THE MOMENT
Heaven was his first confused thought. Beau was shoved through a pitch-black portal and had no idea what to expect on the other side. After emerging from the blackness, he found himself alone in a sealed white room. He didn't initially realize the lack of exit, but the white walls glowed with a gentle, welcoming light.
“Hello?” he spun slowly several times, hoping something would change. He blinked, and suddenly he wasn’t alone anymore. A lithe, pale teenage girl wearing a white blazer and red tie stood before him with a pleasant smile and glowing red eyes. She had long, snow-white hair, and all in all, Beau wasn’t ready for her sudden appearance. “AAUUGH!” he shouted quickly, stumbling backward.
“Hello, Mr. Webster, my name is Rhapsody, and I represent Sharp Development,” she spoke with a polite, calm voice. As far as the unexpected went, that was enough to get Beau’s mind back on track. They weren’t supposed to know his real name, so how did they? He also had no idea who Sharp Development was, so it was easy to play dumb.
“I don’t know where you got your information, but I’m John Simmons,” he was supposed to be on a mission.”But, I guess I wouldn’t expect you folks here on the Other Side to know that. Seems like the Judge lied when he said they’d be sending my file along with me.” That was the standard procedure anyway. His agency transmitted his false identity at the same time they sent him through the portal.
“Mr. Beau Webster, I think you’ll find Sharp Development is very thorough about its information; for example, the provided ID file was obviously manufactured. We did a more thorough review of your history, and since you’re here to collect information, I’ve decided to meet with you personally instead of letting a Junior Intern process you.”
“Uhuh,” Beau wasn’t going to let his job get away from him that easily. She looked exactly like a Junior Intern. “What are you,.. 15? 16?”
“What I am, is the COO of Sharp Development, and since you’re here to spy on us, I thought I’d give you a personal tour,” she smirked. “Naturally, you had no idea about any of this, so of course I’ll be glad to explain how it all came to be.” Rhapsody snapped her fingers, and the white room around them dissolved. Suddenly, they were outside in the daylight and breeze and noise.
It was a bustling, futuristic town square with gleaming white skyscrapers creating a metropolis around them. The square itself was a lush park with a walking track, a community stage, picnic tables, grills, and seemingly hundreds of people out and about enjoying it all.
“As far as you know, a century ago, humanity split in two, right?” She asked. “Every criminal, be it murderers, thieves, terrorists, or scientists, doctors, and others who broke the law, were exiled forever here to this “Other Side” as it’s known to you."
“Yeah,...” he didn’t have any argument and simply nodded.
“Well, of course that’s what they tell the people they want to keep stuck there,” Rhapsody smiled. “At this point, it’s easy to say ‘ a century ago, humanity split in two’; but history is too slow to ever happen that cleanly. It leaves out a lot of what actually happened. Did you never wonder where this ‘Other Side’ came from?” she asked. “It’s an alternate universe. Scientists discovered how to Traverse the multiverse on your Earth about 100 years ago,” she nodded.
“Sharp Development offered your leaders a chance to join our trade network and open the multiverse to everyone; unfortunately, your narrow-minded leaders at the time wanted no part of it. There was a vocal faction that thought you should join us, and I’m sure you know how things tend to go,” she shrugged. “Leaders get to decide what the laws are and who’s breaking them. They got to leave, and it was spun into a story about humanity splitting in two to exile criminals over the years.”
Beau wasn’t going to take everything at face value, but he was open to new information.
“That’s an interesting tale, but I’m going to need more hard evidence than a nice day at the park,” he said.
“Oh, do you want to meet some of them?” Rhapsody asked.”When I learned about your actual purpose, I requested a meeting with any of those original scientists from your Earth. Maybe you’ll believe them more?” she asked.
“The scientists… from a century ago…??” Beau asked.
“Yeah,” Rhapsody nodded with a smirk. “Multiverse medical tech has gotten pretty advanced.”