In through the door wandered two colourfully dressed gentlemen, carrying shallow cardboard boxes from which the smell of food issued. Just as Holmes had prophecised,one of them towered high above the other. He was neatly coiffeured and so slender that he seemed to resemble a giant insect. I saw something of Holmes in his mannerisms and analytical eyes. His companion was short, bespectacled and had unkempt a head of black hair. Something about the eccentric appearance of the two led me to conclude that they were American. This assumption was confirmed by the accent of the tall one when he spoke,

"Intruders! Go to defence plan alpha Leonard!" he yelled rapidly with great fear in his voice. The man set his boxes down and rushed to a corner of the room, from which he produced a long glass sabre. Brandishing this he advanced on us, I gave a yelp of surprise as the formidable club began to glow with an ethereal green light.

The shorter of the pair gave a weary sigh as he crossed to the food preparation area and rotated a plaque bearing a gold lion rampant on a field of azure. I later learned that this was an imitation of the practice of flying an upside-down flag aboard a ship in distress.

"Who are you! State your intent!" barked the tall man. The shorter figure returned from his task at the pantry and came over to me looking most apologetic, "You'll have to forgive my room-mate, he's, err...he's crazy." he said.

Holmes approached the man with the unusual sabre,remaining completely composed, he held a hand forward, "Put down your weapon sir," he stated calmly, "From your blind panic I see that you had no idea that we were in your home. I am Sherlock Holmes and this is my good friend Doctor John Watson . We have just this minute awoken on these premises and are trying to find an explanation, it is likely that some drug or mesmeric influence has been used on us. This would of course suggest foul play,if you give us a little information as to our whereabouts we shall gladly be on our way."

The man sighed incredulously,raising his finger in an unusual manner, "LARPing is not an excuse for entering a private residence, but, as a roleplayer myself I understand that it's just not polite to shatter the imaginary worlds of others. I shall play along on condition that you leave immediately."

Holmes nodded. The meaning of much of what the man had said passed over my head, as it seemed to contain many unusual American idioms. The man continued with a slight note of sarcasm in his voice, "Why, Mister Holmes! I have read something of your exploits,of course I will help you. This apartment building is located on North Los Robles avenue, Pasadena California. I am Doctor Sheldon Cooper and this is my room-mate Doctor Leonard Hofstader. Unfortunately we know nothing of this matter so don't disturb us again. Goodbye Mister Holmes, Doctor, I hope you catch your criminal."

This unusual monologue ceased and the man called Cooper suddenly returned to his previous demeanour, " Alright, get out." he said sharply. Naturally we obeyed and quit the strange pair onto a carpeted landing.

"How bizarre," was all I could utter.

"Indeed Watson,"said Holmes, "Nothing sits right about this in the slightest. If we were in London one minute and in California the next,we have clearly been under sedation for weeks. I think the next step should be to determine the current date."

I thought for a moment and replied, "Well we can't very well go back in there and ask those two chaps,they think we are no-good intruders. Perhaps we should try at another apartment."

Holmes agreed and we crossed to the door directly opposite the one which led to the home of the two eccentrics. Holmes knocked three times and waited. The door was answered by the most beautiful young creature which I have ever seen. She wore a tight fitting short sleeved shirt and,most shockingly of all, thin denim trousers. Even Holmes blushed a little as he beheld her.

"Yeah?" she uttered with a charming American twang.

"Good evening miss,ah, from the set of clothes laid out on your sofa I see you are a waitress"said Holmes, "We are sorry to disturb you but we would like to enquire as to the current date."

"Date? I'm not going on any date! not since last night anyway. Is this some weird way of asking me out?...Are you friends with Sheldon and Leonard?"

Holmes thought for a moment before replying, "We have met."

"Leonard! Sheldon! Get out here! Your friends are freaking me out!"she screamed.

Before we knew it the two scientists had rushed out to the girl's aid. They looked perplexed and concerned as they recognised us.

"Who are these two guys?" uttered the girl.

Doctor Cooper spoke up, "They are two LARPers claiming to be Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson."

"Who?" replied the girl,looking utterly stupefied.

Cooper sighed at her ignorance, "Penny really. You must know Sherlock Holmes the great detective,he is an icon of English literature,created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."

The name seemed familiar to me. The girl, Penny, replied, "Wait, I thought you said you hated literature Sheldon?"

Cooper thought for a moment before replying, "Ordinarily yes, it's one of the most pointless human efforts. I first learned of Sherlock Holmes while watching an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation."

"So literature's pointless but Star Trek isn't?"

"Shut up Penny," scoffed Cooper,rather rudely.

"Wait a minute!" I spoke up, "You said Arthur Conan Doyle? He's my literary agent! Are you saying he's been claiming my writings as his own?"

He turned to me,seeming to think about something for a moment, "You are either taking your LARP very seriously or you are actually Holmes and Watson, transplanted from your own universe into this one."

"Sheldon that's ridiculous!" declared his companion Leonard.

"No it's not,"replied Sheldon, shaking his head theatrically "There's absolutely nothing in quantum theory to prevent particles instantly shifting from one location to another Leonard. It would take astronomical odds for it to happen to every subatomic particle of two complex organisms at once and for those two organisms to arrive intact within a few feet of each other...However it becomes very likely to occur, if not certain, when you consider that there is an infinite number of universes. It had to happen somewhere. If you find it unlikely that one of the Holmeses and one of the Watsons vanished from their own universe and appeared here then it is equally likely that they were spontaneously created in our own universe. They just happened to resemble the Holmes and Watson of fiction,complete with their neural patterns. In another universe they might have been characters from Star Trek, or a trash can,or a clown made out of candy...or-"

"Sheldon if that's actually happened then it would be paradigm shifting,"

"No it's not," said Sheldon once more, "It happens all the time on the subatomic scale,finding a chunk of matter resembling Holmes and Watson is no stranger than finding the virgin Mary in the grain of a plank.

Holmes cleared his throat, "Excuse me sir,"he said, "I know something of chemical processes but what you speak of is ineffable twaddle, particles spontaneously appearing indeed! This is the Nineteenth Century for pity's sake,you claim to be a scientist yet show no rational thought."

Cooper looked offended for a moment, "Well here it is no longer the nineteenth Century, and science has moved on a little since you were dabbing acids onto your skin. Why not come in for a beverage? Perhaps a little of our pizza while I explain a few things?"

With that he gestured politely that we should follow him back into his apartment. Feeling overcome with the confusing situation, and encouraged by his slightly more polite attitude,we sheepishly returned to the comfortable living room where we had first found ourselves. It was going to be one of the most interesting nights of my life.