Spectrophobia
Chapter 3

It was an uneventful night at the Blanc Base. Security guards were patrolling the hallways. Janitors were emptying garbage cans and mopping floors. The overnight crew was just beginning to come in.

His duties done for the day, Captain Gundam headed over to the elevators located in the atrium. He stepped into one of them and pressed the button for the top floor.

Between training and maintenance, he hadn't had much time to work on his pet projects during the previous week. So far, he had only been able to ask around about the mysterious mineral in Shute's mirror. Unfortunately, the Blanc Base only had three scientists with geological backgrounds, and all three of them said that they had never heard of such a substance. They also told him that they would need a sample to run tests on. Unless he could get permission to drag the mirror up here, it looked like he would have download some mineralogy software and perform another analysis on it himself. He would do that later, however; right now, he wanted to investigate something he thought was more important - that strange flea market vendor, and why his voice sounded so familiar.

The elevator reached the top floor, and Captain stepped out into a darkened hallway. Motion-sensing lights lit up as he walked past Chief Haro's empty office. At the end of the hall was a room filled with sound recording equipment. He wasn't sure why it was there, but he was grateful it was. Perhaps there were some devices inside that he could use to properly analyze the voice clips.

Just as he was about to open the door to the studio, he suddenly got a call on his personal communicator. The call was from Shute's cell phone number; he immediately accepted it.

"Hi, Captain?" Shute's voice said.

"Good evening, Shute," the Gundam replied. "Is something wrong? You are calling at such a late hour, and I believe you have school tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah, you could say that," Shute said cryptically. "Remember that mirror I bought for Mom last week?"

"Why, yes. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any useful information about the glass-like material." Captain paused. "Did something happen to it?"

"Well, it didn't break or anything like that. Are you sitting down right now?"

Captain opened the door to the studio and peeked inside. There was a swivel chair in the room, but it stood upon a single thin leg.

"Actually, I am standing up right now," he answered. "The only chair in my immediate surroundings is not built to hold my weight."

"That's okay," Shute said. "But maybe you should lean up against a wall or something...because you are not gonna believe what's going on right now!"

The air was filled with the sounds of propellers as a Gunperry descended from the sky near Shute's house. Because the house was surrounded by so many trees, the vessel could not land on the property. Instead, it had to land in a nearby field a few kilometers away. Grass and leaves flew everywhere as the Gunperry eased itself to the ground.

Inside the aircraft, Captain Gundam was seated in a steel chair, waiting for the landing to finish. Obtaining clearance to come down from the base was easier than he predicted. The SDG had already picked up the timespace anomaly but was having difficulty pinpointing its location due to its small size. After informing them about Shute's strange mirror and its very recently discovered transdimensional properties, he volunteered to contain it. His proposal was immediately approved. He also made sure to acquire clearance to use one of his battle modes and to bring some weapons; Shute said that he had heard a voice on the other side of that portal, and warned Captain to "come prepared." However, because this task was considered low risk, he was only allowed to use his default mode and to take a light beam rifle and shield.

The Gunperry's hatch opened, the door folding out into a ramp.

"We've arrived, Captain. Over," the pilot announced over the PA system.

"Roger," the Gundam replied. "This should not take long. I estimate that I will return within fifteen minutes."

Captain gathered his rifle and shield before leaving the Gunperry. Once outside, he started up his jet boosters and flew over the lightly wooded area to Shute's house. Down below, he spotted his human friend running out of the house to greet him. He looked over at the workshop and could see purple light shining out of the round windows.

"Hey! Captain! Down here!" Shute shouted, waving his arms.

The Gundam swooped down and landed on the deck. His human friend ran over to meet him. In the dim light of the outdoor lamps, Captain noticed that Shute's complexion looked a shade paler, and that he was sweating.

"Good evening, Shute," he said. "Has anything happened since our phone conversation?"

"Not that I could see," Shute explained. "I kept an eye on the workshop from inside the house. Nothing came out, that much I know." He lowered his voice. "But I'm not sure if there's anything inside the workshop right now. I didn't wanna leave the house again, 'cause I was afraid Mom and Dad might get suspicious."

"I understand," Captain replied. He turned to face the workshop, which was still glowing brightly. "Let's retrieve the mirror before anything happens."

"Right!"

They hurried across the deck to the stairs. As they were about to go down, however, a loud voice behind them made them stop in their tracks.

"Heeey Captain! Didn't know you were stoppin' by!"

Shute grabbed on to the railing to stop himself from falling down the stairs. They both slowly turned around to see Shute's father walking out of the house.

"Uh...hi, Dad!" the boy said nervously.

"Good evening, Mark," Captain said.

"Is everything okay out here?" Mark asked. "You guys are out here awful late. It's almost bedtime!" He turned to Captain and pointed at his beam gun. "And I can't help but notice that you're packin' heat!"

"Well, um...you see Dad," Shute stammered, "I have something to give Captain, and he didn't have time to put his stuff away!"

"Er...yes! That's correct," the Gundam nodded.

"Oh, okay. I gotcha," Mark replied. "Hey, do you need any help? You look like you got your hands full!"

"N-no, that's okay Dad!" Shute said, holding up his hands. "We're fine. We got this!"

"Yes, the item Shute wants to give me is easy to carry," Captain explained. "But thanks for the offer."

"Okay, no problem!" Mark said. He paused just long enough for Shute and Captain to think they were off the hook before adding, "What is it, if you don't mind me askin'?"

Shute almost fell over. His lower eyelids and fingers began to twitch, and the only thing he could think to respond with was, "Uhhhh...?"

"Shute needs help identifying a mineral for his science class," the Gundam quickly interjected. "There is one test that he does not have the equipment for, so I offered to do it for him."

"Oh, is that all?" Mark said, shrugging. "Well, okay then! By the way, could you guys turn that light off when you're done? It's been on all night!"

With that, he turned and walked back toward the house.

Shute waited until his father was out of earshot before whispering, "That was a good one, Captain! Now let's get going before he comes back!"

"Roger!" the Gundam replied.

Shute turned and dashed down the walkway as fast as he could, with Captain taking to the air. Upon reaching the workshop, the boy stood on tiptoe and tried to look into the window above it. Unfortunately, he was still too short to reach it; all he could see was the bright purple glow streaming out of it. Instead, he put his ear to the door and listened for anything that might be inside. Meanwhile, Captain landed on the roof and peered down through the porthole.

"I'm assuming that light means the portal is still open?" he called down to Shute.

"I think so!" Shute shouted back up. "I'm not hearing anything down here! How about you?"

Captain walked over to the roof's edge. "I did not detect any sign of alien lifeforms from up here," he reported. "However, that may be because I am not at a good vantage point." He activated his jets and floated down to the walkway behind Shute. "I'll go in through the front door and check it out, just to be certain," he said, holding up his rifle.

"Right!" Shute nodded and scooted out of Captain's way.

The Gundam attached his shield to his back and grabbed the doorknob. He slowly turned it and cracked open the door just enough to see in. He saw the mirror in that corner he had placed it in last week, only now it was emitting that bright purple light. He detected a spacetime anomaly within it, as well as beta decay.

Captain scanned the room for any signs of life. He detected no unidentified heat signatures or movement.

He opened the door wide. "It looks like no lifeforms have emerged from the portal," he said stepping inside. He kept his gun ready just in case something escaped his scanners.

"That's a relief," Shute said, following his Gundam friend inside. "I thought for sure that person on the other side was gonna follow me!"

Captain held up a hand. "Actually Shute, you should remain at a safe distance outside," he explained. "I am detecting low levels of beta radiation coming from the mirror."

"Radiation?!" Shute squawked as he backed against a wall. "Aw man, I stuck my head in there!"

"You...put your head through the portal?" The Gundam's optics went wide. "You did not tell me that before. That was rather dangerous."

"Yeah...I know," the boy sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "But I tested it out before I did it! And besides, now I know that portal leads to another Neotopia!"

"Another Neotopia?" Captain tilted his head. "How much of it were you able to see?"

"Sorry, but I didn't get a good look at it," Shute replied. "I know it's not an exact match, though. My house on the other side was burned down for some reason!"

"I see," Captain nodded. "We will have to investigate this other Neotopia some other time. For now, let's get this mirror back to the base."

He stepped over to the object in question and stared into its glowing portal. Out of curiosity, he reached out with his free hand and tried to touch the "glass." His fingers went through it as if it wasn't even there.

"Fascinating," he said softly.

Realizing that he was getting distracted, Captain snapped himself out of his reverie and picked up the mirror by one of the stand's side bars. Shute gave him a wide berth as he carried it out of the workshop.

"If you guys find out anything interesting, let me know, okay?" the boy said as he stood in the doorway.

"Certainly," the Gundam agreed. "However, we may have to wait until tomorrow for any conclusive results. I am not sure there are many people on the night shift who can analyze this portal. I hope that it is still open in the morning."

"Yeah, me too," Shute replied. "Anyway, have a safe trip back to base!"

"Roger," Captain said. "Good night, Shute, and have a good day at school."

The Gundam activated his boosters, preparing to fly back to the Gunperry. However, he was only two feet off the ground when a disembodied mechanical arm emerged from the mirror's surface.

"Wha-! What the heck?!" Shute shouted, jumping backwards.

Captain gasped upon seeing the arm, and nearly fell out of the air. Fortunately, he managed to snap out of his shock fast enough to reorient himself and land softly on the grass. He leaned the mirror against one of the workshop's walls and carefully backed away. He slowly removed his shield from his back and raised his gun. Meanwhile, the arm flailed around with its fingers grasping, seemingly looking for something to latch onto. It was covered in white armor which was similar in shape to his own. Its hand had five digits including an opposable thumb and was protected by dark grey plates.

Shute hopped down into the grass behind Captain. "What do you think it is?" he whispered.

"I don't-" Captain cut himself off when the arm retreated back into the portal. It was replaced a moment later by a white robot's head. It sported a very familiar white face mask and pair of golden horns. It gazed around its new surroundings, making observations to itself.

"Current temperature 26.67 degrees Celsius," it said in an extremely familiar, yet more monotone voice. "Atmospheric composition is 70.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen-"

Its optics finally landed on the boy and the Gundam standing a few yards away. "Oh! It seems I have company," it said.

The robot gripped the inside of the frame as it stepped through the mirror and down onto the grass. Once Captain got a good long look at the new visitor, his optics went wide and his mouth flap involuntarily fell open underneath his mask. He lowered his gun and shield.

Shute gasped. "C-Captain! He's...he's you!"

Standing before them was indeed a near identical copy of Captain Gundam. The armor on his head and limbs were white. His torso armor was mainly blue with highlights of grey, yellow, and red plates. Golden SDG badges adorned his pauldrons. Small tires were attached to his heels. On his upper back was a white pack containing his beam saber; he didn't appear to have any other weapons on hand. The only major difference was the color of his optics, which were a matte pastel blue.

"I see that the language spoken here is the same as mine," he said. "In that case, good morning to you both. Or evening, as it is here. Apparently, there is a twelve hour difference between our dimensions."

"Uh, hi!" Shute said. He tried to wave to the other robot, but his arm kept shaking.

"Y-yes, good evening!" Captain stammered. He slowly placed his rifle on the ground and extended a hand to his twin. "I am Captain Gundam of the Super Dimensional Guard. I would like to welcome you to the city of Neotopia of Earth."

The other Captain stepped forward and shook hands.

"I am Captain Zephyranthes, also of the Super Dimensional Guard," he replied. "It is a pleasure to meet you."