"Okay, so some guy plucks a piece of yarn and that brings them here from another universe?"
Pete paced the length of the office, rubbing his face in agitation. Claudia and Myka had perched themselves on either arm of the armchair, watching their account of the prior events sink into the rest of the group. Leena had resumed her place at the desk, diving into the research database once again, as Artie leaned over her shoulder, eyes unreadable beneath the screen's reflection on his glasses. Steve had found solace at the fringe of the group beside the electrical box on the wall, closing his eyes and allowing the humming of the wires to quell frantic thoughts.
Pete had devolved into a state of existential confusion.
"I mean, sure we've hopped into mirrors and books before, but you're talking about some place that's on the other end of...not space," he said incredulously, "Like, flying out of this universe to land in another."
"Bubbles in a bathtub," Leena said, fingers flying on the computer keyboard, "All expanding into something in between them, you cross a gap in between, and pay a visit to your next-door-bubble."
Pete stopped pacing and stared wide-eyed at the two figures on the armchair. "Wouldn't that make their skin rip from their bodies, or their brains melt into a soup? How fast would they have to be going?"
Artie removed his glasses and wiped them on a shirt sleeve. "The funny thing about bending the fabric of space is that you don't have to move anywhere," he said, "Laws of physics state that we cannot move faster than light, therefore, you stay where you are and bring the things you want toward you."
"You're saying that this string manipulates the universe," Myka said, raising her brows.
"Hold on," Claudia piped up, "If that's the case, it would explain the stretching and compressing around the bed the first time I got here, and all the funhouse theatrics the second."
"You dared to disturb the universe," Artie said, "In a manner of speaking. Think of it as, you're sitting down for breakfast, and you want to get a plate of cookies that's far away on the other side, out of your reach," Artie swept his arm across his desk, sending papers onto the floor.
"Cookies for breakfast?" Leena smirked.
Artie shot her a glare as he unwound the scarf from around his neck and smoothed it out across his desk, one end hanging off the edge toward Pete, the other by him. Upon his end of the scarf, he placed a small paperweight.
"How do you get this plate over here?"
"You grab it," Pete said, leaning across the desk with hand outstretched, yet Artie batted it away.
"No!" Artie peered over his glasses, a finger hanging in the air. "The rule is that you can't get out of your seat. You may not lean across the table, so what do you do?"
Realization dawned across Myka's features, and without warning she sprang up from the chair and strode over to Pete's end of the scarf. Pete backed up out of her way as she reached below the edge of the desk to clutch the hanging end of the scarf, and she began pulling it toward her. She gathered the cloth in a bunch as the paperweight on the other end slid toward her across the desk, dragged along on the other end of the scarf. She held out her other hand beneath the desk edge, and as the paperweight slid all the way to the end, she caught it as it toppled over the edge.
"You pull the tablecloth," she said. She raised her gaze to Artie's, inquiring, and held out the paperweight for him. For a few seconds he stared back, eyes seeming to dig beneath her features with a question, fascination mingled with skepticism and she returned the gaze. Abruptly, he retrieved the object from her hands and plopped it back the desk.
"Precisely. Though, it seems to be much more of a spiritual hop-over so to speak, seeing as their consciousnesses are the only thing that switched, leave their bodies intact."
"Well, this Myka's got a good noodle too," Pete said. She turned to him, and he gave her a small smile. "Sharp as a tack."
"Which brings us to the issue of the man who brought the two of them here," Artie cut in, voice heavy. Claudia looked up from where she was picking black polish off her nails, and Steve seemed to awaken from his state as a wall fixture. "If we inhabit two universes that are bound by similarities, analogous people and circumstances with minor alterations here and there, then he must also exist in this universe in order to travel between the two and they must be reasonably alike."
"He had something to do with Steve's cult, "Claudia began, and all heads turned to examine Steve with amusement. Steve folded his arms and wrinkled his nose in disdain.
"You drinking the kool-aid, Steve?" Pete asked.
"We're nothing alike," Steve muttered.
"He was interested in this map I had on my wall," Claudia continued, "Steve saw it when I first met him, then he went back to the group and told them about me, and then creepy British guy somehow got into my room when I was asleep. That was the night I got transported over here, but something must've gone wrong and I got sent back, so he cornered me and brought me here again. He wants me to help him find something."
"And what was the significance of the locations on the map?" Artie asked, now seated next to Leena. He had his elbows up on the desk, hands folded under his nose, peering at Claudia over knobby knuckles.
Claudia bristled, unprepared for this question. She shrugged a little too earnestly, averting her gaze from the others as the conviction in her voice dwindled.
"I...want to travel, I put pins in places I want to go after I graduate," she cleared her throat and scratched distractedly at her neck. "It doesn't mean anything to anyone, but he said they were all places that were connected with an artifact in this world."
"Then we'll start looking," Artie said, rising from his chair. He retrieved his black bag from the floor and bustled in between various drawers and cabinets, exchanging the items inside the bag for others he deemed more appropriate. "Make a list of the locations and we'll send out teams of to investigate each. I'll be going alone, Myka will go with Pete, and Claudia will go with Steve - no arguing, no complaints," he added at Myka's scowl. "We're walking on very thin ice, and your body switching seems to be entirely beyond your control. If both of you are swapped in the middle of this, you need someone grounded here to keep you - or rather, our Claudia and Myka - informed so the investigation can proceed accordingly."
"And what happens if the two of us switch too?" Steve asked. Pete's eyes widened and he looked frantically from Steve to Artie, and shook his head vigorously.
"No no no, I don't want to know what some doppelganger would do in my shoes," he said, "You don't know how hard I work for this. The dude might start stuffing his face with chips and ruin my bod."
"Charming," Leena said, "But the artifact seems to work with only one set of people at one time. Whoever has the string controls who is switched over here, and when it's used again, or time runs out, they're reset back. Myka and Claudia will switch back before anyone else does. Artie's method is sound, as long as our respective twins aren't all cornered in the same place and forced to transfer."
"And what if that happens?" Pete asked.
"The man wants Claudia's information. I doubt that you're all that important on the other side," Leena said impassively, though her eyes twinkled in amusement. Pete blew air out of his mouth and held up his hands in protestation.
"Whoa, okay, go ahead and insult a guy who isn't even here. I bet he's important, I bet I'm really awesome over there. Myka, you know any Pete's on your side?"
"I take care of a chimp named Pete," she said plainly. Leena let out a snort.
Artie let his black bag fall onto the desk with a clunk, the top open and brimming with odd objects, and interrupting Pete's moment for sadness. He spoke in a low tone, and all agents leaned in to catch his words. Claudia's nails were at her teeth, and she scraped against them distantly.
"Whoever this man is, he has managed to incorporate his doppelganger into his plan, and they are working in conjunction on both sides of the coin," Artie said, "I don't think it was a coincidence that an artifact of augmentation was stolen in the midst of all this - useless on its own but powerful in coordination - but because your minds are the only thing that have transferred, we must assume that no physical matter can move in between worlds. His twin is happy to sit on stolen goods here while he works in your world, accumulating whatever resources he needs on both sides for some purpose greater than just a single world. And right now, he has entrusted his twin with the trigger to send you two back at any given time." Artie snapped his bag shut. His eyes flicked between each of the agents' anxious expressions, with no consoling one of his own to return, until they finally rested on Claudia's paling face. He let out a small sigh, and muttered as he turned toward the door. "They have never met, and yet they're working in perfect unison. And we're expected to do the same."