33
Destiny Calls
Sean took one look at the Miles Hector that has passed out on the chair in the small walled-up room of the Dimensional Technologies department.
The team leader took one look at the paper box that housed the ten remaining unactivated cubes. He reached out, stowed it in the inner pocket of his lab coat, and took off for the door.
The elevator climbed through the tube overlooking the Lower Manhattan area as the floor level indicator incremented until it reached the eighth floor. The pneumatics furrowed its brow as it counteracted the weight of the elevator and pulled its doors open.
In front of him was a large empty hall. Not even the light were on. Tables were pushed together in front of whiteboards stood in front of the glass. He waded through the mess of tables to find a table parked against the far wall, a desktop all-in-one named the Starship parked on top of it.
A blue triangular flag was on the top-right at the back of the machine to mark that it was his. He reached the swivel chair in front of the screen and sat down. The computer lit up, and so did the hall.
The display lit up as he placed his fingers on top of the keyboard, and the Fabric Softener Control Panel window opened itself. In it was a series of boxes outlining each and every one of the cubes’ statuses.
Circle Fabric Softener Hypercube Controller v1.95 alpha
Sean Hunter - Inactive - Master Controller
Kayla Ferrule - Purple 1986 alt - Host
Miles Hector - Purple 1986 alt - Special Dispatch Carrier
Luna Syracuse - Inactive
Sean thumbed his nose and checked the progress report for the plane crash a few weeks ago.
Ferrule Charter departed from Newark NY on August 16
Crash-landed while on Green in Los Angeles CA on August 17
Jet suffered crash, replacement ordered
Zero deaths suffered, minor injuries treated
Sedation serum given to both subjects
He switched to the Settings tab on the top of the window.
Relinquish Master Controller Position
Change Cube Configuration
He clicked the second option, and checked off both Kayla’s and Miles’s cubes. A panel then opened up.
Change Cube Status
Cubes are currently engaged - To change cubes’ status immediately, click Force Red to eject all subjects from their parallel universes.
All cubes on purple currently. Self-ejection is currently on.
Call Yellow Light
Switch Hosts
Set Permanent Relocation Target
Disable All Cubes
Experimental
Avatar Split
He shook his head.
The box of cubes were freed from his inner pocket and they flashed white together. Every three seconds there will be a pulse of two quick, successive flashes.
Another overlay flashed over the display.
New Cubes Detected
Set Host
Turn Off For Now
Sean attempted to recall what had happened over the past couple of weeks. His mind drifted to a document with his name in the blank for “author”.
Confidential - For Recipient Only
This certificate is intended to ratify the following terms and conditions for the recipient.
1 - The recipient shall not reveal the existence, nor discuss the nuances of the project details presented;
2 - The recipient shall follow all usage directions steadfast without any breaches or misuse;
3 - The recipient respects and therefore observes all the rules of the environment(s) thrust upon him/her, whether voluntarily or otherwise;
4 - The recipient is not to sell, lease, nor transfer the device to a third-party without prior permission;
5 - The recipient is not to allow a third-party to engage in the device’s functionality in any way, with or without knowledge by any party;
6 - The recipient accepts that changes, harm, and all intended or unintended side-effects caused by the usage of the device are permanent and irreversible;
7 - The recipient therefore accepts all side-effects inflicted to all subjects, including the recipient him/herself; and
8 - In the event that the device terminates the life of the recipient, he/she will not enable any mechanism after the incident to pursue legal action or any attempt to receive further amenities than permitted in Employee and Personnel Guideline Sheet Ch. 63, paragraph b, line 8.
I hereby agree to the terms of using the presented Prototype.
His sight bounced between the clauses, and he clicked on the tabs for the different versions he allowed different parties to sign. The caretaker copy had a clause struck out.
He took one cube out of the box in front of the desktop. It snapped to the New Setup screen.
All cubes must have a set state before the Fabric Softener can activate its function.
Set State
Conventional Yellow - Timeline Hopper
Destiny Purple - Move Through Fate
Special Green Delivery
Set it up later.
He right-clicked on the second option.
Administrative Controls
Enable
Set Time and Space
Cancel
Again, the second option. The cube pulsated purple as the panel flipped itself into a configurator.
Bound August 15, 2096
Irvine District, CA
Purple be on for one transition, upcoming.
He checked the contacts list. He looked up a few names before hitting the backspace button a few times to wipe it clean. He looked at the cube, which was now glowing blue. Through the fabric of his jacket he grabbed it, and made a slide so it will roll into his front pocket.
With that completed, he clicked the power button once on his desktop, looked for the door, and made a beeline towards it.
The elevator towards Miles’ level was empty, and as he made it back into the small corner that has been carved out of the hall, shifting eyes scanning for anyone else’s own, the room door was quickly shut once he got to it. The tongs pulled the pre-activated cube from his pocket, and dropped it into the Fabric Softener.
He gave Miles one last look.