11.3 Vhy
I had expected something scary to happen when I went through the Vortal. Some really cool special effects, like in the scene in sci-fi movies where the hero or heroes go through a time warp or black hole or something. Which was that really cool American TV series they showed on Hallmark a while back? Sliders. Man, that was a cool series, about these three friends who accidently invent a device which can transport them to parallel worlds.
But all that happened was I felt like I had a teensy sensation of disorientation, and then click everything was the same. That was it. Really low-budget sfx, yaar.
I looked around. I was still there, standing by Mahesh, holding his hand. He was still at his desk, looking at the monitor. Even the screen hadn't changed yet.
I blinked and let go of Mahesh's hand. "It didn't work. We didn't go through the Vortal."
He pointed to the computer screen. "We're here. We crossed over."
As he pointed at it, I realized that the message on the computer screen had changed. It now said: 'Welcome to The Vortal.'
I looked around, unable to accept it. "Everything looks the same. This looks exactly like my brother Mikey's bedroom." And it did. It even had the same hard rock posters and techno gadgetry my brother always loved to play with: some of the gadgets looked a bit more sleek and streamlined but it wasn't enough for me to tell if it was really different. Movies are more my forte, not tech.
When he didn't say anything for a minute, I looked at him. He was watching me with a strange sad expression. "That's because Mikey and I are the same person, Vaibhav. We may be from parallel universes, but the differences between our personalities are just superficial. At heart, we're the exact same person."
He smiled wistfully. "I'm still your brother, sort of."
"Okay," I said, accepting it reluctantly. "So we've crossed through the Vortal into your world. This is the alternate reality where you came from. Now what do we do next?"
He shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I needed to access my own comp to see if I could reprogram the Vortal. It'll take some time. Do you want anything to eat? We could order burgers and colas. You do like burgers and colas, don't you?"
I looked at him, surprised. "Are you crazy? My mother's in hospital, serious. My sister and my brother have vanished. According to what you told me just a while back, a crazy duplicate of my sister Viveka is running amuck in my world, killing people. And you want to order home delivery?!"
He looked disappointed. "I just thought you might be hungry. This could take a while, you know."
"Things are getting pretty despo back in my world, in case you hadn't noticed, bro. How long exactly is this going to take?"
He rubbed the skin on the sides of his eyes. It was a gesture even Mikey, my Mikey, had, a variation of the thing my dady and I tended to when we were tense (we pinch the skin in the center of the forehead, Mikey being 'different' in everything he did, rubbed the delicate skin at the sides of his eyes, you know where older people get pouches and wrinkles--his doing that reminded me so much of him, well, of my real brother Mikey, that it hurt. I wanted my brother back. And instead I was trapped in some techno-geek's hacker nightmare.
"Everything's gonna be cool, Vhy. Just chill."
It took me a second to realize that he hadn't said that. The words had come from behind me, from the direction of the bedroom door. I turned and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
It was Mikey, my real brother Mikey, and he was at the door to the bedroom, looking hale and hearty and as pudgy as ever.
He flicked his hair off his forehead and winked at me. "Hi, Vhy. How's it hanging, bro? Looks like you got conned by my counterpart too, huh? This guy's a real filmi-type villain. Look how he tricked you into going through the Vortal too. Now, we're all in deep trouble."
And he took a huge bite from what looked like a double burger with extra cheese and chomped on it merrily.
But all that happened was I felt like I had a teensy sensation of disorientation, and then click everything was the same. That was it. Really low-budget sfx, yaar.
I looked around. I was still there, standing by Mahesh, holding his hand. He was still at his desk, looking at the monitor. Even the screen hadn't changed yet.
I blinked and let go of Mahesh's hand. "It didn't work. We didn't go through the Vortal."
He pointed to the computer screen. "We're here. We crossed over."
As he pointed at it, I realized that the message on the computer screen had changed. It now said: 'Welcome to The Vortal.'
I looked around, unable to accept it. "Everything looks the same. This looks exactly like my brother Mikey's bedroom." And it did. It even had the same hard rock posters and techno gadgetry my brother always loved to play with: some of the gadgets looked a bit more sleek and streamlined but it wasn't enough for me to tell if it was really different. Movies are more my forte, not tech.
When he didn't say anything for a minute, I looked at him. He was watching me with a strange sad expression. "That's because Mikey and I are the same person, Vaibhav. We may be from parallel universes, but the differences between our personalities are just superficial. At heart, we're the exact same person."
He smiled wistfully. "I'm still your brother, sort of."
"Okay," I said, accepting it reluctantly. "So we've crossed through the Vortal into your world. This is the alternate reality where you came from. Now what do we do next?"
He shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I needed to access my own comp to see if I could reprogram the Vortal. It'll take some time. Do you want anything to eat? We could order burgers and colas. You do like burgers and colas, don't you?"
I looked at him, surprised. "Are you crazy? My mother's in hospital, serious. My sister and my brother have vanished. According to what you told me just a while back, a crazy duplicate of my sister Viveka is running amuck in my world, killing people. And you want to order home delivery?!"
He looked disappointed. "I just thought you might be hungry. This could take a while, you know."
"Things are getting pretty despo back in my world, in case you hadn't noticed, bro. How long exactly is this going to take?"
He rubbed the skin on the sides of his eyes. It was a gesture even Mikey, my Mikey, had, a variation of the thing my dady and I tended to when we were tense (we pinch the skin in the center of the forehead, Mikey being 'different' in everything he did, rubbed the delicate skin at the sides of his eyes, you know where older people get pouches and wrinkles--his doing that reminded me so much of him, well, of my real brother Mikey, that it hurt. I wanted my brother back. And instead I was trapped in some techno-geek's hacker nightmare.
"Everything's gonna be cool, Vhy. Just chill."
It took me a second to realize that he hadn't said that. The words had come from behind me, from the direction of the bedroom door. I turned and couldn't believe what I was seeing.
It was Mikey, my real brother Mikey, and he was at the door to the bedroom, looking hale and hearty and as pudgy as ever.
He flicked his hair off his forehead and winked at me. "Hi, Vhy. How's it hanging, bro? Looks like you got conned by my counterpart too, huh? This guy's a real filmi-type villain. Look how he tricked you into going through the Vortal too. Now, we're all in deep trouble."
And he took a huge bite from what looked like a double burger with extra cheese and chomped on it merrily.
posted by Ashok K. Banker at 12.10.05
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