The Real World

by Jacob Long

  All three of us step up onto the platform facing the Quantum Spectrum. “Our setup must look like child's play to yours, ay Xyla?” Barrett asks with a grin. She smiles as she turns around. "I wasn't going to mention it." He looks at all of us and nods. "Godspeed." We nod back and turn to each other. Xyla smiles and confidently walks through. Of course, now Callum and I feel foolish for being even the slightest bit hesitant about going through the portal. We step forward almost in perfect synchronization.

  As I step into the portal, I can hardly believe that I'm doing this again. The sensation is slightly less strange than the last time. There is a moment of darkness. Bright light bursts through as I my body shoots into a new world. I always feel like I should fall down a tunnel of some sort before arriving on the other side. I feel fine for the first few steps before vertigo hits me. Fortunately, I catch myself on some railing. It looks like the IDPA anticipated some people would experience a loss of balance after traveling through the portal. Callum and I are both holding onto the railing on opposite sides of the portal while Xyla stands in the middle, perfectly fine.

  Over to my right, I spot two women. One is sitting at the control desk. That must be Mara, Xyla's desk agent. The other woman is standing next to her with a very resolute look on her face. I manage to push myself upright and wipe a bead of sweat from my forehead. Callum follows suit. “Does that ever get better?” “No, not really,” says Xyla as she walks over to Mara and Captain Harrison at the control station. “Your body just gets used to it,” she says with a smile.

  I smile back and offer my hand to the standing woman. “Captain Jayden Lancaster.” She shakes my hand. “Welcome, Captain. Lancaster. My name is Captain Harrison. I'll save my first name for when we're better acquainted." She turns to Callum. "And who are you, sir?" "Callum is the only name I need to go by, Captain." They shake hands as well. "Very well then." She gestures to the desk agent. "And you may have heard Mara's lovely voice over the comm system."

  We smile and nod in response. I turn and give the place a look around. I look back at our entry point and only see the railing. "Where is the Qua- where is your teleportation device?" I ask. The three girls smile. Xyla steps forward walking over to our entry point. "Our teleportation devices are built into the floor," she points down, "and into the ceiling," she points up. The floor and the ceiling have the same design on them. Callum looks at Mara. "Wait, did you guys bring us here?" She smiles. "No. The Quantum Spectrum sent you here. I was here to make sure that our shielding system was offline for this room."

  After the Captain reassures us that she and Mara are the only ones that know of our arrival, we set up our imitation devices to make us look like different IDPA agents. Mara programs the coordinates for our meet up point into each of our computers. Everything is running smoothly until the portal opens again. We all look over to see Real Jayden step into the Teleportation Room. I step forward. "What are you doing here?" He steps forward as well. "Listen, at this point, I'm just as invested as you guys. The safety of my world is at stake here too, and we deserve to have a representative."

  “And that's going to be you?” Callum asks. I put up my hand. “I got this. And that's going to be you, huh?” “Yeah, I mean, we're running a little low on time, and it might take a while to convince Chuck Norris to come over here." Everyone is silent. "No one? Xyla?" He asks. "Was that supposed to be funny? I don't get it. Having Chuck Norris on our side would be a great idea. He's a decorated soldier. I'm sure that he'd love to come out of retirement." "Oh, that actually makes a lot of sense," he replies.

  He turns his attention back to me. "I'm not going to get in the way. In fact, I can help you. I know that you're going to be looking for our doppelganger in this world. You and I can both use the crossover effect to find him and figure this world out. And, I'm a pretty good shot. Besides, aren't you impressed that I was able to follow you guys here?" I think about it for a moment. I turn to the others. We all shoot each other confused looks, and I turn back to face Real Jayden. "Yeah, how did you get here?" A grin appears on his face as I ask.

  "Well, first, I took one of those dummies that you use for target practice, and I set it up with an imitation device. Obviously, I made the dummy look like me. Then I planted the dummy in my room. After that, I used another imitation device to make myself invisible. Then I stowed away in the luggage compartment of the Tempest. Once we got to Teleportation Island, I hid over by the Quantum Spectrum, and now I just walked in with you guys. "RT has sensors for activated imitation devices," I say. "How did you shield yourself from them?" "That's a good question. Well, basically, I deactivated those sensors this morning before we flew out."

  “How did you know how to deactivate them?” RT asks over the comm system. “That's easy. Extreme Jayden and I have a theory. The longer we are around each other, the more we pick up on each other's memories. We call it the 'Crossover' effect." "So, you just knew how to do it? Just like that?" I ask him. "Not exactly. I had to focus on what I wanted to know about, and then it came to me." There is silence for a moment as we ponder our new found respect for Real Jayden. Not too mention our shame in getting fooled by a newbie.

  I slowly walk up to him. "Have you ever fired a gun?" I ask him. "Yeah, of course," he replies. "How about at a person?" I ask in a more serious tone. "Well, no. Not really." "Hmm." I consider. "Do you think you could?" His demeanor strengthens. "Yeah, I can do that if I need to." We stare each other down for a moment. "Good because you're going to need to," I state. "You're in." Everyone looks at me in shock, including Real Jayden. "Just like that, huh?" Captain Harrison asks. I reply without turning away from Real Jayden.

  "He's proved himself," I say, "not only by getting here but with the help he that he gave us in his world. And besides, my doctor says I shouldn't be too hard on myself." Xyla smiles. "It will be good to have an extra person," she says. "But it won't be hard to find your doppelganger. He's one of the wealthiest men in this world." Real Jayden looks at me surprised and impressed. He holds up his hand to give me a high five. "Yeah, okay."

  I give Real Jayden my main pistol with the holster, and I show him how to use it. I also give him my right manica since it will be easier for him to shoot with. Xyla instructs us on how to exit the building. She's going to stay behind to do some investigating. Unfortunately, she has to go through an extensive debriefing process which means that it will be a while before she can start looking for clues about the Ministry. Getting past security goes smoothly enough. We start walking as soon as we step outside. It doesn't matter which direction at this point. Just standing in front of the building would be too conspicuous. As I look up and around, I instantly know, without a doubt that this is the city that I saw inside of Brogan's mind.

  It's a significantly different perspective looking at it from the ground level. So many enormous buildings everywhere I turn. It's easy to spot all of the government buildings because they have a fair amount of purple in their design. Vehicles fill the streets as they travel in all directions. I always thought that if I ever saw New York, it would be the version that is overrun by the Supreme Ministry. I wonder how different that city is from this one. "Over there," Callum points across the street. "That coffee shop." The three of us start walking toward the shop. Callum needs a place to hang out while Xyla conducts her investigation.

  If something goes south, it's his job to run in there and get her out. None of us, especially Xyla, want to believe that the IDPA has been corrupted. Unfortunately, we're almost certain that it has been. To what extent, we're not quite sure. Real Jayden taps at his manica as we walk. "All right," I say over the comm system. "Maintain radio contact. Let's check in every hour starting one hour from now.

  Xyla. I suggest that you open the line with Callum every fifteen minutes. That way, you won't have to speak, and if your comm system gets cut off, he'll know within fifteen minutes.” “Affirmative,” she replies. We reach the coffee shop, and Callum enters. Real Jayden and I keep moving down the street. I turn to him. "So, a
ny ideas on how we can get a meeting with our rich twin?" I ask. "Well, what do we know about him?" "He's rich... his company is responsible for inter-dimensional travel, hover crafts, weapons..." " So speaking directly with him seems... unlikely." "Yes. Yes, it does," I reply.

  We continue walking down the busy streets. It's strange to see so many people in one area. Our roads were never this busy even back on the first island. Real Jayden stops in front of one of the larger buildings. I follow suit. A whirring sound comes from up above. Real Jayden and I look up to see a hover transport lifting off from the docking bay.

  “I saw this building, inside of Brogan's mind. It belongs to our doppelganger, doesn't it?” “Yeah, it's the headquarters for Lancaster Enterprises,” he replies. He turns and looks at me with a gleam in his eyes. “Can you believe we own a multi-billion dollar conglomerate?” “We don't own anything. That guy does,” I point to an electronic billboard that hangs on the side of the building. It's currently displaying our other dimensional twin in a fancy suit smiling. Real Jayden looks back up to see it as well.

  The image changes to a picture of our twin shaking hands with a man wearing a white lab coat. The man appears to be in his fifties and has silver hair. The image changes again. This time, it displays an advanced military uniform. The picture zooms in on the chest piece. The caption reads; NEUROMUSCULAR AUGMENTATION. The image changes again to a video of a man and a woman appearing on a teleportation platform. They seem overly excited, but maybe that's just me that thinks so. The image switches back to the original.

  Real Jayden and I bring our heads back down in sync. "Well, that's neat," we both say to each other. We pause for a moment. We both refuse to address further the weirdness of saying the same thing at the same time. "So," he says. "I think we should call this the "Rich World." "What just because our doppelganger here is rich?" I ask. "Yeah basically, I mean, he is , but he's only partially responsible for a few of the developments of his company. It seems like, for the most part, his parents made sure that he had a strong foundation of education and from there he took off. I mean, he's smarter than I am in many ways, but I feel like "Rich Jayden" is a more apt designation. And besides, the poverty levels are much lower here than they are in my world."

  “All right,” I say. “Rich World it is.” I press my comm button. “Hey, RT. Any ideas on how we can get a meeting with our rich twin?” “I thought that's what we had Real Jayden there for,” he replies. “Something about the crossover connection?” “The crossover effect,” Real Jayden corrects him. “Although, it is a connection... maybe, the crossover connection effect. Yeah, I don't know. It doesn't sound quite right.” “Don't worry,” RT replies. “I've just finished making your schedule.” “Schedule?” asks Real Jayden. “Oh, I see. You guys already have a plan. Of course, you guys already have a plan. You just wanted to get at me for sneaking along on the journey.” I smile. “Yeah, we have a plan.”

  I've managed to set up a lunch meeting for you three at Rich Jayden's estate,” RT says with a sarcastic formality. “Oh, nice. Very convenient how Mr. Lancaster's schedule was so open today.” “I know, right? Luckily for us, his other plans were suddenly canceled.” “Perfect,” says Real Jayden. “So who are we going as?”

  "You'll be posing as Roger, and Extreme Jayden will be posing as Travis. Roger and Travis are two of Jayden's old friends from high school. I'm uploading all of the information you need for your manica. Callum was originally going to play the part of Roger, but you'll have to do. I'll have a car pick you guys up at twelve thirty so, Real Jayden, you have three hours to learn your role. I'm going to be working on the upgrades for the Quantum Spectrum. Let me know if you need anything else." "Will do," I reply as Real Jayden peruses the monitor on his forearm. "Thanks, RT." "No problem," RT replies. "And just so you know, in this world, your name isn't Jayden, it's Julian."

  "Jaydens, RT, Callum, do you copy?" Xyla says over the comm system. "We can hear you," I reply. "I read you loud and clear," says Callum. "I'm here," RT says. "I've found something, boys," says Xyla. "It's a trail of breadcrumbs that leads from the IDPA to Lancaster Enterprises. I can't hack into it myself, but RT and I have discovered that one of our agents has been using our computers to hack in and access files from a Lancaster computer. I'm going to go to their new building and investigate. There's no saying for sure at this point, but we have to consider the possibility that your 'Rich' world twin is involved with the Ministry.

  Real Jayden and I look at each other. I press my comm button. “If he's involved then we will take him down the same as anyone else. We'll head over to the coffee shop so that Real Jayden can study up on his role. Let us know if you need anything else.” “Will do,” Xyla replies. Real Jayden and I start back to the coffee shop.

  "Rich Jayden has a kid!" Real Jayden says with his head still buried in his manica screen. "What?" I ask in surprise. "Yeah, and he's not even Mormon. Apparently, everyone in this world is encouraged to start a family at a fairly young age," he tells me as we walk into the coffee shop. We take a seat, and I go over the information about Travis and Roger with him. After all, I've only had a few hours to research them myself. First, I show him a video that has all three of the friends in it. It was recorded last summer. They are all on a senior trip to Daytona Beach. Roger and the other Jayden run back from the beach. Roger plays a prank on Travis with a water bottle.

  After the video, I explain to him everything that I have learned about these three friends. They found each other in middle school. They were all kid geniuses. They made a pact to graduate high school and college early. I'm surprised to learn that the Jayden in this world was such a great student. Not that I was a lousy student. I just didn't excel in science and math to the level that he did. Researching this role reminds me of training for the reconnaissance missions back on the first island. It's weird to think that I haven't done this much background work since I first learned how to do it. Of course, I've never needed to know as many personal details as I do for this mission. I was always just a Ministry soldier or in the case of the Real World, a security guard.

  Trevor is a lawyer so imitating him will be somewhat tricky to pull off. However, they require everyone on Idem to a learn quite a bit about law. We even had to take the LSAT and get a seventy percent or better to graduate. Of course, there are quite a few differences to learn between the United States laws of the 1940's that I learned and the present day Rich World laws of the United Nations. Travis also has a wife named Mindy and a daughter Isabella who is a few months old. He was on the rowing team with the other two friends at the United Nations Naval academy. Travis is perhaps the most competitive of the trio. Roger, on the other hand, is more of a prankster. I think that Real Jayden will enjoy the role. With Elena there, I know it will be a challenge for me, but after more research, I feel confident about playing this part.

  Unfortunately, my confidence doesn't last as I let my thoughts wander off to the fact that I am about to see Elena. And not just in a dream. My stomach isn't supposed to get sick and yet, on the drive to the Lancaster estate, I can't help but feel the overwhelming desire to regurgitate. I guess, I forgot that inter-dimensional traveling could affect my abilities. Of course, I'm not sure that even an enhanced immune system could save me right now. I stare ahead through the driver's window, or what would be the driver's window. The taxi that we're in is self-driving. It turns out that all of the cars in the Rich World are that way. Even the hovercrafts are like this as well. In our world, RT invented the same technology; however, we never felt the need to use it for most of our vehicles. Although, he does have some spy drones that can be remotely piloted or fly themselves. In this world, they have had full access to the Omega-crystals for a while. With numerous brilliant minds working together, they have managed to accomplish quite a bit with the Fortisium.

  Through my peripheral vision, I can see Real Jayden constantly looking at me and then away. His attention only briefly stays on me. "What is it? What do you want to say?" "Well, you proba
bly already know considering the crossover effect and the fact that you're now a telepath," he replies. "I don't even know if I can use my telepathy in this world yet, and I've been a little too preoccupied to have been concentrating on your thoughts." The car hits a bump in the road, and my stomach churns. "You're starting to make me feel sick now," he says as he holds his stomach. "Don't tell me you're having sympathy pains now?" He laughs.

  "This might be a good time to try that breathing exercise that Doc told you about," he says. I think for a second. That was just Doc and I. This crossover effect is invading my personal space. "What other times have you been in my head?" I ask. He pauses for a moment. "Remember the morning at the high rise condo?" he says. "Yeah, what about it?" I ask. "Before I asked you to play the guitar, you were staring off into space, thinking about Elena... I could see her... It felt as though I once knew her. As if I could remember her." I'm not sure how to respond. My memories of Elena are painful enough for me to deal with without having another person be able to experience them as well.

  “And the night before- the dream at the movie theater... I saw it all...” he says, quietly. The buildings begin to disappear as we make our way out of the heavily populated area. "I just want to say," he continues, "that I know this is very difficult for you, but I believe that you can do it." I look from the window over to him. "And I appreciate the fact that you guys are looking out for my world." My stomach is starting to calm down a bit. "And I think that we should practice that breathing exercise a few times before we reach the estate." I crack a smile. "All right," I say. "All right. We'll practice the breathing technique. But only because it looks like we're going to be there soon anyway" I nod my head to the window where I see the Lancaster Mansion in the distance.