Sophie stared at the journal in her hands, running her fingers over the worn leather cover. Ford had stowed it in her pack along with a few other belongings, thinking that they would enter the Nightmare Realm together. Sophie glanced down at her metal leg; fate had had other plans.
She opened it to the first page and began to read Ford's loopy handwriting:
It has been well over twenty years since I first stumbled into the Nightmare Realm. At least, it seems that way. Earth time is difficult to measure after traveling through so many dimensions and walking on so many different worlds. The best I can do is guess.
I have begun to forget many details about my life before this mess began; my youth and young adulthood on Earth now seem like nothing more than a distant dream. I doubt anyone would ever read an account of my exploits, but I can record them for my own sake.
My previous journal was lost some time ago, and I have missed it. Recording my thoughts helps to clear my mind and keep at bay the loneliness that sometimes threatens to overwhelm me. What keeps me going is my resolve to destroy B, a being whose name I won't mention in case this book falls into the wrong hands.
I miss Earth; it has been years since I've seen a parallel Earth dimension, or another human being. Many inhabitants of the worlds that I have visited are friendly, and it's fascinating to see their culture and how it differs from other worlds…but sometimes I crave the sight of a blue sky, green grass, and orange sunset.
Sophie lowered the book and gazed up at the unfamiliar stars, barely visible next to the three moons lighting up the sky. "You and me both, pal," she muttered, "except for the orange part." She flipped to the last few pages. They were covered in blueprints of the quantum destabilizer, with notes on disassembly and finding a suitable power source written along the margins. Her mind turned to a different time, before the shipwreck and Dimension 52…
Sophie and Ford barely escaped the 15-foot-tall bounty hunter with multiple limbs covered in spikes. Ford took a bad hit just as they jumped through a portal; Sophie made sure that the area was secure and did her best to fix him up. They sat under a darkening lavender sky by a small fire, with Ford propped against a rock.
He turned to Sophie with half-lidded eyes, his forehead beaded with sweat. "Sophie, if I don't make it-"
Sophie felt a jolt of panic. "No, stop right there. You are going to make it."
"But if I don't-"
Sophie grabbed Ford's hand and squeezed. "You're going to make it, Stanford."
"Please…just let me finish."
Sophie huffed. "Fine."
"The quantum destabilizer-"
"Death ray."
Ford swallowed. "It needs a power source that's small but potent, stable but powerful. There are instructions in the back of my journal on how to disassemble the plating. Bill's greatest weakness is his eye; hit him there and he'll be obliterated."
"Okay, but telling me this useless because you're going to make it out of here and shoot that darned triangle yourself."
Ford leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Sophie, please…promise me that you'll remember this."
Sophie clenched her jaw and tightened her grip on Ford's hand. "Fine, I promise. But I also promised myself that I wouldn't let you die, and that's the one I'm keeping."
And that's the one I kept. Sophie smiled. Against the odds, Ford had survived…and she had survived. And against the odds, she was going to find Ford, no matter how long it took.
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