Fractured Worlds (Worlds Away #1)

Brela Chapter 4: MEPA

"Welcome to MEPA."

MEPA's headquarters was not at all what I had originally expected. An office building that blended in or a worn-down warehouse—yes, but certainly not a grand and spacious building such as this. If MEPA's goal was to remain inconspicuous, then this building would certainly go against that.

The building was stunningly beautiful. Vaulted ceilings reached high over my head with thick, ruffled columns spiralling up to them. Decorative lights clung to the pillars, supplying the lighting that the lack of windows would cause. I stood on a wide but shallow staircase that led to the main floor. A walkway circled the room, meeting up with the entrance stairs and another set at the far end of the building. To top it all off, everything was perfectly clean, almost sparkling in the pure light.

The floor was empty of furniture, rather filled with a handful of people talking and milling around. One large, circular desk sat in the centre of the room, ten people seated inside. They talked to others, typed on a computer, or observed the hovering and semi-translucent sphere that changed in design from time to time. The sphere's green light provided the area with a unique glow.

The twin bronze doors swung shut behind Mae and me, sealing with an inaudible sound. I turned back and looked at them with awe. Intricate, swirling, engravings crept up the bronze plating, reaching the ceiling.

"Wow," I muttered, at a loss for words.

World jumping was an odd sensation, but it wasn't too weird. One minute you're standing on one world, blink, then you're in a completely different place. The smells and sounds change so suddenly that it's terrifying at first, but then it all settles in, and you start to wonder if you ever were on a different world to start with.

Mae didn't pass me a word as we walked down the steps, letting me look around and observe the wondrous work of architecture that now surrounded me.

"I see that you have decided to join us," a woman said as she stepped up beside me. My attention changed from my surroundings and to her. The woman was the same one who had jumped out of the tree earlier today. She had a subtle French accent when she spoke, and wore a uniform, one that many others in the room wore as well. The outfit was a simple black shirt with slim fitting pants, narrow mid-calf boots, and a collared jacket. Symbols were on the shoulders, and unlike everyone else's jacket, the woman's reached her knees.

"Yeah. I don't really think I could have passed down the opportunity to see this," I said, gesturing to the beautiful building around me.

"Brela, this is Edoline Myubbi, leader of the weaver unit and our resident telepath. If the situation requires memories to be erased or altered, Edoline is called in," Mae explained. I nodded my head respectfully to Edoline. She smiled in return, gently inclining her head.

"So, if I hadn't agreed to join, then you would've had to erase my memories of the encounter?" I asked Edoline as I continued to follow Mae through the crowd.

"I would have been required to, yes."

"So, if you're trying to be unnoticed, then where are we?" I asked. "I mean, from the look of the building, it's not exactly a blend-in and remain inconspicuous type of structure."

"We don't have a set location," Mae said. "We are within the void of nothingness between every world, drifting between them all."

"How does that work then? How did you find, or build, this place if it's just "there"?"

"Many years ago, this building was once located on a world. A rupture happened, and this building dropped into the void. We found it and claimed it as our own."

I scrunched my brow. "Rupture? Don't you mean fracture?"

"No. Rupture." Mae shook her head. "Ruptures are permanent and are not caused by the breaking of laws. In fact, we still do not know much about them; we haven't had much time to investigate their origins or structures."