Monday, November 2, 2020

Microstory 1486: Escher’s Escape

Way back in 2021, an alien entity with time powers named Effigy trapped early Durus refugee, Escher Bradley in something called the Time Crevice. Time moves slower inside than it does on the outside, so while Escher only experienced a little over eighteen hours, by the time he got out, a hundred and eighty years had passed for everyone else. As far as anyone could tell, this was a random and natural temporal phenomenon, rather than a deliberate creation of someone’s. No one knew Escher had been there the entire time, because Effigy had the ability to change her form to mimic others, so they all thought he had returned to Earth through Hogarth Pudeyonavic’s machine. They didn’t even know the crevice existed, because Escher and his friends, Rothko and Savitri agreed that it was best to keep it a secret, or people would use it against each other. He had just used up all his energy trying to get out of there, knowing that as each second passed, he was missing one day of his life. When he finally managed to make his way to an outpost called Hildera, he was relieved to find that people were willing and able to help him. A lot had changed while he was gone, and though he had never learned anything about the terrible phallocratic republic, or the monster war before it, he was worried no one would help. A part of him kind of figured that Springfield would either destroy itself and die out, or find their own way back to Earth. He was surprised to find that Durus was now a thriving civilization, with advanced technologies, and yes, even a potential way home. Of course, he probably didn’t want or need to return to Earth. Even if he managed to go back in time, his family literally forgot he existed after he first disappeared. There was just nothing left for him there.

Someone else may have wanted him on Earth, however. After spending a few days resting, recovering, and getting to know the new world, Escher let his escorts lead him to the Nexus replica building, just to see it. As if his mere presence were the key, the machine suddenly booted up on its own, and waited for someone to input a set of coordinates. The scientists didn’t know exactly why it activated itself for him. It had been sitting there at least since its discovery in 2195. It could have been a coincidence, but probably not, since not one day had gone by that no one stepped foot in that building, if only to make sure it was still off. Still, Escher didn’t want to leave, and no one else did either. This was everyone’s home now. Anyone who had wished to be let on The Elizabeth Warren was either dead, or had since changed their minds. So, what was this Nexus replica good for? Exploration was the best answer, but there was a bit of a problem with that. The calculations were proving to be tricky, as Durus was still hurtling through interstellar space at incredibly high speeds. For anyone without intimate knowledge of how these machines worked, they appeared to work better from one star system that sat at a predictable location to another. Besides, they were coming up on their destination, and it was best if the experts focused on making sure that went smoothly, rather than taking on a new project right now. The exploration missions would have to wait, for the right time, and for the people to decide how that was going to go. For now, Escher needed a new life, and to find his place in the new world. He was a child when he was unwillingly dispatched to this rogue planet, and had never received a real education, even though he was forty years old. It was time to change that.

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