Cipher [A Gravity Falls Tale] #Wattys2016

Six

Time began to pass. Days became weeks, weeks became months. The two young but brilliant scientists passed the time adventuring and exploring the strange, uncharted woods of Gravity Falls. Per orders of Richard Northwest and the U.S. government, Ford and McGuckett ran countless tests on the different aspects needed to create the portal. One week, it was the stability of such a device. The next, it was making sure a certain part could perform a function.

Each successful result was relayed to Northwest, who continued to supply them the equipment they needed. Northwest kept their location and true intentions hidden from any officials, but even so, if he was purchasing the parts, he had to have some sort of clearance. Failure, quite simply, was not an option. A single error in an experiment resulted in a week's setback.

Ford had almost been in Gravity Falls for over three years now, and he hadn't even started building his gateway. Even so, McGuckett had helped him pass the time. As Ford continued to update his journals with new facts about the anomalies he continued to uncover, the pair used mysterious artifacts and weird phenomena to create inventions of their own. After coming across an enigmatic crystal that seemed to be able to transfer psychic energy, the friends had spent weeks trying to harness its powers.

One night, they sat in Fiddleford's room, working frantically on a photocopier that they'd rigged up to the crystal as a power source. McGuckett sat on the ground, holding two cords very close to each other. Ford sat nearby, ready to measure any output from their creation.

"3... 2... 1... now!" Ford commanded as McGuckett connected the two ends. The machine sparked to life, its energy blasting the two back. As the smoke cleared, Ford consulted the readings. "It looks," he began, "it looks like it might work!"

Fiddleford sat up, only to be shocked by the shag carpet on the floor. "I think it charged my carpet with some sort of energy. Man, I just bought this thing!"

"Forget about the carpet," replied Ford. "Let's test this thing." He reached into a jar that sat next to him an pulled out an eye bat he had captured. Quickly, he forced the struggling creature onto the scanner. There was another flash, and then the photocopier began to print out a picture of the eye bat. Suddenly, the picture peeled off, and a clone hovered before them.

"All right!" cried McGuckett in awe. "High six!"

Ford smiled and slapped hands with his partner. And so the time passed.

Months after this particular incident, Ford received a letter from Northwest. "Dear Mr. Pines," it read, "my scientific reserve team is quite satisfied with the results of your preemptive research. We are able to begin shipping you the needed parts, with almost everything arriving in the course of two weeks. However, the quantum destabilizer you have requested is still experimental, and will take a minimum of six months forgave ready for you. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing you personally with the delivery of this equipment. Good luck, young man. Regards, Richard Northwest."

The initial joy Ford had felt at the beginning of the letter gave way to horrified anger. "Six months?" he cried after Fiddleford handed him the letter back. "Can you believe this?"

"Ford, we knew that there would be waiting periods."

"Still, couldn't they have prepped their machine while we ran our tests? They had more than enough time. What are we supposed to do while we wait for one specific set of parts?"

"I don't know," admitted McGuckett. The two sat in silence.

Suddenly, an idea hit Ford. "There might be a way." He rushed to his study and mentally called out to Bill. The triangular being appeared behind him.

"You called?" he inquired in his booming, layered voice. Ford turned to face him. He had stayed in frequent contact with his otherworldly muse, following his advice by adding likenesses of Cipher around the facility. Among others, he had put an adorned rug in the observatory, put in some triangular window panes, and set an image of Bill over the door so he could watch over the facility's perimeter.

"I did indeed," Ford said. "We've got the green light from Northwest and all the parts we need-- except one. You mentioned a while ago you knew where to get some parts, but you never brought it up again."

"Good memory, Fordsy!" complimented Bill. "I do know where to get some parts, and, in fact, they're exactly the parts you need, but even better!"

"Better?" asked Ford.

"That's right! It's gonna take a pretty advanced engine to make our gateway tick, and the best ones humanity have created so far are quite meager by my standards. However, other civilizations have succeeded at it. One such civilization has a craft buried beneath this very town, chock full of technology light-years ahead of your own!"

Ford gasped. "Of course! The alien spacecraft." The scientist was recalling the craft he had discovered buried beneath the town many months ago. He had done some basic exploring, but had initially deemed the site too dangerous, as he had no way of navigating the area. "You know," continued Ford, "I always thought it quite a coincidence that an alien ship landed here of all places."

"'Cause it's not, Stanford! There's an epicenter in the fabric of time-space that the weirdness dimension bleeds into, and in almost every dimension with an Earth, the town of Gravity Falls is located on that spot. It interested these people enough for them to make the trip. You know that gap in the cliffs outside town? That's a point of impact."

"Wow," breathed Ford. "Incredible. Fiddleford, being the engineer he is, is gonna go crazy when I show him that thing!"

"Yup," agreed Bill, twirling the ebony cane he sometimes had with him. "There is one thing you ought to know, though. The technology, as I mentioned, is incredibly advanced for humans. You and your partner are gifted with abundant genius, but it will be a challenge for even you to understand. I, on the other hand, can comprehend the technology perfectly."

"What are you saying?" Ford wondered.

"If you let me into your mind, I can show you new ways how to think, and not just in this particular matter. The secrets of the universe can be revealed to you!"

"I thought you weren't supposed to mess with how we deal with things."

"Think about it, Stanford. I choose one great mind per century to inspire, and you're the lucky guy of this generation! Think of what you could do with this knowledge. The entire multiverse would be at your fingertips!" Around them, the greyscale room faded away to reveal the cosmos. Endless streams of knowledge spiraled around them.

Ford, feeling a swell of both pride and wonder, gathered himself and asked, "What do I have to do?"

"The rules of the mindscape dictate that for me to project my consciousness into yours, you must officially recognize a pact between the two of us. As you know, I've never actually been here. I'm just a projection into the mindscape. But I can become one with your mind if you let me."

"A pact?" repeated Ford.

"Uh-huh! Your end of the bargain is letting me into your mind. If you do that, I'll help you build the gateway." Bill stuck out his hand, engulfing it in blue fire. Everything around them was enveloped in the fire, until space itself had burned away.

"Show the world, Stanford!" urged Cipher. "Show them that your not just some freak, you are the most brilliant mind ever to grace its sorry presence!"

Ford mulled the deal over for just a second, before stating. "Then it's a deal. From now until the end of time."

"Just let me into your mind, Stanford!" ordered the eccentric triangle.

Ford grinned and took Cipher's hand. "Please, call me a friend," he insisted. The sensation of the mystifying icy fire making contact with his skin increased Ford's awe.

Bill began to cackle. "Welcome, Ford, to the secrets of the universe!" Ford felt a shockwave as an explosion of information rushed around him.

"Unbelievable," he breathed. Overwhelmed by everything around him, he joined in on Bill's laughter. He had done it. He knew how to unlock the secrets of Gravity Falls.

Now it was time to actually do it.