Chapter 17: Claustrophobia
From the Popol Vuh, trans. Allen J. Christenson:
Come you.
Arrive
To take earth,
It's dirt hole.
It was dug.
Truly deep it went down by me.
Can't you hear my call perhaps?
This therefore the your call.
Merely away
It echoes.
Like the one remove,
Two removes you are.
I hear it.
Olivia Dunham and the other Olivia Dunham lay head to head on examination tables in Walter's lab. They were dressed in identical robes, and both had electrodes connected to their heads. They were both unconscious, having been sedated for a lumbar puncture.
Lincoln and Peter looked on as Walter and Astrid examined computer screens.
"Remarkable, aren't they?" Walter commented.
"Yeah," Lincoln said in a distracted voice that caused Peter to send him a sharp glance.
When he looked back at the two unconscious women, Peter had to admit that at the moment he wasn't absolutely sure which Olivia was his Olivia.
"There doesn't appear to be any significant difference in their brain activity," Astrid commented.
Walter ignored her. He was busy comparing two computer printouts side-by-side. "Well, this is unusual."
"What is it?" Peter asked.
"The results of the spinal tap. The chemical composition of their cerebrospinal fluid is showing some significant divergences."
"What kind of divergences?"
"It will take me some time to analyze these results fully, but there appear to be chemicals in the brain of our Olivia Dunham that aren't manifesting in your Olivia Dunham, and the concentration of cortexiphan is almost twice as high."
"Maybe she was treated for a longer period of time in this universe than in my universe," Peter hypothesized.
"Perhaps," Walter agreed. "We will need to ask them when they regain consciousness."
"That might not be that helpful; Olivia doesn't remember much about the Cortexiphan trials. I doubt Walter would even remember how long Olivia was in the trials."
"I'll have to ask him," Walter said.
Lincoln looked up. "You've been using Olivia's Morse code thing?"
"What Morse code thing?" asked Peter.
"The quantum entangled LED that your Olivia brought with her. Yes. Myself and my counterpart have been having several interesting exchanges, though by practicality they have been rather brief."
"You've been communicating with my father?" He was surprised by a slight quaver in his own voice.
"Yes. He's asked about you. For a while, he was perhaps a bit upset with me. But then we got into a fascinating discussion about the nature of free will and homemade ice cream recipes."
"I don't think that when Broyles asked you to study it he intended you to actually use it," Lincoln mentioned, though he didn't sound particularly disapproving.
"Well how else did he expect me to find out if it works?"
"Good point," Peter said.
After Walter concluded the tests and before the two Olivia's awoke, Broyles entered the lab. "What's going on?"
Lincoln and Astrid stood and faced him. Astrid was about to explain, but Walter beat her to it.
"We are comparing the brain activity and chemistry of the two Olivia Dunhams to determine why one suffers from migraines and the other does not."
It sounded much less invasive than it actually was.
Broyles nodded. "I've been trying to reach Agent Dunham. I wondered why she wasn't answering her phone. The Canadian government found out about Fringe Division's interest in the Ontario earthquake and mine explosion."
"And let me guess, they want us to mind our own business?" said Peter.
"On the contrary. They want our team to take a first-hand look, since we have more experience with this kind of phenomenon than they do. Peter, I'd like you to go with them."
"If I'm going, my Olivia's going too," he said.
"I'll see if I can arrange it. We'll need to get your Miss Dunham some false IDs and a cover story. Have Agent Dunham call me when she comes to."
"Thank you," Peter said as Broyles walked by him out the door.
Her passport said her name was Brae Dunham. It wasn't a name she would have chosen, but Brae was the only other woman with the surname of Dunham born in the United States on the same day as Olivia Dunham, and when creating a fake ID for her, Fringe Division wanted to keep things as simple as possible.
She stayed back with Peter as Astrid, Lincoln, and the Agent Dunham of this universe walked up to the three men and one woman in hardhats who were waiting at the entrance of the mine.
One of the men broke away from the group to greet them. "You the FBI agents?"
"I am. Agent Olivia Dunham. These are my colleagues, Agent Astrid Farnsworth, Agent Lincoln Lee, and Peter Bishop and Brae Dunham, scientific consultants for the FBI."
The man glanced between the two Dunhams, but didn't comment. "I'm Simon Hsu, the mine's safety regulator. I've never seen anything like this."
He handed them all hardhats equipped with lights and led them into the tunnel.
They walked for several minutes. Mr. Hsu led them through a winding maze of narrow tunnels carved from stone and dirt.
The pictures hadn't prepared them for the eeriness of the damage to the mine: rocks were poking out of rocks at impossible angles, shards of rocks scattered across the floor and sticking out of support beams and walls. Whatever had happened there had struck with terrifying violence.
"They said you specialize in cases like this. Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Hsu asked.
"Yes," Agent Dunham replied. "It's an extremely rare physical phenomenon, like a concentrated earthquake. Scientists don't have a full explanation for it yet." The lie came easily.
"Which is why we appreciate the chance to study it," Peter added.
He and Astrid started setting up various sensors and recording devices around the tunnel.
"Whatever happened here made the tunnel unstable. We've had three cave-ins since it happened. Be careful. If you hear anything or see anything that makes you nervous, head for one of the exits quickly but calmly," Hsu advised.
"Thanks, I'm sure I'll remember that helpful advice when the ceiling starts falling in," Astrid said with mock cheerfulness.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Hsu asked.
"Anything unusual," Peter replied simply.
Agent Dunham and Lincoln started taking pictures of the walls, floor, and ceiling of the tunnel, noting the extent of the damage.
After a few minutes, Peter moved over to Dunham. He spoke quietly. "The background radiation levels in this mine are off. And there's...a vibration, almost at the quantum level, but strong enough to be detectable. I want Walter to take a look at these results, but I think, whatever happened here, it's still happening. This point in the universe is still unstable."
"Let's gather as much as we can and take it back to the lab to analyze. I'm not crazy about being this deep underground. How far down are we?"
"About a quarter of a mile."
"Wow."
Peter went back to taking measurements and she went back to taking photographs.
A smaller tunnel branched off from the main one and dead-ended about twenty meters further on. The damage was less extensive here, but it had obviously been within the radius of the event.
She wasn't sure what signaled her that something was wrong. It was like a change in the light.
She looked behind her, shining the light from her hardhat around the low tunnel. Something was wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on what.
Experimentally, she turned off the lamp.
The wall was glowing.
No, not glowing, glimmering.
And it was getting stronger.
The others heard her scream abruptly swallowed up in the thunder of cascading stone.