Chapter Text
The machines hummed low and steady in the dark. The room sat quiet, still — that was, until the door slid open.
Extraction Room 1 - Door Opened
The lights blinked on. A woman stepped inside, clipboard tucked under her arm. "Can't believe he's got me doing this," she muttered under her breath. "Can't believe he's doing any of this in the first place. Using me to carry out his dirty work." She grunted, flipping her pen between her fingers. "None of this was in the plan."
She started from the far edge of the room, then turned and faced the chair to her left. A dark-skinned man was strapped into it, fast asleep. Wires ran from the chair up to an overhead computer, and a few more were connected directly into his skin.
She flipped through the pages on her clipboard and started writing.
Last Name: Radcliffe
First Name: Oliver
Age: 23
Sex: Male
She glanced up at the screen. Something caught her eye. She unclipped her comms from her belt and pressed the button. "Barclay?" A pause. "The signal on Radcliffe's screen is flashing red." She said. "And... Is.. I think I am looking at two people going at each other in the screen." Nothing. She scoffed. "Of course. Sends me in here to check on them and then he can't even pick up when something's—"
"That one's fine." The voice came in flat and even. "It's been glitching out for a while now." the masculine voice said.
She exhaled. "Huh." She set the radio down on the tool table nearby and kept writing.
"Oliver keeps slipping in and out of the warp," Barclay continued. "The experiment for that one has some flaws, I'll admit. It's not performing quite the way I intended."
She nodded to herself, checking off a few boxes. "His vitals are steady. The nutrients are registering on the screen." She moved around the chair, checking the wires, checking the connections. She picked the radio back up. "You're sure there's no risk of a line bursting? Or leaking?"
"Check the other subjects Claire,"
She clipped the comms to her belt and moved to the next seat. "Hey—" She stopped. "This one's new." She pressed the button on the radio. "Or he's been swapped out. What happened to Ashton? Did you finally let him go like you said you would?"
Silence on the other end.
"Barclay?"
The radio cut in with a beep. "Yes," Barclay said.
Claire blinked. "If you say so," she looked up at the screen. "How long has this one been here?"
"Since the last five days, he's been sent into Fallout," Barclay said on the other end.
"I can see that, the screen's got it all up." She started a new sheet and wrote.
Last Name: Daniels
First Name: Jasper
Age: 19
Sex: Male
"Anything I should flag with this one?" she asked.
"Almost the same as Oliver's. He cuts back out randomly. Though, he doesn't actually come back. He remembers this world while he's in there. But it leaves quickly,"
Claire pressed the button and held it. "Barclay. What exactly is the endgame here? You've never actually walked me through the whole thing."
The radio crackled. "To go where no one's gone. These are real dimensions we're plugging these people into, Claire. The goal is to rewrite their lives entirely — drop them into a world that isn't ours. They become new people within the worlds we put them in, as these avatars," Barclay said. "That's the plan,"
"And they consented to this." She said it flat. "Did you get their consent?"
There was a small silence on the other end. "Of course I do." Barclay said. "I always do," he then spoke one more time. "Check the last one. Should be across from Oliver's chair,"
Claire crossed the room. There was another figure in the chair — a boy, wired up the same as the others, head slack to the side.
She slowed. "Barclay." She pressed the button carefully. "This one is new too." She looked at the screen. "And he's... he's a kid. I thought after Ashton you said you were not going to use more—"
"I made that call after I had the agreement from the boy's family," Barclay said. "And either way, I can't let him go. His extraction is a near success,"
Claire was writing down notes, and the vitals of this one.
Last Name: Harper
First Name: Arnold
Age: 16
Sex: Male
"Where did you put him?" she asked.
Barclay's voice cut in onto the radio once Claire's finger left the button. "Movie sector of the Fictional Universe. Wreck-It-Ralph. A perfect extraction. He doesn't remember anything at all of this world. It's like he also completely rewrote the dimension's time line. His avatar became his own character within the world! It even has a back story, and a lot of things. Told you. Perfect extraction!"
Claire was quiet for a second. "His vitals are fine. He's getting his nutrients. Same as the others." She clicked her pen shut. "You are going to send them all back eventually, right? These two especially — and definitely the kid. Even if his parents agreed, they're going to want him home."
"Of course, of course! They'll all stay here a little while longer, until I can run more tests. Then I will send myself into one."
"Alright," Claire put the radio back onto her belt, and flipping her pen closed, tucking it into the clipboard clip. She cleared her throat, and began to head out. She flipped the light switch, stepping out, and shut the door.
Extraction Room 1 Door - Closed
The only light left was the thin strip flooding in through the small door window. The only sound was the low hum of the machines.
Then Oliver's chair began to tremble. Just barely. The screen above flickered — numbers rolling fast across it.
Send back commencing
Returning Subject to Body in 5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
The chair lurched hard. Oliver snapped forward against the restraints, gasping. He sat there for a moment, chest heaving, eyes wide and unseeing in the dark.
He swallowed. Blinked a few times. Let his eyes adjust.
Then his face went red.
"Did I just—" His mouth hung open. "Did I just have sex with Venti?"
He sat with that for a second.
"Yeah." He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I did." The red deepened. "And I'm not ashamed one bit," He shook his head. "Oh man. How long have I even been in here in this room?" He exhaled long and slow.
"And what did Ven mean about Fontaine? I played the game — Venti never went to Fontaine. So is that just... how it actually went in that dimension? Is it different?" He leaned back as far as the restraints would let him. "Guess I'm finding out tomorrow. Heading there with him. To 'recover my memories.'" He said the last part quiet, will a roll of the eyes.
"Venti... you have no idea what I actually am." Oliver stared at the ceiling. "Just some guy. Just some boring man from... 'reality',"
He was quiet for a while.
Oliver closed his eyes. "Would he still like me like this?" He shook his head, eyes still closed. "No. He wouldn't. I look different than my avatar. I have the same skin color, but... my avatar looks like a Genshin character. I really look... I look different than Venti. I'd look really out of place next to him. He'd stop liking me as soon as he find out," Oliver couldn't help the little tear the appeared in the corner of his eye. He sniffed.
"Maybe Doctor Barclay should just disconnect me soon. I'm sure he got whatever it was that he wanted. I just wanna go home now," he sighed.
He didn't want that.
He wanted more time with the bard. He knew that. But sitting here, between one life and another — fully himself in only one— the thought of Venti's face when he eventually found out was enough to hollow him out. He did not want to see Venti's face when he'd find out he's not from the same world and looks physically different.
Beginning send back
Oliver closed his eyes.
"Here we go again."