Imagine

Imagine
Image from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Stipula_fountain_pen.jpg

Saturday, 6 June 2015

The Best Of Both Lives: Chapter 2 - Strange Worlds



John sat down on the foot of the bed while Liam stood up and Greg sat on the floor near the window. They all stared at the small device in front of them. It was strange looking, and definitely not something they came across before. John took a closer look, while being weary of not touching the device. 


"I think the design of this device seems to represent something old, like it was built awhile back. If you look closely, at the metal and the wiring, it's definitely indicating a different era, compared to ours." Greg and Liam both looked at John and then at the device. They were both truly impressed by John's little analysis, because when they, themselves, looked at the device a little closely, it seemed that he was absolutely correct.

"Well let's do a bit of research then, shall we?" Liam suggested excitedly. Greg sighed. 
"There goes our vacation," as he said this, he got up and went to his suitcase, unzipping it to reveal a laptop and a small scanning device. "Let's get started boys," he said with a grin. 
"Well, to be honest, we shouldn't really be doing anything like this at the moment, we were told to have a vacation," Liam said with a little concern of the University finding out. 
"That's true, they said for us not to do anything," John agreed, but smiled and said, "but just as long as they don't find out." Liam and Greg both laughed at John's smart suggestion, knowing full well they had a bit of work to do. 
Suddenly Liam's phone started ringing. They all stopped what they were doing, startled. 
"Oh my gosh!" Liam said with an alarmed voice, looking at his mobile phone. 
"What is it?" John asked. 
"It's Jessica, my new assistant." Liam replied. 
"Wow, what a timing!" Greg exclaimed. 
John started looking around the room, and Greg, who seemed to understand what John's thoughts were, he got up and started examining the flower arrangement that was in the room’s table. 
"It's confirmed, there aren't any bugs or hidden cameras in the room." John said smirking. 
Liam just rolled his eyes at them. "Hello, Jessica." 

A few moments later 

"So, was she checking on us or what?" Greg asked. 
"In a way, yes, but that really doesn't matter now. Let's continue, shall we?" Liam said. 
John was now standing near the device, he then waved his hand, in order to indicate his friends to look at something he was seeing underneath all the wiring, and suddenly, it lit up. 
"Wow!" Greg said. 
"What did you do?!" Liam asked a little bit exasperated. 
"Nothing, I just...." John trailed off. 
A look of surprise crossed their faces. A bright light was now enveloping an adjacent room. They turned around, dazzled by it and walked towards the light.

They were astonished at the sight of this immense light and they were being drawn toward it. It was like drawing a moth to a flame. Once they entered it, the next thing they witnessed was a strange surrounding. It felt like they were on the ground, but in reality, they were floating a little; in fact, around them, they could see others - who seemed to look like humans - move the same way as them. 

They were surrounded by a lot of buildings and nature, which were all strangely floating a little as well. The colour of the sky was so vibrant, with plenty of sunlight being emitted everywhere around them. It felt warm and calm. Liam and Greg both felt they were in the best place of their entire lives and didn't want to leave. However John was not the same. His heart was pounding and racing, swirling with emotions, as he mostly felt strange in this place. 

Liam was gazing at his surroundings with a big grin on his face and his eyes were glistening in anticipation of the wonders of this new world. At the same time, he was also observing his teammates' reactions. Greg looked just as excited, but when Liam looked at John, he observed a completely different reaction. 

Liam was a very observant individual. He liked to watch as things fell into place and if they didn't, he always wanted to see how they could be organized in order for it to happen. He loved observing many things, like animals and their habits, or even people and their reactions to certain events and how they would go about solving problems, or how he, himself, would do so. So when he looked at John, Liam knew that something was not right, and he felt that John seemed uneasy about something, but he also knew now was not the time to ask any questions. 

Greg was feeling excited, and he was definitely showing it through his actions and by uttering several “Wow!”. He was feeling a built up of adrenaline and was also thinking how bright and amazing this place was; he sensed this small light glow inside him. 

Just like Liam, Greg wanted to stride off on a new adventure, explore this new world; he was, after all, a more hands-on type of person.

Greg knew there were so many possibilities on this new world; they could maybe even embrace the chance of discovering alien species. He wondered what it would be like to meet someone literally from another planet. In what way would they converse and what sort of habits would they possess; what would their interests be and what sort of needs would they have. The possibilities were endless.

Shortly after, the device started emitting a shattering noise. They were all interrupted from their deep thoughts and were now looking at it. Liam, reached for the device, to have a look at it, but just as he went towards it, the device started to shake and make a loud clanging noise, which made Liam back up. Then they noticed a strange light, which made them all look at it and suddenly, they fell unconscious.

A few moments later 

"What just happened?!" John asked, confused. He could see the same confusion mirrored on his friends' faces. 
"I don't know, but I sure would like to repeat the experience." Liam said feeling quite enthusiastic. 
"Yeah!" Greg said, sounding too excited. 
"Are you guys nuts? Did you by any chance hit your heads or something?" John scolded. 
"Take it easy! Geez, what happened to you?" Liam asked him. 
Liam's phone rung once again. 
"Are you alright?" Greg asked John, while Liam answered his phone call. 
"Yeah, yeah..." John trailed off. 
"Guys, it seems our vacations are over." Liam informed. 
"What do you mean?" Greg inquired. 
"Well, according to Jessica, something weird happened at the university and they need our help." Liam said walking towards his suitcase, he didn't want to lose anymore time. 
"Wait a minute, and what about the device?" John asked pointing at the device, that was now fully quiet and no longer emitting any light.  
"Well, I guess we will just have to take it back with us." Greg said. 
"We have to. We definitely need to figure out what just happened and we can't do that without it." 
"I guess so." John said, feeling a little bit apprehensive. 

Meanwhile in another corner of the galaxy

"Taylor, it seems there was some sort of malfunction. We were forced to break the connection with the device." A technician was reporting. 
"It doesn't matter. I am sure John will be able to figure out what's wrong with it and will get in touch with us once again." Taylor said. "What's important now, is that in spite of the brief connection, I was able to leave him a message. Now, we just need to wait for him to find it." She turned to another console. "Hopefully, sooner, rather than later, because time is definitely of the essence now." 
*
On the train ride back to the University, Liam was beginning to feel a little uneasy about their brief stop on what seemed to be a whole different world. But simultaneously, he was feeling a thrill of excitement that overwhelmed him with joy and enthusiasm. 

Greg was feeling the shift in mood amongst his teammates, so he decided to just chat away what he thought would be an icebreaker. He wasn’t sure if they would be listening to him, but he needed to express his thoughts about this new discovery and he definitely wanted to add a little of ‘Greg’ into the whole picture, so much that he couldn’t stop talking about how he would take over this new world and name it 'Gregland' and how this newfound discovery could definitely lead them into something really great. 

But, in the same way he was feeling the charm of this new world, he was also feeling a little intimidated by the very intense impression of happiness and peace that emanated from it, not to mention the indescribable feelings that were now building up inside him. 

This new world was bringing up emotions in him, that he never knew he had and he was loving and thriving in it. He knew he would get far in there, so much that he already could see himself leaving his old world and start anew in the new one; it was something he was not expecting at all. 

John looked at both his teammates, while Greg was still talking about the recent events; Liam was listening to it, glancing, now and then, at him. John knew Liam wanted to know what happened to him, but he wanted to keep his thoughts to himself. He didn't feel like speaking about his small experience of uneasiness and uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach during their short visit to that strange world. So he decided to stay quiet throughout the train ride, he noted to himself that the others were not questioning his silence because they knew he would explain it to them later on. It would be only a matter of time. 

Once they reached their destination, they took a taxi home. John made sure not to lose his bag as it carried the unfamiliar device they encountered. They all thought to themselves that there was a lot of research to be done once they would get back to the University. 

Somewhere in the galaxy  

"Lizzie...?" James called out in the dark. 
"James, James! I am here!" Lizzie called back.  
"Are you okay?" James asked her, approaching her and doing his best to examine her under the dim light that was coming through the small window in the cell they had been placed.  
"Yeah, I think so." Lizzie replied.  
"What happened?" James inquired.  
"I can't remember. The only thing I remember is to be in the presence of the leader once again, but then, I remember nothing more." 
"And was she there?" James asked.  
"Yes, she was." Lizzie said. "But she doesn't remember me. I mean, she looked straight at me, but she didn't show any emotion and I..." 
"Did you try to connect to her?" James interrupted her.  
"Yes, I did. But she seems to have some sort of firewall that prevented me from going any further." Lizzie said feeling frustrated. 
*
Elizabeth was walking down the corridors of Sarusa, she wasn't sure where she was heading, but something, or someone was pulling her. She had no idea what was wrong, and she couldn't explain the strange feeling she was having and that started once these two organic intruders arrived in the city. She was puzzled; why was her organic part suddenly playing such an influence on her? She knew perfectly well she was not 100% Sarusan, but she had been able to suppress her organic influence and that somehow made her fellow Sarusans accept her as one of their own. Of course, in the beginning, when she first arrived on Sarusa, coming from where, she didn't know or remembered, there was always a constant reminder, of her outlying characteristics, by her fellow Sarusans. But that was then, all that had changed. Now, with the presence of these two organic intruders in the city, the conspicuous looks began being thrown at her once again. Deep down, she knew these intruders, somehow, could probably answer some of her questions, but part of her, feared knowing the truth.  

End of chapter 2 

No comments:

Post a Comment