THE MOMENT
"Stupid Rad Industries!" Clay smacked his wrist through the black and red holographic display. "Don't panic! I can explain everything!" He put his hands up to show that he meant no harm once he realized he was stuck there for an extended moment. The display around his wrist flickered a message, 'Error 23', before it vanished. The woman sitting at the table nodded and gestured to the seat in front of her.
"You look like someone I can trust," she smiled at him. Aside from a few minor physical differences, Clay recognized the woman as another version of himself. She had bright red hair that matched his from his younger years, and blue-framed glasses that resembled the grey pair he wore now. And, it helped that he knew what the device was and the fact that he knew how to travel to alternate universes. "Are you me?" she asked with interest. "My name's Claudia Fore," she added.
"Clay Forrest," he nodded at her as he sat down at her table.
"Do you know how you got here?" she asked.
"I have an idea," Clay nodded and held his wrist up. He made a quick rotation and the display lit up again before it fizzled out with the same error message. "Rad Industries came to my earth and basically gave these away. Now I understand why," he chuckled.
"Well, it's certainly a strange coincidence that you ended up here of all places in infinity." It was then that Clay's mind caught up to the situation. He'd been so annoyed at the gadget and concerned about not making trouble that it took time to realize how calm she was.
"You're familiar with the multiverse, then?" he asked her. Claudia smiled and held up a finger to quiet him.
"Io," She spoke up and openly as if calling someone's attention. "Would you please send in some assistants?" she asked.
"Right away, Claudia," a soft gentle voice filled the room with its reply. After a moment three people in white lab coats walked into the kitchen. The trio consisted of two men and a woman, each one was a version of the others with various shades and styles of red hair with an assortment of spectacles.
"Is this number one million!?" one of the newcomers asked. All five versions were smiling broadly. Clay felt like he belonged almost instantly; he'd found his people.
"Still a few more to go; but, he's just as special as the rest of you," Claudia giggled. "It looks like Clay landed here accidentally; but, since he's here why don't you go introduce him to the rest of us and get him caught up. And, remember, no Science until Saturday," she added. The gathering of doppelgangers smiled and agreed with each other as they turned to head out of the kitchen.
"Oh, wait a second," Claudia said. She gestured at Clay's wrist, then held her hand out. "Why don't you leave that with me? We don't want you disappearing again," she smirked.
"Oh," he hesitated for a moment on principle. A stranger was asking to hold on to a very valuable piece of equipment; but, she wasn't a complete stranger. If Clay couldn't trust himself, who could he trust? He quickly conquered his doubt and took it off his wrist to hand over to her.
"I'll have Io take a look at it and see if she can't figure out what went wrong," Claudia said. She accepted the thin glass strap from him, then immediately dropped it. It fell into a black portal instead of hitting the ground. To someone else, it might have appeared like she tossed it in the garbage; but, Clay knew a thing or two about portals.
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that!" he nodded and waved as he followed the others out.
[That was the millionth one. - Io] Claudia felt the discrete Whisper on her upper shoulder, under her lab coat.
"I know," Claudia giggled as she made herself comfortable and focused on her meal again. "But, keep going," she said. "Stopping at exactly one million might be inconvenient if any of them die or disappear on me before Friday. A few more wouldn't hurt, and it keeps them guessing. I've wanted this for too long and I'm not going to let any minor mistakes get in the way."
[Understood. - Io]