Warped- Chapter 3: Not-Boring Physics

Sam would remember many things from this experience. One of them being that when focusing on one thought extremely hard, one tended to crash into trees a lot.

“Sam, watch out,” Brit said, for the eighteenth thousand time. “You’re going to crash into a tree... again.”

Sam blinked and came out of her trance, groaning. “Oh, come on!”

“Forget that Sam, are we close?”

“I don’t know. It’s been getting stronger for the past hour or so, and I think we’re really close. The thing is like destroying my mind, it’s so loud. Anyway, we’ve been walking for an hour now, and haven’t turned much, let’s just keep walking straight and see if we can find Julie, okay?”

“Fine, fine. I guess you’re right.”

Sam and Brit began to walk again, this time faster, without having to stop every few seconds because of trees. Finally, Sam stopped dead in her tracks. “Brit,” she whispered. “I think we’ve found our creature.”

'OH MY GOD!!!! It’s gonna kill us!!! Brit’s going to be so scared!!’

“Sam? I think you’re right.”

They had stumbled upon the Kliome, which had turned to stare at them. It reared its horns, showing off the needle sharp points. Just then Sam caught sight of Julie.

Julie, somehow, had gotten in a tree. Well, not really in it, more like on it. The lowest branch was thick, and strong, and the Kliome had found a way to get Julie on top of it.

“Julie!” Sam called out.

“Sam?! Oh my god, Sam get me out of here!! The thing’s gonna kill you guys! And me!”

“Not if we can help it,” Brit said, her face set in fiery determination. Sam’s heart jumped. ‘Since when has Brit gotten so serious? Or determined?’ Then it hit her. This truly meant life or death. And Sam and Brit had to get Julie out of this predicament or they would surely all die. It was exactly like The Note had said, it needed all three of their powers put together to survive.

Before Sam could stop her, Brit had charged at the Kliome.

&*&*&*&

To say the least, it didn’t work. Not quite. Not really. It just didn’t work.

Brit had been heavily bloodied up, the horns of the Kliome cutting a deep gash down the side of her leg. The horns had easily ripped through the fabric of her jeans, and Sam shook her head at the Kliome’s aim. Unfortunately, it was perfect.

Brit had been unconscious for about half an hour, while Julie, who was still up in the tree, had lost it. “Oh my god!” Sam could still remember her screaming. “Is she okay? Oh my god, please tell me she’s okay! She better be okay! I can’t believe it, she might not be okay!”

“Julie,” Sam had muttered through gritted teeth, restraining her urge to yell, “She’s fine. Now shut up before the creature thing gets really mad.”

Julie, thought looking hurt, had shut up.

When Brit finally regained consciousness, Sam had breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Oh, god, Brit, thank god you’re okay! Do you realize what could happen? Be careful, and don’t go charging at things with wicked sharp horns and good aim!”

Brit smiled weakly. “Oops. Sorry.”

Sam just shook her head and laughed. “Alright, clearly attacking the thing isn’t going to work... so, what can we do?”

“I’ve got it!” Julie’s eyes lit up. “Brit, you can hear the creature’s thoughts even though it’s in a different language. Do you think, maybe, you could speak that language too?”

“Are you kidding? I don’t even understand what the thing’s thinking, how could I possibly speak it?”

Sam cut in. “Wait a second! Julie, I think you’ve hit something. Brit, I know you can’t understand it, but it might work. I mean, I don’t understand how I feel what other people are thinking, but I do. Just try it, I mean, it can’t hurt, can it?”

Brit sighed reluctantly. “Fine, I’ll try.”

As Brit walked slowly up to the Kliome, she focused on the Kliome. All of a sudden, the words rushed naturally up to her as she felt the sensation that Sam and Julie felt every time they used their powers. She felt in control, and calm. All of a sudden, she knew how to say things. “Hello. We have come to get Julie.”

The Kliome understood, and when it responded, so did Brit. “Julie?”

“The person you have up in the tree.”

“She is not of this world, nor does she belong here.”

“Wait. You know about the worlds?”

“Of course. It is our nature to know the course of the natural worlds, just like it is yours to attempt to free your own kind.”

“Will you let her go?”

“Of course. Even though she has wronged me, I am not merciless and will send her back to her own kind. Besides, I sense that you three are bound together by an invisible force.”

‘Even here in a different world people think God has something to do with this!’

“Thank you.”

Brit and the Kliome walked to the tree, where the Kliome pulled a leaf and Julie fell out. Not the softest landing, but at least Julie was out.

“How did you do that?” Brit asked the Kliome, awed.

“With the leaf? It’s very simple, actually. It’s just a small manipulation of the laws of physics.”

“Oh. Okay, thanks.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Brit walked off in awe. The Kliomes knew more about physics than humans did.

What would her friends say?! ‘If you get out alive,’ Brit thought.

“How did you do that?” Sam asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Julie was right beside her. “Yeah! Thank you so much, though, y’guys, I needed that.”

“No problem,” Brit replied. “And it was easy, really, it just sort of came to me. Now I guess I know what The Note meant when it said my power would be needed in the most important situations.”

“Yeah,” Sam murmured. “But we’re gonna have to be more careful- that is, if we want to survive.”

“Yeah, I’m with you on that one. Really, Sam, who wouldn’t want to survive?” Julie asked.

Sam laughed. “Nice to know you’re back to normal.”

&*&*&*&

“Sam, we have a problem.”

“Again? What is it now Brit?”

“Sam. Would you listen to yourself? Think about it. WHAT DO WE NEED TO SURVIVE? FOOD! We need food! We have no food and I’m starving. So what’re we gonna do?”

Sam blinked. She’s right- we have no food!’

Julie beat Sam to speaking. “Jeez! This is ridiculous! How are we supposed to survive with no food?!!”

“I dunno, guys, but we have to be patient. All the creatures here are alive, and last time I checked, they need food, too. So, we’ll just find out what they eat and eat that too.”

Julie laughed bitterly. “Do you seriously think that’s gonna work? What if they eat dirt? Then what are we going to do?”

Sam took a deep breath, calming herself. 'Sam, you’re the oldest one here, and you’re in charge. You gotta make sure these two stay safe- along with yourself. Oh boy. This is gonna be hard.’

“Guys, I know this is hard on you guys, but just bear with me while I try to come up with a plan, okay?” she said.

“And what if you don’t?” Julie asked.

Sam was shocked at her bluntness. “Excuse me?”

“And what if you don’t?” Julie repeated. “What if you don’t come up with a plan? Tell me, what exactly are we going to do if they eat dirt, or something completely inedible to us? What if we end up in another world where the gravity is so different that we can’t lift a foot? Then what are we going to do?”

“Julie,” Sam said, fighting to keep her temper under control after what had happened last time. “I can’t guarantee anything. The best thing we can do is hope that things turn out for the best.”

“I see. So, if what I said does happen, we hope that something will rush in and save us. I see.”

Sam clenched her jaw. “What exactly are you trying to say?” she asked stiffly.

“I’m trying to say that we need a plan. Hoping isn’t going to do anything.” Then, upon seeing Sam’s inadequate hiding of her frustration, added, “And you’re not doing a very good job of pretending you’re not mad.”

“Okay, look Julie. I’m not going to yell at you like I want to, because you saw what happened last time. Brit is way too young to be going through this, and I don’t want to put her through any more than she’s already been through. All I ask is for you to try and cooperate here. Maybe then we could get an actual plan.”

Julie raised her eyebrows. “And what if I have an actual plan?”

“Excuse me?” Sam asked in disbelief.

“I’m saying that I might have a plan.”

“Excuse me? Please don’t say that, Julie. You have no idea what your plan is going to get us into, I just know. I mean really, notice how when we were still on Earth, whenever you made plans, it just got us all killed- and now, it could mean the same thing- literally.”

“Sam, I’m trying to cooperate here! But since you can’t seem to accept the fact that I have came up with something before you have, we’re all going to die- just like you said!”

“Fine. Let’s here it- but this better be good.”

The two girls, in all their pride and glory, had almost completely forgotten about Brit, who was standing next to them, thinking intently.

Julie began to speak. “Okay. From what we’ve gone through so far, we’ve found out that everything is alive, right? So, I say that Sam opens a portal, and Brit can ask the portal what’s on the other side.”

Suddenly, Brit spoke, making both other girls look up. “That won’t work.”

Julie spun around to look at her. “Why not?”

“I’m with Julie,” Sam said. “That’s definitely the only way we’re going to find out what the other end of the time warp holds.”

Brit sighed. “It’s a great idea- I’m not saying that it isn’t, but I can only talk in another type of speech if I’ve heard it before. Otherwise I would be completely up for it. But I think I might have a better idea.”

Sam stared. “Well I’m listening.”

“Well, the first part of my idea is basically the same as Julie’s. Sam can open a portal. But in my idea, instead of me trying to hold a conversation with the time warp, Julie can ‘see’ what is on the other side. I mean, I’m not saying that it will absolutely positively work, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, right?”

“It’s a great idea Brit,” Sam said. “But you’re a bit wrong about the hurt part. You know how energy-draining it is to use our powers. I mean, it gets better with practice, but in this universe- or rather, multiverse- one mistake could be fatal- for all of us. Unfortunately- and I think Julie agrees with me on this- Brit has come up with the best idea, so we’re going to have to try it. And Brit, nice job there. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. Anyway, Julie, you up for it?”

“Okay, Sam- what kind of question is that? I’m willing to do just about ANYTHING to get us out of this predicament.”

“Alright then, let’s do this.”

Without another word, Sam went into the state that sapped the energy right out of her, not even giving a thought to the possible consequences. ‘Focus, Sam,’ she thought to herself. ‘Focus.’ Finally, when she was in trance, she thought of the time warp. Its cylindrical shape, its black and green swirls. After about two minutes, something inside of her clicked. It worked.

Sam blinked, tired as death. There it was, the warp, in all its black and green glory. “Alright Julie, it’s your cue.”

Julie nodded grimly, knowing the huge responsibility that lie upon her shoulders. If this didn’t work...

Soon Julie had found her equilibrium with the world. Slowly, she began to focus her eyes on the warp, urging her eyes to see, to use the power that had mysteriously been dropped upon them. It worked.

Suddenly, Julie could see everything; the structure of the warp, and more importantly, what lay behind it.

It was a barren dusty landscape, which looked somewhat like Mars. Then she noticed the temperature. The ground was sizzling, the atmosphere nonexistent.
Clearly, if Julie and her sisters set foot on this land, they would instantly incinerate instantly. Julie shuddered.

She allowed herself to slowly sit down, her energy completely gone. “Alright, that is one world where we are certainly not going to. And by the way Brit, you’re a genius.”

Sam, who had been sitting, stood up, her energy re-established. “Why? What’s wrong with that world?”

“Let’s put it this way- BURN!!”

Sam nodded. “So it was to hot. Okay, let me try to open another portal, and maybe that one will be better.

&*&*&*&

One hour and five time warps later, they had their world.

“Is that one good?” Sam asked anxiously.

“Yes! Finally! This one looks okay!” Julie had yelled in excitement.

Sam and Brit both breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. It’s about time, too, because anymore of that would’ve left me exhausted. What’s it like there, anyway?”

“Um... Well, the temperature looks okay; there are some flower-like things over there, and no creatures from what I saw. Then again, last time you guys relied on what you could see it didn’t work out too well, so be prepared for the worst.”

“Got it,” Sam said. “You guys ready?”

Julie and Brit nodded nervously. “Well, as ready as we’re ever going to be, anyway,”

Julie said. “Let’s go.”

The three girls linked hands and jumped in.

The warp was in the exact same structure, when Sam asked a question none of the others had even begun to think about. “Why is it that I can bring out time warps, but not food or water bottles? And yes, I’ve tried that. Didn’t work, I felt really stupid though. And why is it that Julie can see things that are there? How does she know? And Brit, how does she do that?”

Julie laughed nervously. “I dunno. We can see if The Note rewrote itself when we get down to the other world.”

Brit shrugged. “Which is right... now.” As soon as Brit had completed her sentence, the three girls were dumped down onto a grassy plain, except instead of grass there were things the shape of a cursive ‘u’ and were all connected.

“Ouch,” Julie muttered, disgruntled. She rubbed her right arm, which she had landed on.

Meanwhile, Sam and Brit had picked themselves up and were beginning to explore this world.

“Hey Julie, could you do something for me?” Sam asked.

“Uh... Depends what.”

“Could you use your magical sight thingy and look around to make sure that we’re alone? Last time me and Brit tried... well... we can’t see as well as you can- put it that way.”

Julie sulked. “Fine. But only because losing a bit of energy is a lot better than being killed by something that we don’t even know the name of.”

Brit grinned. “Thanks, Julie.”

Julie’s eyes shot daggers at Brit. Brit wiped the smile of her face within a second.

She sighed, and within a minute had came out of her trance and sat down, tired. “We’re alone guys, don’t worry about it.”

“Alright,” Sam said, pulling out The Note. “Let’s see what this thing says- maybe it has something useful to say that will actually help us this time.”

“Well you can’t say it hasn’t helped us,” Julie retorted.

Sam sighed. “Okay you’re right, it has helped us. Now let me read!

Dear Sam, Brit and Julie,

Well congratulations. You are once again together and in a stable trio, and have found a way to make sure you get from world to world safely- well, as safe as possible anyway.

To answer Sam’s questions, one needs to know a bit about M-theory, but I’ll leave that for Sam to do later.

I believe you all already know that space and time is a fabric. Time warps, or portals, are hidden in the fabric of time and space. Julie is the only one who can see it, because it is hidden. Sam, once she knows what she is looking for, is the only one who can bring it out. Likewise, she cannot bring out things that don’t exist in the fabric.

Brit can only hear and speak languages that she knows something about, which exist somewhere in space and time.

Julie looked up. “Well Sam, you have some explaining to- oh my god! Do you hear that?”

Brit stiffened, opening her ears- almost literally. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence she said, “It’s okay.”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Since we’re alone, I might as well try and explain M-theory to you guys in a bit more detail, like The Note said I should, while I have the chance.”

Brit and Julie looked at Sam incredulously. Finally, Brit said, “Okay, but this better be simple. Don’t use giant fifteen syllable long words; I’ve had enough of those.”
“I’m with Julie. Seriously, Sam, we’re not all as smart as you. Since when have you learned string, or M, or whatever the theory is called anyway? Last time I checked, fifteen year olds didn’t learn advanced physics that only Steven Hawking knew.”

Sam laughed, the first time the other two had heard her- or anyone- laugh sincerely and cheerfully ever since they had landed in the first world. “Hey, I’m interested in this stuff. Oh, and before I go on, just let me say that we’re extremely lucky. The first world we landed in could’ve been like the other five Julie saw, and we could’ve instantly burned to death, froze to death, been crushed to death, or anything like that. So whenever you’re feeling like we are the most unlucky people on Earth- or the multiverse- and even if we are- just remember that at least we’re still alive.”

Brit and Julie nodded in agreement. “So,” Brit said, breaking the momentary silence that had overtaken the trio, “What were you going to say about the theory?”

“Oh, that! You mean M-theory- if you’re not going to be able to understand it at least learn its name, for God’s sake! Okay, basically, M-theory states that worlds are constantly blossoming off of each other, forming a massive multiverse made of coplanar and collinear worlds, which are in turn made up of solar systems- like Earth’s- galaxies- like the Milky Way- and galactic clusters- like M31. Among these, many of these coplanar universes are collapsing, forming mini-explosions.”

Brit shook her head. “You haven’t even got anywhere and I’m already confused! You have to remember that I’m only eight, jeez! First of all, what do ‘collinear’ and ‘coplanar’ mean? Second, what do you mean a ‘mini-explosion’? If a universe exploded, wouldn’t it be a ‘mega-explosion’ or something like that?”

Julie nodded. “You really have to use simpler words. Assume we know nothing, okay?”

Sam sighed. “Okay. Collinear means on the same line. Coplanar means on the same plane. And, yes, it would be a sort of mega-explosion compared to what we’re used to, but because the multiverse is infinitely large, it really isn’t that big.”

“Great,” Brit said. “Just two questions: what’s a plane? Do you mean airplane or something? And also, how can something be infinitely large? It has to end somewhere, right?”

Sam shook her head. This was going to be a long, hard task.

&*&*&*&

“YES!!! THAT’S WHAT IT MEANS!!”

“Ohhh! I get it now! I think I really do!”

“Me too Sam. About time, too.”

It was over. It was finally over. Explaining M-theory to an eight year old had been near impossible. Brit and Julie just didn’t get anything! When Sam tried to explain that wormholes took large quantities of exotic matter to open, Brit and Julie had asked what exotic matter was.

When she tried to explain that antimatter was needed to keep the world from collapsing in on itself, they had asked what antimatter was. ‘Jeez!’ Sam had thought, ‘What do they think it is? Just think about it!!! ANTIMATTER!!! The opposite of matter, duh!!!’

But Sam didn’t have to worry about antimatter, or exotic matter anymore. She was done being teacher. Finally.

“So, uh Sam,” Brit said, interrupting Sam’s moment of bliss, “What’re we going to do now? You said we came here to see if we could find any edible food. Well, we’re here. What do we do now?”

Sam blinked. The truth was, she didn’t really know. “Okay, I’m going to be honest right now... I have no idea. You guys have any?”

“Not really...” Julie trailed off. “I mean, we could explore a bit.”

Brit looked at her incredulously. “EXPLORE??!! Are you CRAZY???!!! We can’t just EXPLORE!!! What do you think could happen?!!! No, seriously, you must be crazy to think that we can just ‘explore’ and not get killed. Seriously.”

Julie shook her head glumly. “Okay, okay you’re right. So what do we do? I mean, we can’t just run around and not do anything, right?”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “You’re right. But we CAN explore, we just have to be really careful.”

“And how is that?” Julie asked.
“Well... it’s kind of complicated.”
Julie looked at Sam. “Do you think I care if it’s COMPLICATED???!!! I’d rather have things be ‘COMPLICATED’ than die, okay? If you disagree someone really has to teach you how to prioritize!”

“Jeez, Julie! Sam was just trying to warn you!” Brit retorted.

Sam winced. This was what happened every time she tried to look on the downside of something. Julie, who was always optimistic, would seem to not care, while Brit would agree. If Sam looked on the upside, Brit would disagree and Julie would agree. Either way, giant fights erupted between the three of them. That was one problem that Sam really needed a solution to.

“GUYS!!! SHUT UP!!!” she screamed, cutting both of them off.

“Jeez, Sam,” Julie said quietly. “You don’t have to scream! That was between the two of us, why did you have to butt in? Mind your own business, would you?”

“I CAN’T mind my own business, okay? Because every time I do, you guys get into an argument, and we can’t afford to do that, okay?”

“In that case, you not minding your own business is just heightening the argument.”

“Well then, what do YOU want me to do??? Let you guys demolish each other?!!! I’m sorry, but that I am NOT just going to sit back.”

In the end, it was Brit who actually calmed herself and settled the argument. “Guys- guys come on! We have to stop arguing. Let’s let Sam try to explain her idea, okay? It might be the key to this whole thing!”

Julie sighed. “Fine.”

Sam nodded, and spoke. “Well, you remember how when me and Brit had to find Julie, how I kept my mind open to thoughts, right? Well then, I was thinking that maybe Brit could- in the same process- keep her ears open and try to continuously ‘hear’ if anyone is nearby or coming.”

Brit looked at Sam dubiously. “I’m not sure if that will work. I mean, it’s energy-draining enough when you have to try and do it once, how would it feel if you had to keep doing it continuously?”

Sam’s forehead creased. “I was wondering the same thing, but when I did do the
feeling thing, I really wasn’t that tired. Maybe it counts as the same thing as long as you don’t let go of the feeling.”

Brit sighed. “Well, I guess I have to. If I don’t,” she continued, her mouth creeping into a devilish grin, “You guys are never going to let me hear the end of it.”

Julie and Sam laughed. “Well, you got that right,” Sam remarked.

Brit sighed again, and went into trance.

Meanwhile, Julie and Sam where looking around as a light rustling of the U-shaped grass awakened fear inside of them.

As Brit realized what was happening, she was overcome with a wave of terror. “Guys,” she whispered in a hoarse voice, “I don’t think we’re alone.”

Sam and Julie spun around, and instantly realized what had happened. “He- she- it- they- they snuck up on us didn’t they?”

Brit nodded, ashen. “And they’re in battle formation.”

Sam, without thinking, quickly opened a portal. “Alright guys, we really don’t have a choice. Brit, keep an eye- or rather, ear- on the creatures. Julie, look through the portal and see if it’s okay to jump through. It’s okay if it looks the least bit hospitable, just as long as we can survive. Quick!”

“Okay, they’re not advancing yet, and let me put it this way- they have horns- sharp horns.”

“JULIE!!” Sam yelled.

“Okay, okay!! Umm... Okay, it looks fine, it looks like it’s night or something. There are a bunch of stars- wow they’re really bright, and a lot of dust, but other than that, it looks safe. None of us are allergic to dust, right?”

“No,” Sam screamed. “JUST JUMP IN!!!!”

Without anymore hesitation, the girls jumped into the portal; Julie first, then Sam and then Brit.

After two agonizing minutes, they were finally dumped out. Sam braced herself for the hard impact of the landing... it never came.

“What?” she asked herself, and then looked around. Then the terrible realization dawned upon her.

There were stars alright, and they were blazing. There was dust, alright- it was interstellar dust.

Right beneath the trio was a giant black mass, which was invisible. However, its presence was obvious; the black hole’s gravity was causing nearby material to spiral inward- including Sam, Brit and Julie.

Julie wasn’t able to see the ground because... well, there was no ground. The stars were well over one hundred times the size of the sun, and since the black hole had no atmosphere, the three were completely unprotected.

‘Great,’ Sam thought, ‘Just great. If we don’t find a way to escape, we’ll be sucked into a massive black hole. Great. If we don’t find a way to get away, we’re dead. Literally.’

Brit and Julie had noticed that something was wrong. “What’s up?” Brit asked.
Sam’s insides raged a battle between her calm side, and the side that wanted to go completely berserk. Berserk won. “WHAT’S WRONG? WE’RE ON TOP OF A BLACK HOLE!!! WE COULD BE RIPPED APART TO ATOMS!!!!”

&*&*&*&