (and impressed) at the argument his glorified minion had just made. 밣oint taken. Ah, #3 is back. How are the other multiverses doing? Do they need our help?
#3 shook his head and softly replied 밡o, even with them existing as books in so many places (including Aaronworlds). Roland the gunslinger has begun his newest loop to ascend the dark tower (and he's chasing 1 of us quite well), Tommy Westphall is still locked inside his own mind (like Aaron-prime should be) except for that 1 world where he's a doctor, all of the Marvel comic timelines have remained as stable as as they can be given that they imagined an infinity gauntlet and Robert Downey Jr. To play Iron Man, people REALLY hate Ben Affleck playing Batman in all non-Batman-Prime worlds, the Dr. Who regeneration cycle has been reset by our friends in order to ensure more adventures in the worlds that have Britain and TV, we 밿nspired?all of the Harry Turtledove's to create the definitive ending to the War that came early books so that we can go ahead and start creating that world, the Land of Oz remains in limbo, the Star Trek timeline continues to be re-written in our image across the multiverse and no change to anything by Joss Whedon after we let him re-write part of Marvel. We're not needed elsewhere but they won't send others here to help us even if something goes wrong. It's actually very impressive that Aaron worked at least 1 version of all of these into his worlds without us motivating him?
Inter-dimensional being #1 shook his head, for their kind was being stretched very thin at the moment and no one knew why. 밯e shouldn't waste time when we get Aaron-prime. We'll kill him, all of his copies will fall like dominoes, then all people in the worlds he created will die. Nearly 100 quintillion people will die, we erase the 7286 Aaronworlds so that we can make room for other worlds to be made with no one capable of changing worlds physically. Aaronworld-prime might still stand as we created that place, but we can just erase all records of his existence.?
Inter-dimensional being #3 bit his lower lip nervously, tactfully saying 밯ith all due respect, I think we're overkilling what is at most a minor nuisance. We've had a lot of success altering people's brains to restrict what he writes about and/or eliminating his ability to travel to other worlds. Once we do it to Aaron-prime...or Erin-prime, the others will change naturally.?
#1's eyes turned purple.
밆on't you think that's a little drastic?
That was the only question #3 could ask before #1 killed him. #2 just laughed and turned his eyes turned to red while focusing on a hostage tied up in the southwest corner of the control room.
밡ow Mrs. Tina, you had a few chips left over and were not eliminated. You voluntarily forfeiting the extra chips technically hindered us finding Aaron-prime. You must die now, nothing personal.?
He pushed her away and fired. Tina's last moments alive consisted of her burning to death from the inside, she screamed in desperation, only to be notified 밎o ahead and scream all you want, the room is soundproofed.?(just like Susan was) While the inter-dimensional being walked behind the control console paying no attention to Tina, who by now no longer had lungs to draw breath. He did look at the ashes she left behind and remarked, 밡ot even worth cleaning up?
#1 nodded and asked #2, 밆id you boost the audio signal in that spare room where the eliminated players have gathered?
밃s best I could but from what I can gather, they're just making small talk about the differences between their worlds.?
밙eep an eye on it, I have a feeling we may need to really follow the evil overlord list this time.?
The losers lounge had stayed remarkably orderly despite the influx of new arrivals. Everyone had formed semi-circle discussion groups which linked with each other on the side of the room that was furthest away from the surveillance cameras. Solveig, Holly, Karl, Jessica and Jen L. Were in the one on the left which linked to Adam, Jason and Rob which linked to David K. And Laura X. Which linked to Lindsay, Justin and Marcel. Laura X. Was the most recent arrival, and was informed of the rules that had been established prior to her arrival by the closest person in the room to a counterpart, David K.:
?. First we ask a question loud enough for the camera to pick up about where we come from and the stories Aaron wrote about our worlds, 2. We discuss, 3. We ask a question QUIETLY about what we think is really going on, 4. We discuss, 5. We use a broken table leg that we found to act as a talking stick with requests made by silently raising your hand, 6. If after 15 minutes you haven't had the talking stick, make a gesture indicating that you have to use the bathroom and you get priority that supersedes the hand raising of 5, and finally 7. If you are the newest person in the losers lounge, you have to start the next topic of conversation that supersedes 5 and 6. Questions?
Laura X. looked around the group, taking note of the broken table legs. They were long, black and looked light in weight. 밡o, I think I got it.?
밣lease have a seat.?
Laura X. Sat down next to David K. And was offered a talking stick by Marcel. She decided to ask a question to indicate compassion, given that she had no 1 from her world anywhere in this casino. 밫hank you. You came from the detective novel that Aaron wrote, how's your shoulder doing?
Marcel took the talking stick back long enough to respond 밡ot so bad, thank you for asking.?before handing it to Adam who made the bathroom gesture. Adam made an effort to lower his voice, 밆o we trust the inter-dimensional beings to keep their word?Karl raised his hand, and Adam passed down the talking stick eagerly awaiting his answer. 밡o. I personally think we're being used as lab rats in some sort of quantum science experiment.?
David K. Raised his hand and acquired the stick, 밅an someone from the Vodka western explain to me if the Aborussianal Mafiya still holds influence over towns that are not Khabarovsk?
Rob raised his hand and nodded at David K. In gratitude as he acquired the talking stick. ? advantage and 1 disadvantage of living in Khabarovsk is that we keep to ourselves and are isolated from the rest of Russia. We're actually a LOT closer to Imperial China.?Jen L. Raised her hand for the talking stick, remembering that she had the question that needed to be asked silently. 밐ow is inter-dimensional travel possible? Especially with no gears.?Lindsay raised her hand, and Jen L. Passed the talking stick down quickly. 밃s my world's Aaron once told me: The multiverse is like 1 big giant honeycomb. Each pod in the comb represents 1 world, so they plucked us drone bees out of our respective places in the honeycomb and then created a small piece of the honeycomb for us to co-exist that we don't seem to be rejecting thus far. I suppose it's like putting a fish in a bucket of water.?
Jen L. Actually smiled, understanding that explanation. Justin raised his hand and upon getting the talking stick, asked 밐ow much of Italy's culture was retained in the French Republic of Aaron's clockpunk story?Solveig was happy to take the talking stick and answer 밫he food is more or less still Italian, but the economics (among other things) is very, very French.?Jason had a confused look on his face as he raised his hand and took the talking stick, 밇laborate...rejection?Jessica raised her hand quickly, with a rush of information in her mind that she knew that she had no business having as her world was very technologically behind whatever Aaronworld-prime was. As soon as she had the talking stick, she ranted 밃t the sub-atomic level in something called our RNA, every living thing has a quantum signature encoded. If we were to travel from 1 world to another we might suffer side effects because we are not 'home' which would range from mild insomnia, to epilepsy to death. It is in fact, similar to how a human body occasionally rejects an organ transplant or prosthetic amputation. This however, cannot be entirely true as at least a few thousand Aaron have been going from, to add to Lindsay's exposition from a few minutes ago, passing through the honeycomb.?
The entire losers lounge was...to put it lightly...shocked. Except Holly, who merely raised her hand for the talking stick. Upon receiving it, she hypothesized 밯ell, if there are thousands of Aarons, there are thousands of us as well. Maybe this 'pocket universe' is unstable and a few other us's are mixed in with us.?
David K. Gave it some thought, then decided to raise his hand. When he got the talking stick, he offered an alternative solution: 밠aybe Aaron-prime is laying low and telepathically communicating with us to help set him free. I can't imagine any of the Aaron's being captured easily or willingly.?The losers lounge collectively entertained the possibility that David K. Might be right, but eventually leaned more towards Holly. David K. Even conceded that her idea made more sense.