Touched - Order of Odium: Book One

Together - 1

"Are you both ready?" Aleksander said, grinning at Michelle and Daniel. "You are about to have so much fun! Going to alternate universes is so exciting!"

He opened the door and allowed the two of them to enter the room, followed by Steven, who only shook his head at Aleksander's over-eagerness. "So, Steven told me that you two had worked out how to bring the artifact with you, correct?" Aleksander asked Daniel.

"Yeah, we put it in a little cloth bag and I put it in my pocket. When it's time to teleport or whatever somewhere, I just reach in my pocket and touch it."

"Daniel is very proud of his coin-purse idea Alek, so please don't make fun of her about it, she's sensitive you know. You gotta baby her a bit."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Fuck off, man."

Steven looked at Aleksander, "See? What did I tell you? She's sensitive about it."

"Steven, stop messing around with Daniel. I am sure he is nervous just like Michelle. For good reason. They have not done this together, and this will be their first time traveling to a universe other than our own. Let them relax as much as possible, please." Aleksander said to Steven, who put his hands up in an "okay, I'm done," gesture.

Michelle shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously. "So, what's it like teleporting? Do you feel like you're flying to the place, or what?"

Daniel shrugged. "For me, I think about where I want to go and then I just appear there. It doesn't seem like any time has gone by or anything, it's like I blinked and suddenly I'm there. I don't know what going to an alternate universe will be like though, I've never done it."

"It is very similar," Aleksander said. "The way that we have found works best with others who can teleport is to think of it like jumping. Picture a walkway, such as a sidewalk, with each block representing one universe away from ours. Since the universes will be very similar in the distances we are going to have you 'jump' so to speak, as long as you picture where you want to end up in that universe, you will be fine."

"Okay, but how do you know that the universe we end up at, number 39 will be the one with the artifact you want us to get?" Michelle asked.

Steven spoke up, "Well, we can't be 100 percent sure, but as Alek said, we have had many successes using the way he described. Each time you jump, keep the artifact you are going to retrieve in your thoughts. That will help guide you to the right universe."

"And as long as I think about jumping along the sidewalk and the artifact, we'll be good?" Daniel looked at Steven and Aleksander questioningly.

"Yes. Correct," Aleksander said. "Are you two ready?"

"Sure," Daniel said.

"As ready as I'm going to be," Michelle said nervously.

"Okay then, let us get started! As you can tell, we have kept the item in the cloth bag from your last experiment Daniel. As with your other experiments, you will put the bag in your pocket, hold Michelle's hand, and then touch the artifact. Along with picturing the sidewalk and 'jumping' to U10, then U20, etc..."

"Can I go ahead and put the bag in my pocket now?"

Aleksander looked at Michelle, who nodded. "Yes, Daniel, go ahead, please."

Daniel walked forward and placed the bag into his pocket.

"It's weird," Michelle thought, "when the artifact is in that bag, it looks so small compared to what I normally see. I guess that's part of the reason they chose Daniel for this, since the artifact is so small for him, it'll be much easier for him to carry than it would be for me. How does that work anyway? Why does the bag-"

"Michelle?" Aleksander said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Sorry. I'm ready. Just thinking."

"It is okay, don't worry, this will be just like any other time Daniel has done this, except this time he will bring you instead of one of the other guards who work here. There are many similarities between teleporting somewhere in this universe and 'jumping' as we say, to another universe." Aleksander said.

"Yeah, you two will be fine. Once you get to U39, you guys just determine what you need to retrieve the artifact, and Michelle can get it for you. Once you have the artifact, you just do the same thing you're about to do now, except backward. No big deal," Steven shrugged as he said this, as if the whole "going to a different universe" thing was like taking a walk in the park.

"One last question," Michelle said. "How do you know the artifact will work correctly for either of us once we get to the other universe?"

"We have had others work with artifacts of a similar nature to this one in alternate universes, and have had minimal problems, so we have no doubt it will work fine for you two," Aleksander said.

"Wait a second, 'minimal problems'? What does that mean?" Daniel said.

"It means that sometimes we had to send someone to go get the person or people that were sent to the alternate universe. If that happens to you, we have back-ups who can go get you, don't worry." Steven said.

"Then why don't you just send those people instead of us?" Daniel said.

"They are busy with other projects at the moment, but if needed they can be pulled to extract you and bring you back. Aside from that, we have to listen to our boss, who helps determine who is doing what and when. It's not good to question them, as I'm sure you noticed, Daniel," Steven said.

"Yeah, I remember," Daniel said rubbing his face with one hand.

"Besides, sometimes we don't have a choice. This is one of those times. Big boss man says you two have to go, so you have to go. Although we don't work for the military, we function similar to it. When you have orders, you follow them." Steven said.

He checked his watch, "Okay, Alek, we've gotta get these two moving."

Aleksander checked his own watch, surprised. "Oh, yes. Let's get this show on the road, as Steven says. Daniel, the artifact is in your pocket, correct?"

"Correct," Daniel said.

"Okay, Michelle stand next to Daniel and hold his hand now," Aleksander said.

Michelle's heart started beating rapidly as she walked over and interlaced her fingers with Daniel's left hand.

"Okay, when you are both ready, Daniel, touch the artifact in your pocket," Aleksander said.

Daniel looked at Michelle, who nodded. He took a deep breath, focused his thoughts, and touched the artifact inside his pocket.

~~~

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