The Basement

Part 5

Another portal opened inside the basement.

The Taylor from that universe looked around the room. He looked like a faded rock star, long unwashed hair, torn jeans and a worn T-shirt.

"Why are you still locked up?" he said, then he saw the body lying on the ground. "Is that ODU1783?"

Taylor nodded. "They were under attack when the portal opened. It was their Senator, she killed everyone."

"Did they give you the lock picks?"

Taylor shook his head.

"Shit," the other Taylor turned to his left. "Someone find me some bolt cutters so we can break open that padlock." He looked at the watch on his wrist. "We don't have time for this."

He nodded towards the Professor who had re-emerged from behind the wall.

"Have you told him what's going on?"

Again Taylor shook his head.

"Not really. Just that I'm here to rescue him."

"So you haven't got to the other part yet?"

"No."

The other Taylor looked at his watch again. "We're running out of time. Professor we need you."

The Professor moved to the centre of the window that divided the two rooms. "You need me for what? I don't understand what's going on."

"That's OK," a voice said from the other universe. "Because he was talking to me." The other universe's Professor appeared in the portal.

This version of the Professor looked more like the photos Taylor had seen, his face sported a decent tan and his cheeks were fuller, healthier.

"I'm just going to get straight to the point," the other Professor said. "I know how important this machine is to you Steven. In our universe it was my life's work too."

The Professor took a half step back.

"You invented a weather machine too?"

"Yes, and in my world the plans for it were stolen by a rogue nation who built one and used it to cripple Japan with a powerful tsunami. They killed tens of thousands of people and caused half a trillion dollars worth of damages. The country still hasn't recovered. So you see, we can't allow someone as corrupt as the Senator to control such a device."

"But what am I supposed to do?" the Professor said. "She has the blueprints for it. If I destroy it, she can just find someone else to rebuild it."

"We don't want you to destroy it Steven," the other Professor said. "We want you to sabotage it." He looked over at the other Taylor. "How long do we have?"

The other Taylor shook his head and stepped forward. He looked at Taylor.

"You'll have to fill him in on the rest," he said, then looked down at the chain round Taylor's foot. "I'm not sure what we're going to do about that."

"I'll figure something out," Taylor said.

The other Taylor turned to face the Professor. "I'm sorry we don't have more time together now, but we will soon, I promise."

Next to him the other Professor studied the machine in the far room. He cocked his head to one side as a confused look appeared on his face. He opened his mouth, but the portal closed before he could say anything.

Taylor turned to look at the Professor.

"Another portal will be opening in a minute. They're going to give us something, a computer of some kind. They told me you just need to connect it to the machine and it will do the rest."

"And what exactly will it do?"

"It's going to upload a virus that'll ensure the Senator can never use your weather machine against anyone."

"And exactly how is it going to do that?"

"Instead of creating a natural disaster over the intended target the machine will target itself, creating a localised tornado over the house, destroying it and anyone inside it."

The Professor looked over at his machine, then back at Taylor.

"Do you have any idea how long I've spent on this? What it can do for the world? To destroy it now..."

The Professor backed away form the window. "I don't know. This is all so sudden. I need a moment to think." He turned around and wandered away.

Before Taylor could say anything another portal opened.