Chapter 5 - Superposition
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Jerro paced back and forth through the command module of the power station. This module was lined with holographic screens showing live feeds of various sections of The Deepworks. “I just don’t understand,” he stated and added, “What are they, how did they get in here, and what were they even doing?!”
Keeper Aleese reassured Jerro, “I don’t know either, but the mole-rat investigation team is en route as we speak. Damage reports from the flooded areas of The Burrow are coming in. Thirty-two casualties and seven dead, digs three through five are flooded, and The Spine took the brunt of the flooding with major damage to the quadramaxial electron storage and ethereal interface units.”
Jerro was frustrated and ashamed that this could have happened during his shift but did his best to remain professional and keep his composure, though his face could not hide it.
A screen gently flashed a blue border and let off a calm indicating sound. “Greg and Mari, what are they doing here?” Jerro let out in surprise.
“You know these two?” The Keeper responded. “Yes, Keeper, they’re my friends,” he respectfully told her. “Alright, here's the deal, your shift was up over three tics ago. You should head out and see what they’re doing here. They won't be able to get in; the entire facility is locked down.”
Jerro gave a swift salute and shuffled out of the room quickly. He swung by the gear lockers and grabbed his bag. A few beavers at the table in the middle of the room talked quietly amongst themselves, casting glances at Jerro. Jerro caught it, but didn’t say anything. He was just ready for this day to be over.
He moved quickly out of the room, repeated the rhythmic tapping on the disc, and threw it out in front of him. It expanded and hovered a tail or so above the ground. He jumped on and whisked off down the winding halls towards The Vestibule. This was typically a public area where people would enter The Deepworks for tours and sightseeing. However, as he approached, it was silent. Not unusual for this time in the lune, but there were typically greeters or janitorial staff milling about and attending their stations.
Two nutria guards stood at the doorway. Greg, Mari, and Phlip's silhouettes could be made out on the other side of the semi-transparent doors.
Jerro hopped off his disc while seamlessly deactivating and storing it back in his pack. The guard on the right, with a dark brown coat of fur, reminded him, “Don’t forget to scan out; things are especially tight right now with the breach.”
“You got it!” he responded while placing his paw on the pad adjacent to the guard. Like the pad at the secret entrance to The Burrow, it started with a soft red glow from beneath his paw that was just bright enough to allow the light to subtly glow through. It flipped to green and let off a swift positive tone. “Have a good shift!” he said, removing his paw and trying to hide his feelings of self-reproach. The guards rendered a sharp salute, and Jerro returned it.
Jerro was one of the youngest members of the prestigious organization known as The Builders. The Builders' crest, a black circle with a white triangle overlaid, marked the entrance above the guards. They traced their history back as far as The Folding, a time before any recorded history, before even The Burrow existed, before anyone could remember. The Builders were said to be the first inhabitants of The Burrow and were made up of all different rodents from beavers to marmots and everything in between.
Jerro opened the door to the stepped entrance where his friends awaited him. “Jerro!” Mari shouted excitedly and sprang up to give him a hug. Greg approached with a smile as Jerro and Mari broke their hug. Greg and Jerro placed a paw on each other's opposing shoulders, “It’s good to see you both, but what are you doing here?” he responded and looked inquisitively at them. “And Phlip!” Jerro exclaimed, and with that recognition, Phlip bounded on top of Jerro, knocking him to the ground and nuzzled his giant rabbit face into Jerro’s. “Alright, alright, that's enough, ya big ball of fur!” Jerro struggled to get out while laughing and playfully pushed his way back up against Phlip’s excitement.
“The flooding hit a few of the major digs and pushed all the way into The Spine. My dig was hit hard. Dad and the rest of us barely made it out of there,” Mari started explaining. “I know,” Jerro said solemnly. “It was my shift. This was my fault,” he added.
“What… what happened in there, how could it be your fault?” Mari responded with surprise.
“You have to promise that what I’m about to tell you stays between us and only us,” Jerro said while bouncing striking glares at the two of them and then at Phlip. “Phlip won't say a word, promise!” Mari said jokingly. “And neither will we, on our friendship I promise,” Greg added, and Mari nodded.
“Alright, listen, there were some sort of… saboteurs in The Deepworks,” Jerro said after a brief hesitation. “What?!” Greg and Mari both said simultaneously, looking at each other with surprise. Mari added, “You mean this wasn’t a failure or something?”
“Exactly!” Jerro responded and added, “They weren’t from The Burrow. They weren’t any creature I’ve ever seen before. They were something sinister… you could almost feel the evil and hatred seeping from their pure existence…” Jerro trailed off, losing focus on both Greg and Mari.
“Jerro, what are you talking about? Who did this?” Greg said, trying to snap Jerro back from his empty stare. “I don’t know…” Jerro replied softly, “They weren’t burrowing rodents. They wore cloaks. I could barely see them. There was a larger one and three smaller ones. It was as if they had… as if they had grown the larger one somehow. There were these cables attached to the generators, and when the Keeper and I got to them… they… they were able to resist our suggestion, and they…” Jerro stopped and restarted, “They started doing something to the Keeper, draining her life force or something.”
“But you stopped them?” Mari inquired with a hint of confusion.
“No… well, sort of. I was able to force a pipe burst that distracted them and use my suggestion on one of the small creatures. The big one obliterated it,” he froze again, staring into the distance.
“And then what?” Greg encouraged Jerro to go on, placing a paw on his shoulder again in reassurance.
Jerro looked at him, “then they went through some sort of portal… I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“I have,” a crackling deep and aged voice echoed from the nearby darkness. Mari, Greg, Jerro, and Phlip all spun towards the direction of the voice.
An old mole-rat, which is hard to distinguish from their general appearance, garbed in brown tattered robes, hovered calmly above the ground out of the darkness towards the trio. His legs folded and paws placed in lap assuming a gentle circle between the index and thumb fingers.
“Rufus?!” Mari said with surprise.
“Yes, young one,” Rufus said calmly, then added, “I have come to make you all a deal… or rather… an offer. All is connected, from your recent adventure, Mari, to your loss in the trial, Greg, and this incursion in The Deepworks that happened to occur on your watch, Jerro. You see, younglings, things do not simply happen. There is meaning behind everything from a simple exposed root to a devastating collapsed dig.”
Rufus paused, and they all looked at each other in utter confusion. Rufus had been a fixture in all of their lives since they were young. He ran a small apothecary and book shop near The Spine, where they had often congregated when they were children. But he had never spoken like this; he was always a simple shopkeeper with some esoteric knowledge sprinkled in from time to time.
“Rufus, what exactly are you talking about… and how did you even get here?” Mari asked.
“Ahhh,” Rufus replied and added, “I was already here and also already not here, but for me to divulge anything further, you all must accept this offer I mentioned.”
The three furry friends stared at Rufus in disbelief as he continued.
“The offer is simple but simultaneously the most important decision you will make in your lives, and you must all unanimously agree on this choice, as it is annotated in the echoes of time. If you choose the offer, your lives will be forever changed, the future will be forever changed, and there is no going back. This is a one-way dig.”
“Can we have some time to talk about th—” Jerro started but was quickly interrupted by Rufus. “No, unfortunately, you must decide at this very moment.”
“Will we see our family again?” Mari asked. “It is unknown,” Rufus replied and said, “I cannot tell you more. This conversation is already had at a great risk to the timeline.”
“I’m in,” Greg said bluntly. Mari and Jerro looked at him in shock. “In what, Greg? We don’t even know what Rufus is talking about!” Mari said with concern.
“I lost my trial. You heard him. I’ve got nothing left, I trained my entire life for that moment. I failed, and my destiny is set. Whatever Rufus is offering is surely better than the disappointment I’m facing when I get home.”
Mari put an arm around Greg in comfort and said, “Alright, buddy, then I’m with you.” Jerro added, “Well… I guess I’m not too excited about the punishment I’m looking at for this disaster on my shift. What’ve we got to lose? I’m in too!”
Mari looked at Rufus and said with confidence, “Alright, Rufus, we accept the offer and are willing to—” Mari was interrupted but not by words. The trio, plus Phlip, felt their feet lift from the ground, and the scene around them began to stretch as if the floor and ceiling were being pulled in opposing directions. Rufus remained still in front of them. Then suddenly, it snapped. The cavernous walls of the dig outside of The Deepwork’s entrance shattered and dissolved from view as they felt a rush of energy pulse through them. A final sound echoed dully in their ears, as if they had been in an explosion, but there was no ringing or discomfort.
For a brief second before the shattered image of their world fully dissolved, Mari saw it again—that face, the old marmot swirled in the particulate and disappeared as the world they knew faded from existence.