Professor Tannic Mistrome didn't truly believe in heaven and hell, not the way some people did; not like your soul landed in one or the other, or some vague place between, when you died and then stayed the same and unchanging for endless eons.
Of course, then Professor Tannic Mistrome--head of quantum sciences at King York University--built a machine able to detect and travel to a pair of realms outside normal space. Stranger still, the two realms, according to the machine, presented in two different directions:
One up.
One down.
He shut the machine off and went home, to his quiet home, where only he lived. He sat in thought, until rising from his bed the next morning and returning to work. His graduate student Kenzie had already arrived, and when Professor Mistrome walked in the door the fool girl had the device in her hands, turning it this way and that.
Mistrome knocked her down. "No!"
"Professor-"
"Don't touch it! Never touch it!" Mistrome returned the device to where Kenzie had found it, arranging its wires and pads to eliminate tangles.
"Professor, that hurt!"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with things that aren't yours?" The professor rounded on the young woman. She sat on the floor, cradling her wrist, face a mix of pain and anger. "Should have known you would try to tamper with it!"
"I wasn't tampering with it, professor!" Kenzie moved her feet under her and stood, wobbling. "I was just trying to figure out what it was. Is this what you've been working on all this time?"
"Of course it is! I don't expect you to understand the science behind it, so I'm not going to bother."
Kenzie frowned. "Can't you at least tell me what it does?"
Mistrome huffed. "Fine. If you must know." He neatened the device's wires again, making sure they rested in their proper place. "The many universes theory. I've proven it."
"With that?"
"Yes, with this! I activated it last night, late, long after you had given up for the day. It detected two other universes. Up, and down."
Kenzie raised an eyebrow. "Only two?"
"More power. It needs more power. If I could tap into a bigger source, I would discover endless more. The possibilities are limitless!" Mistrome removed his glasses. "I will test it. Tomorrow. I must prepare today. If I can test it, and prove that it works, everybody will be clamoring to give me the power I need." He turned away from the device. "I will be out today! Don't touch it!"
He stormed past her, almost knocking her down again. Kenzie rubbed her wrist and walked up to the device. Mistrome stormed out of the building.
"Do you have everything you need, professor?" Kenzie asked the next morning. "Maybe you should take, oh, I don't know, an air tank? A helmet? Snacks?"
"I will just be a moment in each universe. A second. Enough time to take a picture. I don't need anything else." Mistrome attached the device to his body. He wore his best suit. The device's display rested on his wrist like a watch. Wires ran up his arm and spread from his backbone. "Which first, which first?"
Kenzie opened her mouth.
"Down first, of course. And then I ascend," Mistrome said. He pressed a button and the device oriented itself toward the universe that presented "down." Kenzie closed her mouth.
"Watch the time, Kenzie. Watch the time. A moment there might be a different amount of time here. I might have already returned, waiting on the other side of the door!"
Kenzie pulled her phone from her pocket. "I'm watching."
Mistrome nodded and pressed the device's activation.
A bubble popped and he disappeared. Kenzie hit the timer on her phone and stood waiting in the lab, surrounded by the professor's books and workbench and computer desk.
An hour passed, then two, then three. Kenzie ordered food with the professor's cash. Four hours. Five.
A bubble popped in reverse, and a short yell snapped her out of her nap. The professor rested on all fours, a tendril of steam rising from his bald head. His hair stuck in all directions.
He sat like marble, knees and palms on the floor and wide eyes staring between his thumbs. "Professor?"
"What a beautiful place," he said, and lifted his head. "The device works. It works, it works."
Kenzie crouched next to him. "What did you see?"
"Wondrous things! I barely understood them--surely you never could!" Mistrome thrust himself to his feet and played with the device's settings. "I have pictures, but I must travel again! Kenzie, the way I felt--it was like rain on dry ground! Snowfall at dusk!" He looked into the middle distance of the lab. "Laughter, telling you everything was all right," he said wistfully. He bent to the device, pressing buttons. "If down is such a place, what must up be? Greater! Greater tenfold!" His tongue darted out to lick his lips as the device oriented itself up. "Watch the clock again, girl, watch it! You should be good for something!"
He activated the device, and popped away again.
Kenzie didn't watch her phone. She collected her things and left for home. The next day she reported Professor Tannic Mistrome missing, and the poor man would never reappear. Kenzie certainly was good for something--swapping when a screen displayed up and down, for instance.
Of course, then Professor Tannic Mistrome--head of quantum sciences at King York University--built a machine able to detect and travel to a pair of realms outside normal space. Stranger still, the two realms, according to the machine, presented in two different directions:
One up.
One down.
He shut the machine off and went home, to his quiet home, where only he lived. He sat in thought, until rising from his bed the next morning and returning to work. His graduate student Kenzie had already arrived, and when Professor Mistrome walked in the door the fool girl had the device in her hands, turning it this way and that.
Mistrome knocked her down. "No!"
"Professor-"
"Don't touch it! Never touch it!" Mistrome returned the device to where Kenzie had found it, arranging its wires and pads to eliminate tangles.
"Professor, that hurt!"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with things that aren't yours?" The professor rounded on the young woman. She sat on the floor, cradling her wrist, face a mix of pain and anger. "Should have known you would try to tamper with it!"
"I wasn't tampering with it, professor!" Kenzie moved her feet under her and stood, wobbling. "I was just trying to figure out what it was. Is this what you've been working on all this time?"
"Of course it is! I don't expect you to understand the science behind it, so I'm not going to bother."
Kenzie frowned. "Can't you at least tell me what it does?"
Mistrome huffed. "Fine. If you must know." He neatened the device's wires again, making sure they rested in their proper place. "The many universes theory. I've proven it."
"With that?"
"Yes, with this! I activated it last night, late, long after you had given up for the day. It detected two other universes. Up, and down."
Kenzie raised an eyebrow. "Only two?"
"More power. It needs more power. If I could tap into a bigger source, I would discover endless more. The possibilities are limitless!" Mistrome removed his glasses. "I will test it. Tomorrow. I must prepare today. If I can test it, and prove that it works, everybody will be clamoring to give me the power I need." He turned away from the device. "I will be out today! Don't touch it!"
He stormed past her, almost knocking her down again. Kenzie rubbed her wrist and walked up to the device. Mistrome stormed out of the building.
"Do you have everything you need, professor?" Kenzie asked the next morning. "Maybe you should take, oh, I don't know, an air tank? A helmet? Snacks?"
"I will just be a moment in each universe. A second. Enough time to take a picture. I don't need anything else." Mistrome attached the device to his body. He wore his best suit. The device's display rested on his wrist like a watch. Wires ran up his arm and spread from his backbone. "Which first, which first?"
Kenzie opened her mouth.
"Down first, of course. And then I ascend," Mistrome said. He pressed a button and the device oriented itself toward the universe that presented "down." Kenzie closed her mouth.
"Watch the time, Kenzie. Watch the time. A moment there might be a different amount of time here. I might have already returned, waiting on the other side of the door!"
Kenzie pulled her phone from her pocket. "I'm watching."
Mistrome nodded and pressed the device's activation.
A bubble popped and he disappeared. Kenzie hit the timer on her phone and stood waiting in the lab, surrounded by the professor's books and workbench and computer desk.
An hour passed, then two, then three. Kenzie ordered food with the professor's cash. Four hours. Five.
A bubble popped in reverse, and a short yell snapped her out of her nap. The professor rested on all fours, a tendril of steam rising from his bald head. His hair stuck in all directions.
He sat like marble, knees and palms on the floor and wide eyes staring between his thumbs. "Professor?"
"What a beautiful place," he said, and lifted his head. "The device works. It works, it works."
Kenzie crouched next to him. "What did you see?"
"Wondrous things! I barely understood them--surely you never could!" Mistrome thrust himself to his feet and played with the device's settings. "I have pictures, but I must travel again! Kenzie, the way I felt--it was like rain on dry ground! Snowfall at dusk!" He looked into the middle distance of the lab. "Laughter, telling you everything was all right," he said wistfully. He bent to the device, pressing buttons. "If down is such a place, what must up be? Greater! Greater tenfold!" His tongue darted out to lick his lips as the device oriented itself up. "Watch the clock again, girl, watch it! You should be good for something!"
He activated the device, and popped away again.
Kenzie didn't watch her phone. She collected her things and left for home. The next day she reported Professor Tannic Mistrome missing, and the poor man would never reappear. Kenzie certainly was good for something--swapping when a screen displayed up and down, for instance.