Transversals

XXII. The Ingenist Dimension

"...And so now we have to find his Dad to fix everything."

The dinner table fell silent. Will looked between my Dad and I like two aliens, back and forth, back and forth before finally addressing me. "You're actually going to go back to that place?"

"Now, now, I trust this boy," Dad said, twisting up some pasta and waving Will's spew of concerns off. "She hasn't a scratch on her and Ben's been keeping me updated on every detail."

I quit slurping my spaghetti and looked up at Dad. "He's doing what?"

"He comes over early and tells Dad all your secrets!" Hanna burst out, nearly bouncing out of her seat as she looked between us. He leaned towards me. "And he does my hair for me in the mornings too, since you sleep in. He even curled it Tuesday. All the girls at school were jealous."

I patted her on the back and faced Dad. "What secrets are we exactly, uh, talking?" I said, voice raised a nervous octave.

Dad chuckled and brought his plate to the sink, along with Will's. "Not secrets. Just updates on what you guys have been doing over morning coffee."

"So I explained all that for nothing?" I said, holding my arms out.

"Sure did, darling."

I slapped a hand over my face and groaned, Hanna taking my plate to the sink for me while humming. Will retreated to the couch and dug out my make up work. We had told the school administration I had gotten a bad case of the flu, and Dad had his buddy sign off on a couple doctor's notes beforehand to turn in to the office for an excused abscence. I really liked having a cool dad.

Will and I sat and did our homework together, him talking about school and upcoming homecoming with Lana (after issuing a few thousand apologies for cancelling plans that I had to fight through, so I could explain my alternate plans for Saturday night anyway).

We played a few rounds of Mario Kart with Hanna before bed. Will gave me a tight hug and told me to be extra careful tomorrow when I go, to text him when I got there and when I left and when I returned, exactly everything I'd send my Dad, send to him, etc. I hugged him back tight and assured him I'd be fine, that it was just going to be more a scope out anyway instead of some secretive mission...yet. We had to formulate a plan before going in and executing it.

Dad again voiced his general concern and told me to keep safe and warm as well, and I reassured him all the same that evening, settling in his chair for the night. It was just going to be a scope out, I told myself. Ben said all we'd be doing is scoping out.

As I laid in bed at a time I shouldn't have been awake, my phone buzzed with a text from an unlisted number again. Can you sleep?

I changed the numbers to Ben's name before anything, responding with, Absolutely not.

Excellent. :)

I sensed the overwhelming sarcasm and laughed to myself. By the way, why do phones work between dimensions?

I don't know, he replied. Maybe we'll find someone who does. Sleep tight, Axelson.

A smile inched its way across my face as I typed my response. You too, Haldane.

>>>

Leaning against the wall of girl's Taco Bell bathroom, pulling my coat tighter around my shoulders and buttoning it up, I waited for Ben to come through. A moment later he did and gave me a nod to check the coast. The place was empty and the employees occupied with the drive thru, so I gave him a nod in return and we were off into the snow without a word.

It felt weird to be back in Ingenist during the supposed middle of the day, everything still dark like night. He explained that day and night worked like Alaska, essentially. Light 24/7 for half the year, darkness for the other. The city glowed and pulsed like the metropolis it was, skyscrapers a handful or more blocks down the street we were walking along. The hospital was located on the other side of it, but we didn't want to risk going though someplace populated and have our reflections not show up in the public mirrors. They're traps, he said. All the aesthetic-like mirrors around the city are traps to check the crowds for Transversals.