Futuristic Loopholes

[geminitre.]

Storyline

Have you ever felt like you've been to a place before? But haven't. Felt like you've met a person before? But haven't. Felt like you've known a person your whole life. Yet you've only just met them? Well, what if I said you have been to that place before, except in a different world? That you have met that person before, except in a different world? That you have known that person your whole life, except in a different world? A parallel world. And if I told you there were multiple worlds? Millions and millions of parallel worlds? Some so drastically different from ours, you wouldn't even believe it's Earth? With technology 20 years ahead of ours? With technology 20 years behind? Where World War III has started? Or so dangerously close, you could almost believe it's where you came from? With only a small thing tweaked? Maybe where Obama was assassinated before getting his second term? Or where you were never born? Or where there is one less mosquito in the world? What if I told you all that there are loopholes to these worlds?

Have you ever noticed that one building that stands out? That one building no one enters? Maybe an urban legend says it's cursed, or maybe it's just so rundown looking, no one wants to enter. But what if I told you it was a loophole? A loophole to one of those worlds? That there are similar loopholes scattered around the country? That transport their contents to another world every 32 hours?

What if I told you, that everything I've said so far, is so horribly real?​

 

[geminitre.]

Sam stood in the building with the rest of the group. It was a rundown looking church, and it was minutes from transferring them to the next world. He sighed, glancing down to the watch he had set to match the times loopholes changed, leaning against the musty smelling wall. They had about a minute or so to go, and he couldn't wait. Hopefully it would be his, though a part of him knew there was a very, very slim chance that it would. There were millions out there. Why would it ever be his?

 

[HighFlyer]

Ky raced down the street, the ragged looking church the only thing in his sights. Of course, he had slept through his alarm that had been set on his watch to wake him. Actually, with a quick glance at the piece of junk on his wrist, he realized that the darned thing had probably gotten busted during his last loophole trip. Ky's lungs screamed for air and he was sure his face was beet red, after all, he had run over a mile in order to make it there in time. Finally, he reached the church door and flung it open in a flourish, only to find himself in the middle of a group of people evidently waiting for the loophole to cycle as well.


What?


Usually this didn't happen, people generally avoided the areas that deemed loophole worthy. Ky didn't recognize these people either, so it was unlikely that they were from his realm of reality. He wanted to present himself as a well put together and completely capable of being socially acceptable but it was hard to do so while trying to catch his breath. So rather than attempt a winded hello, he simply raised his hand in greeting.

 

[geminitre.]

Sam looked up as his watch went off, along with a couple of others. A boy ran into the church, looking winded and he cocked an eyebrow, not recognizing him. Then again, he wasn't from this world and with all the loophole users passing through, it was very unlikely anyway. He gave a wave in return, just when the building gave a violent shake, signalling it had transferred. They all waited a moment, a hush going over the group of ten or so people - all ages between 16 and by the looks of it, 21 - before the leader, Xfer (Who was from a futuristic universe much different from Sam's) pushed the doors open. She paid no mind to the new kid. There were lots of passerby's anyway. At the signal of her, the group went to leave.


Sam pushed off the wall, following the others with a sigh. Sure, he was friendly with most of them, but he didn't really have any friends. As he passed the other boy, he flashed a smile before continuing on.

 

[Afrobrony]

Josh was doing what he did best, running, from a group of merciless thugs, to be exact. He brought his wrist up to his mouth "note," he said, pausing for a second before talking again "stop stealing from targets that know who you are. End note." Josh looked back at the group chasing him "I was sick of this place anyways! Don't worry, you won't ever have to see me again." He pushed through Sam and whoever else that was about to enter the loophole, wondering why there were so many people at the loophole, he'd never seen this many people wanting to go through one at once. The thugs had stopped when they had seen Josh go into the church, not even bothering to look inside.

 

[geminitre.]

((They're um, exiting the loophole.))

 

[Afrobrony]

(Oh, well I meant that to happen just before they went through. Is that all right or should I edit my post?)

 

[geminitre.]

((Oh, okay. Nah, you're fine I'm not sure how I'm going to have them react to your character.... but it's fine ))

 

[Afrobrony]

(All right, cool, don't expect much from me for a bit, I'm a bit busy these next few days. I'll still post but not very much.)

 

[ShatteredSoul]

All her life, Ember had been taught to blend in and go with the flow. As she stood inside the church waiting for the next loophole to arrive, her eyes were scanning the room silently. Ember wasn't ever a point of attention, so she didn't really have to worry about making accidental eye contact with anyone. There was certainly lots of different people here. Some looked just as plain as her. Others were decked out in different outfits and uniforms that she didn't recognize. Even though these things were a confusing sight, Ember was never really afraid of what was on the other side of the loophole or the people that she came across. She knew that wherever the loophole took her couldn't nearly be as bad as the life she was doomed to have, performing the same boring and useless task day after day until she died alone.


Ember didn't want that. She wanted to be free to explore, to learn, to feel, to love. In a society where love was forbidden and punishable by law, that was a hard feat to accomplish. When she found her first loophole in the basement of her compound, she stepped through and never looked back. Sure, it was difficult to be constantly popping between dimensions not knowing where you were going to end up. But, Ember was a strong believer of fate, and she firmly believed that one day she would enter a loophole and find the life she was destined to have, maybe even the person she was destined to love.


There was only one problem though. She didn't know what love was. Ember didn't know how to experience the thrill of being attracted to someone. She wouldn't be able to identify it even if it stood right in front of her face. But deep down, she knew she was destined to be with someone. It was just a matter of time before she felt that "butterflies in the stomach" feeling that she had only read in forbidden books and dreamed about at night. Life was just one big waiting game, but Ember was willing to play.

 

[HighFlyer]

Ky had closed his eyes during the building's transfer shaking. He never was a fan of that part, the violent shakes made him feel a bit nervous and very unsafe. When it was over, his eyes slowly peeked open and he hung back as the big group exited the loophole, giving of an air of authoritive organization. The same boy who had been the only to wave back at Ky, also gave him a polite smile before departing.


Up until this point, Ky had been content with traveling on his own, but watching the group go he envied the purpose that they seemed to have. Looking around, there was one more small group waiting and a girl standing on her own against the dingy church wall. He had completely overlooked her on his first scan of the room, this was probably due to the fact that she was standing so still, nothing moving except her eyes as she scanned over the people in the room just as he was doing. Ky stood there watching her carefully as everyone continued to file out of the building.

 

[ShatteredSoul]

Ember was deep in thought. Every time before she exited a loophole, she got a rush of thrill and curiouslity. What world would they enter next? What adventure would she embark on? What dangers would she encounter? These questions and more rage on as a river of curiosity in her head.


It was a rough shaking of the wall she was leaning on that brought her back to reality. She blinked a few times quickly and realized that she was staring straight at someone. Ember swept the hair out of her face and looked away from a moment, slightly embarrassed. She glanced at the exit to the loophole and than back at the boy. He was still looking at her. Oops. Ember tried to act casual and allowed the corners of her mouth to curl up a little into a friendly half-smile.

 

[HighFlyer]

Ky smiled back at the girl who he had been awkwardly staring at. He didn't expect them to actually make eye contact, but when they did he figured that it'd only be polite to go over and introduce himself. So that's precisely what he did. Ky willed himself to walk over to the girl without tripping over himself.


Luckily, Ky had made it without any mishaps and he waved shyly at the girl. "Hey I'm Uh.. I'm Kyle. Well I mean people call me Ky but you can call me whichever." Red colored his usually pale cheeks as his evident awkwardness took over.

 

[ShatteredSoul]

Oh. Shit. The boy must have taken her smile as an invitation because he was making his way over to her. Oh. Okay. Well, here goes nothing. Ember looked at at him as he approached with a somewhat awkward looking wave. Gosh, she hadn't seen anyone wave in a while. It seemed like a uncommon practice in most dimensions she entered. Not really knowing how to respond to the wave, Ember just smiled politely as he introduced herself.


As weird as it sounds, Ember watched him as he spoke. She watched the way he walked and how he took each step deliberately. She watched his mouth speak each word and she watched how it stalled for a few moments during his introduction. Oddly enough, this was a habit of Ember. She paid very close attention to all of her environement, especially the people around her.


When he had finished, a comical thought formed in Ember's mind. "Hi, it's nice to meet you, Whichever." A humorous twitch pulled at the corners of Embers mouth, hoping he would catch the joke. She clearly understood that his name was Kyle, but she took the last five words he said out of context and tried to make a joke about it. Wait, crap, what if he didn't get it? Ember shifted her weight to her left foot. Oh well, she'd be lost in another dimension soon anyway and could forget all about this if she wanted too.


A light hearted look filled her eyes as as spoke. "I'm Ember, and you can call me Ember." Gosh, this could potentially be really awkward if he didn't think her jokes were funny. Lets hope this kid wasnt completely gullible enough that the joke went over his head.

 

[HighFlyer]

Ky's cheeks darkened as he realized the girl was poking fun at him. Of course, with a quick glance into her eyes he understood that it was all in good sport, but even knowing this he was still a bit embarrassed. Her observatory nature was evident to him and it made him a bit uncomfortable. He felt as if she was judging every step he made, figuratively and literally and he was unsure of what she was thinking but with a light shrug he smiled in response to her lame joke.


"Well, Ember. Why are you traveling by yourself? Did you lose your group?" In all honesty, Ky was stalling. Even though he was genuinely curious to how Ember was going to answer, his main motive for asking was to delay the impending action of embracing a new dimension. Each time he was in a loophole transfer, it became a battle on the inside as to whether or not he really was ready to take on an entire different place. At least now he had a good distraction to the dilemma.

 

[Afrobrony]

When Josh came out the other end of the loophole he stopped and immediately went to work on his little gauntlet screen, tapping commands into it. He was currently mapping out what little of the area he could and trying to find some sort of wireless network, assuming that it existed in the first place. He kept looking around nervously to see if the thugs had followed him or if there were other dangers. Josh pushed a button on his waist and a little pez candy popped out into his hand, which he quickly tossed into his mouth.

 

[ShatteredSoul]

Well he seemed to take the joke okay. He didn't burst out laughing or anything but at least he smiled. Could have been worse I guess..





In response to his question, Ember shifted her weight onto her other foot awkwardly and paused a moment. "I... I uh..." She glanced over Ky's shoulder at the others in the room, especially the ones in groups. "I don't actually have a group." She answered honestly, shrugging a little. "Been on my own my whole life so I figured why stop now? Besides, I'm pretty sure the other people here have a different agenda then me. We wouldn't work good together." She tried to make it sound casual and not forced. "What about you? Something tells me you don't exactly have a posse of your own either."

 

[HighFlyer]

Ky smiled when she spoke. He had been on his own his entire life also, so in a lame and kind of depressing way, the two had a connection. When she finished talking, Ky nodded and smiled again. "Ember," he started, laughing a bit and running his fingers through his hair, "Do I really seem like the kind of guy people want to waste their time with?" His awkwardness was almost always what deterred people from wanting to work with him. Ky's hands clenched and unclenched themselves and his smile, although genuine, still looked a bit forced. Turning around and realizing that everyone was gone, Ky sighed with relief. "Good, they're gone. We should go too. Or.. I should. Or you too. I mean I wasn't implying that we should stick together. But if we did then I'd be totally fine with that." Ky continued rambling on in that manner.

 

[ShatteredSoul]

He was smiling. Genuinely smiling. That was new. Usually most people here were all 'I am a time-traveler person and I must act cool and intimidating' and so she usually never saw a real smile or heard real laughter. It was nice for a change.


"Considering the fact that I literally just met you and you could be from thousands of different worlds that I know nothing about, I probably shouldn't really make any assumptions about you," she shrugged her shoulders calmly. At least she wasn't the only person alone in this world. People had begun to file out of the loophole into the brand new dimension, and Ember was eager to explore.


When Ky suggested they leave, or sort of, kind of in a way suggested they should leave together, she grinned a little. "Yeah, we should go." She answered him, stressing the 'we' just enough so that he would pick up on the fact that she didn't mind sticking together. Ember wasted no time, taking the lead and making her way to the exit.

 

[HighFlyer]

Ky followed after Ember, eager yet dreading his discovery of a new dimension. When they stepped out of the ragged church, Ky's eyes widened in awe. Miles and miles of lush jungle stretched on as far as he could see and the sky was bluer than he had ever seen in his life. Ky turned to Ember with a huge smile on his face. "Oh my God! This is amazing! Can you think of the awesome things that we could find in there?" His smile faded a bit as he stood there surveying the land.


Ky head read books about the different climates that used to be on Earth before his people had completely urbanized every area on the planet. He remembered that dangerous animals, bugs, and diseases ravaged these wild areas making them unfit to live in and that's why all the tribes that used to live in them went extinct. (Little did he know, the Americans had actually slaughtered the tribes but that's besides the point). Ky's excitement was quickly quelled and he frowned deeply. "Oh.."