Elle
I wake up gasping for air. I scan the area, and the wall where the portal was slowly fading. Laye gasps, and goes into a fit of coughing. A few feet from her, Jemma stands, and then throws up in a potted bush.
"That was likely the worst experience I have ever been through." Laye says, and then quickly silences herself.
"That's kind of an ironic thing to say." Jemma says, wiping her chin with the back of her palm.
"Yeah, I get that. God, I have the worst headache." She says.
"Same."
We sit quiet for a moment, no one wanting to bring up the new information. I scratch the back of my head.
"So, do we all know the same stuff? Or are we going to have to have some kind of messed up show-and-share?" I ask.
"I dunno, Elle. Unfortunately telepathy isn't a side effect to dimension teleporting. And before you say it Jemma; yes, there's probably a more scientific name for that." Laye says, resting her head in her hands.
"So, we all know that as kids we were traumatized enough for our own conscious to send us to a parallel dimension so we can live a somewhat better life?" I say. They nod in unison.
"So I'm guessing we all know that traveling to different dimensions is illegal?" I ask.
"Um, yeah. About that. How would the governments of each dimension catch you? I mean, you could be anywhere." Laye says.
"I'm guessing there's a higher government. That watches over the dimensions, if that makes sense. The lower governments of each individual dimension probably don't even know of other worlds." Jemma says. "Maybe there's a king of the dimensions or something."
"Ow, my head, it hurts." Laye says, dramatically draping her arm over her forehead.
"Well that leaves the last part.." I say.
"Yeah. The thing.." Jemma says.
"Oh, you two. For crying out loud. We all know that Jaylemm is a pocket dimension, not a video game." She says. "But it's fine, because we can still log off," she says, sliding her finger in the air. All color, which wasn't much to begin with; leaves her face.
"What?" I ask.
"Goddammit. Of course it glitches right now. Jemma, summon the menu bar, please." Laye says.
"Uh, sure." Jemma says, sliding her finger in the air. Nothing happens.
Laye curses, trying over and over to get the menu bar to open. I quietly slide my finger down. Where the help option and log off switch are supposed to be, there was a different button.
Scanner
I push it, and the menu bar disappears. Instead, a thin tablet falls into my hands, small enough to fit in my pocket.
"Um, guys, what the hell is this?" I say as they crowd around.
"It looks like a phone." Jemma says.
Laye takes it from my grasp. "There isn't any buttons on it."
Jemma takes it from her, and rubs her thumb over the screen. "Maybe it's fingerprint activated." Suddenly as she slides her finger across the side, the screen lights up.
"What did you do?" I ask.
"I just slid my finger along the side." She says. I take it back, and on the screen read:
Directions:
Face black side of the screen towards the unknown object, and double tap the white side to scan it. If information doesn't show up, or the scanner stops working, please contact $&@?": to get it fixed.
"The guy's name is replaced with nonsense." I say.
"Well no duh. How come you get a gadget?" Laye asks.
"I don't know, but sit still." I say, facing the black side towards her. I double tap the white side, and there's a flash of green on her skin.
"Did you just scan me? There's a thing called consent!" Laye says, trying to see the screen.
Name: Unknown
Gender: Unknown
DOB: Unknown
Race: Unknown
Spouse: Unknown
"Huh. It doesn't know anything about you. Not even your name." I say.
"Probably because she's from a different world." Jemma says. I face the scanner towards her, and a flash of green later, the screen pops up with new information.
Name: Charlotte Harrfor
Gender: Female
DOB: Unknown
Race: 35% Latino, 48% African American, 17% Unknown
Spouse: Unknown
•Charlotte Harrfor is a known criminal, known mainly for the crime of changing dimensions. No one knows where she has been hiding, just that she should be shot on sight. If any information is found on Charlotte, it should be immediately reported to the higher authorities.
I raise my eyebrow. "Who's Charlotte Harrfor?" I ask, and Jemma perks up from her spot in the alleyway. "What do you know about her?" I ask.
"I don't know where the name Charlotte is from, but my last name is Harrfor." She says.
"Do you have any relatives?" I ask.
"No, it's just me- Wait!" She yells, scaring Laye.
"What is it?" I ask.
"In my birth dimension, I had a sister. I was at her funeral in my dream. Charlie said 'let's just say she died for the sake of this information settling in'. That means she didn't die. But where did she go if she didn't die, but everyone thought she did? She must've been a teleporter, too. She must've come to Jaylemm, for whatever reason. That would explain why I didn't see a body in her casket." She says. "It must've tracked some of her identical DNA in me."
Laye had an unreadable expression, and gives a sigh. "Is there anything we can get information on from that thing? Scan the trash can." She says.
I face it toward the trash can, and it scans right away.
Inanimate Object: Trash Can
Uses: Throwing away trash, holding objects, hiding a body.
Owner: Gerald Fisman
"Hiding a body?" Jemma asks.
"I'm hoping it's a joke." I say.
I take the scanner to the end of the alley where it opens up, and secretly scan a woman walking down the street.
Name: Kayleen Huntford
Gender: Female
DOB: August 17
Race: 100% Jaylen
Spouse: Richard Huntford
"What's Jaylen?" Jemma asks.
"I guess it's what they call the actual citizens of Jaylemm." I answer.
"Huh. Where I come from, she would've been some percent African American." Jemma says, looking at the information and the little picture of the lady. She had skin a few shades darker than Jemma's.
"So does that mean you are, too?" I ask.
I scan a few more things, and then I turn back into the alley to where Laye sat on the ground.
"I think we're forgetting the reason we came here." She says.
"But wait, if we were to go to the House- if we were to just go up and ask for powers, they'd say we're crazy." Jemma says.
"But Charlie knows that. He wouldn't have let us go if he knew we aren't even from here. Let alone the fact that it's illegal to transport from dimension to dimension. There has to be a reason he wants us to go there." I say.
"I say we go, just to see what happens." Laye says, smiling.
"Are you nuts? We could get arrested. Heck, Jemma's sister is to be shot on sight because the government knows about her ability." I say.
"I kinda want to go, too." Jemma says.
"Yeah! You're outnumbered, Elle." Laye says, standing up and high-fiving Jemma.
"We'll have to get directions. The locals around here should know their way around." Jemma says.
And a few minutes later, I'm trailing behind a man showing us directions to the House.