Ground Control

Walternate Universe Beta-2

It was 11:12pm when I stepped on the other side of the portal
I found myself in the front yard of a house on the countryside
I took my helmet off looking up at the night sky filled with stars
Glad to be back on the ground and looking for my new guide

The porch light turned on and he came out slowly to greet me
His hair was almost white but I noticed he had many scars
“I’m glad to see you” he said hugging me like we were old friends
“How about a late supper you must be hungry after being on Mars”

We sat down at his dinner table and chatted for a while
Pictures of the kids were all over and our talk was very heartfelt
“The youngest is at college, one’s a doctor, one’s an astrophysicist,
Two of them are mechanics on a ship just outside of the Kuiper belt”

We then went to the roof of his farmhouse which had a large telescope
We talked about our wives and lives as we sat in some very comfy chairs
His wife was currently on a mission halfway across the world
He and I talked about the wonders and all the current affairs

I was curious about his scars but it was like he knew I wanted to ask
“I have the most verse jumps in the known universe” he said
“I’ve gone to several different dangerous worlds, and some beautiful
And some so ugly that you wouldn’t believe what would lay ahead”

As he talked, through the scope I saw an object next to the moon
“I’ve never seen that” I said to him as he looked up and laughed
“That’s our second moon, we call it the sock moon” he added
“Sock moon?” I began to ask when he said “Let me explain…

“Alphas were the first to verse jump successfully a hundred years ago
Then scientists from our world did it some ten years later
We then collaborated and discovered many different universes
So we started cataloging and classifying based on many factors

We have what we call super jumpers, it’s what I did earlier in my career
Like an explorer who goes to parallel worlds collects data and leaves
We then send multiple scouts who spend further research and report back
But some worlds think we’re ghosts because we just disappear

I was captured in one universe, their government thought I was a spy
They took one of my braces and tried to understand the science
But they never decoded it because their technology was so behind
I was tortured for a year until a team from Alpha and Beta rescued me

I returned to work after some time in recovery but I wasn’t the same
I’ve done over twelve thousand jumps but had to retire I was getting too old
In some of the worlds you are a spy, you observe, you report back
And you have to be ready for anything that may come your way.

Now the sock moon…

It was about eighty years ago when we started settling in the moon
Our astronauts noticed flashes every so often on the dark side
Turns out that a natural wormhole was close by opening and closing
And with the increase of verse jumping the flashes increased as well

They are billions socks from a million different universes
The advent of washing and drying machines and their static
Along with the massive energy of wormholes they just ended here
It’s basically the dumping ground, or space, for all socks that disappear

So you may have some socks you’ve lost over the decades up there”
“Mystery solved” I thought “But doesn’t have some kind of effect?”
“Yes, its causing issues with our tides so our governments are meeting
And deciding what to do with such a massive piece of ice and sock”

“Why not just throw it at the sun” I said jokingly not really knowing physics
“We can’t just launch it at the sun” he said “wait, that’s not a bad idea
Not that it’s been considered before, it’s about the size of ten stadiums
But our governments have been having talks about what to do with it”

We spoke until the sun rose and it was the first sunrise I’d seen in days
I got to sleep most of the day since I’d been traveling far
In the afternoon when I woke up he had a present for me
It was one of his braces, some where he had many adventures

“I’m a lefty, so the brace can go in your right wrist” he said
“What you have here is a powerful tool of interdimensional travel
Alpha designates times and locations to control the traffic
But now you have more leeway and a mystery to unravel…

Three days ago there was an anomaly across eleven million universes
Hundreds of thousands of jumpers are scattered and stuck
Something out there is causing disturbances in the wormholes
But with two portal braces you have more power to navigate through…

I have dozens of braces” he added “and each one is connected
They have my old geolocations, dimensions, calculations, a complete history
You’ve been stuck in beta for four days but you’ll need a couple of jumps
To get back home and eventually find out what’s causing this mystery”

I hugged him, like I was hugging a brother, a long lost friend
“I’m sorry I can’t go with you, I promised my wife I’d never jump again”
The scars on his face told the story of horror, pain and victory
“Good luck brother” he said as it felt he was my last of kin

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