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Part One, The Flyer V.2
Ben was a mechanical engineer. He was tall, he had brown eyes, black hair, and he usually wore a plain black shirt with blue jeans. Ben was in his 30’s; he loved creating and tinkering with mechanical inventions. His job was to create and fix mechanical inventions and parts with his partner Charlie. He and Charlie shared an office where they would work together. Their recent invention was the flyer, which was similar to a hot air balloon. The Flyer was a flying mechanical invention they had worked on yesterday.
Today, Ben was going to wake up to notice that the Flyer was missing. Ben was sleeping on a dark brown, wrinkled couch in his office. Ben slowly opened his eyes from a strange dream. He was still thinking about this dream. It was about his partner Charlie and the Flyer going through a strange, mechanical world. Ben stood up and he dressed; he noticed that the Flyer was missing. He looked through the office. There were two main rooms in Ben and Charlie’s office. First, the main desk room where Ben slept on the couch. Second, the garage room which leads to the outside, for the convenience of stored wheeled vehicles, and stored mechanical and technical parts. After looking for the Flyer and not finding it, Ben thought that it was most likely taken by Charlie.
Ben sat down at the table in the office, he was thinking about ideas on inventions that he could make. He mostly thought about making a newer, better version of the Flyer. Ben was thinking for a while; he was thinking how the Flyer V.2 (Flyer Version 2) would work, and how it would be better than the Flyer. Ben had decided that it would have a casing where the person would sit and there would be a hang-glider on top to make the invention glide in the air while the motor engine on the back would spin a propeller and the person would control the invention with the glider handle in the seat of the casing.
Ben looked around for parts in the Garage. He searched his drawers and plastic boxes for metal plates, bolts, and pieces. After he had found the necessary parts, Ben had started to build his invention.
Ben built for hours, building and adding all the important parts and pieces. When he finished, he was tired, and he fell asleep.
The next morning, Ben awoke and headed out to the nearby park to test his invention. He was hoping that it would work well and that it would fly in the air without error. Ben took the invention out and started to fill the fuel tank with fuel; he started the engine. He tested the propeller spin and had checked that the engine was working properly and that the hang glider was in good condition.
After testing, Ben had finally prepared to take flight; he was excited after working and testing. He started the engine and headed off. Ben was flying in the air; he felt fireworks coming out of his head because he was exhilarated that the Flyer was working. Ben checked all the functionalities of the invention to check that everything was working well while also looking around himself to see building underneath him.
Ben had to land; he flew long enough to keep himself satisfied and to make sure that everything was working. Ben checked that there was enough distance to land and started pulling the hang glider down. The area was filled with bitter darkness. The sun had set, and it was cloudy and windy. As Ben started to land, the wind started to blow vigorously . The wind was punching hard; it blew the hang-glider out of Ben’s control. Ben started to spin up and down violently in mid-air. He heard a repeating sound. The sound that was coming out was the sound of air blowing for a short time and stopping repeatedly. The sound continued on for a while until Ben heard a loud crash.
Part Two, The Polluted Planet
Ben opened his eyes to a bright light. He stared at the sky; there was a big object that projected light. Ben stared at the sky until he realized that he was doing nothing. Ben’s head agonized in pain. He checked to see the surroundings. The dark gray place he was in was strange and unordinary. Ben lay down on the ground and fell asleep; he had a bad headache and he could not realize what was happening.
Ben awoke. Still had a bad headache, but he could understand what was happening. Ben looked around. The sky was filled with charcoal clouds and the land was filled with a sea full of endless trash and scraps. The place looked as though it was an endless scrapyard. Ben thought to himself about the area and how he appeared here. He did not know where he was and how far away home was. Ben was confused and knew that he needed to do something to get out of there.
Ben saw the Flyer V.2 lying with the other scrap; it was in bad condition. The glider was torn, the propeller snapped, the engine broke and the body bent. If Ben was to find help, he would need human advice.
Ben heard a similar noise to an engine that played loudly. He noticed that there was a big, metallic flying aircraft in the sky. Ben watched as it was flying. The airship abruptly stopped; it opened its bulky bottom doors and released scraps of metal to fall onto the mountain of scrap. Ben stared at the airship and the direction it was flying. Starting to walk, he passed through the fields of scrap. In the distance, he saw dirty dark buildings covered in fog. Ben entered the unkempt town as he walked through the dusty black fog. He walked with a provision and awareness of his surroundings. He knew that he was not anywhere close to where his office was. He even doubted that there was a place on earth like this.
A sign on a brown building caught his attention; ‘Coal Cavern’. Ben entered the building through a rusty metal door. He saw people with dirty clothes and faces sitting down. Ben also saw metal machines that looked like humans filling themselves with fuel. He sat down into an old, fragile seat near the bar table. The bartender who was wearing an old, crummy sienna coat came up close to Ben. “Not from around here, are you?” The bartender quietly asked looking at Ben with a watchful eye. “No,” Ben replied. The bartender came closely face-to-face with Ben. “Leave the way you came.” “I don’t unders…” “Follow that man with a red hat. He’ll give you answers.” The bartender left to the brown back door of the room. Near Ben passed the covert person that the bartender told him about. The person exited out of the coal cavern and continued walking. Ben followed him out of the Coal Cavern. The person turned to a corner and Ben followed. When Ben turned around to the pathway, it was a dead-end. There was a building in the way. Ben was befuddled . Ben walked forward farther down the mysterious dark pathway to try and see how the person could have left. The pathway was filled with dark smog and dark dirty mud underneath. At the end, Ben saw nothing new or interesting. He looked back to where he came from. While he did not notice, behind Ben, an entrance opened through the dead-end wall. The person that Ben followed quietly opened a door so that he wouldn’t hear. The person grabbed Ben from behind and concealed Ben’s mouth with his hands covered by black, leather gloves. The man lugged him out through the secret entrance and into the building.
Part Three, The Assignment
Ben was talking to Jason, the person who had brought him into the building. Standing in the cold, brick room filled with disparate objects such as books and globes, Ben was discussing how he would help start a revolution. Before, Jason had explained to him what had been going on with this place and how this world languished .’ Ben remembered about how he ended up here. It was a sudden memory.
Jason dragged Ben into the building. He closed the metal entrance door and let go of Ben. “I had to make sure that you make no sound. They’re always listening,” Jason said locking the entrance door. Ben looked suspiciously at Jason. “What’s your name?” Asked Ben. “My name is Jason Windsor,” Jason told Ben while still working on the door. Jason looked on Ben. He took a seat on the dark green decrepit sofa. Ben sat on the wooden chair opposite the couch. “My brother, who was the bartender, told me that you are a newcomer,” said Jason. “Normally they come out of nowhere and stay here. Like you, other people or things teleported to this world, but not for a good purpose. These invaders came here and made us work to supply them with resources for their needs. They built mines and made people work at them. This world and many others are now controlled by the boss. We call him that because we don’t know who is controlling all this. I can’t tell you too much, my brother knows more than me; I’ll ask him to tell you about it.” Jason was looking at his feet, he looked back up at Ben. “Each factory has a teleporting device.” “To another world?” Asked Ben hoping that he might come back to his world after he had been suddenly introduced to all of these truths. Ben did not think of this as too surprising since he already thought that a possibility like this would likely happen in the universe; this would simply be a rule that he would now think of as true. What did come to Ben’s engineering mind were the possibilities of what you could do with this. “Yes,” replied Jason. “Can you take me back?” Asked Ben. “My brother can, he’s a scientist, but you have to help us first. We plan on shutting the nearby factory down and we can help send you back before we shut it down.”
Ben awoke. He got up to head out if the old building as he planned with Jason. He walked out to be greeted with a morning surprise of dust and dirt and headed towards the Coal Mine. In front of him faced a murky mine inside of the dry, gray hill filled with unfortunate people under lamentable conditions. Ben approached the old, feeble brick building near the mine to see Jason as planned. “The all of the coal is in there, if you set the coal on the fire, the miners will come out. When you’re done, meet my brother at the Coal Cavern; he will help you. Here,” Jason said and passed a matchbox to Ben. Jason climbed up the caged safety stairs on the side of the building and left Ben’s sight. Ben entered the building through its wooden front main doors. Inside he saw workers load coal with shovels from a big coal hill into levitating trucks.
Approaching the truck, Ben saw a person carrying a plastic gray gasoline container to it. Ben sneaked behind the truck as the person was coming closer. The person put the container down to the ground and Ben grabbed it as he ran towards the mountain of granulated coal. He poured the gasoline on the top of the coal hill and lit it with a matchstick. The fire spread quickly through the small crushed coal bits and spread smoke throughout the building. Ben shot towards the exit, running past the people who had to leave in another direction because of the calamitous fire. As he left the building, he rushed towards the Coal Cavern.
Part Four, The Factory
Ben opened the rusty doors of the Coal Cavern and came in. He saw the bartender stationed in the same place as he was before. “How can I get back?” Ben asked with a low, quiet voice. The bartender looked around the bar with apprehension to check if anybody was looking. “Follow me and keep quiet, do not draw attention.” Ben followed the bartender to the back of the room which smelled mostly of oil and old alcohol. The bartender opened the door which opened to cold air and stairs that led down to a room. It was a dusty and gloomy room filled with books and other sundry items. As Ben was looking around the room, the bartender opened a desk tray and put his hand in it. He pushed his fingers into the desk and pulled out a secret tray with an electric pin lock inside of it. The bartender drew a book from the bookshelf which revealed a metal square on the back of the bookshelf and placed the pin lock there. He entered a pin into the electronic pin lock. The bookshelf slid open revealing a secret room behind it. He pulled the electronic pin lock off and put it back into the desk. The bartender turned the light on and they both stepped into the room. The room was filled with engineering tools, parts, books, and a large desk. At the back of the room was another door. “You will stay here until I come back,” The bartender said. Ben nodded a yes and the bartender left closing the shelf behind him. After a long time of reading and waiting, the bookshelf slid to the side and Ben saw the bartender coming in. Ben stood up and they started to talk. “My name is Carter Windsor,” the bartender started to speak, “You were with my brother Jason yesterday, he told me about. He is gathering miners to shut down the factory nearby. I will get you there so you can disable production there with me. The boss is producing materials in each factory to teleport into his world. They are making the energy to teleport from the coal and the productions from the resources that we mine. I can help you get back, but first, you must help me do what I need.” Ben nodded. “Our plan is to get to the factory and shut down the productions. After we complete doing our tasks, I will try to teleport you.” Ben agreed and Carter turned to the back door. “Come follow me,” Carter said.
Ben followed as Carter opened the door. Behind it was a dusty dug up tunnel with hanging lights. Carter turned the lights on, and he and Ben headed forward. “Where are we walking to?” asked Ben. “The aircraft,” Carter replied. Ben and Carter stopped at the end where the metallic aircraft and a ladder leading up to the roof lay. Ben observed the rust-coated hoverbike. Carter climbed up the ladder and opened the roof. “Get into the seat,”’ Carter told Ben. Ben climbed into the passenger seat and Carter climbed into the pilot seat. The seat was made up of tattered leather. They flew off into the air from the ground and the roof gates closed themselves. Ben looked around; they were near the entrance of the town. They flew past the town into the scrapyard towards a large, distant building. It was the factory that Carter had told Ben about. It was made of old bricks and had tall pipes with smoke coming out of them; near it, there was a small building next to the factory with one large pipe coming out and electrical lines connecting to it. “When we arrive, stay hidden and don’t be noticed,” Carter commanded. Carter lowered the aircraft close to the ground to stay unnoticed. They flew slowly but silently close to the hills of scrap.
Ben and Carter were coming close to the factory. Carter landed the aircraft near flat metal scrap and they got out. They walked forward to the tall, decrepit factory leaving the aircraft behind. As every minute of walking passed, the factory seemed to get larger. They kept on walking until Carter stopped. He stood still waiting for a sound in response. “Hide behind that metal piece!” Carter beckoned and shouted in a whisper to signify his importance. Carter and Ben ran in silence to the metal obstacle nearby and ducked to hide. A loud repeating noise irritating to Ben passed by them in a sudden. “What was that noise?” Ben queried . “A supply carrier,” Carter said. They continued on walking towards the big factory trying harder to stay silent as they stepped on each piece of metal closer to the factory. Nerve started to rise through both of them as they approached.
They had reached close to the entrance of the factory. It was a hollow passageway guarded by metallic robots and tall people with skin of a green tint. They stood stagnant holding tall spears and observantly watching. “How are we going to get in?” asked Ben. “There must be another way in than this one; look around,” Carter replied. Carter and Ben stood up and started quietly skulking to the other end of the factory to observe.
Ben had an idea. There was a building near the factory which they saw while in the aircraft. He thought that since it wasn’t in or on top of the factory, there must be a passageway underground.
Ben explained to Carter his idea of how they might get in, Carter agreed. They started to walk to the big pipe station instead. There was a metal door on the station that was locked. Carter took out a metal, pen-shaped tool from his pocket. “Always comes in handy,” Carter mumbled to himself. The tool that Carter was holding heated up. Carter started to melt the door lock. The guards did not hear them but started to come to their way guessed by Ben as by regularly checking the area. “Faster! Push harder,” Ben told Carter. The lock was spliced. They rushed to get in. Carter closed the door behind them. They looked around as the lights were already turned on. The room was made up of the big brick pipe that came out of the building and many metal pipes attached to the walls and the ceiling of the room. Ben and Carter followed the trail of pipes going down the stairs until they had reached a door at the end. Ben opened the door and in front of them was a wide big room with pipes and valves on them. There were many pipes leading down different hallways. They chose the path with the biggest tube. They came to stairs and walked up them. Up the stairs were the inside of the factory; it was a vast hall with machines producing different tools and metallic shapes.
On the other side of the hall stood the guarded entrance. Near the production lines was a big round device that Ben guessed to be the teleporter. It had a framed round circle that had thick electrical wires connecting to it and an empty inside. “First, we need to stop the production lines. The things that are being produced on them go straight into the teleporters. The mass producing out of the resources coming from the mines. Coal is needed to produce electricity for the teleporters to work. There must be a generator room somewhere near here; I need you to go find it and shut the power off. Be careful not to get caught. Oh, and also, when you shut the power off, the guards will know. Meet me at the station where we came in once you have shut it off; I’ll tell you why later.”
Ben acknowledged and headed off to find the power room. He stepped down the stairs and looked around in the pipe room. There were three other pathways that he did not go to. Ben saw that wires were coming to one specific path on the brick ceiling. He walked to the pathway that they directed to. When he was in the room, Ben saw that to the right of him was a wall full of electrical wires and switches and in front was a wide, black generator. Ben read all the switches on the wall and found the ones that were controlling the teleporter. He pulled all of the switches down except for the ones controlling power for the teleporter and rushed off to the big pipe station where they came in.
Ben waited for Carter to come. He heard noises down the hallway and sat quietly. Carter came to him in a run. “We need to hurry!” Carter spoke. Ben followed Carter outside. They were quickly walking out of the factory through the scrap back to where the aircraft was not concerned about sound. In front of them was the aircraft; Ben and Carter hopped into the aircraft and flew off. “I need to know the position of where you first landed on this world. I have a device can tell me the leftover energy that came from the wormhole; I found it in the factory near the teleporter. I’ve seen one of these before; they are rare; we’re lucky we came across it. We needed to shut down the power so that Jason and other miners could come in to overtake the factory,” Carter told Ben.
Ben told Carter where he had landed how to locate the place. Carter flew the aircraft off to where the remains of the Flyer V.2 where. Ben directed Carter with his mouth and fingers. When Carter came close to the aircraft Ben stopped him. Carter flew the craft up and dragged his device out. On top of the device, there were sparks coming out. Soon the device had created a small electrical circle. Carter turned the device off. “The device worked; we can get you back. Let’s get back to the factory.” They flew off to the factory. When they were arriving, Ben and Carter saw a big crowd of people surrounding the factory with Jason as their leader. “We came in time,” Carter said.
Carter landed the aircraft near the factory. Ben and Carter rushed to get into the factory. The guard was down. They entered the factory through the main hollow passageway and went to the teleporter. “Switch the power…” Carter began. “I left the power for the switches on,” Ben interrupted. “I will set up the machine,” Carter replied. Carter looked at the control panel to the side of the big circle and started moving switches and pressing buttons. He flipped the largest switch on the panel. “It’s on,” Carter said. The teleporter created electric sparks going to the middle of the empty framed circle that led to a cylindrical tunnel. The circle expanded and soon reached the size of the outside border. “Thanks for your help,” said Carter as a final goodbye.
It was ready. Ben looked at Carter, smiled and went in. He was happy to help, and he was contented to going back home. Dizziness hit Ben as he was flying through the wormhole. Ben closed his eyes and passed out spinning through the tunnel.
Ben slowly opened his eyes. He faced a tall black building in front of him. Ben suddenly jumped at the strange building and looked around him. He was not home. Humongous tall buildings with many lights surrounded Ben all different colors. Ben sat down on the floor with his hands on his forehead.