Message in a bottle

Chapter 8 - Ghost in the machine

"Alright, I'm ready!" Exclaimed Cisco, walking in the medical bay with his Vibe's goggles and a pair of headsets in his hand with Caitlin closely following him.

They last received the incomplete communication from Barry over half an hour ago and since that moment, the whole West family and H.R. had been doing the only thing that they could do: wait. Wait and uncontrollably throw frequent glances at the laptop on the desk, not too far from the medical bed as the device was still displaying the unfinished conversation. Iris had been expressing concerns about leaving it open and disconnected from any power source, but Cisco didn't want to risk it. He was afraid about the possibility of Barry jumping of the laptop, accidentally or not, into something else. Plus, he was confident about finding a way to fix this whole situation before the laptop would be out of power, in 3 hours, give or take. And, indeed, Cisco delivered.

"What's the plan?" Wally asked the engineer who was putting everything down on the desk, getting all his gear set up.

"It's pretty simple," replied Cisco with strong confidence, "I've been thinking about this; Barry's body and mind got disconnected from each other because my connection with Barry got cut off while we were vibing together. So, if I can vibe again and find him, I can guide him home the same way I lost him. We just need to repeat the circumstance under which everything unfolded."

"That easy?" Commented Joe, slightly skeptical. As much as he trusted Cisco, the young man seemed a bit too overconfident with his plan.

"It's a gamble, to be honest," Caitlin honestly admitted.

"Hum, no it's not, it's going to work," protested Cisco, "your doubts are hurting my feelings."

"What if it doesn't work? Can we try again after or it's only a one-shot deal for young B.A.?" Asked H.R., hitting his drumsticks together a few times before pointing one of them at the comatose body.

Caitlin shrugged, answering for her friend, "I don't see why not. As long as the computer is fine and charged, Barry should be good."

"Alright, let's try this," Joe reluctantly agreed, they might as well try something.

The clock was ticking, and his daughter was right when she said the young S.T.A.R. scientists were as smart as they come. If they thought it was going to work, there was no reason to not to trust them.

Cautiously excited, needing to fix his mistakes but understanding the odds, Cisco nodded solemnly, "I'll bring him back, I promise. Let's connect us to the laptop and, no matter what happens next, DO NOT intervene or disconnect me or Barry before I say so."

Good advice, especially considering how doing this last time was the reason they ended up in this mess. Iris sure wasn't tempted to repeat the experience. Quickly, the team installed a tablet over the bed before depositing the laptop on it and connecting both headsets to the device.

"Are we really certain this thing won't hurt him again?" Nervously asked Iris as the doctor was delicately placing the device on her patient's head.

"What hurt him was being disconnected while still vibing with me," reminded Cisco, adjusting his own headset before putting his goggles on.

"Good luck, Cisco," Iris wished him.

"Just bring my son back, all right?" Joe nodded at the engineer.

"I will," he assured, activating his goggle, efficiently allowing his power to overtake his mind and to transport him right into another dimension. A dimension he still hadn't visited during all of his adventures.

When the world finally stopped whirling in front of his eyes and his consciousness was done carrying him away from the normal realm, the young superhero found himself in the darkest of places. Everything was just so dark. The incredibly dim light, emanating from an unknown origin, was barely enough for the engineer to see his own hands and feet. Scanning around, he couldn't discern anything, there wasn't any furniture, nor figure or anything else that with any kind of shape. If he had one word to describe this place, it would be emptiness. Or Darkness.