The Unburning of Alexandria: Epilogue
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Epilogue: Detour
The door opens into a world of flames. Were they—had they gone back? No. Here is different. It was raining here, but no storm could keep the fire at bay.
This was a house once, by the looks of it, it held a family, now it is a skeleton of cinders and toppled bricks populated only by the deathly wail of a child.
Where? Where is that coming from? Still, in their formalwear, the two scurry through a downpour equal parts water and ash. Colin finds the door first. Tries to kick it in to no avail. He pulls a Tool from his pocket. What was happening? The reading are gibberish, his psionic scan a mess.
Alex joins him and sees the door. She takes Colin’s hand, and he takes hers. They ram into the door with all their strength.
The crib. A child is in the crib. It is coughing and crying, and it is in pain. The two interlopers scramble to get the child to safety.
Now they stand two blocks away as a stranger’s home continues to burn, and a stranger’s child rest swaddled in Colin's arms.
“Well, I’ll say it.” Colin breaks the silence “This is not where we were meant to be headed” the child whines in agreement.
“Where are its parents?” Alex half-whispers “Did you see any—” Her question is cut short by Colin’s negatory nod “Forget the parents, where are WE?”
“Coordinates unknown.” Colin says as he looks to the sky. A few stars can be see through the clouds. “Earth. I think. Or some other planet that formed in the same orbit. The architecture looks…”
Alex looks around at the buildings that were not on fire, at streets not only empty of firefighters, but of anything. “ Later half of the 20th former half of the 21st by our world’s standards.”
They trek through the rain. Familiar as some aspects are, this is an alien world, and their guide book is busy doing its best impression of a drunk e.e cummings to tell them where they were. A hospital, they need a hospital or a shelter or some place this child would be safe.
The infant whimpers, but does not cry, as Colin cradled it close. “It’s going to be ok” Colin whispers.
The sky made up for how little water fell from the child’s face. The had entered downtown. Colored light of lively buildings fill their view, yet the streets are largely empty.
That one! It has a green Circle emblazoned on it from every angle, inside the circle a strange symbol, it seems half translated, as though Alex and Colin’s minds had received the meaning without the word.
It means Medicine. Safety. It meant Help is Here. Is it their joy of finding such a place or were the signs that bright? For a moment they think it too convenient. But this does appear to be the center of the city, a hospital ought to be around here, oughtn’t it?
The building was definitely a hospital, the smell unmistakable, they entered, and the petrichor of the streets gave way to the chemical sterility of a medical facility. Colin cradled the child closely as they approached the desk.
A young woman looks up at them. “Can I help you?”
“Unclear.” Alex answers.
Colin gestures to the child. “We found this baby.”
“Found?” the woman raises an eyebrow.
“Uh, yes. In a housefire about a mile that way.” Alex gestures back the way they came. “No parents, they either left the child behind or… y’know.”
“I understand. We can keep an eye on them, in the morning we’ll look into the fire and try to identify the parents.”
The traveler's breath a sigh of relief. Colin hands over the child. The woman gazed into the infant’s eyes then looked back up “Sorry I didn’t catch you…” The waiting room was empty. ‘…names”
Odd, even if they had rushed out the second she looked down, they should be visible out the glass door.
~~~
The Planet Kiwin in the Eld System of Universe 108.phi/Dragonfruit. 3434 was almost entirely ocean. The only land was a five-kilometer wide ring of soft golden beach wrapped around the entirety of the planet. Pristine. Untouched. Uninhabited.
And yet, approximately halfway between the poles, there was a worn wooden door frame resting on the sand.
The door opened, spat out two humans and disappeared as abruptly as it arrived.
Colin brushed himself off, Alex breathed a sigh of relief. “Kiwin. Lovely choice”
“Aye. I like chaos as much as the next interdimensional traveler, but I think we deserve a break.”
“Good plan, yeah.”
“We did okay. I think.”
“With the library or with the baby?”
“Both I hope. Any signs of what that last world was?”
Colin glanced through the quantum guidebook. “None. Some sort of paracausal eddy warping our doorway. Care to check?”
Alex took the guidebook “Weird.”
“Incredibly so, never heard of such a thing.” Colin nodded.
“No one left to consult.” Alex unconsciously brushed the scar under her eye.
“No.”
There was a sad pause. They really were alone. Together.
“Have you got the sleeping bags?” Colin asked
“Yeah. Good plan. The second sun is setting.”
One tent, two cots, and a small sand castle later, it was time to welcome sleep. Colin was quick to dream. Alex was left to wonder, staring at the stars.
Infinite worlds, even all the lights in the sky but a leaf on an impossibly tall tree in an impossibly vast forest. Never get used to it. She’d met someone who’d gotten used to it once. What an utterly dreadful person they were. She needn’t worry of course. After all, She and Colin were an infinite feedback loop of reckless childlike wonder. Slowly, long after the sand castle had washed away, she too faded into sleep. Alone on an alien world with her best friend. End
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