In Endless Seas of Evergreens
By Invader Mel
Chapter 1: In the Event of an Accident...
Dib stood outside the door to his father's laboratory, tapping his fingers against the smooth wood finish, drumming a few discordant beats with a melancholy tune in mind. Beginning to whistle some high notes, he suddenly stopped tapping. He'd been waiting for at least an hour there, and Professor Membrane said he'd be back in five minutes. Wandering off into an illuminated portion of the hallway, he drifted noiselessly into the lobby, where Gaz sat playing her Gameslave 2. She looked up at him momentarily, possibly hoping for the professor to return and drive her back home, she grumbled and immediately redirected her attention to the tiny screen.
"Dad's not coming out, is he?" she asked. Her question startled Dib, for it was a rare occasion when she spoke to him without a direct or implied threat. He shook his head, looking down at his boots as he walked aimlessly through the room. His wandering brought him to take a seat next to Gaz, and she pushed him out of it. Getting back to his feet, Dib sighed and faced Gaz's direction.
"I love you, Gaz."
"Shut up." Unsure of why he said what he did, Dib smiled at her, and for a moment, he thought of what would he do if something happened to her.
'That's strange,' Dib thought. 'Why do I get the feeling that something terrible will happen?' He suspected it to be a premonition, and he wanted to hug his younger sister. The feeling was intense, but he felt frozen in his tracks. Attempting to move resulted in failure, and time slowed to a halt. Earth spinning around him, he made a blind dash forward, whichever direction that was, and made a grab for Gaz. In a flurry of noise and blurred vision, Dib heard a faint, faraway scream for help. After a moment of regaining control of his senses, he realized that the scream came from his mouth. Vaguely aware of coldness, he looked up and promptly fainted upon seeing what he thought must have been a dream.
When at last he awoke again, he felt for his glasses, prepared to see the lobby with Gaz standing over him, slapping his face. Before him, though, was nothing like what he expected to see.
"Oh...oh, no..." Instead of the lobby, what he saw was the ruins of a science lab and a barren wasteland. "No, no, no, no, NO!" To his side, he saw a dormant Gaz, her mangled Gameslave pieces strewn about; her face was cold and deathly white. Placing his hand to his face, his eyes wide, he screamed a scream of sheer horror and fell to his knees, weeping tears of defeat. As the last somber glint faded from his eyes, he leaned over Gaz and hugged her, hoping for a miracle he felt would never come.