The Animorphs Dementia Cycle - Animorphs with a twist of fate....
We all know Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. We all know what has happened to them.
But have you ever wondered.... what if....? Yes, "what if". The two words that sparked the creation of fiction, and the foundation of all things of fantasy and science fiction. "What if" is the code of the fan who writes their own version of their favorite stories.
The Dementia Cycle takes "what if" to another level. It gets its name because it looks at Animorphs from another perspective, a different dimension, causing chaos and insanity in its wake. Several slight changes were made in the other universe. Obvious ones. Ones that shouldn't make so much of a difference, but, in fact, do.
The differences can be seen very quickly... if you watch....
So far, a stranger has come upon the Animorphs, one that knows absolutely everything - but she knows absolutely everything, from a very different angle. Her name is Jacqueline - although she prefers being called "Jack". She knows everything Jake knows - but she knows the Animorphs as Maria, Diane, Toniya, Christopher, and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill - better known as "Axel". Her cousin, Richard, defected. A stranger who found the Escafil Device, Diane, after much trial and error, became an integral part of the team. The next day, Tobias spotted a golden eagle turning into a blond boy. Thinking that it might be David, the traitor who nearly destroyed the Animorphs, he and Rachel tried to confront the boy - only to discover that it was Richard, Rachel's counterpart. After much bickering, the Animorphs have come to tolerate Rich.
The phenomenon which brought Jack and Rich to the others' reality has been dubbed a "Jacqueline Rip" by Ax, much to Jack's embarrassment. Although the actual effects of it have now been witnessed - that objects fade in and out of each reality - the Animorphs are not any closer to discovering why.
All they know is, it's getting faster...
I hope you enjoy The Dementia Cycle.
Animorphs Dementia #4 - The Continuity
Long before....
I don't remember that time, when I was very little, when we received news of Elfangor's death. I do remember several years later, though, when his friend, Arbron, who was already a great warrior, came home on leave. I barely knew him. I'd seen his communications, but I'd never met him face-to-face. He had communicated often with our family, my parents explained, after Elfangor died, because he felt responsible. Before even going to his own home, he came to ours. To explain, he said. My parents didn't let me listen. They said they'd tell me when I was older.
Later we went running together, just the two of us. Me all clumsy. Arbron like some creature from an Andalite myth, so fast and so powerful.
It was kind of a shock to me. Until then, I guess I'd thought I was the most important person in the family. But it was hard to feel very important with Arbron around. The way my mother and father treated him, it was hard to consider him being unrelated. Whenever he was on leave, he would come visit. He always came to us first.
He never had much to say to me. He never lectured me, like other adults. He was just himself. He talked to me the same way he talked to my parents - respectfully, slightly formally. He never treated me like a younger Andalite, and that was great. After that, there was never any question in my mind what I wanted to be when I grew up: I wanted to be a warrior. I wanted to be like Arbron.
***
Prepare for return to normal space, Captain Nerefir said in thought-speak.
I was on the bridge of our dome ship. It was an amazing moment. I had never been on the bridge before. I'd always been stuck in my quarters, or up in the dome. It was an honor to be on the battle bridge with the full warriors, the prince, and the captain himself.
Of course, it was because I was "Arbron's little tagalong", but I didn't let that bother me. An aristh like me, a warrior-cadet, wouldn't have been on the bridge otherwise.
Especially not an aristh who had once run into Captain Nerefir so hard he'd fallen over and ended up bruising one of his stalk eyes. It was an accident, but still, it's just not a good idea for lowly cadets to go plowing into great heroes.
Still, I didn't "take the kafit bird on my head for granted", as the saying goes. I might be clumsy and somewhat stupid sometimes, but I'm not... well, not completely stupid.
Everybody loved Arbron, so they had to tolerate me. That's the story of my life. If I live two hundred years, I'll probably still be known as "Arbron's little tagalong". I just have to live with it.
We came out of Z-space or Zero-space, a realm of white emptiness, back into normal space. Through the monitors I saw nothing but blackness dotted with stars. And there, just ahead of us, no more than a half-million miles away, was a small, mostly blue planet.
Is that Earth? I asked Arbron. I didn't think there would be so much water. Can you get Ol' Hoof and Tail to let me go down to the planet with you?
Aximili, shut up! Arbron said quickly. He looked slightly sick and cast a dubious glance at Captain Nerefir even as he tried not to smile.
I guess I had been thought-speaking a little loudly. Arbron was worried that War-Prince Nerefir might have overheard. But I was sure I hadn't been that loud. I mean, I know I can slip sometimes, but I didn't really think that this time was-
Old Hoof and Tail, eh? Captain Nerefir said. Is that what they call me?
Arbron shot me a slightly poisonous, mostly amused look. I'm sure this aristh didn't mean any disrespect.
I think he would have liked to throw me out the nearest airlock right at that moment. Or at least shot me repeatedly with a hand-held shredder on the second-lowest setting until I lost consciousness. The second-lowest setting is much like a slap in the face.
Slowly Nerefir turned his two main eyes toward me. He was a frighteningly old Andalite. A great warrior. A great hero. Arbron's idol. Ah, it's the ruffian. The wild brat who knocked me over. He nodded. Old Hoof and Tail, is it? Well. I rather like the name. He slowly winked one eye at Arbron. I suppose we'll have to let the ruffian live.
... and obviously, an Andalite of my own nature.
Suddenly . . .
Yeerks! We have a Yeerk mother ship in orbit over the planet! the warrior at the sensor station cried.
They're launching fighters! I count twelve Yeerk Bug fighters, another warrior cried. They're on an intercept course. They'll be firing range in twelve Earth minutes.
Captain Nerefir turned his face and his main eyes toward Arbron, while his stalk eyes kept watch on the monitors. The humor was gone from his face. Prince Arbron? It is time. Launch all fighters.
But Arbron hadn't waited for orders. He was already halfway out the door. My tail banged into the doorway as I plowed after him.
Get to the dome, Aximili, Arbron said.
But I want to fight! I said. I can fly a fighter as well as-
Do not argue with me, Aximili. Arisths do not go into battle. You are not a full warrior yet. Go to the dome. You belong there, aristh.
I don't want to there! I said. But a warrior, even a warrior-cadet, has to follow orders. Arbron was like my brother - the closest thing I had ever had to a brother - but he was also my prince.
I could hear the thought-speak announcements coming from the bridge:
Yeerk Bug fighters closing fast.
We are entering the outer-gravitational field of the planet.
Arbron and I came to a pair of drop-shafts. Warriors were zooming down, heading for the fighter bays. I would have to go up to reach the dome. The upward drop shaft was empty.
It made me angry. Everyone was fighting but me. When it was all over, Arbron would be even more of a big hero, and I would still be the little tagalong. The child who was sent to the dome, where children belonged.
Arbron hesitated for just a moment before rushing on. He arched his tail forward. I reached forward with my own tail, arching it up over my back. We touched tail blades.
You'll have your chance to fight, Aximili, he said. Very soon your fighter will fly side by side with mine. But not in this battle. You have to wait your turn, same as I did.
Yes, my prince, I said, sounding very stiff and formal. But as he turned to enter the drop shaft, I couldn't let him go thinking I was mad at him. I said, Hey, Arbron? Go burn some slugs.
That is the plan, kid, he said with a laugh. That is the plan.
It was the last I saw of him.
He disappeared down the drop shaft. I went upward to the great dome. The dome was the heart of our ship. It was a vast, round, open plain of grass and trees and running water from our home planet, all covered by a transparent dome.
Stuck here too, tagalong? the only other aristh, Brederlin, sneered. I would have thought they'd let you command the ship.
Shut up, Brederlin, I snapped. I turned away, ignoring him. I suppose he had every right to be jealous of how I was treated - I would have been, if it was he who was allowed to do what I was, sometimes. But that couldn't be changed. I couldn't help that Prince Arbron was so interested in me. It had just... happened.
I could see the blue planet above me, hanging in a black sky. It had a moon, just a dead ball of dust. But the planet looked alive. I could see white clouds swirling. Its yellow sun's light sparkled off the vast oceans.
The planet was known to be inhabited by a reasonably intelligent - though not terribly intelligent - species. We had learned a little about them in school. I recalled that they looked funny, with two legs and no tail. I was not the only one to burst out laughing when first shown a picture of one.
My main eyes were drawn to the brilliant flares of engine exhaust as our fighters lanced toward the onrushing Yeerks.
I was far from the battle-bridge now, beyond the range of their thought-speak. I heard nothing in my head. And my ears heard only the sound of a gentle, artificial breeze ruffling the leaves of the trees. I stood on the blue-green grass and watched tiny pinpoints of light as the battle was joined above the blue planet.
And then . . . I felt it. A tremor that rolled through my mind. A wave of coldness. . . a premonition. Like a waking nightmare.
I turned my stalk eyes away from battle, toward the dead moon of the blue planet. And there I saw it. A black shape against the gray-white light of the moon. A shape like some twisted battle-ax.
Blade ship... I whispered. A Visser's Blade ship!
What? Brederlin cried.
Our fighters were all away. Our Dome had massive weapons, but the Blade ship was fast and maneuverable. Too fast!
The warriors on the battle bridge had no choice. They had to separate the dome in order to be able to fight. I felt a grinding, crunching sensation as the dome was released to drift free of the main line of the ship.
Did you feel that? Brederlin cried.
We're loose! I replied sharply.
We were silent as the dome floated free.
Slowly, the rest of the ship rotated into sight. Without the dome it looked like a long stick, with the huge bulge of the engines on the far end, and the smaller bulge of the battle bridge in the middle. They were trying to turn to meet the Blade ship.
Too slow.
The Blade ship fired!
NO! To this day, I don't know if it was Brederlin or I who screamed. Maybe it was both of us.
Dracon beams, bright as a sun, lanced through space.
The ship fired again. Again. Again.
An explosion of light! A silent explosion like a small sun going nova.
The ship... my ship... blew up into its separate atoms. One huge flash of light, and a hundred Andalite warriors died.
WHUMMPPPFF!
A shock wave hit the dome. It was translated into sound. The grass beneath my hooves slammed up at me. A terrible rattling, shaking, heaving.
Ahhhh! Brederlin screamed. It sounded as if he was dying.
My knees buckled and I fell to the grass. Everything was spinning! Wildly, out of control! I could feel the artificial gravity weaken. The stabilizers had failed. Then, so did the artificial gravity.
The dome was falling. Falling out of orbit.
The dome slid down the gravity well, end over end, taking Brederlin and me with it. I lost count of how many trees I smacked into, how many times I tumbled from clear dome to grassy earth to dome again. We fell down toward the blue planet. Red-hot glowing atmosphere turned the sky above me - no, below - no, beside - the sky that could not hold still to fire. Emergency engines kicked in with a big WHOOSH!, but they could only slow the descent, not stop it. Especially since they kicked in while they were above the ship, and shot us faster toward the water.
The dome hurtled at shocking speed down and down through the atmosphere. Down toward the sparkling sea.
Crrr-UUUUUSSSSHHH!
The dome hit water! Boiling, steaming water rushed over the dome. We were sinking! Sinking beneath the ocean of the blue planet. I was powerless. Terrified.
Later, I found that I was also alone.
After an eternity, the dome crunched heavily onto the ocean floor. Looking up, I could barely see the surface of the water a hundred feet or more over the top of the dome.
I climbed shakily to my four hooves. My entire right side ached terribly. My left hurt even worse. My right stalk-eye refused to budge, much less focus. I was standing on a vast, open plain that was a piece of my own planet. A blue-green park, hidden deep beneath an alien sea.
Brederlin wasn't so lucky. He lay on two separate ends of the dome. I could not bury him beneath the soil; there were important components down there. In the end, I was forced to remember as much of the Death of a Comrade Ritual as I could, and jettison him. I will always feel the guilt from that. It will follow me to my own grave, which I desperately hope it will be drier.
And there I waited for weeks. I sent out thought-speak cries to Arbron. I knew he would save me... if he still lived.
But in the end, it was not Arbron who found me. It was five of those funny-looking creatures from this planet. Five "humans", as they call themselves.
They were the ones who told me of Arbron's last minutes of life. He had broken Andalite law and custom by giving these humans the power to morph. I was shocked, but tried to control it. I know that Arbron did nothing without truly feeling it was right. I admired him for that.
Those humans had witnessed Arbron's death. His cold-blooded murder, by the Yeerk overlord: Visser Three.
Visser Three, who slaughtered my helpless, wounded mentor, my greatest friend.
Visser Three, the only Yeerk to ever infest and control an Andalite body, and keep it.
Visser Three, known to all Andalites as the Abomination. The only Andalite-controller.
He had killed Arbron, and I had inherited a terrible burden. Arbron had no sons, no relations of his own. His closest relation was a cousin back on the homeworld. But Arbron was like family to me. He was the closest I had come to having a brother, with Elfangor dead. By Andalite custom, I would have been required to avenge my brother's death.
Someday I would kill Visser Three.
It was a bit of a shock to find that Elfangor wasn't dead, as Arbron had told us. Arbron had said Elfangor died in battle. He didn't say that Elfangor had run away from that battle, to live the life of a lesser species. To raise a daughter, a girl who quickly became my shorm. I suppose there were reasons Elfangor stayed on Earth. Reasons I can never understand.
True, thanks to him, the Animorphs were able to pinpoint where I was. Thanks to him, I am able to learn from one with experience how to appear human and still be Andalite. Thanks to him, I have been able to accept the loyalties I feel to both peoples now.
But mostly, it is thanks to him that Toniya exists, and I can never thank him enough for that.
I don't know what to think of Elfangor, really....
CHAPTER 18
Axel
One moment, Elfangor was driving his car. I was sitting between Diane and the passenger side door, while Maria sat between Elfangor and Diane. Behind me, Chris held Toniya in his lap. On the opposite side of the car from me, Rachel was doing the same to Tobias. Between Chris and Rachel sat my counterpart.
The next moment, Chris was replaced by his counterpart, as was Elfangor.
Unfortunately, Elfangor's counterpart consisted of nothing but invisibly small molecules.
This was unfortunate, not only because it meant that no one was driving the car, but also because Maria can not just not drive, she has a tendency of wracking up casualties when she does.
The last time, it was trashcans.
The good news, in that respect, was that there wasn't a trashcan in sight.
The bad news was, we were on a six-lane highway going close to sixty miles an hour, and we were not in the lane closest to the side.
I always try to see every side of a problem.
Unfortunately, this problem had more bad sides than good.
"Does anyone know how to drive?" Diane screamed.
"I can do it!" Maria screamed back, sliding over into Elfangor's seat. "I can drive!"
"Like hell you can!" Rachel snapped from the back seat. "I know how Marco drives, and you're just Marco in a skirt!"
"I am not!" Maria managed to steer back into our own lane.
I can drive.
I glanced over the seat. "Toniya?"
Dad taught me on this thing. I can do it.
"You're telling me that we've got eight kids in this car, and the only one who can drive is a hawk?!" Diane pointed out - in a rather rude scream aimed at my ear, I might add. "What are you going to steer with, your beak?"
I can morph out. No way we're going to live long with Maria at the wheel!
"It's hard to concentrate with you guys complaining!" Maria snapped as she drove straight through a red signal light. "How do we get to Chris' from here?"
"Put the top up," Cassie, Chris' counterpart, said. She put Tobias on the floor. "Someone put the top up, so Toniya can morph human! Maria, try pulling to the side of the road."
"Signal, signal!" Diane cried. She slapped a switch next to the steering column. A light blinked on the dashboard.
"I was going to!" Maria snapped. She looked over her shoulder, turning the wheel so that she started drifting left when she wished to move right.
"Maria, stop it!" Diane screamed. "I'll hold the wheel. You look. When it's clear, I'll steer."
"I can do this!" Maria hissed.
"Maria, you have proven that you cannot," I pointed out. "What Diane suggests is logical. However, to prevent further argument, I will look out. Diane, raise the roof." I rolled down my window and stuck my head out the opening. The human driving the car beside me made a rude gesture with his hand. I returned it with one hand while using the other to steady myself. Humans eyes are lame, because they only see in one direction.
"Oh my God," Cassie breathed from the back seat.
"Did Axel just give somebody the finger?" Rachel asked, sounding just as surprised.
"He fits right in, doesn't he?" Maria asked tightly.
"What finger?" my counterpart asked.
Not now, Ax! Tobias replied sharply.
The roof jerked upward from where it was folded down. It began to unfold, drawing up vertically. "Wait - isn't it illegal to drive while putting up the top?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know, I don't care," Maria replied. "Damn it, Ax-man, is it clear yet?"
"Wait," I replied. "Okay, it's safe. Quickly!"
The wheels of the car screeched as Maria swerved into the right lane. She hit the signal switch again, pulling over fully. All of us jerked forward as she stepped far too hard on the brake.
"Maria, you're the reason they make seat belts!" Diane snapped.
"We're alive, aren't we?" Maria retorted, turning on the high beams in an attempt to find the emergency lights. "The car's still whole, isn't it?"
"It won't be if you leave the high beams on," Diane replied sharply. She turned off the headlights, then reached under the steering column, where the emergency lights' switch was located. She turned the key in the ignition, putting it on the setting which allows the lights to work but the engine to be off.
"Okay, put Tonni in the front," Rachel said.
"Sorry about this," Cassie told Toniya as she raised her above the front seat.
No problem. I turned around in my seat to carefully take Toniya from Cassie. I passed her to Diane, who passed her to Maria, who squeezed over farther to the right and placed Toniya on the seat. "This isn't too insane," Maria muttered. "We're on the side of the open road, going to be driven out to the country by a hawk turning into a girl who isn't any more old-enough-to-drive than I am."
"She can drive," Rachel pointed out.
"Mere details," Maria retorted.
Meanwhile, Toniya began to morph into her human body. Her size came first - or, should I say, her legs' size. Her legs shot downward, her talons shoving against the pedals.
"Aren't you glad I turned off the ignition?" Diane asked everyone smugly.
"Of course we are," Maria mumbled.
Toniya's talons shrunk into human feet, while as the rest of her finally began to change. Her wings grew substantially faster, however: Maria soon had a mouthful of feathers. "'onyee, st'ppit!" she whined, pushing at Toniya's suddenly six-foot long wing.
You think I want your dirty mouth all over my wing? Toniya grumbled in reply. I'm not Chris, for crying out loud! I can't get my butt to do one morph and my non-existent fingers to do another while my head does a third! I'm just as good as you are at this, Maria, which means what happens, happens, and everybody just shut up already!
"What's got your tailfeathers in a knot?" Diane asked.
Maria smirked. "Probably the fact that her fat human butt is sitting on them."
Shut up, Toniya snapped. Bad enough that 'fat human butt' ripped them all out without you making jibes about it.
The rest of us burst out laughing. It was nervous laughter, of course. What we were doing was dangerous - not to mention the fact that Elfangor might reappear at any time. I did not want to think what would happen to Toniya if her father suddenly appeared on top of her.
Toniya's hands appeared at the end of her wings. She still couldn't hold the steering wheel, because her arms were too long, and they bent in the wrong direction. Then they bent in the correct direction, but remained too long. Her legs lost their scaly quality. Her wings began losing their feathers, baring a pair of six-foot long human arms. They began to shrink even as Toniya reached her full height.
Flashing lights pulled up behind us.
"Gah!" Maria shrieked. She turned over to look over the front seat. "We're about to get checked out!"
"Hurry it up, Tonni!" Diane hissed.
Do you think I haven't been hurrying? Toniya demanded.
"Nobody panic," Cassie suggested.
"Shut up," Diane told her.
It'd been fine if my head would change! Toniya complained. Her arms were still a little long, but otherwise, she was correct: her head remained hawk-like, with a huge gray beak and an even bigger black crest.
"Maybe we can bluff our way through this," Diane said hurriedly. "Tonni, can you still see?"
Yeah, so?
"Stop morphing," Maria said, "start the engine, and figure it out for yourself."
Oh, shit.
"She figured it out," Diane smirked.
"That police officer could be a Controller!" Rachel snapped. She glanced sideways, out her window. We could get serious trouble for this! she snapped in thought-speak. Just drive!
No, Tobias said. It might work.
It had better! Toniya snapped. And it had better work before they take Dad's license number!
The officer knocked on the window next to Toniya with his knuckle. "Everything all right in there?" he asked.
Everyone buckled? Toniya asked.
"Let's do it!" Rachel said. I glanced in the rear-view mirror. She was grinning.
Were it not for Cassie's petrified expression, I would have simply assumed this to appeal to a human female's sense of adventure, considering the examples of human females I am constantly exposed to. Perhaps Cassie lacked such a sense. Tobias, my counterpart, and I were showing some very natural Andalite skepticism.
Here we go! Toniya replied. She rolled down her tinted window and looked the officer straight in the eye - and blinked.
"Skeeeeeeeeeer yeeea, oiiiiiiaaaaar!" she screeched.
The officer looked at her for a long moment.
A moment that ended with the officer screaming.
Floor it! Tobias, Rachel, Diane, and Maria screamed all at once.
Toniya slammed her foot on the gas pedal. The wheels squealed as the car shot forward. She swerved smoothly into traffic. It's actually easier to drive this way, she said, rolling up her window. Maria, care to steer while I finish up? You can steer, can't you?
"Haven't I proved myself there?" Maria retorted, taking the wheel.
Good, because I'm not feeling well.
"What's wrong?" Diane demanded. "That was awesome!"
Did anyone else feel any sort of bump?
"Maybe a little," Rachel replied. "Why?"
I think I ran over his toes.
"What did you say to the police officer, Toniya?" I asked.
She sighed as the last of her beak became her nose and mouth. "Now that I have a mouth meant to say it," she replied, "I won't."
"Why not?" my counterpart asked, as curious as I was about the matter.
"Because then I'd have to wash my mouth out with soap."
"I do not understand," my counterpart said.
"I don't think we're meant to," I assured him.
CHAPTER 19
Ax
Toniya, by my understanding, was a far better driver than Maria. Of course, as I was hardly exposed to Maria's driving - and what I had seen, though lacking finesse, was adequate - I could only trust the babble of the humans.
"Maria, you are the reason they make seat belts," Diane said for the seventh time. "I swear, if you ever get behind the wheel of anything again, somebody else better have the keys!"
"From now on, Maria is not allowed to be the one sitting next to the driver," Toniya suggested. She slowed to make a right turn. "I'm sorry, Maria, but I can tell you, video games are nothing compared to the real thing."
"For one, you're not supposed to hit anything," Rachel said.
"For another, we're alive. Isn't that what matters?" Cassie asked.
"I can't believe I ran over his toes," Toniya moaned. Like Diane, she seemed prone to repeating the same thing. I suppose it is a human fear reaction, to repeat a word or phrase in order to prove to yourself that you are alive.
As my counterpart and I have agreed, humans are incredibly illogical. We had a very interesting conversation on the topic. Of course, it would have been even more interesting if he hadn't taken it as a joke. It seems there can be drastic differences, even in Andalite counterparts. Perhaps not as drastic as those in human ones, I suppose, but still, quite noticeable and sometimes very annoying.
Toniya drove the car to Cassie's driveway and stopped. "I'm going to try to drop this at home," she said. "Who wants to be back-up?"
An argument ensued, one which ended with Diane and Rachel dragging Maria out of the car and Diane and my counterpart leaving with Toniya.
Maria muttered various complaints to herself as we walked down the driveway.
"Oh, stop it," Rachel interrupted her. "If you drove much longer we'd've all been dead."
"I'm not Marco," Maria said. "I don't hate trashcans."
So you hit mailboxes instead? Tobias teased her. He was perched on Rachel's arm.
"No..." Maria's face turned slightly red. "...I hit trashcans."
We walked into the barn. It was somewhat different from Cassie's: it was more neatly organized, but more crowded as well. The cages were organized differently. Where there were two turkeys in Cassie's barn, there were two swans.
There were also further differences with animals. Differences that extended much farther than simple changes in what animal was placed where.
"What is this?" Cassie exclaimed, bending down to look into a cage that had held a squirrel in our own universe. Instead it was a creature of about the same size, but more maroonish in color than gray. Its tail was three feet long, a thick brush of wiry fur. It had long, sharp ears, like an odd mix of a cat's pair of ears and the ears of a rabbit. It had a rat-like snout and sharp golden eyes. One of its thin forelegs was in a cast. It had five short fingers and a very workable thumb per paw. "How cute!"
"Careful - skirls have a very painful bite," Maria said.
"I mentioned the problem between squirrels and skirls," Rachel said. "They showed me around here. They've got some cool animals that we don't." She pointed to a cage which, in Cassie' barn, had held a wolf. "That's a wolfbane cub."
We looked in the cage. The creature was about the size of a full-grown wolf, and had a similar canine appearance and coloring.
"This is a cub?" Cassie whispered, awed.
"That's a runt," Maria snorted, looking at Cassie in a peculiar way. "A pipsqueak. What, you have no big dogs where you're from?"
"Saint Bernards aren't big?" Rachel asked.
Maria laughed. "Those? Big?" She continued laughing for some time.
Rachel and Cassie traded what I believe were worried glances.
I guess if cats can get big, why can't dogs? Tobias asked. Why not birds?
"What's the biggest bird here?" Cassie asked.
"Here in the barn? I haven't noticed. In this Earth? Emu."
"Smaller than the ostrich," Cassie said. "Similar, but smaller."
That's not fair, Tobias said, sounding offended. I believe he meant it in jest. Dogs get to be bigger, but not birds? Hmph!
"Ostrich?" Maria echoed. She frowned. "Since when was an ostrich a bird?"
"This is giving me a headache," Rachel moaned, rubbing her forehead.
"I admit that it drains my patience as well," I said. "We have a larger problem than differences in animal species."
Maria sighed. "Of all things in heaven and hell, why did Andalites have to remain the same?" She winked one eye at me, to show that she didn't mean offense.
I was not offended. I knew she was wrong.
My counterpart and I... the Elfangor I remembered, and this Elfangor here... we were different from each other. Far different.
Perhaps we were not different in the same way as the humans, but, in many ways, we had changed even more.
CHAPTER 20
Ax
My counterpart and I ran together through the woods.
It felt odd, having someone run beside me after all this time. Stranger, even, that it should be myself. A different version of myself, perhaps, but, still, myself.
That, perhaps, was what was most discomforting about this situation. There were two of me. Andalites believe every person, every individual, to be utterly unique. No two grains of sand are the same; neither are people.
True, there were definite differences in my counterpart and I. Our senses of humor, for example.
But the fact still remained that we were, in fact, the same person. It was a fact that could not be changed, or refuted. The Andalite that ran beside me was myself. I was alone with myself, and yet I was not alone, because I was there.
It was enough to talk oneself in circles.
You're giving me a headache, my counterpart said.
I looked at him with one stalkeye, a little startled. We hadn't spoken a word since leaving the others in Chris' barn. While there, the skirl had changed into its squirrel counterpart. Maria had been unable to stop laughing at it, not even to explain why she found it so humorous. Toniya found no such mirth in the creature. Diane merely gave it a skeptical look before sitting by the wolfbane cub.
How so? I asked.
He slowed to a stop, placing a hand on an oak tree. I keep thinking myself in circles, he replied. I don't know what to think of you. Are you me, or are you not? Are you simply another person named Aximili, or are you me? Are you me? he asked me directly. Do you think I am you?
I considered it. I... I do not believe so, I said slowly, because I was uncertain. We seem to be different people...
... but we're not, he finished. You see? Our personalities differ, but within we are the same. We follow each others thoughts. If we morphed... our relations proved that even morphs are paralleled. There is no escaping our connection, Aximili. We are the same person. He smiled slightly. We're unique, just like everyone else, he added in a wry voice.
Indeed, I agreed grimly.
He looked upward, toward the stars, his smile fading. This problem eludes me completely, he said. I wish we had paid more attention that day, don't you?
Yes.
Of course you do. You don't have to vocalize your agreement with everything I say, Aximili. It is what you would be saying if I were not saying it, isn't it?
I was about to reply, but decided against it. I didn't feel like iring my counterpart. There was no point in getting on my own nerves.
He sighed. Something about it seems just out of reach, he said, his voice softer, more urgent. Some part that we are missing.
It is like mist that should be ice, I agreed. We should be able to grasp it, but it isn't solid.
Mist... His eyes widened. Mist!
He'd thought of something! What is it?
Mist, he said once more, then groaned. It slipped away, he muttered. I almost had it. Something... something about mist. Or fog.
I concentrated as hard as I could. Mist, vapor, fog... nothing. Nothing was coming to mind. Anything else? I urged him. He had to remember what it was that had crossed his mind!
Only... fog, he replied, disgusted with himself. Something about fog. At first the thought seemed silly, then suddenly made sense. Then it was gone, before I firmly had it.
We've proven that Sario Rips may be closed by avoiding, or negating, what occurred first, I said.
I know, he replied. First with our prince's death, then by repeating the radioactive explosion. But what is it that we'd have to negate? What is the bridge between the worlds? What is the same in both?
I sighed, scoffing at the ground. He did the same.
It's going to be foggy tonight, he muttered quietly. It'll be hard to see anything.
I didn't reply. He was right. We had to figure out what linked the two universes. What was unchanged? The universe was changing in bits and pieces. What bits weren't changed?
The solar system seemed to be intact - after all, there had been no change in gravitational pull or weather, only the time differential.
Around us, the grass shifted without a wind as individual blades switched places.
Maria?
I looked at my counterpart. What about Maria?
She and... no. He shook his head slightly. Nevermind. I was just trying to figure out what hadn't changed. Maria and Marco do not seem to have ever switched places. But switching is all relative. There's no telling who is in what universe anymore. Too many changes are happening at once.
Perhaps we are thinking too broad-range, I said. Perhaps we should focus smaller. There is a human saying - 'the best place to hide something is in plain sight'.
Yes, I know, he replied harshly. I know! I know what you know, Aximili. I just wish I knew what you didn't!
So don't I, I agreed. It would make things simpler, wouldn't it?
He chuckled in reply. I seem to be rubbing off on you, he said, smiling slightly. Your sarcasm is getting better.
Each person is their best role model, I replied.
We shared a slight, bitter smile.
The smile faded at the same time.
If we focus small... I began.
... if we focus on Earth,... he continued.
... if we considered the one thing that is not different ...
... if we're right ...
It was my turn to speak. ... then it's us, I finished.
Good theory, he said. Better than none.
But what are we supposed to do, if we are the focal point?
I'm just as clueless as myself, he replied bitterly.
As am I, I said, my own voice just as bitter.
Rotten theory.
Worse than none at all.
Rather selfish, as well.
Very immature of us.
We're acting like a pair of silly arisths.
A silly pair of clueless arisths.
This is also very immature.
What is?
Attempting to get the last word.
I am doing no such thing.
Yes I am.
Perhaps you are. I'm not.
You are me. Therefore, if I am, you are.
I tried to come up with an answer to that, but found myself unable to.
My counterpart smiled. Gotcha, he said.
CHAPTER 21
Axel
"G'morning, Jack."
"Morning, Maria. Morning, Cassie."
"Good morning, everybody."
"Does anyone know what barn this is?"
"I'll go check."
"Cassie, what are you going to do if it isn't your barn?"
"Since when were you awake, Rich?"
"I've been awake for two hours already. Good morning to you too, Maria."
Good morning, everyone.
"Hey, Tonni. Where's Tobias?"
He's still looking for breakfast.
"Lucky him. I'm starving."
Would you like a nice juicy rat, Rachel?
"That's okay. I'll pass."
"Oh, God, I feel like my back has cracked in two."
"Be glad it hasn't."
"I'm glad it hasn't. I'm not sure it's glad, though."
"I think we have orders for eggs, sausage, and aspirin for everybody."
"Hey, who's that?"
"Maria left. Now Mario's here."
"Mario?"
"Diane, this is Marco."
"Sorry."
"What's the headcount?"
I climbed carefully up into the hayloft. It was quite crowded.
On one side, Jack, Diane, Cassie, and Marco were sitting down. On the other, Rich was sitting on a bale of hay. Tonni was behind me, in the rafters.
"Good morning," Cassie said, addressing me.
"It is morning," I agreed, "but I would assume there was very little good about it, from the complaints I have overheard."
"The headcount isn't good," Diane said. "We have Jack, Rich, Tonni, Cassie, Marco, Axel, and me. Tobias is supposedly out hunting, Jake, Al, Chris, and Ax are unaccounted for, and Maria and Rachel just disappeared."
"So half of us are here," Marco said. "And half is either unaccounted for or enjoying life in the other universe."
"This is really giving me a headache," Rich muttered. "We figure out a time frame, so what? How can we figure out the difference now if everyone just pops in and out?"
"Marco, what time was it when you crossed to here?" I asked.
He shrugged a little. "The only difference I noticed was that I was suddenly on the girl's side of the barn. Elfangor suggested we all stick to one spot unless anything earth shattering comes up. It's safer to just stick to one spot - especially one far from the road."
"Sounds like our universe caught up," Jack said.
"Indeed," I agreed. "If there is no notable change, then we have reached a one-to-one scenario."
"What's that?" Cassie asked.
I shrugged slightly. "I don't know," I replied, embarrassed. "I remember my teacher mentioning it, but I don't remember what it means."
"I remember. Sort of."
Jack crawled to the ladder to give my counterpart some help. He was more awkward on two legs than I; getting his limbs to work together in order to climb the ladder must have been difficult. I could tell that he was glad for the assistance. "I do not remember what this form of anomaly is called," he said, sitting down between Jack and Marco. Deciding that I no longer wanted to be the only one standing, I sat beside Cassie. Toniya flew over to stand beside me, then folded her legs beneath herself. Only Rich remained apart from us. "It is related to a Sario Rip, but I did not understand it."
"A singularity?" I suggested cautiously. Was that the word he was looking for?
"Yes! A temporal singularity," my counterpart agreed. "A rip in space-time through which objects can pass. Usually they are no larger than the size of a baseball. Andalite scientists created some in laboratories."
"You speak of skimming space," I said, disturbed.
"Skimming space?" Marco echoed. "Like skim milk?"
"More like skipping a flat rock on water," my counterpart said. "S-space technology is merely theory for now."
"A theory which scientists hope to use in order to maximize efficiency with travel," I said. "According to theory, it is possible to get from Z-space to another plane of existence - the surface of the water, to use the same metaphor. It would be possible to separate a vessel from space-time completely, and 'surf' over it."
"Instantaneous travel," my counterpart said. "The ability to get from one portion of space to another instantly, by completely leaving time-space."
"You lost me," Rich said, shaking his head.
"Imagine that space-time is a lake," I said. "Imagine also that a ship is a stone, the flat side of the stone is S-space technology, and Z-space is speed. Now, the theory is that Z-space engines could send a ship into Z-space - to use the metaphor, throw the stone. Activating S-space technology would be like assuring the flat side of the stone collides with the water of the lake - that is, time-space."
"The problem is ironic," my counterpart said.
"Ironic?" Jack echoed. "How?"
"S-space technology remains limited to teleportation within a five-foot space," I said, "because timing is a critical factor."
"Timing?" Cassie echoed. "I thought you said time had nothing to do with it."
"It is not a matter of true time," my counterpart explained. "No matter when you enter S-space, when you leave, it will be the exact time you left. However, in theory, those on board the vessel would still be affected by virtual time - that time would still seem to pass by."
"Just because you've thrown the stone," I said, "doesn't mean the water doesn't move. There is a rotation to the stone. That rotation is virtual time, just as, if a space station spins fast enough, it creates its own virtual gravity."
"So what's this got to do with everything?" Rich demanded impatiently.
"I failed S-space scenarios," my counterpart said, addressing me.
"As did I," I admitted, "and they did not teach it when Elfangor went to school."
"Focus, Axies," Diane snapped.
"S-space scenarios involved virtual time, which is measured in statistical deviations," my counterpart said.
Virtual time, Toniya translated, is measured against real time. It's not measured in minutes or hours - it's measured by how much faster or slower it is than real time. Then, as an afterthought, she added, They taught virtual-space, but not anything about S-space.
"So what's that mean?" Marco asked. "One of our universes isn't real?"
Both my counterpart and I shook our heads. We shared a glance. You want to say it? I asked him.
I do not look forward to it.
Fine, then. I sighed. "What we mean to say is that the S-space barrier between our universes is dying."
"In theory," my counterpart added.
The humans were silent. Then Marco swiped his hand over his head. "Whoosh," he said.
"Whoosh?" my counterpart echoed.
"Whoosh," Rich agreed. "Totally over our heads."
Jack frowned. "What you're saying," she said slowly, "is that one of our universes is like the surface of a lake, and the other is the ground underneath the lake, and the lake is drying up?"
"Could we kill the metaphors and just use English?" Marco pleaded.
"We theorize that S-space separated our universes," I said. "S-space is limited to a five-foot area in tests because objects sent through tended to change. A tame kafit bird came back with six wings and without training. A lewak branch returned a leedra root. The changes occurred one in six experiments."
My counterpart looked at me oddly. Kafit birds have six wings.
Eight, I corrected him.
"So they'd get the counterpart when they were in between seconds?" Cassie asked.
"In our universe," my counterpart said, "the changes occurred five of six experiments."
"That's because you don't understand S-space," a voice called up from below.
Jack and Cassie both hurried to look down. "Who's that?" Jack hissed between her teeth.
Cassie smiled. "It's okay. It's Erek."
"He's a friend," Jake agreed.
CHAPTER 22
Ax
It was a double relief to have Prince Jake replace Rachel's counterpart.
"Why'd Jake replace Rich?" Marco asked, after introductions were made and what we had figured out had been discussed. Various changes had occurred, but suddenly we had the same people that we had when we first introduced each other. There had been an awkward silence when a boy Marco introduced as Gregory appeared for a few moments. Erek began to speak the moment Gregory was replaced by Rachel.
"Jake can replace Rich because the Jacqueline Rip has gotten extremely out-of-hand," he said grimly. He unzipped the bookbag he had brought with him. Taking out a brown paper bag, he threw it to Marco, who caught it.
"What's this?" Marco asked. He opened the bag - and his mouth fell open. "Erek, I love you, man, have I ever told you that?" he asked, grinning. He pulled a bagel out of the bag. "I love anybody who brings me breakfast."
Erek finished handing each of us a bag before speaking again. By that time, Maria had reappeared. "One other thing before I explain," Erek said. "Jake, Marco, your duplicates - may I see you for a moment?"
The five of them stood apart for a moment as Erek spoke to them, quickly and quietly. Finally, he held out his left hand. First Prince Jake shook his hand, jumping slightly as he did so. Then Jack, followed by Maria and Marco, did the same. Maria and Marco both looked at their hands suspiciously as they rejoined the rest of us. "That stung," Maria muttered as she sat down.
Jack sat down beside her. "Our friend is going to determine exactly how different we are while explaining my Rip," she said.
Erek sat beside me. Prince Jake and Marco sat between Cassie and Maria. The oblong circle was complete, because Diane and my counterpart sat between me and Maria. No one commented on Toniya's disappearance. "The Pemalites - the creators of the Chee - dabbled in S-space," Erek began. "They realized that, unlike real space, S-space and zero-space are not contained in one place. Your lake metaphor is a good idea, but not accurate." He smiled slightly. "S-space," he said, "is like the slices of bread in an infinite sandwich."
"You understand that you would be dead right now if you hadn't brought food," Maria pointed out, taking a bite out of her bagel.
Erek chuckled before continuing. "S-space is surrounded by Z-space, which separates it from real space. It can also be said that S-space surrounds Z-space, which surrounds normal space. It's like a sandwich with S-space being the bread, real space being the turkey, and Z-space making up two slices of lettuce on either side of the turkey. Whichever way you want to put it, that is what a universe looks like.
"Reality, per se, is determined by which universe you are in. We're not talking about a sandwich that goes up and down - it goes left, right, diagonal, in every direction, to infinity."
"My kind of sandwich," Marco said, ginning.
"But, always, real space is surrounded by Zero-space which is surrounded by S-space which is surrounded by various sections of Zero-space which surround the same amount of real spaces... you get the idea. Because it's always on the outside, so to speak, the Pemalites called it surrounding space - S-space, for short. S-space acts as a buffer between universes, keeping them apart. Spacial anomalies tear through the S-space, using it to create a boomerang effect - it slings an object out of space-time and back into it without being effected by real-time."
"Where does virtual time come in?" Jack asked.
"It isn't important," Erek assured us. "What's important is that Andalite haven't been entering S-space - they've been tunneling through it." He looked at my counterpart and myself. "How did you keep track of what you sent 'into' S-space?"
"Molecular code," my counterpart replied. I was glad he had known; I hadn't.
Erek nodded. "Doomed to failure," he said bluntly. "As Jake, Jack, Marco, and Maria prove, counterparts are molecularly identical, right down to their genetic codes."
"That's impossible!" Maria cried.
"No way," Marco agreed. "How can all our chromosomes be the same?"
"Humans have forty-six chromosomes to determine genetic code," Erek said, sounding vaguely bored.
"Only forty-six?" my counterpart echoed.
"Let him talk," Jack said.
"Forgive me," he apologized.
Erek nodded slightly. "The two chromosomes that determine sex are known as 'x' and 'y' chromosomes. Two 'x' chromosomes make humans one sex, one 'x' and one 'y' make them another."
"Stop with the first year biology lesson and speak in English, please?" Maria pleaded.
"You and Marco, and Jack and Jake, are exactly the same," Erek said. "Right down to the fact that all four of you have one 'x' chromosome and one 'y' chromosome."
There was another long silence, before Jack finally spoke. "How is that possible?" she asked quietly.
"It's possible, because the genetic information on the 'x' and 'y' chromosomes are different. The molecules, though the same, are organized differently."
"So humans aren't unique where you're from, huh?" Maria asked Marco.
"What are you talking about?" he asked in return.
"Where we're from," Jack began, "only humans a-"
"-go crazy," Rich finished, as he appeared in Jack's place.
"I'd believe that," Marco quipped.
"Humans are unique because we're one of only two animals in which two 'x' chromosomes makes a male and an 'x' and a 'y' chromosome makes a female," Maria finished explaining. "It only happens in humans and chimpanzees."
"Not here," Jake said. "Here, we're just like everything else."
"So now we know why we have a Luke-and-Leia thing going on here..." Marco said.
"Who?" Rich asked.
A look of complete shock came over Marco's face. "You don't have Star Wars?" he exclaimed.
"Oh, yeah!" Maria said, nodding. "I read that series. It was kind of cool. It'd probably make a cool set of movies."
Prince Jake gripped Marco's arm. He was smiling slightly. "Marco, easy. Take deep breaths. It's okay."
"They don't have Star Wars, Jake," Marco said, her voice quiet and shaking. "No wonder everything's so different there. They don't have Star Wars."
Maria crossed her arms, her expression appearing pained. "You're totally cool about me," she grumbled, "but you're freaking over nine stupid movies?"
"Four awesome movies," Prince Jake replied. "And don't feel jealous - Marco had already done plenty of freaking about you long before he met you."
Marco rolled his eyes. I realized then that he had been joking again.
Erek cleared his throat. "Your conclusion seems sound," he said, returning to our primary subject. "It appears as if the stream of S-space between our universes is breaking down. The one-to-one ratio suggests that it has worn out completely in at least one area. That's why we're moving in the same time frame."
"How do we stop this, Erek?" Prince Jake asked.
Erek sighed softly. "We're trying to locate the point of contact," he said. "It's what allows the instantaneous transferal. What we assume," he explained, "is that there has always been a hole in the S-space between our universes, allowing slight incongruencies to occur."
"What sort of 'incongruencies'?" I asked.
Erek shrugged. "Anybody ever morph some animal they didn't acquire? Did anyone ever use thought-speak out of morph?"
"We can do that anyway," Rich said.
"I can't think of anything like that," Marco said. Prince Jake shrugged slightly.
"We think something happened that started to make the hole get both bigger, and deeper. More noticeable. More dangerous."
"A tumor," Maria said.
"Yes," he agreed. "The Jacqueline Rip is truly a tumor in S-space which is allowing our universes to drain into one another. That leaves three possibilities."
"Not the three doors again," Diane grumbled.
"The least likely is that the hole will close on itself. Since we think it's always been there, we doubt it will ever do that. We believe it will either continue to grow, or simply stop. If it continues, our universes are going to merge completely. If it does not, the universes will reach an equilibrium."
What's that supposed to mean? Tobias asked. He had appeared on the rafters. I assume someone had explained what he had missed in private thought-speak.
"It means that the jumping back and forth will stop," Erek replied, "but only when half of each universe is on each side of the hole."
We were quiet as we assimilated this. While we were quiet, Jake appeared in Erek's place while Erek himself disappeared, Tobias disappeared, Maria abruptly moved from sitting in the hayloft to sitting where Tobias had been on the rafters, Rich and I traded positions without moving our legs at all, and Diane was replaced by a rat.
The rat looked, wild-eyed, at each of us, one at a time.
What the fuck is going on here? it shrieked.
CHAPTER 23
Axel
It took several lunges, four bleeding fingers, and two pairs of people trading universes before Cassie finally managed to snag the rat's tail, then grip it by the scruff of the neck. "Sorry," she whispered softly.
Get the hell off of me! the rat screamed. Get off of me, you witch! You monster! You bitch! Get off me! Get off! Let me go!
Diane abruptly replaced Maria. She looked at the rat, startled. "Who the hell is that?" she demanded.
"He is you," my counterpart replied coldly.
Diane's eyes widened, and she stared at the rat again. "Th... that's David?"
The rat twisted in Cassie's grip, looking at Diane - and abruptly stopped struggling. Who are you? he asked, sounding dazed.
Diane's chin started to wobble. She took a shaky step backwards. "They did it," she whispered in an unsteady voice. "They really did it." Tears stung at her eyes. "Oh God, oh God, that's what you would have done to me." Her green eyes turned on Rich, hatred blazing like flame. "That's what you wanted to do to me?!" she demanded, her voice cracking. "You wanted to make me a rat?!" Rich didn't say anything. Diane sat down on a bale of hay quite suddenly. She covered her face with her hands. "A rat," she mumbled into her hands. "A rat. A rat."
Again, the repetition. Humans are odd creatures. Very different from Andalites. When something upsets me, I try to put it out of my mind: I don't repeat it, over and over. Also, when I'm upset, I seek solitude to sort out the exact reason I feel that way. Humans seek the company of others. They often seek physical contact. Andalites, although just as social as human beings, appreciate more personal space.
Still, I have been among humans long enough to understand. While Jake and Marco attempted to get a cage, I sat beside Diane and put my arm around her shoulders, and simply remained quiet. This gesture has a comforting effect on humans. It is shown on many of the television shows I watch in my scoop.
There was a loud crash below. My counterpart looked over the edge of the hayloft. "Rachel replaced Marco," he reported. "I do not believe that she had been on the ladder, however. Her landing was softened by the fact that she fell on top of Prince Jake."
In spite of herself, Diane giggled. She took her hands off her face and sat up a little straighter. She glanced uncomfortably at me. "Get away from me, freak," she muttered. I stood and moved away from her. Diane is extremely independent: she no longer means any malice by calling me that derogative. I believe she continues to use it from sheer habit. I am aware that I make her somewhat uncomfortable: she has not had the same amount of exposure to life with another intelligent species as the others have. She has yet to adjust.
She glared at Rich again, but her scowl did not break in order to say anything further. His own frown was aimed at the floor. Then it disappeared as he was replaced by Toniya. This is getting seriously annoying, she complained.
"Well, we know we're stuck until the Chee find where the hole is," Jake said, placing a small cage on the hayloft floor, in order to make the rest of his climb up the ladder easier. He opened the door. "Come on, Cassie."
The rat - David - took one look at the cage and started to squirm again. No! he screamed. No! No! Don't put me in there! Please! He twisted to look at Diane again. Please! Don't let them do it! Stop them! Help me!
Diane stared at him. "I don't know you," she muttered. "Maybe I did, but I don't now." She bowed her head and closed her eyes. "I don't like what I was," she murmured under her breath.
NO! David yelled, but he was helpless. He flailed his legs uselessly as Cassie lowered him into the cage. She dropped him when his feet were about two inches from the bottom of the cage, and jerked her hand out of the way as Jake slammed the door shut. No! Don't do this! Let me out!
"Shut up," Rachel snapped, climbing back into the hayloft.
"It does seem kind of cruel," Diane murmured. "I mean, putting him in two cages."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel demanded.
"Nothing, to you," Diane replied tonelessly.
Rachel was about to rant when she was replaced by Elfangor.
"I think we all need some air," Jake said, sighing. "I know I do."
"I am hungry," I said. "Aren't you, Aximili?"
He nodded slightly. "I would enjoy running. I did not sleep well last night."
"Neither did I," I agreed. "It is difficult to sleep when the trees move around you."
It wasn't long before my counterpart and I were outside once more, running through the woods in our own bodies. We were moving too fast to eat; we were simply glad to be back in our own bodies and able to run - truly run - again.
We were also glad that we did not have to listen to David plead, beg, and threaten anymore. We were far, far outside his thought-speak range.
Above us, Tobias and Toniya flew. It was nice to have the four of us together. It felt somewhat like a family reunion.
So it isn't about us after all, I kidded my counterpart.
It was a silly notion to begin with, he said. A childish idea created by minds desperate for logic in a problem of complete chaos.
Not complete, I corrected him. Just a good percentage.
The amount of this that is logical is negligible, he pointed out.
True, I agreed. I laughed. Still, it seemed like a good idea at the time, didn't it?
At one point, it made sense to humans that their world should be flat, and that the universe should rotate around their world.
I laughed. Point taken. I stumbled on a tree root I hadn't seen, but continued on. Isn't it strange, though?
This entire situation could be described as 'strange', he pointed out. What part of it are you referring to?
Not your arrogance, I hinted. He glanced at me with one stalk eye, then looked away again. The part I refer to is that we seem to remain in one place and the rest of this seems to go on without us.
That is the same selfish mindset we dismissed, he scoffed. I thought we agreed that this does not involve us anymore than it involves everyone else.
Don't tell me it has escaped you, I chided him. We watch as others disappear one at a time, or get switched, or whatever may occur. But you have to have noticed that it hasn't occurred to either of us. We watch others disappear, but have we? If we had, wouldn't more people change at once? I doubt that the entire universes have been trading places, leaving only one person untouched. It seems more logical that, for some odd reason, we are not moving. That we are stable.
An interesting notion, he admitted, but quite pointless at the same time. The changes around us are completely at random. It is pure lottery. We simply haven't been affected recently.
The only time we seem to have been affected - truly affected - is that first time, I pointed out. First we switched places, then I returned to my universe. Beyond that, everything seems to occur without us. The others come and go, but doesn't it strike you as odd that we remain here? That we should remain together while they come and go around us?
You would make a good politician, he said coldly. You seem to enjoy speaking in circles.
Doesn't it bother you? I demanded.
Yes, of course it bothers me, he replied just as sharply. As you yourself pointed out, we are one in the same. What bothers you bothers me just as much. But, unlike you, I seem able to dismiss coincidence.
I do not believe in coincidence.
That is your choice. He sped up to outdistance me. I was rather upset with him as well; he was me. Shouldn't he understand? I slowed down.
Abruptly, a tree appeared directly in front of my counterpart. There was no way for him to stop to avoid it; it appeared a foot in front of him. By the time he attempted to react he ran smack into the thing and tumbled over, hooves flailing at the air as he tried to get his bearings.
Ax-man, you okay? Tobias called down, swooping to land in the tree that had cruelly appeared in front of my counterpart. Toniya landed in a branch slightly lower than Tobias's.
I am only minorly injured, he replied stiffly, trying to hide his embarrassment. He tried to get his feet under him, but he was having difficulty, because he was literally lying on his tail.
I could imagine how painful that had to be; he was straining the tendons in his lower tail to be in that position. I hurried forward to duck down and offer him my hand. Don't try to salvage your pride, I told him privately. There was no way to avoid it. Just let me help you up; your tail must be screaming in pain.
It would be if it had the ability, he admitted, his voice sounding strained. He grabbed my wrist with his hand.
Simultaneously, we both screamed, as... as I don't know what happened. Tobias's and Toniya's screams of surprise and horror were mixed in as well, but I couldn't understand what they said. I was too busy screaming as it felt like I was torn from limb from limb, from eyestalk to tailblade.
CHAPTER 24
Ax
When I opened my eyes, I could see nothing of substance.
Around us, fog that seemed a peculiar mix of green and purple seemed to make up the entirety of existence.
Us?
Yes, us. My counterpart and I. We were both on our feet, my hand still grasping his wrist, but now it was awkward, because when I had taken hold of his wrist, I had been on my side. Now, with both of us standing up, both our arms were twisted at awkward angles. I let go of his wrist. He looked at me, seeming upset, then rolled his shoulder to make his arm more comfortable. I have missed something, he said. Have you also missed it?
I have no idea what I have missed, I admitted, but I have a strong feeling that it was very important.
As do I.
Within our heads, we heard a quiet laugh. To tell the truth, a familiar voice said, you have missed nothing at all.
Simultaneously, we turned our stalk eyes toward where the sound seemed to come from - how it seemed to come from a specific direction when it was not truly a sound at all, I will never know - then reared up on our hind legs to turn toward it more quickly.
You! I snapped.
The figure before us seemed to smile slightly. Who else would you expect, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill?
What do you have to do with this? my counterpart demanded.
The figure's apparent smile grew larger, although, in truth, it had no mouth at all. Everything, it replied in a voice almost like a feline's purr, and yet nothing at all. At least... less than you did.
Why do you the past tense? I demanded. Dread filled my hearts.
Don't you know? the figure teased us. You figured the rest of it out.
What's happened?
The figure chuckled. Its ears rotated slightly forward. We purposely placed stoppers on the hole, one on each side, it replied. Unfortunately, we chose the stoppers after they were in the same universe... it made something of a paradox, but then, this entire situation is somewhat of a paradox, isn't it? It chuckled again. The hole would remain stoppered so long as its ends did not meet. You have set everything in motion, Aximili and Aximili. Thanks to you, your universes are doomed to become one.
What are you talking about? I demanded.
Stoppers, my counterpart said. We were right! My hunch was correct!
Do not babble! I snapped at him, keeping my eyes focused on the other form with us.
I'm not, he replied sharply. I was right, Aximili. We were watching the changes go on around us. Don't you see? The Jacqueline Rip was acting as it was because the hole through S-space was blocked. That's why counterparts didn't necessarily replace each other: the blockages at each side of the hole only allowed whomever, or whatever, could slip through to slip through. Those blockages were us.
It all made sense! And it was to remain that way until the stoppers cancelled each other out, I finished grimly. Which we did, when you offered me assistance and I accepted it.
By coming into physical contact with one another, we...
... you ceased to exist, the figure finished. Then its apparent smile grew even more. But do not worry. We have use for you yet.
We? I said, surprised.
We, it agreed. But not the 'we' you think. They disappeared.
Enienek! my counterpart shouted, but it was no use.
We were alone, in nothingness.
Then, even the nothingness disappeared, as did my counterpart, as I entered complete oblivion.
to be continued....