//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - Into the Rift, Onto Equestria // Story: Into the Rift // by DiscordsAdvocate //------------------------------// There was an intense silence as Tycho closed his laptop, this was bad.   The lead agent sighed. "Hand it over, Dr. Hernandez." He said nonchalantly. "Don't make any more trouble than you already have."   Tycho sat still. Many scenarios ran through his mind on what to do in this situation. He can’t do shit without his laptop. Maybe he can convince them to look the other way? Or will he have to fight them? Were they armed?   "Look, guys." Johan stood out of his chair before another agent stood in front of him. He gulped. "Guys, we might be able to stop this." He nervously said.   "Or make it worse." The third said. "If you have something to feasible to propose to the U.N., then we'll do our best to present it to them."   "In the meantime, please cooperate with us." The second said.   "If we don’t implement this now, it will take days, weeks before we can get it approved!" Johan shouted.   "Calm down!" The second forced Johan to sit back down in his chair.   Tycho could feel an air of anger developing in the room, and it was from Arjeta. She'd been their boss for years and didn't tolerate mistreatment of her team of any kind.   "Did I not say earlier to not touch my team?" Arjeta said with a growl.   "Stand down, doctor. You're all getting too intense and we will use force if you don't cooperate." The lead agent threatened. "Dr. Hernandez, the laptop, now!" He said sternly.   Arjeta turned to Tycho and leaned down take the laptop. "You think you can take one down?" She whispered.   Tycho nodded, realizing things were going to get physical. He couldn't believe her, or Johan approved of this rash course of action. Lives were at stake. This might land them in prison, or get fired, who knows? They'd been cooped up at CERN for days with no sign of change. Tycho thought back to his parents. If they could see him now, if they were still on Earth. Friends, family, and all humans on Earth were at stake now, and this nonsense wasn’t helping.   Arjeta said nothing as Tycho got out of his chair. "Okay, lets get this over with." He said in mock annoyance.   Arjeta walked to the doorway with the laptop. "Assuming you are going to interrogate us too."   The third cleared his throat. "We'll take that, thank you. You can come with us."   Arjeta turned around and presented the laptop with one hand, as she reached for the light switch next to the doorway.   In the meantime, Tycho took a device from under his desk and flipped the switch. A faint sound emitted from the device that he attuned his ears to hear. A clicking noise that rapidly increased pace. His mind then visualized as the clicking sound waves bounced all over the room and outlined his environment more clearly. There was about 15 feet of space between their respective workstations and the circular table. Two figures were near the doorway. Arjeta was closest to it. The other was likely an agent. One was next to Johan, judging by Johan's mass he was still sitting in that chair. The lead agent was right across from him.   Then he heard the click of the light switch. Tycho sprung into action. As hard as he could, he kicked the central table straight into the lead agent's groin, who fell on his backside, Tycho wagered. Johan's mass tended toward the midsection of the second agent, who rapidly realed back and hit the ground. Tycho then grabbed his office chair quickly and tossed it at the third near Arjeta. Arjeta yelped as she moved out the doorway, seemingly to avoid the chair, while the third took it to his face as he wavered. Johan then flipped the table over onto both the agents before they could get up. Using his size as advantage Tycho body slammed it onto them. Johan followed suit, pinning two agents awkwardly under the table. Tycho then got up as the third agent was seemingly disoriented, grabbed a textbook and smacked him across forehead with it. The agent wavered for a moment before hitting the ground with a soft thud.   "Johan, keep them there!" Arjeta grabbed Tycho by the wrist and slammed the office door shut as she pulled him out.   "I have to get to the collision chamber!" Tycho said.   "Hang on!" Arjeta stopped at one of the pager phones and dialed a few numbers. "Dr. Herman? We've been caught. We need to start this now!"   Tycho couldn't hear Herman's words but he heard him hang up. Arjeta then took Tycho and guided him rapidly down the halls.   They shortly heard an office door open as other personnel in nearby offices witnessed the spectacle.   An angry voice shouted, "Freeze!" Tycho deduced it was an interpol officer.   Arjeta guided Tycho running quickly down the halls to try to outrun their pursuers. There were more sounds of running. He heard a shot from a spring loaded device and another yelp as Arjeta pushed Tycho to the right. he heard the sounds of needles hitting the ground, then his wrist was grabbed again and they started running. ‘It could have been an air taser,’ he thought to himself as he was guided along.   "What’s the plan?" Tycho huffed.   "Here!" Arjeta brought him through another corridor. To Tycho's memory, this was a freight elevator that lead to the accelerator tunnel. Tycho got inside. "Okay, come on!"   Arjeta shook her head and he heard a switch being thrown. The freight elevator closed its door and Tycho froze.   "I'll hold them off." Arjeta backed off as Tycho could only listen as she slammed a door shut and locked it. "I'm sorry, Tycho!"   Tycho leaned back against the elevator grating. His heart pumped. He hadn't been down this part in a while. The collision chamber was about a mile away. And he would be pursued... he'd have to walk through that place blind. Clicking or his sonar device would be heard. Plus the support structures around the pipes were frequent and he would need to be careful for cables below his feet. Well, at least it was pretty much a straight line. Though... they could probably intercept him.   He overheard something on the intercom above, sounded like Dr. Herman's voice but he was too far away from it to hear. He sat down, trying to calm himself. He thought of his priorities. First, make his way to the collision control room, implement the auto-calibration.   He had several minutes before the elevator would reach the bottom. He took out his laptop and checked his messages. They still had wifi down here to make it easier for communications.   Twilight messaged him. Tycho read the previous message. ‘Always one more thing, of course’, he thought.   Tycho rapidly typed.   Twi asked.   He shook his head.   Twi replied, there was a delay as Tycho's elevator stopped and he immediately stepped out. It was silent and the hallway lead to the long tunnel where the giant accelerator piping was. Tycho did his best to read what the problem was.   Tycho knew enough about particle physics and recalled Arjeta's explanations of how particles interacted with quantum entanglement to understand the equation itself. He slumped when he realized what the answer was. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." He mumbled. If he read this right, someone is probably going to die.   Tycho replied.   He read, almost feeling an air of sadness on the other end.   Tycho gaped.   There was a long pause before Alex replied.   Now things were getting crazy. End up like everyone else, lost and gone to the space time continuum. He was running out of time. He had to get moving, but now he just wanted to stay put.   There was another pause.   Tycho shook his head. Johan had a family and Arjeta was going to be married in 3 months. This wasn't fair! There wasn’t any time to do anything about this, or find a volunteer!   Twi replied.   It was Tycho's turn to pause, now. Jump to a cartoon land? Live the rest of his life in a children's show? He was about to reply until he got an angry reply.   There was a short pause, probably Twilight regaining her composure.   Tycho decided he waited long enough. He closed the laptop and started down the hall, feeling the wall as he turned left down the long corridor. He felt like he was going the long walk to his own execution, truly blind.   Tycho stumbled carefully down the tunnel. It was quiet, thankfully. He’d easily hear any incoming spooks. The silence helped him think as he concentrated on not hitting anything or tripping. He felt the wall as he walked while waving a thin pvc pipe in front of him so not to run into any object that may be in front of him. He found a satchel to put his laptop and gear, probably had half battery power left.   All this had happened so fast, Tycho thought. They might have been able to quickly reason with the U.N. officials about this... maybe. All that rising paranoia didn't help them think rationally. And so they attacked interpol agents just for doing their job. They probably wished they could help, but had stick to the book. In a way, they were lucky they had such a clear protocol to follow. His department didn't have one. What was worse was that their problem was being solved by aliens from another dimension. Now they were obeying instructions to use technology they designed, built and modified to achieve something that may save their planet. It was frustrating that they had been so helpless. Maybe that frustration lead them to their actions.   But they had to do something, and the imposed house arrest gave them an outlet. This whole thing was a disaster. They acted brutishly to save their race. Tycho cursed at how  they went crazy and rioted, like everyone else in the world. His thoughts were interrupted when he overheard some voices. He felt his heart fall into his stomach until he recognized the subject they were talking about.   "...magnetic coils need to be synchronized to this amperage." Tycho heard, and he quickly made his way to the source of the voice.   "Who's that?" He heard a man ask. Then he heard the man pick up a metal object.   "Hey! Its me, of the Physics and Engineering Department!" Tycho waved his hand before he tripped on a cable. "Fuck...." Thankfully, he remembered how to fall to reduce the hurt.   He didn't sense it, but the two men ran up to him and helped him up. "We heard you guys gave those agents a walloping." One of the men said. "We're technicians. We got you guys’ instructions but there are some things we have to jury rig to make work."   Tycho cursed silently, feeling the bruises. This was like 5th grade all over again, blind and clumsy. He clicked his tongue to assess the area since there was no need for stealth now. "How is the work coming along?"   "Every department knew what they needed to do." The other tech said. "Calibrating this thing under the noses of those spooks isn't easy, but we're almost done. These instructions aren't really good, though."   Tycho raised an eyebrow.   "Ever since we upgraded this beast." The tech patted the magnetic coil, a ring on his finger making a small metallic noise. "We have had to make different adjustments. But we know our baby." He chuckled. "It’s working perfectly now."   Tycho smiled. The man's confidence encouraged him. "It feels great doing what we're good at."   "Agreed. I’m guessing you’re not just hiding from interpol." The tech deduced.   "Collision chamber control room. Though it’s gonna take me another hour to get there at this rate." Tycho shook his head.   Tycho heard a scoff. “I can’t believe they don’t give you guys the keys to the service tunnel. Come on. We have a golf cart we'll take you on." The other tech said. “We’re done here, anyways.”   Tycho sighed in relief. "I don't know your names but, assuming we all survive this, you deserve drinks after."   A new voice replied jovially, “Plausible deniability, pal. We don’t know you, you don’t know us.” The two techs helped him to their vehicle before they took off. He pulled open the laptop and checked the power, 50% power left. He then contacted Alex.   He didn't know why he was considering this, but he may as well hear them out.   A short time later, he got a reply from Lyra.   Tycho nodded.   There was a minute long pause.   Tycho thought on that.   Lyra answered this time. The message wasn't finished when it was submitted.   It must have been Alex that took over. That appealed to Tycho. He loved the steampunk genre.   "We're nearing the chamber, Dr. Hernandez." Said the tech.   Alex said.   Tycho took a deep breath. He closed his laptop and put it back in his satchel.   The golf cart stopped. "You guys want to help me with some engineering?" He asked as he stepped out. He turned on his sonar provider and hooked it to his belt.   "This is our baby too, Dr. Hernandez, what do you need?" One tech asked.   "A montage so we can do this faster." Tycho joked. The other two techs chuckled as well. "Let’s get me into the testing control room and see what we need to do to finalize the calibration. Oh, is there a scissor lift, or crane, or scaffolding that will get me to center of the beam emitters?” “You bet, doc.” A tech replied. He took his instructions as a technician unlocked the testing chamber. Tycho fired up the computers and checked to make sure his pin-pads were still installed. Perfect. He ran a full diagnostic on them as the techs got to work.     Tycho wondered what was taking the agents so long to find them. The diagnostic finished and the calibration was underway. The devices surrounding the cylindrical beam emitters adjusted automatically. It was a  like a beautiful symphony to Tycho, listening to the pride and joy of CERN prepare itself for the greatest achievement in scientific history.   The techs helped inspect each system as it calibrated. Some things had to be adjusted to meet readings they needed. These instructions were specific in telling them what to do with the technology. It was specific as to what readings they had to reach for an efficient proton collision. They knew how to make it happen. Tycho felt like he was back in his element and it felt good. Still, he wished Arjeta and Johan were here. They could double check to make sure the magnetics and quantum measurements were correct. He was second guessing himself on the whole thing.   His thoughts were interrupted when the phone in the control room rang. Tycho hesitated to pick it up, but did so anyways. If they were already on their way, why not?   "Hallo?" He asked in a voice resembling the Numa Numa guy.   "This is Dr. Herman, is Dr. Hernandez present?" Tycho heard.   "Salud?" Tycho half-joked in response, but hoped Dr. Herman got that he was being cautious.   "Tycho, I'm guessing that is you. We have good news and bad news. We restrained the interpol agents and locked them in the cafeteria. But they called in for help and we've got SWAT inbound. I'm sending your friends down there and the techs to finish the test. Don't worry about anything else. They won't get to any of our systems without a fight." Dr. Herman explained.   Tycho smiled. "Dr. Herman, you have been like a father to me."   Dr. Herman scoffed on his end. "Save the sentimentalities for after this mess is done. We'll all probably be thanking each other in jail after this." He hung up.   Tycho looked at his work and concluded there was nothing more that he could do. Arjeta and Johan will have to handle this from here on out. He thought about what he could take with him. He didn't have much else except the clothes on his back, his sonar device, his laptop, and his autoreader. He shook his head. He thought maybe something like a hazmat suit would be a wise idea just in case. He sighed and dialed the phone to make an outward call. Not like it will matter if the spooks were still listening to his calls or not.   He dialed and waited for someone to answer. After two rings, someone picked up.   "Who is it?" Asked his mother on the other end.   "Hi mom." He replied. "I am checking in. How are you and Dad holding up?"   His mother sighed. "We're very frightened. One of your father's co-workers disappeared. No one he knew well, but it was very scary. Are they still holding you all in CERN?"   "Well, not anymore for now. We..." He stopped and paused. "We have found a way to stop this."   His mother gasped. "My son, are you serious? You mean this will all stop?"   Tycho wanted to tell her badly what is going to happen, he didn't have the heart for it. "Yes... but it is risky. Very risky... I... I want you and Dad to know I am thankful for everything you have done for me. I don't think I would have achieved all this without you two."   "Tycho, what are you hiding from us?" His mom was always perceptive.   "This test will end, maybe reverse the disappearances, I don't know. But... someone has to go... to disappear to make it happen." He shed tears. "I'm the only one who can do it."   "What?!” His mother shouted. “There isn’t much time, mother. I wish I could explain but if we don’t do this now, more will die.” Tycho shook his head. He was terrible at this. “No! No! You should find someone else! My boy, my baby! You need to come home!" His mother shouted, now crying.   "Mom... where is dad?" He tried hard not to sob but was failing.   "Tycho! Don't do this! At least wait till your father is here! Let him talk to you!" His mother sobbed.   Tycho heard his friends finally enter the room. "Goodbye mom. I swear wherever I end up, I'll get back to you both. You have my promise. I love you both." He only heard her cry more. He laid his head on the desk, already regretting this decision. “Mom... I swear, I promise.” He then painfully hung up.   His two colleagues, bruised and disheveled, his friends stood still behind him. They must have overheard him because Arjeta swung him around on his swivel chair and faced him.   "Are you insane!?" Arjeta shouted.   Tycho looked at her sadly. "There was one more thing. Someone has to go." He didn't bother explaining the laptop bit. That was too much to explain.   Johan stood silently, scared and sad. He wouldn’t take his place, obviously.   Arjeta shook her head. "You, are not going in there! Even if this works, you aren't coming back!" Now she was shedding tears.   “Hey, guys?” Tycho solemnly called to the techs that gave him a lift. “Either of you bronies?” “You mean My Little Pony? My daughter likes the show,” one of them replied. No, he couldn’t do it. The guy had a family. He turned back to his preparations as the tech looked at him with a confused frown. Tycho got up from his seat and hugged Arjeta. He remembered Johan and grabbed him by the arm to join them. "Don't make this any harder for me than it already is!" He sobbed.   Johan couldn't help but joke. "...can I still have your gadgets when you go?!" He then grimaced as Arjeta stomped on his foot.   Tycho half laughed between sobs. "If you break anything, I swear I'll find you and smack you."   Johan patted his friend on the back. "I'll name my wife's next child after you."   "...she's a girl, Johan." Tycho smiled through his sadness.   "I don't give a shit. She'll be named after a hero." Johan smiled sadly.   Tycho gently pulled Arjeta off of himself. "You tell my parents, okay? Especially my dad. I didn't get a chance to talk to him."   Arjeta looked at Tycho with red and puffy eyes from her tears. "I promise. Please, please take care of yourself, and if you can, find a way back."  She sniffed and kissed Tycho on the cheek, giving him one final hug.   The tenderness from this moment galvanized him to take this plunge. He packed his stuff into his satchel and stepped out onto the scissor lift. It slowly raised as the beam chambers began to enclosee him. Each second that passed, Tycho remembered the finer moments of his life on Earth. Learning echolocation, making new friends, graduating from college, Ph.D., his job with CERN, his coworkers who had been through this whole ordeal, thick and thin.   "This is Dr. Herman, a SWAT team is on its way to the collision chamber. Please hurry!" The intercom spoke.   The two techs ran to the entrances to the testing chambers and began to lock every door. The calibration was done and the magnetic coils began to fire up. Tycho thought of the sequence in his head and prepared himself to activate skype call. The timing had to be precise. He waved his friends goodbye as he climbed into the collision chamber and the lift lowered itself, trapping Tycho inside.   In the control room, they could hear the rear door being slammed by something hard, but it was reinforced with steel, so they'd have a hell of a time breaking it. Johan and Arjeta both took the controls and began. They exchanged readings and information on the equipment as the protons began their journey. Faster and faster they were moving as indicated on the monitors.   Tycho couldn’t see the center of the chamber, but there was a light that emitted no light on the walls, or himself. They looked like two intertwining plaines constantly folding around each other. A powerful visual effect denied to Tycho’s blind eyes. A window seemed to form, with colors of green, blue, white, and pastels. Tycho timed in his head about one minute before the beams would fire. He then brought his laptop under the center of the chamber (or his best estimate of the center) and got ready to start the skype chat.   He typed.   In the testing chamber, the main door was being cut off its hinges by a torch.   "Protons arriving at center." Johan reported, feeling like he was about to execute his friend.   Arjeta nodded sadly and shut her eyes. The automated sequence was going to finish the rest. "Please, God, save him." She prayed. The SWAT finally burst through the main door with a final hit from their ram. They raced into the center and pointed guns into the control room. “Freeze!” The SWAT shouted. Arjeta and Johan put their hands up. But it was too late to stop anything.   Tycho received a reply on the chat.   Five...four...three....two...one. The beams began to emit directly into the spatial distortion. Tycho was about to hit the skype before his laptop got pulled in. He pulled at the laptop as it distorted his hands along with it, though he felt nothing different. Being blind he could only clearly feel the laptop.   "GODAMMIT!" He shouted and pulled with all his might to hit the button on the touchpad. Of all the things to go wrong. He had a short window. Finally he felt his finger on the touchpad button, not seeing his hand was distorted too. The skype call started, barely audible over the other noises of the machines on either side.   Tycho then felt an overwhelming pull into the center as time seemed to slow down. He couldn't see it, but he felt it. Two forces on either side of him pressing to the central distortion he got dragged into. He hoped he would survive this intact. He hoped this other world would accept him. He hoped there might be a chance he could return. He...   There was an uncomfortable silence and numbness around him as opposing forces enveloped him, then it felt like he got sucked into something. He felt sick, just like Alex said. It was a perfect silence.   Finally he felt gravity reorient itself as he touched the ground, landing on his side. The ground...he was back on land, on grass it seemed. He couldn't hear a thing, only muffled tones that were slowly becoming more audible. His stomach felt horribly sick. He oriented himself on the ground and propped himself up, trying not to vomit. It wasn't easy, but his breathing exercises helped him hold his lunch. The first thing he felt, aside from the ground, was something soft on the side of his face he landed on. The texture was still pretty dull, but what could he do. His arm was draped over something firm and warm. It didn’t seem broken, whatever he landed on. He tried propping himself up, but to no avail. His hand moved to use whatever he landed on as a prop, touching that soft, almost squishy spot. It then immediately lifted itself, pushing him off of him quickly. Tycho’s reeled at the sudden motion that made his head hurt. He heard vague sounds of something... no someone... female. He could only make out the words ‘first date’ and ‘grabby.’ His other hand located his laptop and felt the pin-pad as it notified him it didn't have access to any wifi. He smiled. Well, he was someplace, he realized. But where? The muffled tones finally became clearer. “Mr. Tycho Hernandez?” The voice was definitely feminine, like velvet, and one that was used to being in charge. . He couldn’t hear her footsteps, but he did hear wings and a different scratchier voice from above and to his right, “Hey bigger guy, are you alright?”   Tycho nodded. "W-who's there?" He barely managed as his managed to orient his hearing to his environment. The mass near him was shaped in such a way that suggested it was a creature on all fours... a pony... holy shit! Was he actually making contact with an alien? A second mass approached...similar shape. Also a pony? “Captain Alabaster Nightshade.” The mare gently put a hoof on his hand. “Now, when you are not busy landing on me and groping my flank,” She giggled, “Just lay down and relax. Rainbow, go tell the others he’s here, safe and sound.” The second voice spoke again, “You got it, Al.” There was a sudden burst of wind and the sound of something moving away very fast. His first meeting with an alien and he accidentally copped a feel on a captain. He grimaced.This day was starting off just peachy.