Author's Note: If you have read my 'Saving Mondatta' snippets and drabbles, this is the real story to go with it. Some of the snippets have been changed but if you read it before, they should be easy to spot (though there's none in this chapter, check chapter 2). I'm leaving my snippets up for those who just want to read the interesting parts. That's why I wrote them in the first place! It's also interesting to compare the two.
A far warning for this story, it involves Quantum Physics, parallel dimensions, time travel, butterfly effect, yadda yadda. Basically, suspension of disbelieve will be severely suspended. I just didn't want another 'I got sucked into my video game' story without some actually backing to it. I'll do my best to keep the story making sense-though google might be involved for you and me both-but know I am no scientist! I am not certified. I'm just working with what I know to make a somewhat believable story that isn't just 'oh she's in the video game because reasons'.
Hope you enjoy!
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"Evelyn!" A voice echoes through the indoor pool, bouncing off of the bare walls and concrete floors. A couple of those in and around the pool look up at the voice, watching the source approach a life guard before going back to what they were doing.
"Hey, Michelle. What's up?" The brunette life guard, Evelyn, asks as she glances at the blonde now standing beside her. Her brown eyes do not linger on the woman long before returning back to scanning the water vigilantly.
"I thought you had today off." The blonde says teasingly. This was clearly not an uncommon occurrence for the brunette; who shrugs off the blonde's teasing easily.
"Ms. Montgomery asked me in for the party. Rebecca's ill again." The blonde sighs as she plops onto the ground beside the life guard's feet, pulling off her sandals and dipping her toes into the cool water. Submerging her legs up to her calves, she lets out a heavy, happy, sigh and leans back on her hands.
"You should have just ignored her." Michelle flinches as the brunette tweets her whistle once and yells to a couple of little boys across the pool that thought they were slick running behind the life guard stationed on their side of the pool.
"Walk!" The boys look guilty and pout a little as they slow to a quick walk, nudging each other as they head for the water slide. Glancing back down at the blonde, she raises an eyebrow at her comment before she yelled.
"You're my boss. You really shouldn't be saying things like that." She says sternly, before looking out at the water again and muttering; "Again."
Michelle laughs as she hears the added comment, kicking her feet back and forth in the water.
"You take this too serious." She purrs teasingly. "So what if you ignore Ms. Montgomery just once? What's the worst that could happen?" Eve's lips work in a slight smirk.
"You mean, besides her killing me?" Her tone is teasing but based on the shiver they share, it wasn't exactly untrue. Michelle splashes the life guard's exposed calves, which were well-toned from all of her swimming and hard work.
"Yes, besides that." She says with a laugh and an eye roll. Evelyn looks a little more serious at that, staring at the children in the pool.
"Someone could get hurt." She points out. The blonde just heaves a heavy sigh and flops back on the concrete, arms behind her head.
"She'd get another life guard, Eve. You're just her first pick because you can't say no." The brunette sticks out her lower lip a little at that and frowns.
"I like to think I'm just reliable." She huffs, though a small smile tugs at her lips at the banter.
"Tomato, Tomahto." The woman mutters before poking the life guard in the calf. "You need to loosen up." The brunette just chuckles, having heard this often from many different people and glances down at the woman who suddenly sits up straight.
"Oh yeah! You have a visitor!" She chirps, standing. Evelyn frowns and tilts her head.
"Who?" She asks, confused. She doesn't know anyone who would bother her at work. Michelle was one of the few who she would consider a friend. The blonde shrugs as she takes the buoy from the brunette.
"Dunno. But he's cute. Go find out. He's out back." She winks and grins at the girl. Eve hands her whistle to her boss before heading to the employee lounge. Grabbing a simple jacket, she pulls it on and slips on a pair of flip flops. It had been getting cool at night lately as the autumn began to grow closer.
The employee lounge had its own exit that led to the employee parking lot. The door was heavy and swung open slowly. Dark already, the woman's eyes had to adjust to the dim yellow light of the street lamp before she could stick her head out and look around. Spotting a lone figure leaning against the building under the light, she squints to see him better, before letting out a sharp gasp.
Shoving the door open wide, she rushes to the man and nearly tackles him with a hug.
"Adam!" The brunette squeals happily, hugging the man tightly. The tall, chestnut, haired man grins and hugs the woman back, staring down at her with calm green eyes. Evelyn tries her best not to cry as she pulls back, staring up at the man in fatigues.
"You weren't supposed to be home for another month!" She exclaims through her tears, to which he just chuckles and ruffles her hair.
"We finished out testing early." He explains with a shrug, still grinning. She laughs as she wipes her eyes with her sleeves.
"Have you seen mom and dad yet?" He shakes his head, his arm going around her shoulder and pulling her into a head lock, ruffling her hair.
"I had to come see my baby sister first!" He teases as she wraps her arms around his middle and lifts him off his feet. The action gets him to stop ruffling her hair and release her with a laugh. Setting him down, she grins up at him.
"I did! It's fantastic! I'm in the MBA program too!" She chirps.
"Tell me about it." He says with a genuine smile, leaning against the wall and folding his large arms over his broad chest. There's a lot of excitement and energetic arm flailing as she explains about her straight A's in college, her new job, and the small home she'd gotten while he was gone. While he's more than willing to comment about her life, they both knew not to talk about his job. Classified above top secret, his work in military grade tech was something she respected enough not to ask about.
"Oh! Right! Speaking of houses, I wanted to ask if I could stay over. I'm working a joint operation with two based and your college is a good middle ground. I assume you moved because you're closer to that?" When she nods, he continues. "Mind if I stay with you while I'm here?" She laughs.
"Mooching off of me?" She asks teasingly.
"Yup!" He smirks without missing a beat.
"Alright, I have a spare bedroom. It's my office but it has a day bed in it." He nods as he stands straight.
"Works for me." He grins at her. "I'm tired of base food anyway." She puts a hand on her hip and lets out an indignant huff, though her smile doesn't fade.
"You want me to cook for you too? Sheesh." She giggles and lowers her hand from her hip. "But yeah, that's no problem. Need the address?"
"Got to head to mom and dad's first. Text it to me when you get off of work." He pulls her into a tight hug before letting her go.
"I'll let you get back to work. Don't forget to text me." He says with a grin, ruffling her hair again before they part ways.
Evelyn was bouncing on her toes the rest of the party, eagerly cleaning up and closing up when she's done. She bids Michelle goodbye before texting her brother her address and driving back to her small single story home.
The brunette spots a new black pick up in her driveway, one she can only assume is her brother's, as she parks. Grabbing her gym bag, walks up to the door to find it unlocked. No surprise, considering she'd told her brother where her spare key was. Slipping inside, she sees several of her lights on and hears clattering from the kitchen. Setting her bag next to the door, she calls to her brother as she kicks off her flip flops.
"Adam?" She's certain it's him but his call back is reassuring.
"In the kitchen!" Smirking as she makes her way down her hallway and into the kitchen, she watches as her brother helps himself to her food.
"Moocher." She says teasingly, but he just laughs and straightens, still holding the door to the fridge open.
"Not much to mooch." He points out, to which she huffs, leaning against the open arch way to her kitchen and folding her arms over her chest.
"I was going to go grocery shopping tomorrow after Aikido. Wasn't expecting company." Though her tone is scolding, there's a smirk on her face. He shuts the fridge and b-lines for the pantry to keep searching for food; an action that makes Eve roll her eyes.
"I'd heard you'd taken that up again. How is it? Is your sensei good?" He asks, referring to her comment on Aikido. Moving to the small, light colored, island in the middle of the room, she hops onto the sturdy counter tops, kicking her feet back and forth.
"He's pretty good. Not the best, but a good sensei. Much better than Taekwondo." She says, watching her brother search around in her pantry, half obscured by the door. He hums at her statement.
"How about the range? You been going often?" He asks and she grins.
"Yep! Bet I'm a better shot than you~" She chirps, earning her an unimpressed stare from around the door.
"I'm a tech. In the Navy. They don't train me to shoot." He says, deadpan, though there's a slight sparkle in his eyes she can easily pick up on. She laughs loudly and grins.
"You're just lazy!" She purrs in a sing-song voice. A snort is the only response she gets as her brother finally grabs a jar of peanut butter and some sandwich bread. Turning off the light and kicking the door closed, he walks over to the island she's sitting on and places both beside her.
"You know, just because not everyone's a stubborn work-a-holic with no friends like you, doesn't mean they're lazy." He points out cheekily, to which she blushes and puffs out her cheeks.
"I have friends!" She defends, though that is all she defends as she points to one of the cabinets for the plate he had been searching for.
"And what about a boyfriend?" He points out, making her flinch. She should have known that he'd bring that up. She wasn't really sensitive on the matter itself, just figured herself undesirable and average; no matter what other's continued to say. They were just being nice. She points to a drawer as he starts to look around again after grabbing his plate; leading him to the silverware.
"I haven't found anyone yet." She tries to defend but her brother shoots it down with a snort and a single comment.
"You haven't been looking." He points out, finally able to make his sandwich, putting an abundance of peanut butter on the bread. She can't argue his point, though she can roll her eyes as he stuffs his face. It doesn't take him more than a minute to finish the sandwich.
"Hungry?" She asks, raising an eyebrow as he starts to make another sandwich.
"Nope." He quips back; mouth full of peanut butter. Second sandwich already made, he's unable to take a bite before it's snatched from his hands.
"Hey!" He exclaims with a laugh as she takes a large bite.
"'Ey wha'? Ish my 'ood." She says through a mouth full of sticky peanut butter. He just huffs dramatically and makes another sandwich. Hopping off of the counter—pilfered sandwich still in hand—she heads out of the room.
"I'm taking a shower. Your room's all the way down the hall." She tells him over her shoulder as she makes her way to her room, sandwich in her mouth, stripping off her jacket already as she goes.
Comfy in a tank top, plain hoodie, and pair of men's super-hero sweat pants a size too big for her, she makes her way to the living room that connected to her kitchen, ringing out her wet hair as she goes. Spotting her brother sitting on her couch, already in nightwear—also a pair of sweats and a tank—she makes her way over to him and plops down beside him.
"Wha'chu doin'?" She asks with a smirk. He glances over at her before showing his phone to her, a puzzle game paused on his screen. She raises an eyebrow.
"You do know I have real games, right?" She purrs teasingly. Both of them were gamers; though Evie was a more avid than her older brother. He chuckles as he goes back to the game on his phone.
"What'd you have in mind?" He asks and her eyes light up. A grin spreads across her face from ear to ear and she bounces in her seat.
"How about Overwatch?!" She asks happily. His reaction gives her pause and her smile falls instantly. Instead of being eager or teasing, his hand hovers over the screen of his phone—which leads to a game over—and his eyes go unfocused. An expression she'd never seen before crosses his face as it goes a little pale and Evie's suddenly very worried.
"A…Adam…?" She asks quietly, drawing him from his zoned state. Turning off his phone, he refuses to look at her as he stands.
"Actually, I think I'm going to head to bed." He mutters his half-assed excuse before walking out of the room. The brunette can do little but stare at her brother's retreating back in shock. She has no idea what just happened but it sits on her mind and continues to plague her even as she stands as well, locking up and heading to bed herself; worried.
Several days pass without even a hint of what she saw from him that night. Too worried she'll see that expression again if she brings up the game, she avoids talking about it. Despite this, there's a part of her that continues to fret over his reaction. It's Thursday—almost a week since he'd come up—and the thoughts have been plaguing her worse today. He used to love playing Overwatch with her before he was deployed. What could have happened to sour that…? Deciding that the thoughts sitting on her mind are far from healthy, she makes up her mind to talk to him about it when she sees him again.
Her schedule is booked for that day; work, school, martial arts and her weekly drills at the range taking up most of her day. It isn't till around nine o'clock at night that she finally returns home. She sees her brother's truck in the driveway so she knows he's home.
Grabbing the lanyard with her keys off of her bag, she unlocks her front door. The action is such a habit; it takes her a moment to remember that her brother usually keeps it unlocked for her. Frowning deeply, she sets her bag beside the door gently.
The first thing she notices as she steps inside is the fact that it's dark. There doesn't seem to be any lights on in the house and, since her office is at the back of the hallways and she can see inside the room, she knows her brother's not there. Remaining quiet, she shuts her door behind her and toes off her shoes. Her heart's pounding in her chest as she moves close to the wall, her back to the beige plaster as she scans the hallway, her bare feet silent on the tile.
Kitchen's to the left. I can use the knives. She thinks but shakes her head. No. Walther's under the bed. Less noise and carpet. She eyes the door further from the kitchen and to the right; her bedroom. Deciding it's the better option, she heads towards the door. Pausing at the open arch to the kitchen, she peaks inside and looks around.
She almost gasps as she sees several men standing in her kitchen, an open pelican case lying on the island counter between them. Her eyes grow wide at the sight of a complicated looking device that glows a soft blue in the dim light of the single light she always keeps on in her kitchen above the sink.
"This is it?" One of the men asks, looking it over. The man is wearing a suit and is rather large, but from her distance and the dim light, she can tell little else about the man. The other men seem to be in tactical gear and equipped with weapons.
"Yes sir." One of the others acknowledges. The man in the suit, clearly the boss, looks to his right before walking around the counter.
"How does it work?" He asks a person out of her sight. Peaking around the corner to see who he's talking to, Eve can't help her shout.
"Adam!" She shrieks, seeing her brother tied to a chair with a gun to his head. He looks like he was hit by a truck and his eyes grow wide at the sight of his sister standing in the doorway.
"Evie! Run!" He yells as the men in tactical gear point their weapons at her. Darting down the hallway before they can fire, she runs straight for her room.
"Go get her! I need her alive!" She hears the suit shout as she ducks into her room and jumps onto her bed, rolling over it and landing on the other side. Dropping to her stomach, she reaches under her bed and grabs her fully loaded Walther. In one swift movement, she cocks the weapon, flicks the safety off, and sits up just enough to aim over the edge of her mattress.
She's barely pointed her weapon at the open doorway when one of the men runs into her room. He doesn't have time to even draw his weapon before she's gotten off three shots; two in the chest and one in the head. The first two hit body armor but the third goes through his face and he drops just as the second man clears the doorframe. Eve only gets off two shots by the time he manages to dive back around the wall for cover. She keeps a steady aim on the door as she hears chatter and shouting in a different language she thinks is German or Russian. It calms down for a moment before a voice calls to her in English.
"Drop your weapon and get out here, Evelyn." A terrifyingly calm voice calls. The brunette doesn't move. She jumps as she hears a shot go off followed by the sound of her brother screaming in pain.
"ADAM!" She shouts, standing abruptly.
"Drop your weapon!" The leader snarls, a little angrier this time.
"No! Evie don't-AH!" Her brother screams again and the woman, tears streaming down her cheeks, drops the magazine of her gun, unloads the weapon, and throws it out of the room. She sees a hand dart out from around the door frame, snatching the hand gun off of the ground. After only a moment of silence, one of the other men speaks up in his language.
"Very good, Evelyn. One of my men is coming in. I suggest you behave." The man calls before the injured man walks in, gun pointed at her. The brunette slowly raises her hands above her head, narrow eyes watching him even as tears continue to run down her face. Cautious as he walks up to her, he uses one hand to pat her down as he keeps his other tight around his weapon. Feeling no other weapons, he moves behind her and jabs her in the back.
"Walk." He orders in heavily accented English. She walks forward, hands still raised, and lets him lead her back into the kitchen. The man in the suit—a grizzled older looking man with black hair she can see now—watches her with sharp ice blue eyes, his weapon hovering over the fresh bullet wound in her brother's thigh. Adam is slumped over in his chair, sweating from the pain, and staring guiltily up at his sister. The suit walks away from the soldier and approaches the young woman, the barrel of his gun going under her chin and forcing her head to tilt up. Her brother's struggles are quickly silenced by a press of a gun against his head as Eve is forced to stare into the cold eyes of this dangerous stranger.
"Now, Evelyn, I don't really appreciate your little stunt back there." Her eyes narrow and she lets out a growl before a firm press of his weapon against the soft flesh of her throat silences her. "I take it stubbornness runs in the family; two little spitfires." His voice is calm and collected as he speaks but there's a dangerous edge to it.
"Unfortunately for the two of you, your brother has something I want and he's being particularly stingy with it." He sighs, as if he was talking to a coworker around the water cooler. "But that's where you come in, darling. We can't have him destroying his work nor dying with all of this information in his head, can we? We need…" He leans down, his breath tickling her ear. "Leverage." Her eyes widen and she starts to move, but the older man is surprisingly quick for his age and grabs her by the hair, the barrel of his gun pressing hard into her cheek.
"No need to run off in such a hurry. We're just getting started." He throws her to one of the bigger men still standing beside the island. "Strap her down." He growls. The man holding her hauls her onto the island. Struggling, she finds another pair of strong hand pinning her legs down, her knees bend over the edge of the marble top. The men have clearly done this before as, despite her continued struggles, she soon finds herself unable to move even as the two step back.
Lying with her back pressed against the cold marble, her arms are pulled high over her head, one set of zip ties locked around her wrists, holding them together and cutting off a lot of circulation to her fingers. Another zip tie is looped around the first and locked around the podium that holds the half of the island's counter top she's strapped to. Her legs are in a similar situation, her calves pressed against the other podium, stuck there thanks to the zip ties digging into her ankles. Though her muscles flex with her continued struggles, and her hips wiggle, she finds she can't really move.
Looking over at her brother, terrified, watches him struggle against his bonds. The suit blocks her view of her brother as he steps between them, looking down at her. He smirks as he checks the bonds himself then turns to face her brother.
"Let her go! She has nothing to do with this! She doesn't know anything about this!" He shouts, fighting his bonds. The man just 'tsks' at him and shakes his head.
"Adam, Adam, Adam." He admonishes, clicking his tongue again. "Do you really think we don't know about your fail safes?" The soldier stills and pales as he stares in horror at the man; who smirks, knowing he's won. "Put the device on the girl."
"No! No! It's still experimental! We don't know what it'll do on a human!" He shouts, trying to stand, but his bonds hold him tight. Still smirking, the suit turns back to the girl and watches with a sadistic smirk as one of the men grabs the glowing metal contraption from the pelican case beside her. Her brother's panic frightens her and she struggles harder.
"Don't touch me!" She snarls, struggling so hard that the zip ties are starting to bite into her flesh, drawing small beads of blood. Her struggling does little to stop the man from placing the heavy metal contraption on her. There's a couple of straps like those on a backpack—which is what this seems designed for but they don't have access to her back the way she's tied down. Working them around her trapped shoulders and locking the buckles into place, he tightens the straps before stepping back. The suit ignores Adam's screaming and shouting as he moves to the woman's side and leans down close.
"Do you know what this is…?" He asks, pupils blown wide in a sick pleasure.
This guy needs to be committed. She thinks bitterly, her eyes narrowing furiously at the man, who just chuckles. He leans down further to whisper in her ear.
"Have you ever heard of the…Philadelphia Experiment?" Her eyes go wide with understanding and she pales. She'd heard about the experiment a couple of times in her life and her mind conjures pictures of men fused into the metal hull of the ship.
"Tha-That's a hoax! They wouldn't let something like that slip into the public!" She shouts as the man pulls back, smirking and staring down at her. She shivers at the look in his eyes.
"Best place to hide something is in plain sight." He purrs and her eyes grow all the wider before darting over to her brother.
No! No no no! He can't be telling the truth! Nothing good came from that experiment! Her eyes snap to the machine on her chest as her panicked heart pounds beneath it. The man places the barrel of his gun under the woman's chin again and makes her look at him again.
"Naughty things, playing with things you don't understand. Tried to make an invisibility field; discovered time travel instead. Your second try; I wonder if you managed to actually make your invisibility cloak this time." He seems more like he's talking to Adam, but he's enjoying the pale, panicked, look on Evie's face as she stares up at him in horror.
"Bring him here." He orders as he continues to drink in the woman's fear, his ice blue eyes seeming to glow with the light of the machine sitting heavily on her chest. She tries to look around the suit when Adam snarls in pain as he's forced to walk on his injured leg, dragged at gun point to Evie's side. The suit walks to the top of the counter where the brunette's arms are tied as her brother is forced into the counter at her side. Leaning on the counter, freed arms on either side of his torso, he looks down at her with a pale, guilty, terrified expression.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have gotten you involved." He whispers urgently as she tears up and shakes her head. She isn't able to speak before the barrel of the suit's gun is pressed to her brother's forehead.
"Turn it on." He growls. Adam straightens and looks at the suit with pleading eyes.
"Please. Take it off of her. It's unstable!" He tries to reason but the man just cocks the hammer back. Evie's eyes grow wide and she struggles.
"No! Don't hurt him! Just do it, Adam! Please!" She begs, knowing this is the only option that could possibly get them both out of this alive. His conflicted eyes fall on her tearstained face but he knows this is the best chance he has of saving his sister. Wiping a tear from her cheek with one hand, his other moves to the machine and starts keying in a complex series of buttons. Neither of them looks away from the other as the machine starts to hum. It's only when her brother is shoved away from her and onto the ground—where he's pinned by a heavy boot—that she looks up in terror at the suit as his hand hovers over the machine resting on her chest. The room is illuminated in a light blue glow as the lights start to grow brighter; the light dancing in the man's eyes making him look all the more crazed. Suddenly, the light starts to sputter and flicker strangely, making all sorts of strange noises. The suit's crazed eyes narrow.
"What the hell is going on?!" He shouts as Adam starts to struggle on the ground in pure panic.
"Get it off of her! NOW!" He shouts and the suit turns back to him, infuriated, and points his gun at the soldier.
BANG!
All of the men present are blown back as a sharp wave of energy sends them and pieces of marble, flying. Adam is the first to react as he scrambles to his feet and stares in horror at the destroyed counter before him. There aren't even pieces of his sister left. Dropping to his knees, he stares in shock for a moment before his brain seems to process what just happened. His scream is guttural and raw, coming from deep within the pit of his soul; a heartbreaking sound. The other men scramble to their feet and stare in shock and horror, looking around for the suit that had disappeared. Or perhaps disintegrated was a better word. The soldier continues to scream, gripping his chest as tears stream down his cheeks. The sound of sirens in the background snaps the other men to attention and they look at each other.
Deciding there's nothing left for them here, they turn and rush out of the room, leaving the soldier to kneel before the destroyed counter top that reflected his shattered soul.
What none of the men present realized is that the reason there was no pieces of the young woman or the man in the suit left, is because they were still whole. The machine had not worked as intended, but it had worked. The two were barely conscious as she's sent hurdling through the time stream, sent into a parallel dimension few knew had already been tapped into, the man pulled from the source of their travel and the woman before they machine finally stops.
The contraption disintegrates into small pieces and falls to the unconscious woman's chest as she's set down on a cobble stone street, leaving her to her fate; it's job done.
*The Philadelphia experiment is an alleged experiment by the US Navy most notorious for the supposed after effects where people were supposedly fused with the walls of the ship after it disappeared and was sent back in time 10 minutes. The experiment is alleged to have been focused on Einstein's unified field theory and was supposedly designed to bend light around the ship to hide it but was sent through time instead. None of this has been proven. If you want to know more, here's the wiki link wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment