Round Robin October 2020

12 October 2020

Emilia didn't look puzzled by the question. "I do remember Dr. Lenox. His delusion was that his entire team was transported to another dimension by marks on every third person."

"Marks like that one?" Samantha asked, pointing at Emilia's forehead.

Emilia nodded. "But none of them had the marks when they got back. He said one day after they had 'finished their task' that the marks just disappeared in a wave of bright light and they were all transported back to the lab."

"Task?" Greg asked.

Emilia shook her head. "He never specified. In fact, when I asked him about it, he vehemently refused to say anymore other than 'no one should ever know what we went through - what we had to do.' At the time it just made him seem crazier, but now..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Greg replied.

"Soooo," Samantha cut in, "you mean you're still gonna have that mark thingy and the creepy powers until we go back ta Africa an' deal with whatever wacky task was set up for us?"

"Probably, yes." Emilia replied.

The three were silent for a moment, all thinking about the implications of this.

After a minute, Greg spoke up. "There's actually something else I'm concerned about." He looked at Emilia. "You said Dr. Lenox told you they were sent to 'another dimension.' So, why were we sent to Africa, a place in our dimension?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Samantha waved her hands. "I know this is all a Sci-fi scenario, but are we really sayin' there are other dimensions?"

"Yes." Emilia and Greg replied in unison.

"In fact, Dr. Lenox was studying the possibility of alternate dimensions, parallel timelines, and contusions in the space-time continuum." Emilia continued. "The machine in the lab was supposed to be the product of his research. Though, before the accident, he was always concerned about it, saying there were lots of things that needed tweaking and gaps in the research that needed filled in. After the accident..." she paused, took a deep breath, and resumed. "After the accident he said it should be scrapped entirely. I thought it was... I had decided to follow up on his research, to show him that it was... I didn't want to see him give up. It was - hard to see him like that."

Greg placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know. It's okay." He moved to take her hand in his. "That's why I pushed the button. I saw you day after day pushing yourself to try and finish his research, and I thought - you had been stuck on one small thing for weeks. I thought if we did a test run then maybe..."

"I'll just go in the other room while you two talk this out." Samantha cut in. "This way?" She asked, pointing at a simple wooden door a few feet behind the couch.

Emilia nodded. "Thanks Samantha. That leads to the hall. The third door on the right is a guest room. You're welcome to it."

"Actually," Greg added, "why don't we make that your room for now - at least until the whole Sci-fi adventure gets sorted out."

"That's a great idea." Emilia agreed. "It'll be easier to work this out if we are all together."

Samantha stared at the two professors for a moment. "Right." She gave a half-laugh. "And I thought I was the weird one here." She paused a moment and shook her head. "Then again, I take that back. The moment that mark appeared I stopped bein' the weird one."