Chapter 9

"Of course it works!" Rick said.

"Rick, I think it is unwise of you to use your portal gun. It is only a prototype, and has yet to work." Bird Person warned, wearily eyeing Rick's hands, which were busily making small adjustments to the makeshift portal gun. "Last time you attempted to use it, your portal gun incinerated the wall and exploded, causing severe burns on your hands and the surrounding upholstery."

Rick rolled his eyes, though he distinctly remembered the sting of his palms as the portal gun had burned away the flesh on his hands. "Of course it works!" Rick repeated. "I fixed my math, didn't divide right the first time—serves me right for trying to do partial differential equations in my head." He bit his lip as he fiddled with the prototype. It had taken him years to complete it. Rick remembered when he had initially drawn up the blueprints seven years ago, when he was fifteen—his calculations had led him to hypothesize that alternate dimensions existed, and he had the full intention of discovering and exploring each and every one on the finite curve. He had already built a spaceship, but why not go one step further and explore other dimensions of the universe?

"There! That should do the trick," Rick said as he placed the portal gun back on the wooden table. He ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair, taking a deep breath, his heart racing. The portal gun was not aesthetically pleasing just yet; it was large and blocky, with wires sticking out at every odd angle. The screen that displayed the current dimension blinked back at him in large numbers, reading "C-137".

"Alright Bird Person, are you ready to see the goddamn multiverse?!" Rick said, picking up the portal gun once more. "Which dimension should we see? How about, C-160? Might be waaay different f-f-from our dimension." Rick pushed the crude buttons on the portal gun, causing "C-160" to begin blinking up at him on the large screen. He aimed it at the gray wall across from him and pulled the trigger halfway down, hearing the sweet, high-pitched sound of the device warming up and preparing to fire.

Bird Person sighed, but faced the wall, ready. Neither knew what exactly to expect.

Rick closed one eye and pulled the trigger.

A splat of green, gooey-looking swirling substance landed on the wall, a distinct zzrrt emitting from the gun and the impact. The portal sat there on the wall, spinning, waiting for someone to enter it and see beyond the current dimension.

Rick smirked, feeling his chest swell up with pride and excitement at the prospects. He turned to Bird Person, grinning, an almost maniacal glint in his eye.

"I'm a fucking genius."

!

A sharp intake of breath into his lungs and Rick was awake once again, angrily blinking back the prototype portal gun memory. Seeing Bird Person alive and well in his memory made him feel like there was a huge pressure on his sternum, like there was this huge rock that wouldn't stop crushing his chest.

He breathed in, out, in, out, trying to calm himself, as he lifted his head and glared at the Federation woman. Many thoughts ran through his mind, but one distinct thought rang throughout his brain: they're getting closer, they're going to fucking crack you open and spill everything.

"So," the woman began, peering at him with a supercilious smirk, "that was your first portal gun." She stared at him for a moment, and Rick could swear he saw a look of amazement pass over her face before it returned to her normal expression, with one eyebrow cocked and her lips tight and upturned. She took a couple steps around the room, her high heels clicking on the metal floor, before turning back to him. "I'm glad to see that our scientists' new-and-improved memory serum is working well. They had to develop it special for you, Mr. Sanchez. But, we're getting closer."

"Yeah whatever," Rick scoffed.

She suddenly came right up to him, her hands on each of the arms of his chair, her face only an inch from his own. Rick could see every pore on her face and every individual hair on her eyebrows.

"The Federation is going to crack you like an egg, Sanchez. We are already so close. We're going to break you and lay you open for the entire galaxy to see. Those secret memories you have? We're going to get them. We're going to see every important memory you've ever stored. Even the memories about your grandchildren. We're going to suck those right out of you, and it's going to continue being painful, Mr. Sanchez. Many organisms who go through the process of memory retrieval die—but not before we finish attaining their memories. You'll be the first human—and, as we can easily agree on, humans tend to be of the, ah, weaker species."

Hot anger flashed through Rick's body. He spat in her face.

She stood up immediately. One of the Gromflomites holding Rick's arms handed her a tissue. She sharply snatched it, and began dabbing at her face while staring at him incredulously.

Rick glared at her, hot white anger accompanying his words. "Guess what? I fucking hope I die. I'm sick of this shit. I-I-I-I've been dealing with you Feds for, for, the past, what—forty years? You're all just a, a bunch of crazy lunatics running around, thinkin' you just own the galaxy or something, that you're just entitled to a shit ton of stars and planets that happen to be orbiting around one another. Well guess what, bitch? You're not! You can kill me, that's fine—but let me make one thing crystal clear to everyone. There is no way you will ever be able to get my memories. So why don't you do everyone a favor, go get a gun, and shoot me now?!"

The Federation woman stared at him. "Fine," she said. She turned to one of the Gromflomites. "Give me your gun, SJ-135."

The Gromflomite reached into his belt and pulled out a laser gun. He placed it into her outstretched hand.

Rick eyed the exchange. Was she seriously going to shoot him?

She cocked the gun and took a couple steps over so she was standing right in front of Rick. She raised the weapon, closing one eye.

"Do it," Rick said. "Just fucking do it!"

She pulled the trigger.

Rick let out a yell as a sudden hit of white hot pain filled his right shoulder. He tried to clasp his shoulder with his other hand, but the Gromflomites were holding him down, so instead he screamed "fuck!"

Through the pain he managed to look at his shoulder, and saw red blood beginning to blossom underneath the orange jumpsuit, a large tear from the blast open to the world.

"Did you really think I would just kill you, Mr. Sanchez?" She gave a small laugh before turning to the Gromflomites. "Take him away, I'm done with him."

"F-f-fuck you, lady!" Rick spat as the Gromflomites roughly chained him back onto the mobile prison wall, pain emanating from his wound.

"Oh calm down, I didn't hit any major arteries." She smiled.

At that moment, Rick realized he was screwed if he didn't find a way out, and fast.

A/N: This woman is savage af. That was not the original direction I was going to have this go, but, eh, sometimes when writing, the characters kind of take on their own ideas—I just type it out. Comments/reviews are greatly appreciated. Stay schwifty!