Origin Part 1

Year: 2045

Kitty looked up from her homework at the clock on the wall. It was the third time in the past minute. Her leg bounced up and down anxiously. She was heading to the transporter station at 5 pm, but her taxi wasn't here yet. She could barely contain herself. She was going to visit her brother James at University and couldn't wait to see him. The last time they talked face to face, the leaves were only started to whither and the air was a warm breeze that would rustle through your hair and make you miss the good ol' days. Now there was snow on the ground and sharp, dry air that went right through you, no matter how many layers you had on.

Trying not to focus to much on the minutes that were slugging away, she looked over at the little carrying case sitting next to her on the table. Inside was her adorable rabbit, Charles. Charles was a golden sand color and had a lot of fur. He looked up at the hand resting on his cage, his big black eyes glittering. Kitty glanced at the clock one more time and then out the window. The little discolored taxi pulled into her driveway and she hopped up. Charles sat up abruptly as she threw on her coat and gloves. She grabbed the handle on the cage and rushed to the door. Her parents would be back after she left so she kept the front door unlocked. She climbed into the taxi and put the small Rabbit cage on her lap. It was only a carrying case so it was able to fit in the back seat with her. Once she got to James' room, she would set up the wire pen she had stored in her suitcase.

"Where to, miss?"

"Um, Washington Station please."

The driver grumbled in approval and pulled backward out of the driveway. Kitty was only 14 but she considered herself very mature. This was the first time she traveled alone before and felt a rush of adrenaline. She looked out the window the whole time and avoided small talk. She assumed he probably just wanted to drive in peace and she didn't feel like having a forced conversation. They finally arrived at the massive station. It had large stone pillars and an elaborate fountain in front. It looked like it could have held more people than were going in and out. The streets weren't as busy as they used to be. She thanked the driver and payed him in cash, feeling like a real grown woman, (even though most adults used touch credit cards now). She wheeled in her suitcase and had the cage under her arm. She was pretty sure it used to be a train station, but it had since been converted to a transporter station with the platforms everywhere, input and output. She still had some time so she went to a coffee stand and ordered an iced latte, despite it being freezing outside. She sat in one of the seats near her platform. There where specific departure times and her's was in a couple minutes. She sat Charles on the floor next to her and pulled their tickets out of her pocket. Kitty had bought Charles an infant ticket so he could go into the dimension with her (they would allow mothers to go in with their children, otherwise families had to go separately. As far as Kitty was concerned, Charles was her child and did not want to risk the transporter having a malfunction.)

The system was almost perfect and malfunctions hardly ever happened. The transporters would momentarily take you out of this dimension and into the transporter dimension, a place where time and space are relative. Then it would find the receiving transporter platform of your destination and you would slip back into our dimension. The whole process took a couple of seconds. And was painless.

It was time for kitty and Charles to depart. She went up to the service desk and handed the lady the two tickets. The woman working at the booth, her nametag said "Denise", looked questioningly at the infant ticket, and then at the rabbit Kitty was carrying. It looked like she was going to say something, but realized it was probably not worth her time and gave her the transporter card.

"Just swipe this over the platform and step on. Be sure to return it once you are on the other side. It only works once so don't get any ideas of keeping it."

"Okay, thanks."

Suddenly all the tv screens in the station started on the same channel, all at slightly different signal speeds, giving the announcer's voice an eerie, echoey quality. It was loud and almost impossible not to stare at. The screen flashed up scenes of cities torn with violence and death. "Yellow Mike" the fast spreading disease was allegedly at its worst. More people than ever were affected, the news caster reported, and those who have it go insane in their last moments before dying. "They are incredibly dangerous," ran across the bottom of the screen, "please stay inside!" Kitty looked back at Denise, who simply pointed at a "no refunds" sign, unphased. The announcer babbled on as Kitty decided that it was probably fine to go ahead. If she didn't already want to see James, she did now. She grabbed all her stuff and loaded it onto the small platform. She pulled out her card and swiped it. The transporters usually took a little while to build up enough energy to run. The floor beneath her rumbled slightly and made a low humming noise. Standing there, she listened to the TVs continue to blare information and she could feel herself falling out of this dimension.

"The country has declared a National emergency!"

The sound started to diminish as the world around her faded away

"This means a number of public resources will be closed; including the post office…"

Who uses the post office anyway? Can he just be quiet?

"Bus stops… certain restaurants…"

Blah blah blah. The voice sounded underwater now. Kitty knew this feeling, she was almost in the dimension. A couple more seconds until she was able to see James!

"…and all transporter stations will be offline…"

…

What? Did he just say…

TO BE CONTINUED

Visual Aids:

Charles:

Rabbit carrier: