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Universal Panic

Posted: 8th March 2016 20:20

*
Black Mage
Posts: 170

Joined: 30/10/2015

Awards:
Member of more than five years. Voted for all the fanart in the CoNvent Calendar 2015. 
Author: Pooka - Translation: me!
Proofreader and Co-author: Abel from the Freedom Planet Forums
Editor: CalebJ from the Freedom Planet Forums
Artist: Bushidou Kitsune from the GOG.com Forums

When a portal opens outside of Sam's window and curiosity takes over, Sam is unwittingly drawn into a conflict with a massive corporation in an unfamiliar world. What could possibly go wrong?

The story will get new releases when I actually write them (followed by proofreading and finalization of course). The story, of course, will ditch the "chapter" format system for an "arc" format system. Basically, any written content will be part of an 'arc'. An arc is a collection of events, and as such, an arc ends when it gets its own final event, and an arc begins with its own event as well. In other words, the story is chapterless. Now to start the story.

Due to the formatting limitations of CoN, note that words in bolds, italics and underlines are unrelated to the dialogue or the exposition. Such as the "To be continued..." message below. But without further ado...

ARC 1: STARTER'S PACK

Another morning, I thought as I stretched and blinked the sleep from my eyes. It was time to rise and shine. I glanced at my watch---2:39PM. For whatever reason, I had the weird feeling that I was being watched, as if someone was reading my thoughts. I should've been creeped out, but I mentally shrugged instead; whoever this person was, maybe we could be friends.

Hello, person. My name is Sam Daniel Kevynhart, a resident of the Theia City outskirts, and (hopefully) a girl that is out of this world. I live in a treehouse I built myself, and it's been my home ever since, I thought to nobody in particular Now then. I just woke up from a strange dream: I was in a modern apartment with lots of posters of cartoon girls, in an art style that was out of our world. Never mind that, though. I lifted myself up from the bed.

My single room treehouse doesn't have much in it. My Eagle pistol with the new Infinite Ammunition™ technology (contrary to popular belief, it wasn't made infinite with a cheat code) was lying on a table alongside my laptop. My guitar was hanging on the wall above my bed, and a TV was mounted on the opposite wall. The rest of my things were stuck inside a closet, mostly because I was too lazy to organize them properly. And there's my window, which was locked with a rotating wooden plank installed above it. Unlocking and opening the window, I looked outside.

I expected to see the usual scenery. Normally, there's the green plains around my treehouse, a highway several meters away, then the beach, then the blue sea, and of course the warmth of the shining sun, complemented with an azure sky. Instead, a peculiar sphere awaited my gaze.

I fell off my bed in surprise, then quickly scrambled to pick up the pistol from the table. Hastily fumbling the safety off, I popped off several rounds into the thing. Nothing happened, so naturally I shot it once more for good measure. I waited several seconds, but once again, nothing happened; the inert thing remaining. Furthermore, the bullets had not even passed through. They entered the sphere, but they had clearly gone somewhere other than behind it. I felt vaguely foolish. Hopefully, nobody had heard the gunshots. Assuming the slugs had actually gone somewhere, that is.

At first glance, the sphere was a dull, purple sphere. After further examination, it became clear that there were specks of light drifting slowly through a dark, murky ether within the surface. It reminded me of illustrations of the black hole below Theia, our homeworld, usually referred to as the Void. I did try to see the Void, but couldn't; it was far too risky to get a good look at it, as falling into it was a death sentence. I only got as far as the world's edge as a result.

A thought occurred to me. If the hole was absorbing bullets, then where do they go? Time to find out.

To satisfy my curiosity, I took out a camera from the closet, which I powered up and plugged it to the TV with its excessively lengthy video cable. The TV showed the scene in front of the camera. That was all I needed. I tossed the camera into the purple hole and turned to look at the TV.

The TV showed some sort of strange purple world, with points of light streaking across the camera's field of view in a mesmerizing pattern. The scene froze when the camera landed in---I blinked, not believing what I was seeing---an alleyway. Was this purple hole some kind of portal?

My already piqued curiosity hit a new high. I wanted to jump in, and I was already preparing to do so. And then I realized I was only wearing my underwear. That would be embarrassing. I went to my closet and pulled clothes off the hangers, all of them from popular unisex brands. I put on black jeans, a white shirt and over it my blue jacket, and finally I put on my socks and a pair of black boots. I also picked up a backpack from the closet and put it on my person. There I saw my Lunii N6, a Robot OS phone. That one entered my jeans' left pocket. Finally, I picked up the pistol and holstered it in my breast pocket in the jacket.

What adventures awaited me beyond this portal? I couldn't wait. In two quick moves, I jumped out of my window and into the portal, making sure I held onto the video cable. For some reason, I thought that if I didn't, I would lose the camera forever. It wasn't that expensive, but why lose it when there's a chance of getting it back?

That transition was like a spin cycle. I flailed around helplessly. I almost hit myself in the face at some point, but I hit my chest instead. Eventually, I landed on top of the camera, crushing it. It seemed that my time in that transition was shorter than the time the camera took to traverse it. So much for getting the camera back, though. Nothing I couldn't make back given time, but it was annoying regardless.

"So, I'm not the only portal jumper around here, huh, young la-" a mysterious man said as I slipped off the remains of the camera and onto the ground, landing on my watch, which is on my right hand.

Suddenly a white aura covered me. My body began to undergo some rather interesting changes. The most noticeable changes were that my chest felt lighter, and my hair shrunk into my scalp. Overall, I felt more rugged.

I was no longer a girl. I became a guy! Manly features, short hair---you can figure out the rest. I didn't know how long I've had this watch on me. But what I know is that it can't be taken off, no matter what. Theia is quite technological. Being built in a delicate balance surrounding the Void did not hold Theia back from their astonishing technological innovations. This watch is one of their rare light-year advancements, and it acts as a communications device, a gender switching device, and as a watch.

"What in the?!" I heard the man from earlier exclaim. Whoops. My ability was supposed to be a secret!

"No no no! Nothing happened! It was a trick of the light!" I responded ineffectually.

"Y-y-you're not f-f-fooling anyone h-here, whoever y-y-you are!" the man responded back. "How did you do that? H-how!?"

"None of your busin- what are you talking about?!" Damn you, tongue, why do you fail me right now?

"You fooled n-n-nobody! You turned from a girl to a b-b-boy! How d-did you do it?"

I gave up with the misdirection. It was pointless, since that man saw it. Instead, I took in his features. He wore all red, had goggles over his eyes, and sported a large mustache. And he talked in a thick English accent, which some like to call "British". I never understood what "British" meant. Whoever this old man is, I can't let him spread my secret!

"Look, sir. If anybody asks-" I slammed the watch intentionally with my left hand, turning back to my female form, "-I'm a lady."

"You did it again! J-Just who are you?" the man asked as amazement took over him again.

"I am just a lady by the name of Sam Kevynhart. And you are, Mr...?"

"Dr. Mad Botter... Miss K-Kevynhart." Mad Botter said.

"Great." As I said this, Botter took a deep breath. I hope he calms down soon.

"You just came through that portal, right?", he asked, obviously still amazed.

"Yes," I said, still not believing it.

"Good. Welcome to the dwindling ranks of portal jumpers!. I've jumped through many portals to many universes, and so far, this one seems the most interesting. This must be the universe of SEC, the electricity company that ruthlessly took over my own electricity company by force!" Botter rumbled.

"An electricity company? The last time I checked, the SEC was...uhh...a securities and exchange commission?"

Botter raised an eyebrow and snorted. Clearly, I wasn't all that bad at the humor thing. Maybe.

"Either way, I believe our meeting is less coincidental and more intentional." Botter answered.

"So what's with the whole 'universes' thing?" I asked.

"You see, you came to this universe from another universe. A universe is a separate plane of existence. Somebody intentionally made these portals between those universes, and if it wasn't for whoever they are, I wouldn't have lost my electricity company and all my research to whoever who runs SEC. I'm hunting them down right now, in fact."

"So, let me get this straight, I'm in another universe right now. And SEC is the big bad who may be responsible for these portals."

"Exactly."

I began to think hard about this. My own universe was only one in a vast, well, I don't know the word. As great as my homeworld of Theia is, it has an overcrowding problem, and with limited area to expand to, thanks to the Void below us, we're forced to expand upwards. Since everything is built on the structures below them, this is quite the risky business. If something gives way under the increased weight of a taller building, the results would be disastrous. And with a literal black hole below us, gravity is a much higher risk than it would be normally. With more universes to expand into, we could easily solve this problem. Personally, as long as I have my treehouse, I couldn't care less.

As for the other subject, the electricity company known as SEC is 'evil' according to Botter, because they shut down his company 'by force'. Speaking of which, I think I need to see them in action to tell for myself. If they are actually good guys, whatever. If not, then maybe I can join the fight against them, be the biggest thorn in their side ever.

"Can you take me to see this SEC myself?"

"Of course. We need to move and see what's the big deal with this universe. Do you have a weapon?" Botter asked.

I showed him the pistol I put in my breast pocket earlier.

"Excellent, and somehow convenient. Explains the bullet holes in the alley, too. You're with me."

I felt like objecting on principle. After all, it totally wasn't my fault or anything. But bigger things awaited.

After immediately holstering the weapon, I heard a tone followed by "SCAN COMPLETE" in a computerized female voice. Botter pulled a device that looked like a huge smartphone more than anything else. "Oh my, oh my. I've finally scanned the map to this universe. If my scans are right, then this is SEC's universe."

"What does SEC stand for, anyway?" I asked naively.

"Sparkle Electric Corporation. All I know about them is that they have the military to shut me and my own corporation down. I've lost access to all of my robots, and I only have one Mad Copter remaining, which means I need to take good care of it," he said.

"Mad Copter?"

Botter blinked at me and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but then thought better of it.

"Don't worry about it, it's not important." He fiddled more with the smartphone, and his eyes lit up.

"Done. We should be able to get there in just five minutes." he said after glancing on his smartphone.

"About the portals, can I return home if I wanted to?" I asked.

"It's not as easy as you think. Portals are one-way rides. If you take one, you can't go back through it. You have to find a portal that can take you back to where you started. Typically portals are either gateways or exits. A gateway is always in place, while an exit only materializes when you enter a gateway, and then disappears after you go through it. That's all I really understand at the moment. If I had more answers, I would share them with you. Unlike you—you wouldn't share how you do your—" he pointed at my watch, "your switch! Anyways, shall we?"

Sorry, old man, I'm not sharing the wonderfully fascinating science of gender switching, mostly because I don't even know the details of how it works. Or even why I have it!

I can feel my awesome points dropping by the second. Whatever.


"Shall we?" I asked, walking towards the neighboring street.

Botter nodded. "Follow me."

I took a position behind Mad Botter. We were in a city that looked advanced enough, more so than Theia City. The cars didn't have exhausts and the streets were clean, even cleaner than Theia's. This was remarkable, considering how high the bar was set for Theia. On top of that, it seemed that the city itself used a lot of power. I couldn't put my finger on why, though. I was still walking behind Botter, who had his eyes glued to his smartphone for directions. Then the relative peace in the city was interrupted by a chime.

"This is the Sparkle City Broadcast. The time is now 2:00PM, or 1400 hours, Thursday, Day 10634. Work ends on 5PM. It will be cloudy with a chance of rain and thunder. The Sparkle City Broadcast was brought to you by Sparkle Electric Corporation. Repeat: The time is now—"

I tuned out the rest of the announcement. It wasn't relevant to my interests.

"I knew it! This universe is SEC's home. We better get there in order to crash the party." Botter said.

We eventually had to cross two streets, before we were met with a skyscraper, with the logo of "SPARKLE ELECTRIC CORPORATION" above the front door, in bold and italics.

I couldn't believe my "usual" morning had turned into just the opposite, with me exploring a universe other than mine. Being curious is a lovable thing indeed.

"So, what are we going to do to crash the party?" I asked Botter.

"The same thing you would do for any corporation: file a complaint. To the big boss."

"How...surprisingly reasonable and not at all rebellious. How do you know the boss is up there?"

"Because it's the only headquarters that SEC has on the map." he said as we both entered through the revolving doors. The interior was quite wooden and welcoming, featuring well-tended plants at the entrance. Based on Botter's comments, I would've expected it to be decorated with severed heads and dried blood, and maybe a super-evil looking statue. I wonder if this really is the SEC behind the attacks on Botter's company?

"I hope I can take the elevator here..." Botter mumbled to himself as he entered. We were soon in front of the receptionist.

"Hello. We'd like to file a complaint," Botter said to the receptionist.

"Take the elevator to the second floor," she said with a forced smile.

"Thank you," Botter said back.

We walked towards the elevator which was on the right of the receptionist, entering in. 99 buttons. Wow, that's a lot of floors. I pressed the 99 button. The elevator beeped twice angrily, and it spat out an error message that read "ERROR: EMPLOYEE PASS REQUIRED". It was only doing its job, but really needed to lose the attitude before it started losing business for the company. I looked to Botter helplessly, and he was grinning knowledgeably.

"As a general rule of thumb, elevators are always vulnerable." Botter said as he brought out his smartphone and somehow plugged it with the elevator's controls. After what looked like a complicated bit of fiddling, the elevator unlocked. I pressed the button for the top floor again, and the elevator ascended without another complaint.

Botter began to rant, "The SEC! They took over all of my laboratories, factories and power plants and turned them to their own. And so far I'm not the only one affected. A few universes were obliterated. If not, then you had your privacy invaded. And no matter what, people would still love them. Jumping through those purple portals is not the first thing a lot think of when seeing them for the first time. If everyone knew that they were portals, would they spread their experiences with SEC?"

I was skeptical as to whether the SEC actually did those things. Fortunately, this was hardly my first rodeo. If the SEC turns out to be innocent, good for them, I thought. I'll just run away, using a trick I reserve for such moments.

Yes, that means I'm going to turn into a guy. No comments, please.


"Well, actually, the portal was literally sitting outside my window, and it startled me, so I shot at it. Then I hooked up a camera to the TV and tossed it into the portal, and that's how I figured out what it was. Many are afraid of what they don't know." I said.

Botter raised his head and let out a quiet 'ah', as if that explained everything.

"You would be right, young lady. Though I would hope shooting at unfamiliar things isn't normally your first reaction to them."

My reputation was in danger. I once again opened my mouth to object, but Botter had cleared his throat to say something before I got a word out.

"In any case, I am not one to others into anything they're not comfortable with. If I can't convince you of the villainy of the SEC, and you want to leave, I won't stop you. Do as you will from here on."

Yeah, actually, that sounds pretty reasonable. I forgot all about salvaging my reputation.

Then the elevator finally stopped on the 99th floor. Time to meet the boss.

To be continued...

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I am Exdeath. Step aside pesky clowns, or your warranty is Void!
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