Chapter 16: Dangerous Dimensions

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

—Helen Keller.

Jason contacted Lucia.

“Lucia, when you’ve some time, I’d like to meet with you to get your help to get a crystal. I have a window of opportunity of eight days before we reach our next waypoint. Is that enough time to get a crystal and for a primitive savage to adapt?”

“Let’s not waste time—we will finish it today. Go and have lunch; you will be in the room longer than expected and become nauseous. You won’t get hungry but use much energy in the dimension. You want a gap between eating and going into the room. I’ll meet you at your canteen at two-thirty. I’ve got a few things I must do first, and then I’ll help you get organized. Eight days are ample time.”

“How do I pick a crystal?” Jason asked.

“I’ll explain everything after we meet up.

Lucia ordered a small meal when she, as scheduled, arrived at the canteen. “I often forget to eat when I am busy and land up eating at irregular times. Did you eat when I told you?”

Jason nodded. Lucia ate quickly and then began her explanation. “Remember, as long as you move fast, you will be fine. It’s worth the risk to get a crystal. Our unique crystals help us increase our strengths and reduce our vulnerabilities. My crystal helps me recover quickly after injuries; yours may do the same. I could use my crystal after less than a day. The longest time anyone took to adapt was a week. In my initial group of two hundred during training, everyone returned to normal within two days. Few people are in the trans-dimensional room for longer than a day. The longest I’ve ever heard of someone being there was for two days. There’s not much I can say to prepare you, but I shall do my best,” said Lucia. “The computer spans eleven different trans-dimensional rooms. They cluster around the AI, some parts of which are in other dimensions. We only find crystals in one of the dimensions. I’m sending you into the room I’ve used many times for my Marines.”

“What are the threats?” Jason asked.

“The beasties in that dimension attack people looking for and installing crystals. Strangely, they don’t meddle with AI components and rarely attack engineers and technicians working on it. The first time you go in, the critters take time to sense you.”

“How do they injure or harm us?” Jason asked.

“I’ll give you the context and what I don’t know. The room connects to a much bigger space. It’s simply one room, part of a much larger whole. When you enter the room, the denizens of that dimension slowly become aware of your presence and then attack you. The longer you are there, the higher the risk of attack. No one has ever described an attacker. No one knows how you can defend yourself. I don’t know anyone who faced an attack and escaped. Our weapons are ineffective. Weapons increase the risk of an attack. One in three hundred don’t get out of there alive. Twenty-five in a hundred dies if they risk a second encounter.”

“What will I experience when I go into the room?”

“I will open the door to let you in. When you enter the room, everything looks strange and twisted. You begin to feel weird. It’s like space walking without a gravity generator. You will feel as if you are standing on an irregularly moving surface. It’s like being on a boat in a storm. Look down and make sure you are walking on a firm surface. The floor is made up of planks. Be careful; there are gaps between the planks. Make sure you keep your footing while the floor is rocking. You will feel increasingly unbalanced and nauseated. Look for a table. Move to it as quickly as you can. Stand in front of it while carefully balancing on the planks. I only had one crystal on the table. There is a board with your slot on the table. I fitted my crystal quickly into my board. Please pick up the crystal and look at its base. It will clue you what your socket on the table looks like. Weirdly, something that’s part of you is out of you. Orient your crystal to the slot and push it in.”

“What do people do when they have a selection of crystals?” Jason asked.

“Some people have a wide selection of crystals and battle to find the one that fits into their slot. Many describe racing to insert the crystal that appeals to them into a slot while beasts approach.”

“What are these creatures?” Jason asked.

“No one knows what they are and how they harm us,” Lucia explained. “Some people describe a being that helped them. Each one looks different, and they are exceedingly rare. Everyone experiences motion sickness. We cannot prevent it. Nausea makes you vulnerable to attack. Concentrate on your objective and walk purposefully to the table. Place your crystal into its socket and leave expeditiously. People who fall die. Select an appropriate crystal. Your instincts will guide you.”

“What will I be looking at on the base of the crystal?”

“Each crystal has two prongs that fit into a unique slot. Each will fit into its unique slot. Each crystal has prongs that have different spacings. Most feel an affinity with a unique crystal. Occasionally people tried to fit more than one crystal fit their slot. Go about it quickly but calmly and systematically, Jason. Your chances are good, but we lose more Marines in dimensional rooms than die in training.”

“The engineers told me yellow crystals are best for them. What should I look out for?”

“Black crystals are for administrative types. They are appropriate for Generals and Admirals and increase strategic skills. Our best stones for the Marines are red. Most AI people use blue crystals. Most crystals are three centimeters tall, rarely larger.”

Jason had no further questions. They strode to one of the rooms adjacent to the computer. Lucia said she would leave sentries outside the room to wait for him. Most were weak after they left the room and required assistance.

“Come, I will take you to the room.”

Five minutes later, Lucia pointed to the door and suggested Jason enter.

Jason apprehensively opened the door. Air rushed into the room. There was an odd electric smell, and his mouth tasted fishy. He looked down and carefully jumped over a thirty-centimeter gap onto the plank before him. It was an ancient wooden plank. The door slammed behind him. Jason’s ears were blocked. He swallowed to clear them and looked for the table as he carefully strode forward, balancing on shifting planks. He was in a Salvador Dali movie. Nothing was continuous, and the room and floor moved like the transdim programs in a hologram. The planks ahead of him were distorted and twisted at bizarre angles. The room was dim. Between the gaps, there was thick, inky darkness. The table was as big as an executive desk. Jason walked carefully but quickly to the table before nausea overtook him.

Great, he was in front of the table, standing on a wide plank that felt secure.

The plank lurched irregularly like being on a choppy sea. Jason widened his stance.

Yes, I made it. Dammit, the table has numerous crystals.

The shortest was ten centimeters long. Some were well over twenty centimeters long. He didn’t want to waste time counting them, but there were more than a hundred, and there could be a hundred and fifty or more! There were red ones, blue ones, one gorgeous twenty-five-centimeter sparkling emerald, a few clear ones, a massive black one the same size as the Emerald, and several smaller ones of various colors. The Emerald attracted him the most. He picked it up. It had two metal protrusions, much like a plug. He measured the distance between the protrusions against the side of his finger. He knew what to look for.

Jason’s heart sank.

Shit in a brick, my board has hundreds of slots! How will I match the crystals to the slots? How many can I insert onto the board before the beasties get me?

The floor and the table rocked and moved irregularly. Jason felt twinges of seasickness. The plank beneath him shifted convulsively and irregularly. Whispers first, then disembodied voices, called to each other in the distance.

Jason looked for an appropriate socket for the emerald. The sockets were not in any logical order he could discern. Nausea hit Jason in waves, steadily increasing in amplitude. Jason concentrated on finding a slot. Disembodied threatening voices were coming closer. Jason concentrated even harder.

Something pulled at his leg. Jason jumped a third of a meter into the air. He almost had a heart attack. Jason looked down. A small distorted gnome-like creature was tugging at his trousers. He was formally dressed in an oddly shaped green top hat, an impeccable suit in red and yellow, an orange shirt, and brown shoes.

The creature spoke gibberish.

Jason’s level of nausea rose. He was frustrated, irritable, and impatient. “For heaven’s sake! Speak in a language I can understand, or I’ll kick you off the plank.”

There was a brief pause as the creature looked at him with its head on the side. Then it sounded like a spokesman from Buckingham Palace. Jason realized it communicated telepathically in a posh accent. ‘I know I can help you as I can rapidly seat the crystals into your slots. I will add a briefcase full of crystals.’

I heard a telepathic voice!

The gnome brandished his one-meter by half-a-meter rectangular orange briefcase. ‘I shouldn’t be in this unfortunate place. Please take me with you when you leave here.’

The clock was ticking; the creatures were coming to get him. The voices were nearer. Jason looked at the table and the crystals. The task overwhelmed him.

To judge someone’s character took time, and he didn’t have time. Time was racing past, and the creatures’ voices sounded closer. His life was in danger. The shouting voices were approaching him from the abyss below the planks.

How could Jason judge this little person? How could he take the person with him? What did he risk?

The little person looked weird but wasn’t threatening. Lucia said there were benevolent beings in the dimension. Could the gnome be one?

“How can I take you with me?” Jason asked.

“I will travel with you in a trans-dimensional room I will construct. I can only survive in this dimension, not in your world. Jason imagined himself possessed by demons and spirits. Jason visualized himself under the control of a monster who would convert him into a mindless zombie serving the devil for eternity.

A slot looked appropriate for the emerald. Jason picked up the crystal.

Miracle of miracles, I fitted it into the slot, fan-bloody-tastic!

Jason saw spots in front of his eyes as soon as the crystal was in place and felt odd.

Please, no, it’s an aura. A darned migraine is on the way.

The environment stabilized and untwisted. Jason felt less nauseous, but the irregular spots and his sense of impending doom intensified. The room straightened and became more regular, but his head felt uncomfortable, distorted on one side, and ached.

The little man stood patiently. He looked less bizarre. ‘We must hurry; time is passing, they’re coming, we must get out of here before they get us. I will insert the crystals into the board, including those in this case. But I want to come with you.’