Transform Plate Boundaries Book Two

Chapter 1:

Around one week later...

"James?" whispered Yitian, tapping on his shoulder. "I need to tell you something very important."

James turned around and looked straight into Yitian's eyes. "What is it?"

"Well, I think I've figured it out. There's an alternate world somewhere out there," said Yitian.

James laughed. "There's no way!"

"There is," insisted Yitian, with a deadly serious tone. "Here, let me show you my proof." She pulled out a sleek black laptop, and opened up an application. She typed in a password, then a bunch of calculations, models, and diagrams popped up onto the screen.

James studied the calculations and the complex diagrams for a few minutes, with Yitian looking over his shoulder. "You're... right," he finally whispered, amazed.

"See here," Yitian pointed at a 3-D computer model on the screen. "This is our world right now. And here –" she rotated the model , "—is the alternate world." She pointed to a dark spot between the two sides of the model. "This wall of dark matter separates the two worlds. Normally it would be impossible to penetrate that wall. But every 18.3 trillion years, new stars are formed — I have no idea how — and create a certain shape. I don't know what it is with the shape, but somehow, it is able to generate enough energy to weaken the wall of dark matter."

"Can you show me that shape?" asked James.

"Sure," replied Yitian. She scrolled down and showed him a picture of an equilateral triangle made of nine stars, with the outline of an eye inside it.

James gasped. "That's the Illuminati symbol! Yitian, that information you know is extremely dangerous!"

"What?!?" Now it was Yitian's turn to be shocked. "What do you mean?"

"It could potentially — never mind... keep explaining."

"Okay," said Yitian. "All the energy created by the star formation is converged on a single point for a fraction of a second. If the conditions are right, it's possible to create a rift in space and time, tear a hole in the wall of dark matter, and allow transportation between the two worlds. If my observations are correct, the stars will create that formation this Friday night, at exactly 11:59 pm. And the point the energy is converged on? It's the football field right behind the school. Huge coincidence, right?"

All the blood seemed to drain out of James's face. "Don't tell me you're going to –"

"I am," whispered Yitian. "On Friday night, I'm going to set up a device on the football field. When the energy from the new, mysterious stars converges onto the football field, the vibrations that I create will join with the energy. That will create a wave at least twice the strength of the stars' energy alone. It's going to tear open the wall, and then that wave should be able to carry me all the way to the alternate world. I'm going to see what's on the other side."

"I'm not going to let you do that," argued James. "It's too dangerous. Has it gone through your mind that you might be killed? That you might never come back? If you're gone, what am I supposed to do?" A single tear slid down his face.

"I know about the risks," Yitian answered, crying, while choking on her own tears. "I might never see you again. But don't you understand? This won't happen again until 18.3 trillion years have passed. And next time, it will be far away, and I have no idea where it will be. I can't simply pass up this type of opportunity. Think of all the scientific discoveries that are waiting for me. Many have taken huge risks for the sake of science. I intend to do the same. I really do care about you, but please, don't try to stop me. And you can't."

"I might not be able to stop you," whispered James, "but I will come with you. Nothing will separate us."

"Thank you," Yitian responded. "Now, another world is waiting for us to discover it. Are you ready for the adventure?"

James embraced her. "As long as I'm with you."

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James sat down on his bed that night and cried. Everything Yitian was doing — it was so dangerous, so risky, that... he truly wasn't sure if they'd be okay. There was a 99.9% chance of this entire process going wrong, and James wasn't ready to take that 0.1% leap of faith.

He thought back to a week ago, when everything was all right. The days that passed seemed to be eons. He had asked Yitian out that Friday, and she had said yes. That night was the first time they had kissed, and hopefully, it wouldn't be the last. James was hopelessly, utterly in love with Yitian, and he wasn't sure if he could handle it. It was hard putting all his trust and the love of his life on the line when this experiment took place — and it was even harder acknowledging the fact that his heart might be shattered, whether figuratively — or literally.

All James knew was that he was in love with Yitian, and nothing could change that. He kept repeating it to himself again and again, reminding himself of the beautiful person that was in his life risking her life for the sake of science. Yitian was smart, beautiful, and amazing, all in the same package. If anything happened to her, James's life could be ruined. He would live out the rest of his life single, because no matter what, Yitian would be the one he loved.

Then, he realized that he wouldn't be living the rest of his life by himself. Because he was going to go with her. He vowed to himself, "If she has to leave, I will go with her. Nothing will separate the two of us. Even death cannot put a barrier between us, for we will forever be together. Yitian has her flash drive — nothing can go wrong."

Yet for some reason, he just felt empty. Nothing felt right. It was so risky, what Yitian was doing, and James didn't want to lose her.

Just then, there was a sound of a rock hitting a window — his window. When he got up to open the curtains and shutters, Yitian was standing on the grass, staring up at him. James jumped, startled. Sometimes, Yitian could be really scary.

"Hi!" She yelled.

"Why are you here?!" James shouted.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, just let me open the front do—"

Before James could finish his sentence, Yitian had scaled his wall and jumped in through the window.

"Hi!" She exclaimed once again.

"Um... Hi?" James answered.

Yitian looked at him now, her face suddenly becoming serious. "I've been thinking. What I'm doing is really, really dangerous. I... We've kissed once. I thought... Just in case something goes wrong..."

Yitian didn't have to say more. James gently kissed her, and Yitian kissed him back almost immediately. It was at this moment that James and Yitian realized they both had a strange but beautiful type of love: an inseparable, unconditional love that could never be broken.

Yitian was the first to pull away. "I... uh... have to go now or else I'll get in trouble... anyways, meet at the football field Friday night, okay? Let's make some new discoveries about the alternate world! Anyways... bye!" And with that, she climbed out the window, down the wall, and ran off into the night.

"Bye..." James whispered, long after Yitian had gone. "I... I'm ready."