by Iram Dana
“The door is open? You’re sure?”
She nodded quickly.
“Yes. But we don’t have too long. Master Shengdu is out meditating on the pavilion. We have about an hour before he gets back.”
Stephanie could see the machinery whirring in his brains and smiled. She had him.
“So, you in?”
“What do you think?”
She flashed him a bright smile. “I think you’re in.”
He gave her a half-smile in return. “What makes you so confident?”
She gave him an incredulous look. “Because you’re Diego! Who else can I count on to break the biggest rules and enjoy doing it, too?”
Diego shoved his chair back and stood up. “Sums it all up neatly. Let’s go.”
“So, you’re saying Master Shengdu just left the door to this ‘Forbidden chamber’ open for you and I to stroll in and explore, huh?” Diego noted skeptically, jogging quietly beside Stephanie.
“Not exactly.” Stephanie frowned. She pulled out some of the gum she was chewing and pointed to it. “I was chewing gum. Master Shengdu asked me walk away without turning back. I didn’t. Join the dots.”
She put the gum back into her mouth. Diego understood what she meant instantly.
“Nice trick.” he said.
As they came upon the corridor leading to the room, Stephanie bent down and took off her noisy shoes. Diego didn’t bother removing his and neither did Stephanie ask him to. Diego was stealthy, she knew. Silent as a cat. Even barefoot, she was noisier than he was. Together, they entered the room and quietly closed the door behind themselves, after removing the bit of gum stuck on the lockset.
Turning around, they took in the interiors of the room. A few moments after their eyes adjusted to the dimness, they realized that the room looked it belonged to some sort of mad scientist. Tables were arranged crookedly, shelves stacked haphazardly with objects and curios of all shapes and sizes. Stephanie ran over to a table set up with beakers, tripod and a Bunsen burner. Lifting a test-tube stand that had several test-tubes filled with pastel, iridescent liquids, she brought them up to eye level, admiring the colors.
“What do you suppose these are? Pixie shots?” she asked Diego, throwing a look over her shoulder.
Diego didn’t answer, going instead to lift a heavy object from one of the shelves. It had two large rocks on either side and an indicator bar in the center. The yellow liquid in the indicator moved up slightly when one of the stones was touched.
“Is that a strength tester?” asked Stephanie, coming to stand beside him. “A for-real strength tester and not one of those rigged things you find at fairs?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Stephanie looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.
“Let’s test our strength!”
Diego obligingly placed the device down on the floor and flashed her an answering grin.
Stephanie crouched down beside him and placed a palm on one of the rocks.
“Ready when you are.”
They began pressing down on the rocks with all their might and watched as two indicators now, one red and one yellow, jumped up and began climbing steadily up the bar. Halfway up, the red liquid stopped climbing. The yellow one just kept rising though, until it hit the highest mark and still it kept climbing, until there was nowhere for it to go. Still, Diego kept pushing.
“Dude, you’re off the scales. You can stop showing off now.” said Stephanie.
Just then the rock under Diego’s palm split, breaking into several pieces.
“Ohmygosh! We’re dead.” Stephanie squealed, looking at the mess before them. But her fears were unwarranted, because the rock repaired itself before their eyes, going back into its original form.
“Oh, thank goodness!” breathed Stephanie, “looks like it was equipped to test someone like you. Now keep that thing back where you found it.”
Diego lifted the contraption and placed it carefully back on its shelf.
“So, too much for the strength-o-meter to handle, eh?” said Stephanie, giving Diego a playful jab in the side.
In response, Diego gave her a smug grin. Rolling her eyes, Stephanie made her way deeper into the room. She turned a corner and stopped with a gasp.
“Diego, look at this!” she called, her voice filled with wonder. She was staring at an enormous globe made purely of energy. Around it, small replicas of other planets were moving slowly, each in its respective invisible orbit.
“Cool.” said Diego, coming up behind her.
“Where’s Alaska?” Stephanie wondered out loud, searching the globe. “Did you know I’m from there originally?”
“You are? That’s news.”
“Mmhmm … my parents, actually. I was born in – oh, there it is!” she said, pointing to the spot, accidentally touching it. Immediately, a green dot began to blink at the spot.
“Uh … oopsies?” murmured Stephanie.
Slowly, the globe began to turn, revealing a shiny surface of the purest blue. It looked like it was completely liquid.
“Wow.” whispered Stephanie, reaching for it tentatively. They could see their reflection in its mirror like surface.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” warned Diego.
“Oh, come on. I wasn’t really going to touch it.” said Stephanie, not moving further but not drawing her hand back either. “What do you think it is? An entrance into a land filled with hot guys?”
It was Diego’s turn to roll his eyes now.
“You have one standing right next to you. What more could you want?” he teased.
“A thousand more?” joked Stephanie.
The sound of the doorknob being turned reached them. In fear and confusion, Stephanie whipped around- unintentionally pushing her hand through the silver-blue liquid, right up to her wrist. She felt an icy jolt move through her body at the contact and jerked her hand back. Only, her arm back without the part that had passed through the reflective liquid. Three things happened simultaneously then;
The door opened and Master Shengdu entered the room. Diego ducked down to avoid being caught. And Stephanie screamed.
With a roll of his eyes and a huff of irritation Star rose to his feet. So much for hiding, he thought, turning around to glare at Stephanie when he noticed the terror on her face and then, her missing hand.
“Stephanie! What the hell …!” Diego yelled, not caring now if Master Shengdu caught them. He grabbed her wrist, staring at it closely while Master Shengdu came running up to the source of all the commotion in his private room. He looked like he was both; extremely furious and extremely worried.
Stephanie’s hand looked like it had been cleanly sliced away at the wrist, except there was no cut, no bruise and no blood even. There was only the occasional blue energy snaking around the sliced wrist like lightning.
“Are you in pain?” asked Diego, wonder coloring his voice.
Stephanie shook her head. “I … I don’t feel anything except for hysterical, right now.” she sniffled “And I think I’m going to throw up.”
“What are the two of you doing down here?!” thundered Master Shengdu, interrupting their conversation. “And how did you get in? Aah, forget it!” he said, brushing aside the excuses he knew they would provide. “You pesky kids! At least once, someone from every training batch finds their way down here and creates some sort of havoc. Why should your batch be any different? Now, let’s see that hand of yours, Stephanie.”
He held his palm out to Stephanie, pushing the bridge of his glasses up his nose.
“What happened to her hand? And what is that thing?” asked Diego, pointing behind him to the silvery blue mirror as Master Shengdu observed Stephanie’s hand. He let go of it and looked at Diego.
“Stephanie’s hand is in there, somewhere. That is a gateway into Quniverse, where all Quest’s take place. But not the present – the past.” answered Master Shengdu, suddenly looking old and drawn.
“Is that where her hand went?�
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“Yes.”
Now, it was Diego’s turn to freak.
“You mean her hand is, at this moment, suspended somewhere in Quniverse, and that too, in the past?”
Master Shengdu nodded. Diego raked a hand through his hair, looking around the room wild eyed while Stephanie howled softly in one corner.
“Can’t you make this right somehow, Master? Just fix her hand?”
“No. You will have to go in there and retrieve her hand… if it is important enough for you.”
“Why, is it that risky?”
Master Shengdu gave a thin smile in reply.
“We’re dead.” said Diego.
“That, you most definitely are. In the event that you do survive this experience somehow, I will make sure to kill you both with my bare hands.”
Diego swallowed. “That was a joke, right?”
“We are wasting precious time with trivialities. You should be getting along if you hope to bring her hand back.” said Master Shengdu.
“Where is her hand exactly, do you know?”
“Do you remember the spot you chose on the globe?”
“Yes. Stephanie touched Alaska.” said Diego, looking at Stephanie for affirmation. She nodded.
“Well, whatever event was taking place somewhere in Alaska the last time the planets were in this alignment … her hand will be there.”
Master Shengdu grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and began making a series of quick calculations using symbols and elaborate lines that looked nothing like the numbers either of them knew.
“You have exactly one hour from now to find and retrieve her hand. Go quickly and hurry back. Once this specific alignment changes beyond a point, you will be unable to return here. Plus, since you are not actually a part of the past events, if that happens, you will simply combust and cease to be.”
Stephanie grew even paler at this piece of news.
“Great. Things just keep getting easier.” muttered Diego. “Will you be coming with us, Master?” he asked, hating to admit the fact that he needed help. But need it he did, desperately.
Master Shengdu shook his head, making Diego feel worse for having asked. He spoke with remorse in his eyes.
“I cannot risk it. I have almost a hundred disciples here and many more faculty members, all of whom are dependant on my survival and my guidance. Plus, this is your mistake. You must rectify it on your own or not at all.”
“What happens if we don’t bring my hand back?” Stephanie asked.
She had managed to collect herself somewhat.
“You’ll live.” said Master Shengdu.
Diego and Stephanie exchanged a glance.
“Don’t even think about it.” warned Diego.
“No, look, what I’m saying is … you stay, Diego. It’s my hand. I’ll go alone. Besides, I was the one who suggested we come here. The whole bad idea was mine so I should take responsibility for the consequences…” Stephanie trailed off as her voice became too quivery. She was trying to be brave and failing miserably.
“Over my dead body.” growled Diego. “I’m going with you, and we’re leaving now because time is running out on us.”
Stephanie didn’t make anymore half-hearted attempts to argue. She was terrified of going alone and she needed his help, no two ways about it. Diego took her good hand in his and turned to Master Shengdu.
“Do we just jump in?”
“Yes. But remember, just find her hand and retrieve it safely. Do not try to change any of the events taking place before you or you will be trapped in time forever.” warned Master Shengdu.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” said Diego. To Stephanie, he said, “Ready?”
She nodded, and they both jumped headlong into the liquid mirror.
They tumbled out onto the snow, almost burying themselves in it. Diego was on his feet first, brushing the snow off his body. Then he lent Stephanie a helping hand. Together they scanned the landscape around them for some sign of her missing hand.
“There’s nothing here. Just snow covered mountains and pine trees.” said Stephanie, wrapping her arms around herself as the cold was beginning to get to her already. Diego, though bare bodied, seemed unaffected by it.
“Let’s keep moving. It’s got to be somewhere close-by. Can you jog?” asked Diego.
Stephanie nodded. She didn’t remind him that she was without any shoes. Complaining about her freezing toes seemed like a bad idea right now. They two of them took off, taking care to avoid open landscapes and staying close to the shelter of trees and huge snowdrifts. They rounded the corner of an enormous snowdrift and there it was – suspended in the air, surrounded by a halo of crackling energy. And standing just below it, fascinated by the glowing object, was a Yeti.
Stephanie let out a gasp and ducked behind the snowdrift with Diego, breathing hard. The freezing air seared through her lungs, making breathing more painful than relieving.
“What do we do now?” she wailed, close to panicking once more.
“I’ll distract. You go for the hand.” said Diego.
“But how?”
They poked their heads around the corner to assess the situation again. The Yeti was taking swipes at the floating appendage, but its hand kept passing right through it. Instinctually, Stephanie balled up her fists and watched in amazement as the fingers on the floating hand responded.
“It’s still connected to me!” she breathed.
“Yeah … I’m gonna go now, so be ready. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Stephanie nodded and Diego steeped out from behind the snowdrift into plain view.
“Hey!” he called to the animal, supplementing his call with a snowball. The Yeti turned, distracted for a second, and then turned back around. The object it had found was obviously more fun because the Yeti resumed swiping at it, ignoring Diego completely. Diego exchanged a worried glance with Stephanie.
“Hey you, retard! I said over here!” Diego bellowed, but the wind was blowing against him, effectively nullifying his effort. The Yeti continued to ignore him. Frustrated, Diego bent and lifted a large, frozen rock from the ground and hurled it at the beast.
That got its attention.
With a furious roar the Yeti whirled and came charging towards Diego. Diego turned and shot into the forest like a bullet.
“Go, Steph, GO!” he yelled, as he all but flew over the ground.
Stephanie did not hesitate. As soon as they had passed her, she sped forwards, towards the floating hand. With every step that she got nearer, the pull exerted by the disjointed appendage became stronger and sparks of electricity began shooting up her arm. With a roar she took a leap, reaching out for the floating hand with the stump of her sliced arm. The two halves touched and connected with a sizzle, hand fusing with the arm seamlessly. Stephanie fell to the ground and rolled to the side while checking her hand for functionality and thanking her stars she had decided to wear her lenses today. She did not need the problem of a pair of broken glasses right now.
It worked! Her hand was saved! Somewhat relieved, she looked up to see how Diego was faring with the Yeti but they were nowhere to be seen. Fear gripped her heart anew as she stood there all alone, freezing and terrified. Where had Diego gone? Was he all right or was he lying injured and almost dead somewhere? What should she do? Wait for him, search for him, or leave?
Her teeth began to chatter and Stephanie found she could not decide upon a suitable course of action. She looked above her to see that a shimmering blue portal had opened up exactly where her hand had been only moments ago. She settled on pacing back and forth close to the portal, trying to keep herself from freezing to death while looking every few seconds towards the pine trees for some sign of Diego. Nervously, she checked her watch. Twenty minutes had gone by. They still had time. Stephanie decided to wait for Diego until time almost ran out. If her toes didn’t catch frostbite until then, that is. With her teeth chattering away noisily, Stephanie paced the area, losing courage wit
h every passing second. Again and again she glanced towards the forest. She spotted some movement far away and stopped, watching the spot keenly while jogging in place to keep blood flowing to her legs. Again, she saw a flash of movement, closer this time. Seconds later, Diego’s tall form burst into view, running like his life depended on it. Well, it did. He was bleeding from numerous scratches to his bare chest and the Yeti was close on his heels, roaring and trying to take swipes at his back with its enormous arms. Stephanie froze in her spot, unable to rip her eyes off the fierce look on Diego’s face. He was running like a maniac, straight towards her.
Instinct for survival commanded that she move unless she wanted to be mowed into pulp, but the eyes locked fiercely onto hers were telling her to stay put, and she couldn’t disobey. Diego’s long legs ate up the ground as he closed the distance between them, grabbed Stephanie roughly by the waist and hauled her over his shoulder, never stopping for a moment. She was jolted roughly for about five seconds, and then they were soaring through the air. Stephanie knew a moment of thick silence as they passed through the portal and then they crashed out onto the floor of Master Shengdu’s secret lab. Diego finally let go of her and tumbled to a stop below Master Shengdu’s chair.
“Ugh!” Diego groaned, clutching the back of his head where he had taken a hard knock against Master Shengdu’s chair. Stephanie lay quietly on the floor of the room, trying to calm the chattering of her teeth and stop the shivers racking her body. It took a few moments for Diego’s eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the room. Once he did, he noticed that Master Shengdu had made arrangements for their impending arrival, having shifted tables and shelves to make space for them when they would come tumbling out of the portal. He, however, was making no move to get up from his seat and help the two of them now, which was strange. On closer inspection, Diego noticed that one of Master Shengdu’s right eye was rapidly swelling and bruising.
“Sierra was here.” Master Shengdu spoke in a toneless voice, in answer to Diego’s unspoken question.