A Walk Through Dimensions

Fifty Part 2

Emily came up from behind the counter.

"You are an asshole. I have to see him all the time." She whispered angrily.

"Well," Jake replied. "At least you'll have something interesting to discuss now." Somehow a twinkle appeared in his eye as if on command.

"Now" he said. "Where were we?"

Emily said on her couch slightly defeated.

"Multiverse, different dimensions, you can make fire."

"In short, yes. Any questions"?

Emily met him with a blank stare. It was all that came to her. She usually had more information working on a hit-and-run case. Several times she started to ask a question, and then stopped herself for fear that it might sound stupid, or childish.

Jake just waited patiently. For about a minute. After that he still waited, but he passed the time by once more lighting his right palm on fire. Then he lit the other palm. Then he tossed the right one high up in the air, and quickly produced a third flame. Then he proceeded to juggle the flames.

He really seemed like an ass at that point. But under no circumstances could Emily kick him out for being rude. Not after what she had just seen. She wasn't frightened of the power he could control. She was much more frightened of never finding out more about this whole idea. She finally found a question that she felt comfortable asking.

"How is it you're able to do that?"

Jake immediately made a flourish of his wrists, and all three flames were immediately extinguished. No trace of smoke whatsoever. It was like there had never been any fire at all.

Jake looked at her for about a second and then launched into his explanation.

"I told you that we come from different universes. We have subtle differences. In my universe, we have a greater understanding of physics and thermodynamics. That's my understanding of it at least. It might be that we have different laws of nature. All I know is that some people are able to heat up the oxygen around their bodies until it combusts. They can also pull oxygen when you normally wouldn't be able to. Like underwater."

"Okay." Emily said un. "Can anyone learn how to do it?"

"That's an interesting question. I think the answer might be yes, but it might also be no. The percentage of people that can use this ability is about the same as those who are left-handed. About ten percent of the total population. The issue with your question is that someone can learn to be ambidextrous, but they cannot learn to be simply left-handed. So, I suppose the answer to your question is no. Not everyone can learn how to do this."

Emily nodded. Started thinking of another question.

"Does everyone travel to different universes where you're from?"

"As far as I am aware, I am the only person from my dimension to ever do it."

"Why do you do it?"

"Ah. Now that's a question that I am unable to answer. Hopefully in time I will be able to answer."

"Okay." Emily said, sounding a tad discouraged.

"What do you do in different dimensions?" She asked.

"In a word, tasks."

"Tasks?" Emily asked, with surprise on her face.

"I have information about the differences between my universe and the one that I am currently in. Then it tells me what I must do to move to the next universe."