Chapter 6: Contemplation
Even though the sun wasn't visible, the hot climate definitely could take a lot out of a person walking through the deserted planes. The heat could fully take away anyone's energy and Ford was no exception. He finally pulled out his canteen of water, which he was thankful he took with him. He never intended on fully entering this godforsaken dimension again. The broken rope flashed in his mind. It did look cut... However, he didn't want to believe that it was cut, because only one person could have done it. And if that was the case...
As he walked further, a white fog emerged from the ground. The fog fully engulfed the scientist before he had the chance to comprehend what was happening to him. His mind went back to another time, back thirty years ago.
Ford, in his younger years, sat in the corner of the room down the in the base, away from everyone else. He had gathered a bunch of sheets of paper and just wrote notes upon notes of everything he found in this dimension.
Selese watched him as he wrote. She tried to keep in the conversation with the others in the room, but ever so often, her eyes went to the thirty-something year old brunette. Finally, she got up and made her way over. Ford sat in a cross-legged position, chewing on the top of his pen.
"What else—" he whispered. He didn't even see Selese. She just watched him with her hands over her mouth, trying not to laugh. He was so cute, and the black trench coat complimented him so well. She never met anyone like him before. Finally she sat down next to him.
"What are you writing?" Her voice rang in Ford's ears, startling him enough to cry out. He turned to her.
"Oh—uh, hi," he said stiffly.
"I didn't mean to startle you," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder. This action made Ford jump again and move a few inches away. Selese instantly pulled her hand back. So, he didn't like to be touched. Well, that was sad. She stared at him for a moment. He let out a sigh.
"Sorry, I'm not used to being around this many people."
"So, you live like a hermit back in your dimension?" she asked jokingly.
"What's wrong with that?" he burst out, obviously not feeling the humor of it.
Selese softened her eyes. "Nothing, I guess. But, why? Wouldn't you rather be around people?" Ford turned away, his eyes hardened. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have said anything." Selese got up and went back to the others. Ford let out a long sigh. He put the pen back to the paper and tried to write, but now he couldn't concentrate. He looked over at Selese. Why did she care so much about what he did? No one had ever put this much interest in him, not even his own brother. He suddenly grabbed his head. His twin was the last person he wanted to think about right now.
Later, he found Selese in her room. She sat cross-legged in meditation. He was intrigued, as he had tried meditation as well. However, he didn't want to disturb her. He began to leave when...
"You can come in," he heard her speak. He turned with wide eyes. Her eyes were closed, how did she know he was there? Ford slowly moved into the tiny room with only a cot in the corner and the plain white rug in the middle she now sat upon. "Sit down," she said.
"Uh, where—"
"Just come sit down next to me."
He raised an eyebrow to her request. He sat a good foot away from her.
"I can barely feel your energy, move closer." He inched a little closer. "More than that," she said with a small laugh. He inched a tiny bit closer, feeling very awkward.
"What are we doing exactly?" he asked.
"Just becoming more acquainted with each other." That response wanted to make Ford move further away. Why was she acting so weird?
"I'm making you feel uncomfortable," she said as a matter of fact.
"N-no," he lied. "I've just never done this before—uh meditate with another person, I mean."
"It's a very pragmatic way to gain understanding of the other person."
"Oh," he said, still feeling strange. "Well, I already know you. You said you're from a planetary constellation called Sirius. You're highly intelligent and can see into the future."
Selese laughed. "Yes, you have a quick synopsis of my species and my planet, but you do not know fully who I am." That was true. And for that reason, Ford was very leery of her.
They sat very still in their meditative poses for a while. Ford lost track of time.
Sitting in silence might have not be his best choice. As he sat there, a certain high pitch laugh rang in his ears. He squint his eyes, trying to push it out.
"Hey! Fordsy! Why are you ignoring me? I've been trying so hard to communicate with you," the voice said.
Stop it! Just shut the voice out! He tried with his thoughts.
"Hey Six Fingers! I'm not going away!" the shrill voice spoke again. Ford clenched his fists.
You don't exist! You don't exist!
"I don't exist?" the voice rang in disgust. "That's just rude!" Ford grabbed his head.
Shut up! Shut up! "Shut up you damn triangle!" Selese popped out of her meditation and turned her head to him.
"Ford?" He opened his eyes, unaware the fact he just shouted the last sentence. "You're thinking about him again," Selese said.
Ford stared vaguely at her. "Who?" he asked, trying to sound innocent.
"Bill. You're thinking about him again," she said.
Ford realized he was gripping his head so tightly that his fingernails dug deep enough into his sculpt to leave imprints. Slowly, he lowered his hands.
"I don't know if it's just in my mind or he's really there." He stared into Selese's violet eyes for a moment as she returned a warm stare. He felt awkward again and quickly turned away. "Okay, I have a question," he began. "When I fell into this dimension, I thought I saw all this destruction and chaos, then after a moment, it disappeared and I found myself in the field. You told me it was a vision. What was the vision of exactly?"
Selese sighed. "The future. Well, it's kind of a warning of what the future could be. You recall that I told you that Bill is not the real threat. It's the council and they are the ones who make the rules."
"Yeah, and?"
"I thought he was in trouble with the council and that's why they arrested him. But then, he was freed and now you're the target. I don't understand."
"So, this vision or whatever?" Ford tried to keep her on target.
"You told me your friend was pulled into this dimension for a few seconds and when you pulled him out, he spoke gibberish."
"My assistant. He said something really strange. 'When gravity falls and earth meets sky, fear the beat with just one eye.' I have no idea what it meant."
"It's the coming of the end of the world," Selese said.
Ford recalled his assistant saying that portal they built would bring the end of the world. That's when he quit the project.
"Well, I shut down the portal. It's my brother's fault that it started up and I went through it. I hope he's smart enough not to open it back up again," he said scornfully.
Selese stared at Ford for a long moment. "He must feel really bad." Ford turned away, clenching his teeth.
"Feel bad? For me? No. He only cares about himself!"
Selese went into her meditative state, closing her eyes. "I don't believe that at all. I can feel his energy off of you. He's scared. He thinks you may be dead. He just wants his brother b—"
"Stop it right now!" Ford lashed out. "How could you possibly know anything?" She sat with her eyes closed again.
"I know you're angry with him. Something happened between you two. He did something that broke your trust of him. Then you guys didn't see each other for a long time. Then you invited him to your home, but he thought you wanted him there so you two could be brothers again. However, you had other ideas—"
Ford jumped to his feet, staring coldly at the blue skinned woman.
"You listen to me. What happened between my brother and I happened because he couldn't handle living his own life. He wanted to drag me down with him on a road that would destroy both our futures. I'm fine with never seeing him again!" Ford started for the door.
"You're lying," Selese said. Ford stopped at the door, but didn't turn around. "Also, the vision you and your assistant saw was an event called Weirdmageddon." Ford turned around. His eyes fixed on Selese for a moment, then his mouth actually curved up and he laughed.
"What?" he asked. "How do you know about that?" Ford thought back to when he found out the truth about Bill. He heard the demon's shrill voice inside his mind. "You can't stop the bridge between our worlds from coming, but it'd be fun to watch you try. Cute even—" Then, in a flash, Ford knew everything about the doomsday event known as Weirdmageddon. Someone touched his shoulder, causing him to jump and smack the hand away. His eyes focused on Selese who didn't looked surprised in the least by his actions.
She smiled. "Bill is pretty messed up," she said, not answering the question.
"That's an understatement." Ford made his way towards the Arcturian woman and sat down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
She took his hand, a motion that made Ford not only jump, but also practically fall over.
"It's okay. I can feel how bad you were betrayed. It may take some time, but you will heal."
The white fog disappeared. Ford gazed around; his eyes took in the sudden change in surroundings. The barren plane now replaced by a vacant street. Tall buildings with bright neon green lights stood high above him. The more he took in the new place, the more he felt like he was in some futuristic city.
It made the sixty-something year old man nearly fall over from shock. How did he suddenly end up in a totally different geographic location? Then it occurred to him that this happened to him before when he got trapped in between dimensions. He would find another gateway and go into another world. The more he looked around the city, the more it became familiar. The neon streetlights, strange orbs floating around everywhere... This was the place where he found the high tech weapons and other equipment. Then it was possible for him to repair his gun here. As a bright streetlight orb moved in his direction, Ford ducked into a dark alley.
Stan, Dipper and Mabel were a good distance away from that camp. They slowed down to a walking pace.
"So, where are we going now?" Mabel asked.
"We still need to find water," Stan said. They continued on until they saw a change in scenery. The fields ended at a bunch of caves in a mountainside.
"So, this is different," Dipper remarked. "I'm not sure going in there is a good idea."
"It may not be the best idea. However, it is shelter from this heat and we could possibly find our supply of water in there. You have that poker and I have my knife."
"What do I have?" Mabel asked.
"A winning personality," Stan joked. "Just stay behind us." Mabel listened to her uncle, but she wished she had her grappling hook or at least the crossbow. Maybe she'd find something to use in the cave.
The three family members moved further into the caves. Almost instantly, they heard hissing echoing through the tunnel.
"What is that noise?" Dipper wondered.
Stan stopped and put a hand up for his niece and nephew to follow suit.
"Give me that poker," he said to Dipper, who had no issue surrendering the weapon. With the long pole in hand, Stan moved down the tunnel towards a wide opening. The path stopped in front of him, his eyes gazed downward. The sight was interesting enough. Many burned bodies of spiders with a few small ones crawling on the larger one's carcasses. His gaze moved to the tiny ledge. They'd all have to get across that somehow.
"I'm sorry," Mabel said suddenly. "I wish I had my grappling hook. We could lower ourselves down."
Stan looked over the mess of spider bodies. "Uh, it's probably best that we don't do that." His eyes went to the ledge. "I think going across that is our only option."
Stan led the two teens across the ledge. He got rid of his fear of heights, but the possibility of falling still greatly increased his anxiety. Still, he pushed forward, inching along the ledge. His foot caught the small gap where the rock fell away.
"C-carful," he said to his great niece and nephew. "Watch the gap there." The twins didn't have a problem going over the gap. It was pretty smooth and now they went downhill. Stan made it to the other side where he saw the jagged rock making a nice ladder down to the bottom by the edge of the cave. He began climbing down, keeping his eyes upwards. Dipper followed, having no problems. Then it was Mabel's turn. She put one foot on the jagged rock, then the other. As she climbed down, her foot slipped, causing her to slide down the rock wall altogether.
"Mabel!" Both Stan and Dipper shouted. The teenage girl landed on her feet after getting a bunch of scraps from the sharp rock on her arms and legs.
Just then, one of the spiders jumped and landed right in front of her. Stan jumped down and drew his knife. Dipper started climbing down as fast as he could.
"Throw me the poker," Mabel yelled to him. Dipper actually listened and dropped the pointed metal pole, which she easily caught. Stan charged at the arachnid and stabbed in in one of its eyes. The thing screeched and withdrew. As the old man pulled the weapon back, green liquid sprayed out. It quickly recovered and came at him again. This time, Mabel jabbed the creature in one of it's other eyes, making it retreat to the far corner.
"Come on, let's go this way!" Stan said, leading them down a dark tunnel.
"Stan, we can't see anything," Dipper pointed out.
He reached into his vest, pulling out a tiny flashlight, he shinned the light, leading the way.
They made their way into the next part of the underground cavern. Dipper shinned the light further down.
"It opens up," he said. The family walked into the open part of the cavern where they found a substantial amount of water.
"Hey, we finally found our life source," he said as he ran over. As he ran, he tripped over something lying on the ground. He twisted around putting the light on the object. Then, he cried out in horror as he stared at a spider, much larger than the one they just fought.
Stan and Mabel rushed over. "Hold on," Stan yelled as he prepared his knife. But when the two got over there, they discovered the eight-legged critter was already dead. Stan narrowed his eyes at Dipper.
"Great! You got my heart rate up for a dead bug!"
Dipper's breathing calmed as he saw the green liquid goo from inside the spider plastered all over its body along with multiple burns. The three family members looked further down the way to see a bunch more dead bodies of arachnids.
"Someone was definitely here before us," Stan said.
Dipper's eyes brightened. "Do you think it was Great Uncle Ford?" he asked, hopefully.
"Wouldn't my astute brother just shoot the blasted things?"
"Does he have his gun?" Mabel asked.
"He always does, Mabel," Dipper answered.
Stan perked up. "If he was here, that means he's in the same dimension as we are. Hopefully we'll find him soon. For now, we have our shelter and plenty of water.
"We should make sure it's safe to drink," Dipper said. He walked over, cupped his hands and drank the liquid. It was not just fresh, but sweet. It tasted like water mixed with sugar. "Uh, this is weird, but I think it'll work." He took out a canteen and filled it.
"There's some twigs and I have my lighter," Stan said. "Maybe I can make a fire. And for food, we can fry up the dead spiders."
Both Dipper and Mabel responded with grotesque noises. "Hey, can't be picky in situations like this."
Dipper looked at the dead spider a few feet away with its black, burnt, fuzzy body. It was just too disgusting. "Yes, we can." At least, that's how he felt at the moment.
A/N: Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review!
Thank you.