A Web of Worlds
Book 1: We All Live in the Pokemon World
Chapter 2: Maybe It Does Work?
***^^^***
'Have you got your stuff together yet?' Michael asked his daughter, whilst simultaneously tapping keys on his nearby keyboard.
'Yeah, it's all packed' Kira answered, for the fifth time in the last hour. She had packed basic supplies - at the insistence of her dad, of course, which included enough food and water to last a week, spare clothes and a penknife. 'Just in case' her dad had said, handing her that last item.
'Oh yeah' Kira's dad called, breaking her chain of thought 'I almost forgot - you need to take this watch with you'. He tapped a few keys on his keyboard with a triumphant look on his face.
A screen blinked into life over…the machine…showing the words 'Initialisation Process Starting…' Underneath that was a bar, showing how much time had elapsed and how much time was remaining.
'Why do I need this?' Kira asked her dad. 'What could a watch do for me?' Kira thought to herself, 'I mean, even if the time machine does work, the watch would be useless because it is a time machine.' Despite this she reached over, took the watch, and strapped on.
'I added a few special features to it' Michael said, answering Kira's previous question.
'Such as?' Kira asked, probing for more information.
'Well...er...you'll have to find out when you use them' Michael replied.
'In other words, you don't 100 percent know yourself - typical!' Kira said, but only to herself. Her father tended to get stroppy - not angry, but you know, sulky, if she doubted or bad-mouthed his inventions.
The conversation dried up then, and Kira examined the machine more closely. It looked like a big, futuristic archway with pipes and wires running up and down and along and around the actual hole you stepped through, which was starting to shimmer. You wouldn't really be able to get an idea of the pandemonium of the machine, though, because it was that, well, disorganised.
A loud humming noise started to penetrate the silence, and a computerised voice said 'Initialisation Process Complete'. Awaiting Further Instructions'
***^^^***
'Great', thought Kira, 'he's even given this one a voice.' 'Probably to make it flashier', she thought bemusedly.
'OK! It's done. Are you ready to try it?' Michael said.
'Yeah, I suppose' Kira answered. A feeling of foreboding was coming over her, nothing like the other times she had tested his machines. Then it had felt comical pressing a flashy looking red button, only to have nothing happen, but now it felt…well…real.
'Don't worry, its completely safe' Kira's father said, picking up on Kira's mood. 'I'm sure you'll enjoy it'
'Talking about it like a theme park ride' Kira mumbled, but Michael must have heard that as he said, in an overloud voice 'Well, lets run over the schedule again then, shall we?'
'I'll walk through the portal' said Kira monotonously, in her reciting to teacher voice, 'and I'll find out when I am…' 'This is so stupid,' she thought to herself, 'but anyway'…'I'll then call you - how am I going to call you?' Kira asked of her dad, spotting a plot hole.
'Ah yes. I only finished that today.' Michael said sheepishly. 'Its this button here' - pointing out a green button on her watch. 'Press this, and it'll set a buzzer off here, and I'll bring you back. The watch is also a homing device, so I'll be able to find you'
'OK' Kira said amicably. 'Then I'll come back and…report…my findings' She added 'report' on purpose, to boost her dad's confidence - it made the whole thing sound like a military operation.
'Right, so now we know what we're doing - lets begin!'
***^^^***
Michael turned towards the console and typed something in. Kira couldn't see what it was, but it took longer than she thought it would to type in time co-ordinates.
A low buzzing sound, that had been unnoticeable up until now, began to get louder and higher in pitch, and the shimmering in the portal started to get more and more violent. Kira thought she caught glimpses of faces in the shimmering surface, but reasoned it must be her imagination. Even so she shivered. This is creepy, she thought. The shimmering now started to change colour, all the way through the spectrum, starting at blue, through green, yellow, orange, red, and back again. The noise was now starting to get intense. She thought she could smell a mechanical burning smell, a tinny smell that made her feel a bit queasy, but as quickly as all this happened it stopped again, leaving a deep thrumming sound instead of a whine, and the shimmering surface looking like quicksilver.
'OK…' Michael said, with an almost inaudible tremor in his voice 'that's it, all ready' He gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek. 'Good luck, honey.', he thought to himself, but he didn't say it out loud.
'Are you sure everything went according to plan?' Kira asked of her father, detecting the nervousness in his voice.
'Yes, of course.' Michael sounded a bit sulky, so Kira left it at that.
'OK - I'm ready!' Kira used these words to psyche herself up. 'I'm going!!' she shouted walking into the mirror-like mass.
***^^^***
'Goodbye, sweetheart' She heard from her dad, words that seemed to stretch and elongate, if it is possible for a sound to do that.
All she could see in this - well, space between times, she thought, was nothing. There was no sound, no light, not even a taste to the air. All that was alerting her to the fact that she was somewhere was the sensation of movement. It wasn't a wind-rushing sensation of movement, as there was no feeling in this place, but a nauseating feeling of travelling at high speeds. If you get seasick you'll know what I mean.
Then there was a speck of light, in the distance, which came rushing towards her.
The first thing that hit her was the ground, and then she blacked out for real.
Book 1: We All Live in the Pokemon World
Chapter 2: Maybe It Does Work?
***^^^***
'Have you got your stuff together yet?' Michael asked his daughter, whilst simultaneously tapping keys on his nearby keyboard.
'Yeah, it's all packed' Kira answered, for the fifth time in the last hour. She had packed basic supplies - at the insistence of her dad, of course, which included enough food and water to last a week, spare clothes and a penknife. 'Just in case' her dad had said, handing her that last item.
'Oh yeah' Kira's dad called, breaking her chain of thought 'I almost forgot - you need to take this watch with you'. He tapped a few keys on his keyboard with a triumphant look on his face.
A screen blinked into life over…the machine…showing the words 'Initialisation Process Starting…' Underneath that was a bar, showing how much time had elapsed and how much time was remaining.
'Why do I need this?' Kira asked her dad. 'What could a watch do for me?' Kira thought to herself, 'I mean, even if the time machine does work, the watch would be useless because it is a time machine.' Despite this she reached over, took the watch, and strapped on.
'I added a few special features to it' Michael said, answering Kira's previous question.
'Such as?' Kira asked, probing for more information.
'Well...er...you'll have to find out when you use them' Michael replied.
'In other words, you don't 100 percent know yourself - typical!' Kira said, but only to herself. Her father tended to get stroppy - not angry, but you know, sulky, if she doubted or bad-mouthed his inventions.
The conversation dried up then, and Kira examined the machine more closely. It looked like a big, futuristic archway with pipes and wires running up and down and along and around the actual hole you stepped through, which was starting to shimmer. You wouldn't really be able to get an idea of the pandemonium of the machine, though, because it was that, well, disorganised.
A loud humming noise started to penetrate the silence, and a computerised voice said 'Initialisation Process Complete'. Awaiting Further Instructions'
***^^^***
'Great', thought Kira, 'he's even given this one a voice.' 'Probably to make it flashier', she thought bemusedly.
'OK! It's done. Are you ready to try it?' Michael said.
'Yeah, I suppose' Kira answered. A feeling of foreboding was coming over her, nothing like the other times she had tested his machines. Then it had felt comical pressing a flashy looking red button, only to have nothing happen, but now it felt…well…real.
'Don't worry, its completely safe' Kira's father said, picking up on Kira's mood. 'I'm sure you'll enjoy it'
'Talking about it like a theme park ride' Kira mumbled, but Michael must have heard that as he said, in an overloud voice 'Well, lets run over the schedule again then, shall we?'
'I'll walk through the portal' said Kira monotonously, in her reciting to teacher voice, 'and I'll find out when I am…' 'This is so stupid,' she thought to herself, 'but anyway'…'I'll then call you - how am I going to call you?' Kira asked of her dad, spotting a plot hole.
'Ah yes. I only finished that today.' Michael said sheepishly. 'Its this button here' - pointing out a green button on her watch. 'Press this, and it'll set a buzzer off here, and I'll bring you back. The watch is also a homing device, so I'll be able to find you'
'OK' Kira said amicably. 'Then I'll come back and…report…my findings' She added 'report' on purpose, to boost her dad's confidence - it made the whole thing sound like a military operation.
'Right, so now we know what we're doing - lets begin!'
***^^^***
Michael turned towards the console and typed something in. Kira couldn't see what it was, but it took longer than she thought it would to type in time co-ordinates.
A low buzzing sound, that had been unnoticeable up until now, began to get louder and higher in pitch, and the shimmering in the portal started to get more and more violent. Kira thought she caught glimpses of faces in the shimmering surface, but reasoned it must be her imagination. Even so she shivered. This is creepy, she thought. The shimmering now started to change colour, all the way through the spectrum, starting at blue, through green, yellow, orange, red, and back again. The noise was now starting to get intense. She thought she could smell a mechanical burning smell, a tinny smell that made her feel a bit queasy, but as quickly as all this happened it stopped again, leaving a deep thrumming sound instead of a whine, and the shimmering surface looking like quicksilver.
'OK…' Michael said, with an almost inaudible tremor in his voice 'that's it, all ready' He gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek. 'Good luck, honey.', he thought to himself, but he didn't say it out loud.
'Are you sure everything went according to plan?' Kira asked of her father, detecting the nervousness in his voice.
'Yes, of course.' Michael sounded a bit sulky, so Kira left it at that.
'OK - I'm ready!' Kira used these words to psyche herself up. 'I'm going!!' she shouted walking into the mirror-like mass.
***^^^***
'Goodbye, sweetheart' She heard from her dad, words that seemed to stretch and elongate, if it is possible for a sound to do that.
All she could see in this - well, space between times, she thought, was nothing. There was no sound, no light, not even a taste to the air. All that was alerting her to the fact that she was somewhere was the sensation of movement. It wasn't a wind-rushing sensation of movement, as there was no feeling in this place, but a nauseating feeling of travelling at high speeds. If you get seasick you'll know what I mean.
Then there was a speck of light, in the distance, which came rushing towards her.
The first thing that hit her was the ground, and then she blacked out for real.