#outer space au

"Don't worry, we should be able to take a railcar there really fast," Chase says. He looks around. "There." He points. There's a sign hanging on a nearby wall, with a drawing of a rectangular trolley-car-like object, and then an arrow. There were a lot of those on the last layer too, though they were often overshadowed by the other signs. "That direction." 

"Let's hurry, then," Marvin says. 

Bro blinks then shrugs, grinning. “Okay sweet! Get to take some future transportation!” 

Alt's phone lets out a squawk of white noise. "I'll help with the cameras as much as I can," Anti says from the phone.

Alt blinks and takes out his phone to nod at Anti with a smile. “Thanks, dude.”

"Not a problem." Anti gives a thumbs up on the screen. 

The rest of the group leads the way, doing their best to look casual about it. Anti lingered in the back, head turning around. His expression is still that neutral one, but the rest of his body language says that he's nervous, on guard. 

They reach a railway and find a platform that looks a lot like a train platform back home. The design is smoother, with rounded edges and a lot of silver and white, but it's still clear what it is. Chase walks up to a kiosk and taps around on its touchscreen, purchasing tickets. He almost swipes his card, but then hesitates and pays in cash instead, sliding some of those square metal pieces into a gap that looks perfectly fit for them. 

"Looks like we're just in time," Jackie says, reading the train arrival times on a hanging sign. "One's coming in literally one minute." 

"Okay, everyone, get your hands stamped," Chase says. There's a cylindrical device coming out the side of the kiosk, a small red light coming from the bottom. As Chase puts the back of his hand into the light--it's perfectly positioned to be at hand level--the red light scans his hand and a small stamp appears in black, that same trolley logo from the signs directing them here. 

“Oooh neat! Very streamlined!” Bro says excitedly as he goes to put his hand under the stamp. Alt looks hesitant but he goes to let himself be stamped too.

The mark just appears, without any sort of feeling that it did. The others get stamped as well. The ink sticks to Jackie and Anti's metal hands just fine, as well as Marvin's furry one. 

Almost as soon as they're all done, the railcar approaches, heading down the rail without much sound at all, only a slight hsss as it approaches. "Now approaching: Blue Line Railcars," says a robotic voice. The railcar is sleek and rounded. Its cabin is made of metal, but the rest of it is all glass--or at the very least some see-through material--showing benches and handrails inside. A door slides open on the side.

“Oohh it’s so quiet!!” Bro whispers as he hurries after the others. Alt also looks impressed- and tries to keep his glitches down as he eyes the people around.

The railcar is mildly crowded. This is Alt's first time seeing other aliens besides Schneep and Marvin. He spots a couple who seem to be the same reptilian species as Schneep--kritzeins--and a handful that are hovering in midair, insectile wings buzzing. There's one that looks like a pile of green slime with two lighter-green eyes. And a few scattered about who are really tall and have big eyes and pinkish hair.

Alt stares wide eyed at the aliens but tries to keep his composure. Thank god for his mask… even though he doesn’t like crowds he sticks close to Bro’s side. Bro chuckles and pats Alt’s shoulder.

Luckily, they don't have to stay in the railcar for long. The thing is really fast, even as it stops at three locations on the way. The IRIS building gets closer and closer... Until it looms overhead. The railcar stops at the end of its line, at the base of the IRIS building. 

There's a big empty square around this area, decorated with curving, alien plants in planters. Crowds mill about. Anti did say that this area was a tourist attraction. Pretty much all the remaining passengers get out of the railcar here. Others wait on the platform to get on.

Alt shrinks in more, “god there’s so many people…” 

“Tourist attraction-“ Bro mumbles and starts to shuffle out with the crowd, holding onto Alt’s hand.

"Not a fan of crowds either," Marvin whispers. 

JJ tilts his head. "Is that a felorr thing?" 

"No. Just a me thing." 

“Maybe I’m a felorr in another life,” Alt mumbles. 

They make their way towards the building. There's a low fence surrounding it, waist-high and made of metal. There are a couple locations where the fence is broken up by an archway. People are filing through those arches to get into the building. 

"Scanners," Anti says, nodding towards them. "If something strange appears as they scan, they start beeping." 

"What's an example of something strange?" Jackie asks. "Weaponry or strange devices. Or, in a more extreme example, a robotic being."

Alt looks at the scanners, humming in thought, “… I might be able to disable the scanners from here… but I don’t think I can do it discreetly…. I might need to be able to touch them.”

Anti nods slowly. "Discreet would be better." 

"What if... you go through first, and you touch the scanner as you do?" Jackie suggests. "That should keep it disabled for the rest of us."

“Oh! Good idea- I’m not hiding anything…” Alt mumbles. He takes a deep breath then starts to walk through the scanners. He briefly touches the arch wall and sends a discreet jolt of electricity as he passes through.

The interior of the gateway is lined with blue lights. As Alt sends electricity through it, the lights suddenly go out. The others quickly hurry through--Anti and JJ first, then the four others. A few other tourists manage to slip through as well. There's a short path leading up to a set of sliding glass double doors. 

As they walk along it, Schneep asks, "Any new, ah... information?"

Alt looks back at Schneep then checks the tracker by holding it in his pocket, out of sight. “Lemme see…” Bro tries to scan around for any sign of trouble.The tracker tells him that it's on the twentieth floor. 

Alt looks to Schneep, “It’s somewhere on the 20th floor.”

They head into the IRIS building. Everything in here is sleek whites and silvers, and there are holograms hovering in midair with information plaques about the history of IRIS, of the building, of Zypso Station. In the center is a big, rotating hologram of the IRIS logo. There seem to be a couple doors into this room, but most of them have signs that say "Staff" on them in varying languages. The one that doesn't reads "Stairs." There is also a set of elevator doors, which there seems to be a line for.

Bro looks at the elevator line and groans, “does that mean we gotta go up 20 flights of stairs??”

"Uh... I think the stairs only go up to floor ten or so?" Chase says. "So... no." 

"Sam is reminding me of the diagram earlier," Anti reports. "There are thirty floors in the building. Thirty-one, if the roof counts. Sixteen through thirty are closed to the public. The visitor stairs go up to floor fifteen." 

"Either way, we'll have to find some other way," Jackie mutters. "We could try to get through one of these Staff doors. Or we could... go up the stairs? See if there's a way from there? Or uh... wait in line for the elevator to see if there's a way from the roof? I mean, we could also take the elevator to floor fifteen, I think... still means we'd have to wait a lot."

“If we can find another blind spot- I can try to glitch us up there,” Alt says quietly, “they cause a flash of green light so… I can’t just do it now on my own and not be discovered.”

Alt's phone glitches. "I think there are blind spots on the staircase landings," Anti reports from the screen. "You just need to get to one that's absent of people." 

Schneep sighs. "Climbing the stairs it is, then."

Bro sighs too, “Alright gents- stairs it is.” He heads towards them, grumbling, “you’d think the future would have abolished stairs by now…!” 

Alt rolls his eyes with a chuckle and follows after him.

"Stairs are good for your health!" Schneep says defensively. 

"Doesn't mean they don't suck," Marvin says. "I'm surprised they don't have more elevators." 

Turns out, there are regular stairs and also an escalator running parallel to them as they spiral up. At each landing, the escalator becomes a moving walkway, seamlessly merging into the ground so that the escalator rider doesn't even have to step to transition to the walkway.

Bro blinks in surprise at the escalator, “oohh woah! Neat!” Bro climbs onto it. 

Alt laughs, following him, “you’re complaining a lot for a superhero who can probably climb these stairs faster than all of us.” 

“I can fly dude- you think I actually take the stairs? Fuck those things man!”

"I'm surprised that more are not flying, actually," Schneep says, looking around. There are a couple aliens with wings on the escalator, mostly smaller insectoid ones and those draconic-looking fellows. 

"I suppose it would not be worth the energy?" 

Bro hums, “Yeah- it can be kinda tiring sometimes. I like doing it as much as I can though.” He shrugs. 

Jackie leans closer to Alt and mutters, "Where are the blind spots?" 

"Always in the left corners, looks like," Anti reports from the phone. "You just need to wait for a landing empty of people." 

More and more people get off as the stairs go higher. Apparently the more fun exhibits are lower in the building.

“Left corners… okay-“ Alt mumbles, eyeing the crowds of people as they get thinner and thinner.

Looks like the landing for floor fourteen is empty of people. There are more on floor fifteen though--maybe people curious about what's on the highest possible story. 

"I don't think it will get better than this," Chase mutters, and steps off the escalator. 

"Just need to wait for a moment when no one is in sight," Anti adds, also stepping off. 

Alt nods and steps off, anxiously playing with his necklace. 

Bro hops off and hums, “Wonder what’s in all these floors that everyone goes to see-“

"There was a directory on the ground floor," Marvin recalls. "They're a lot of exhibits. Mostly old inventions and belongings to historical figures. The place is basically a museum." 

"Oh, I remember there was this one floor that was a recreation of old office buildings, that was so interesting," Chase says. 

“Ohhh damn that's kinda cool-“ Bro hums. 

“I never thought office buildings would be a museum exhibit someday,” Alt chuckles. 

"You'll want to huddle up really close," Anti says from the phone. "The blind spot is small." 

"We're about to look really suspicious," Jackie comments.

Alt goes to squeeze the best he can into the corner.

It's more than a little awkward as everyone presses into the corner. Fortunately, it's not long before a moment comes when the stairs are free of people. "Now!" Anti says, and everyone quickly links up. 

Alt quickly closes his eyes and tries to focus on getting to the 20th floor.

They disappear in a flash of light and reappear in the middle of a white hallway, the light reflecting off its walls so bright that it's almost blinding. Everything in this hallway is that same color--though there isn't much in this hallway at all. Just white sliding doors, white plaques with the names of rooms, and... the one thing that isn't the white color. Some sort of... metal mannequin with a blank, featureless head. It stands next to one of the doors, completely still.

Bro blinks at the mannequin and points, “…don’t like that thing-“ he whispers. 

“Chase, focus-“ Alt hisses as he checks the tracker again.The tracker tells them that the piece is in the Large Testing Room. 

Alt pales a bit, “…it’s in a testing room,” he mumbles. 

As Alt looks up from the tracker, his gaze lands on the mannequin again. And... that's strange, isn't it? For a moment, he thought he was looking at Anti. But that doesn't make sense.... does it? Now that he's looking closer, Anti's metal body is... a lot like the mannequin's. Except for the head, of course, but everything else... it's eerily similar to Anti's design.He blinks and then slowly looks between Anti and the mannequin. “…Anti… that- that mannequin…”

"It's a robot," Anti says quickly. "Don't worry about it. It cannot do anything without orders." Anti has trouble with expressions. He'd only been programmed with so many. So it's hard to tell how he's feeling. But it seems like he's deliberately not looking towards the robot. 

"A... testing room, I see," Schneep says haltingly, noticing the same thing Alt did. "Ah... maybe there are... directions that way?" 

"Let's just start looking," Jackie says. "Uhhh... I don't see directions, so let's just go this way." He turns in the opposite direction of the robot and heads down the hallway, forcing the others to follow.

Alt spares one last look at the mannequin before following. “It says it’s in the large one- maybe there’s only one of those.” Alt suggests. 

“…it seems strangely empty up here,” Bro comments under his breath.

Just as Bro says that, someone turns a corner up ahead, appearing suddenly. It's a human woman with dark skin and frizzy hair pulled back by a headband. She's wearing a white coat. "Oh!" She sees the group and stops walking. "Um... sorry, I think you've got lost. This area is closed to the public."

Bro freezes and Alt elbows him with a murderous expression. Bro grins nervously, “Oh uh yeah! Must have gotten really lost! What… floor is this??”

"This is the twentieth floor." The woman laughs a bit nervously. "Um... here, let's get you all back to where you were heading. This way." She walks past the group, indicating they should follow her. 

"Uh... we can find our way back where we came from," Jackie says quickly. "You're probably really busy. We'd hate to interrupt you."

“Yeah don’t worry!” Bro waves his hand, “hate to give you more work for a bunch of tourists!” 

As Bro talks, Alt looks around at the rooms and tries to inch farther ahead.

The woman frowns. "I really shouldn't leave you all alone in here..." 

"It will be fine," Schneep says. "It is not like we can get in any of these doors. They probably need keys, yes?" 

"Well, yeah, I suppose so." The woman still looks reluctant. "But you might get lost." 

"We're capable of retracing our steps, you know," Jackie laughs. 

 “Such a shame no one can come up here though! I bet you could tell us a lot of really interesting things!!” Bro laughs.

"Well, uh, not really," the woman says, laughing awkwardly. "It's all boring really..." 

As the others distract her, Alt sneaks around the woman and peers around the corner she'd come from. There's a large set of sliding double-doors down the corridor. Those seem important.

Alt doesn’t hesitate- he glitches down the hall and then tries to go through the doors.

Alt's glitching is accompanied by a flash of light, and she frowns and turns towards it. "What was--hey!" 

Unlike the doors in the bunker, these doors don't open as Alt gets close. But the plaque next to this set of double doors reads "Large Testing Room." This is the right place.

Bro’s stomach drops and he tries to grab the lady, “Hey no maybe we need directions after all!” 

Alt immediately goes to glitch through the doors, going as fast as possible.

"Whoa, hey, no grabbing!" She shakes her arm free, turning back to Bro with wide eyes. "I-I can call security!" 

Bro let’s go, holding up his hands, “sorry! …that’s usually okay on my … planet?” He says nervously. 

Her eyes dart to the translator in Bro's ear. "Well... you get one warning. Now please, let me show you the way out." 

“Alright sure-“ Bro says, eyes darting back to the door. 

Alt glitches through the door easily, ending up in a large room, made of the same white material as the hallway. There are a handful of people in white coats--all human except for one kritzein. They're all gathered around some sort of instrument in the center of the room, dangling from the ceiling and reaching down towards a circular platform in the center. It's hard to know what the instrument is, but it looks kind of like GLaDoS from portal but without the face. 

"Hey! How did you get in here?!" One of the scientists demands.

Alt ignores the scientists and checks the tracker, eyes darting around the room.The tracker tells him it's on the circular platform in the center. 

“Fucking- of course it is,” Alt grumbles. 

"We're going to call security!" Another one of the scientists shouts.

Then, Alt glitches towards the platform and tries to grab whatever is on it.The scientists all cry out in surprise as he suddenly glitches over. The item on the platform is a long, L-shaped bit of metal with a tiny microchip on the corner. As Alt scoops it up, one of the scientists reaches into their pocket-- And yellow alarm lights start flashing in both the Testing Room and the hallway. 

"Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert." 

Alt quickly puts it in his pocket then curses and glitches back out into the hallway.

"Shit!" Anti curses outside. "The plan was to be subtle!" 

The woman blinks at his voice. "...wait a second. Are you--Septic?" She glances around. "Y-you're all with him, aren't you?!" Then she turns and runs down the hallway away from them. 

“I’m not sure Alt had a choice!” Bro says to Anti. Then, he blinks at the woman’s reaction. “Woah-“ 

"I'm sure there were other ways!" Chase shouts. 

“Link up!!” Alt shouts as he sprints down the hall towards the others.

As Alt appears, the others rush towards him, reaching out-- But then, behind them, the robot from the hallway appears, raising an arm. Part of its arm slides out and out shoot several blue bolts of light.

One of the bolts hits Chase and he immediately stiffens up, then goes limp, falling to the floor. Another hits Anti, and while he doesn't stop moving like Chase did, the blue light turns into electricity that crackles along his body, causing spasms.

Bro’s eyes widen as the robot starts to shoot and quickly ducks out of the way, rolling across the ground. 

Alt gets hit and stiffens up, a reaction halfway between Chase’s and Anti’s as his muscles lock up but also crackle with electricity that has him crying out in pain and spasming. He soon enough falls limp too. 

“Alt!” Bro cries out.

Schneep helps Chase up--or tries to, at least. He's gone completely boneless, eyes wide above the mask hiding his face. Jackie hurries over and the two of them support Chase between them. 

The robot continues to shoot. JJ starts pushing the others around the corner, blocking its aim. A bolt skims him as he does so, causing him to stiffen, but he doesn't go limp like Chase and Alt did. But there are more robots showing up, identical to the first one, raising their arms in a similar way. 

Bro rushes to Alt and scoops him up and Alt is just as boneless as Chase is- eyes wide and hands twitching with electricity. “Shit shit shit shit!!” Bro curses quietly as he backs up, holding Alt to his chest. He’s desperately looks around for some kind of idea- if there was a window maybe they could all- break out?? But it’s the 20th floor- the others might not survive!

"Attention intruders," a voice says over an intercom. Feminine-sounding with a slight British accents. "Our security bots are quite persistent. If you do not wish to be stunned, surrender the IRIS property you have and give yourselves up. We will escort you from the building."

Bro looks up at the voice and then growls, “The thing we took was ours anyways! So f-fuck off!”

"Our scans are reporting a bot that is IRIS property with you," the woman's voice says calmly. "Regardless of modifications you have made, it was built from IRIS technology and therefore must be returned for reprog--" Anti's head suddenly snaps up. 

"I am not a robot!" he shouts. "I am not a robot!" He punches the wall, causing a crack, and the woman's voice cuts off. 

JJ looks around wildly. He rushes to the nearest door. It doesn't open, of course. "Bro, your belt!" he says, typing quickly. "Hurry!" 

His belt? Right! The devices!

Bro jumps at Anti’s anger, backing up and looking stunned. His attention is quickly turned back to JJ though as he scrambles to grab the deactivator and hands it to JJ.

JJ takes the hacker. It's a bit like a gun, if instead of a barrel it had a large bit of rectangular metal. He presses the flat part against the door and pulls the trigger mechanism. After a second, during which the robots get closer, the door slides open. He rushes in the room and gestures for the others to follow. The room beyond is filled with shelves full of boxes, some clear, some metal. As soon as everyone is inside Marvin hits a button on the inside, closing it. 

"That won't delay them for long," Jackie says. "Wh-what do we do? Do we need to check Alt and Chase over?" 

"Th-the stun will we-wear off in a few--few minutes," Anti says, his voice glitching slightly.

Bro hurries in and tries to shake Alt but Alt still doesn’t respond. Bro looks to Anti with wide scared eyes, “W-We don’t have a few minutes! Is there any way to speed it up?? Or c-cure this?! Something!!”

"I d-d-do not know of one," Anti says. "My--my call with Sam was dropped when the st-stun hit me. I can--cannot ask them." 

"Great, now we've closed ourselves into some supply room and they're going to get us at any moment!" Jackie's head darts around. "Um--is there an air vent or something?" 

Marvin points at a spot above a set of shelves. There's a square grate up there. "I don't know if you all could fit in there though."

“Damnit!” Bro curses, blinking back frustrated tears. “I-If Alt wasn’t hit we’d probably be back in the b-base by now! I-I can’t fly all of us out of here-“ He’s trying not to panic.

"Okay, okay." Jackie is trying to take deep breaths. "We--we have to try the vent, it's the only way out of here." 

Anti backs into the corner of the room, crouching down and putting his hands over his head. His expression is stuck on fear as his irises flicker. "I can--I c-cannot get stuck here," he says in a quiet voice. "I cannot--there is s-so much more to do--I cannot leave S-Sam--they cannot c-continue his work on th-their own--"

Bro seems to shake out of his panic by hearing Anti’s. He takes a shaky breath then tries to sit Alt up against the wall. Then, he looks for heavy things he can start to push against the doors. “We’re not gonna let them get you Anti-“ he says, determination bright in his eyes. “…w-we just need to stall until Alt recovers. You guys try to get into the vent-“ 

"I do not think I can climb up there," Schneep says, looking at the vent. 

"We can use the shelves as a ladder, we just need to get the stuff off," Marvin says, starting to move the boxes off the shelves. 

Anti watches him do this. Then he takes a deep breath--or, well, imitates taking a deep breath--and stands up, walking over to help move the items. The heaviest things in the room are the shelves and the boxes. And wouldn't you know? Some of the shelves have ball-like things on their feet, like wheels. There are also small switches near each sphere, with the words "locked" and "unlocked" written on them. They're currently in the "locked" position.

Bro hums as he sees this and unlocks them, going to move the heaviest feeling ones in front of the door and locking them back in place. “…I-if they try to break through- I can probably hold them back… super strength, you know?” He laughs nervously.

"IIIII don't think you mentioned the super strength earlier, actually," Jackie says.

“Oh- well… yeah!! I got that and super Speed- flying… can sometimes shoot some electricity but Alt is wayyy better at that.” Bro says, pushing more stuff in the way. 

Chase, lying on Schneep's shoulder, mumbles something indecipherable. 

"Uh--that's cool, though!" Jackie continues. Once the shelves are clear, 

Marvin quickly scrambles up to the vent and pulls at the vent. "JJ, will that unlocking thing work on this?" 

JJ frowns. "It disrupts electronic locks. Do you think that has one?" 

"...not suuuuure."

Bro looks back at Marvin and then hovers a bit to look, “…want me to try?” He asks. “Maybe I can pry it open.”

Marvin nods. "Might as well." He climbs back down so Bro can have access. Bro curls his fingers around the vent and tries to pry it open, bracing his feet against the wall for better leverage. 

"Attention intruders," the intercom turns on again, the same feminine voice speaking. "This will be your final appeal to surrender. If you do not surrender now, we will have to use force to reclaim our property and have you vacate the premises."

Brolooks up at the announcement then looks back at Anti, “H-How much longer do you think they’ll be stunned??”

"Average amount of time to recover from a stun bolt is five minutes," Anti says. "It has been about two." 

Chase groans. His fingers twitch a little. "'m... f'nn..." 

"If you are saying you're fine, you most certainly are not," Schneep says. 

Alt’s arm twitches a bit and he tries to move, “mm- ngh…” but nothing is responding. Even though he feels himself panicking and his heart pounding so hard against his chest. 

The vent really seems to be stuck on there, but little by little, it gives way, until it suddenly pops off. “I got it!” Bro exclaims as he gets the vent open. “Marvin you wanna give it a try?”

Marvin nods and quickly climbs up the shelves again. He slips into the air vent easily, tail waving and feet kicking until he disappears out of sight. "No room to turn around," he reports. "And I don't think the bulkier ones of you will be comfortable. But it will probably work for an emergency. I think it slopes instead of drops." 

“Okay… hopefully we won’t have to use it…” Bro mumbles as he nervously looks towards the door. 

The intercom turns on again. "Attention intruders. You have not surrendered, and thus, we will begin using force. We waive all responsibility for any injuries you gain while resisting."

Alt grunts as he tries to get himself to move again- but all that moves is his fingers. He makes a frustrated noise. 

Bro glares up at the ceiling and flips it off, “Fuck off ya IRIS pricks!!”

Marvin scrambles back out of the vent backwards. But he slips on the edge of the shelf and tumbles down with flailing limbs and a loud "MRRAAH!" He lands on the floor and quickly gets to his feet, brushing himself off and looking around embarrassed. 

Jackie bursts into laughter. "What the fuck? I thought felorrs always landed on their feet, comp!" 

"I'm not literally a cat," Marvin mutters. "Cats don't even land on their feet."

Bro jumps in surprise then blinks in confusion, “What?!! Cats landing on their feet isn’t true?!” Alt makes an exasperated noise.

"Yeah, what?" Jackie says. 

Marvin sighs. "Do you really think any animal can defy gravity like that so expertly?" 

"Where does the rumor come from, then?" Jackie says in rebuttal. 

"I believe it's because Terran cats are quite flexible and were often--but not always--seen correcting themselves in midair," Anti says.

“I swear Glitches always lands on her feet…” Bro mumbles, crossing his arms. 

“Nnnnr-“ Alt grunts. 

“…are you okay though, Marv?” Bro asks.

"Yes, are you okay?" JJ asks as well. 

"I'm fine, more surprising than anything," Marvin says. "Even if I don't always land on my feet, I can recover fast." 

The relatively light-hearted moment is interrupted by a banging on the door to the room. It then slides open--but thankfully whatever's on the other side is blocked by the shelves. 

"Surrender," says a robotic voice. 

Bro startles then curses, “Damn future doors! I forgot it could just slide open!” He holds out his arm protectively and steps in front of the others. “Take cover guys!” He quickly looks around for something he can use as a shield.

"Cover?! Where?!" Schneep asks, eyes darting around. 

"Here, we'll move some of the shelves!" Jackie hurries over and pushes a shelf away from the wall, sliding into the space behind it. 

Schneep hesitates, then gently puts Chase down and moves over, helping to move the shelf. JJ joins them as well, and together the three of them manage to get a couple shelves away from the wall. Marvin scrambles back up the shelves and into the vent again. There's not much that can be a shield. But some of these boxes are big, maybe their lids could work? 

Anti stares at the door intently. Waiting. "They will push the shelves over," he says in a quiet voice. "Then they will fire directly ahead of them. Get out of the line of fire." He moves to the left of the door, pressing against the wall and picking up a smaller box, gripping it so tightly in his hands that the metal warps slightly. 

Bro grabs a lid off a large metal box and holds it. He then blinks at Anti in confusion. “H-How do you-?” He doesn’t question this for long though. He ducks out of the way to the right. 

Though… Alt is still stuck up against the wall in front of the door, staring at the robots with wide scared eyes.

"Shit!" Jackie curses from behind the shelf. "Alt and Chase--!" 

"They were already stunned, we can protect them," Anti says. "Now get--" 

The shelves tip forward and the robots fire their stun bolts into the room. They were aiming at chest-height for the average person, so luckily the bolts don't hit Chase or Alt sitting on the floor. Chase flinches and manages to slowly move an arm, grasping vaguely at the floor to try and pull himself out of the way. Alt vaguely glitches around his shoulder and hands but it’s not enough to do anything. He tries to move his feet or legs- something! 

The robots start walking into the room-- And Anti yells out, smashing one in the head with the box. Bro quickly follows Anti’s lead and sends a super charged punch right into another robot’s head. 

Bro's punch goes straight into the robot's jaw area, sending its head snapping to the side with the sound of something snapping. Anti's blow manages to dent the head of the bot he attacked. Both of them fall backwards into the two bots behind them, knocking them over. 

But then the second pair of bots get up again and aim their stun bolts again. Anti swings for a second time. Bro yells and sends another punch. This time, he smacks the robot in the shoulder and manages to push its aim off course, but it doesn't break like the last one. "Aim for joints or the head!" Anti shouts, bringing the box down on the other bot's arm and disrupting its aim in the same way. 

Chase's head slowly turns to Alt and he tries to pull himself towards him.

Alt jerkily looks at Chase, his hands starting to grip better and sparking with some of his magic. …he’s been able to dismantle stuff by just barely moving before- maybe he can do that now. He looks towards one of the robots and twitches his head to the side as his eyes flash bright blue-green, trying to take apart its stun gun.

The one Bro hit raises its stun arm again, aiming directly at him—but instead there's a flicker of blue-green lightning as it doesn't fire. Not exactly collapsing like Alt wanted, but momentarily jamming it.

Bro nods and his eyes widen as he recognizes the sight of the magic. He grins then grabs the robot by the arm- on its joint- and then tries to flip it to crush it against the ground. The robot flies through the air, landing hard on the ground. Something snaps again and it goes limp. Bro whoops and gives the downed robot the finger, “Yeah take that, bitch!” He quickly moves to try to take out another one.

Alt’s eyes widen too and he slowly squeezes his hand in determination. He flares open his eyes to try to jam or take apart more of the guns.

Anti can't help but wince—he can't help but see himself in these bots—and almost misses another bot running forward to take the fallen one's place, aiming its stun arm. But then... its arm falls apart, pieces falling to the ground. Anti looks back, expression shifting to surprise, and then a smile. Alt also seems surprised. But he smiles a bit at Anti- but slowly. Anti grips his box weapon tightly and smacks it to the side. 

"Alt..." Chase manages to say. "Wh'n... c'n y... gl'sh?" He's asking 'when can you glitch?'

Alt turns to Chase and grunts, squeezing and releasing his hand with a lot of effort, “ne’d t’b… a-ab’l t’m’ve..!” ‘Need to be able to move’. His hand glitches a bit- but not to the degree he was able to earlier.

"...sucks," Chase says. Alt lets out a choked chuckle. 

If there's one good thing about this situation, it's that the doorway forms a bit of a bottleneck, only allowing two robots at a time to get through. Anti grabs one as it passes through, wrestling it to the ground.

Bro misses as the robot moves- making him strike its torso. He growls a bit then tries to kick the robot back into the others.The robot staggers backwards from the unexpected super strength of Bro's kick, falling into the others outside and knocking them down in turn. 

“Yeah! Strike!!” Bro laughs as he jumps up and punches the air.

"Nice!" Jackie shouts, leaning around the shelf to watch. JJ grabs him and pulls him back. 

Meanwhile, Anti manages to take out the bot he'd been fighting on the ground. These things were ordered to swarm in and subdue the group. They're not good at thinking beyond that goal. Not with their actions being limited by the priority of the orders. 

Even so— "They will keep coming," Anti says. "IRIS has many of these models. Even the ones not designed for combat will be thrown at us."

“We can handle them,” Bro says cockily, adjusting his hat. “Just until Alt can glitch. You doin’ okay, baby bro?” 

“M’ f’nn!” Alt tries to call. Feeling is slowly, slowly coming back. Still… there’s gotta be more he can do. His eyes wander to the door button. …if he destroyed it- could it keep the door shut? He narrows his eyes then jerks his head to the side- trying to short circuit it before the next wave of robots recover.

Two more robots surge into the room. Anti smacks one in the head. Bro throws another powered punch to the other’s head. 

That green lightning flickers around the door button... but nothing happens. "...you?" Chase whispers. "K-keep... try'n...!"

Alt grits his teeth and tries to push more power out, magic sparking around him a bit more. He tries to short circuit the door again. Green lightning sparks around the door button, and for a second, he feels connected to it. He somehow knows that if he short circuits the door it will stay in the state it's in, so he manages to trigger the close state before the short circuit fully goes through. 

Shortly after, Anti and Bro knock down the two bots they were fighting, denting their featureless heads in the process.

Bro pants as he backs away from the last robot he downed and looks at the door shutting. He grins back at Alt, “Hey!! Good idea dude!! Hopefully that’ll keep the rest of them out!” 

Alt attempts to smile.

Jackie leans out from behind the shelf again. “That. Was. So. COOL!” He says, grinning. “I mean—it was scary and life-threatening but it was cool! Man, I bet I could have helped. With these metal fists of mine.” 

Bro grins wide, “Maybe bro! But fighting is hard if you’re not used to it!” 

Jackie, Schneep, and JJ all come out from behind the shelf. Marvin also appears, carefully backing out of the vent and making sure that he has secure footing this time. 

“How are you both feeling, Chase, Alt?” JJ asks. 

Chase tries to sit up. He fails, but he manages to get about halfway before he falls back, groaning. “Sucks.” 

“Right, I should’ve expected that,” JJ says, embarrassed.

Bro knocks a friendly fist against Anti’s shoulder, “you did great dude!” 

Alt also tries to pull himself up, glitching a bit but soon slips back down with a groan. “Hate… this…” he grumbles.

“Stunning is very inconvenient,” Anti agrees. “But it is painless and leaves no side effects after it wears off, so it is the preferred way of subduing someone in most places in the galaxy.” 

“How do you know all that?” Marvin asks. “You’re a ro—an android!” 

“That doesn’t mean I cannot read and learn,” Anti says. “And it doesn’t mean I don’t know something similar.” His eyes dart down to the disabled robots for a moment. 

“…because you… ah..” Schneep hesitates. “You are…?” He trails off.

Bro furrows his eyebrows and looks down, and it dawns on him. “…because you’re like these guys…!” He looks back at Anti with wide eyes, “…did you like- go rogue? Like a deviant in that… one robot game-? Detroit… something- …wait that’s like ancient now-“ 

“Chase…!” Alt groans in exasperation.

"Detroit: Become Human, developed by Quantic Dream, released in 2018." Anti shakes his head, puhing away the robotic response. "It is not exactly like that. I was..." He hesitates. For a moment, that same fear expression crosses his face. Then he makes a sighing sound. "IRIS likely already knows all this. And I suppose I owe an explanation--to Alt and JJ, at least." He folds his arms, leaning against the wall, not looking directly at anyone. "I was... repurposed." 

"By the human who lived with you and Sam?" JJ asks. 

Anti looks at him in surprise. "How do you know that?" 

"You have a room in your bunker with a bed and facilities for a human," JJ says. "But neither you or Sam need that. They were there before you found me. It's not hard to put together." 

Anti laughs, then looks down again. "There was... a man named Jack," he continues in a soft voice. "He broke into an IRIS facility and took one of their robots. One that had been fully built and programmed, but not activated. He would feel bad about deleting any memories. He took it home, and switched out some parts--notably the head--and reworked the programming using the IRIS protocols as a base. Keeping simple code that allows for movement and language formation and such, but taking out other code, such as the orders protocol, and... adding a lot, lot more to it. That was... how I was made." He pauses. "In the early days, I was... there was conflict. I thought I was an experiment, or a servant. I didn't want to be either of those things. But that's not what Jack intended. He asked me what I wanted. He... always asked me what I wanted."

Bro’s safe softens, “… Jack helped make you into a person. Not just a machine…” he smiles. “I think he did a great job too.” 

Alt tries to sit up more, looking at Anti. “…where’s… Jack…?”

Anti pauses, and his expression becomes sad. "He's disappeared. It's likely that he's either been arrested or... died. But Sam doesn't want to think about that possibility. In either case... he asked us that if anything ever happened to him, that the two of us continue his plan." 

Alt looks sad too, eyebrows knitting together in worry.

Suddenly, Schneep gasps. "You--was Jack--was he Se--" Then he stops himself. "R-right, there are probably cameras watching us." 

"I can only assume what you assumed," Anti says. "But... yes."

Bro looks between the two of them in confusion. “…you’ll have to catch us up when we get out of here I guess…”

"Right, I actually forgot you guys weren't from here for a second," Jackie says. "Uh--I think we brought him up at the table in the restaurant? Before your screen assistant friend appeared." 

Bro scrambles his brain, “Ohhh! …I’m not sure I get it but I think I remember-“

"Alt wouldn't know, though," Marvin points out. Seems like all the guys have come to the same realization as Schneep. 

Chase tries getting up again. He manages to hold himself up for a bit this time before collapsing. 

Alt tries to pull himself up too, glitches collecting around him- and he manages to glitch to his feet. Then he braces himself against the wall for a second before his arm gives out and he falls too. 

“J-Jesus!” Bro exclaims and comes over to help the two of them. “Don’t push yourselves too hard guys- I think we’re safe for now!”

"'s fine," Chase grunts.

 Schneep hurries over as well, giving them both a cursory examination. "Can either of you move your legs? That will be the important part." 

Chase tries, jerking one leg into the air. 

"Even if they can move it, doesn't mean they can support their weight." Anti walks over to the door, tilting his head to listen through it. "I hear no movement outside. I suppose they know their doors are quite sturdy and are not going to bother to brute force it down."

Alt also tries to move his leg, but it’s shaky and jerky in its movement. 

Bro sighs in relief, “Okay… so we have time again- how much longer till the stunning wears off do you think?”

"Perhaps about two more minutes," Anti says. "It varies depending on species and body weight." 

"I don't think they'd be able to get in here in two minutes," Marvin says slowly. 

"Yeah, big organization like this?" Jackie nods. "They're probably debating what to do."

“Hate… waiting…” Alt mutters. Bro pats his shoulder. The hero looks back towards the door and hums, “…I wonder if… they’re more worried about the TRVLR piece or… getting Anti back. …maybe both. Technically… the TRVLR was made by IRIS- just… from another universe.” He shudders, “…I hope they didn’t get too much info from it..”

JJ raises his eyebrows. "The IRIS from another universe was able to make a multiverse travel device? But ours hasn't?" 

"I wouldn't be surprised if they tried," Anti says. "But such a device would likely take a great deal of power."

“To be fair- we found ours in an abandoned lot. It was defective but we found out Alt’s magic is enough to work it. We thought it was just cuz of his electricity…but it’s cuz he’s also a Glitch.” Bro says, “which… I kinda get but also don’t. Somehow… Alt broke through some barrier of our world and… that’s how he can glitch and do this kinda stuff, apparently.” 

Alt’s body glitches a bit in place as he nods.

Anti tilts his head. "Interesting. Very interesting." 

"Do you think something like that could happen in our world?" Jackie wonders. 

"Maybe!" Marvin says, eyes dilating wide. "Well--we don't have magic here--or not magic like you all do. But I do think there's something more to the world. Maybe that could be called magic."

“Magic… is… a-anywhere-“ Alt says quietly. 

“But we’ve met glitches in several other places! Ones that didn’t have magic too I think- so it’s totally possible!” Bro says, “But I’m one of those people that believes anything is possible sooo”

"Hell yeah, anything is possible!" Jackie says excitedly. 

"Well." Schneep's brows lower as he looks thoughtful. "I would not say anything is possible. If your planet has a blue sky, it will not suddenly become, for example, green." 

"Killjoy," Chase comments.

Bro bursts into giggles. “I dunno man- I’ve seen some pretty impossible things. …this place is definitely one of them.” He smiles.

Schneep blinks. "Well if it happened then it is clearly possible--" 

"Schneep. Think about it." Jackie says, grinning a bit. "Look at yourself and remember they've never seen other planets." 

He looks down at his hands with their scales and claws. "...ah."

Chase laughs a little. Alt and Bro laugh too. Chasetries to sit up again. His head lolls but he's able to keep his balance.

Alt sees Chase able to get up and shakily tries himself. Bro helps to support him. Alt grits his teeth then shakily reaches out his hand. “I-I… think I can- glitch!”

"You can?!" Marvin's eyes widen. "W-well then we should probably get out of here then!" 

Anti puts his head near the door again. "I can hear movement outside there. It is probably for the best." 

Jackie grabs onto Chase and Alt. "Okay, let's link up to try!"

Alt nods and closes his eyes once everyone is linked up. It takes a second- like a program loading. Magic and glitches zing and zip around Alt as he struggles to get his glitches to work. Then finally, they manage to glitch out of the closet and zip back down to Anti’s base.

It's a big jump, but they make it, landing in the middle of the intersection beneath the exit. 

Chase yelps in surprise and starts to topple over, but Schneep quickly catches him. 

Alt’s eyes roll up a bit from the jump and starts to topple but Bro is quick to catch him. Alt mumbles incoherently, pressing up against him. 

Sam flies out of a room at the end, some sort of long metal pole wrapped in their tail, the end crackling with electricity--then they drop it and the electricity goes out. "It's you!" they type. "You're back!" Then they fly over to Anti, bumping against him and wrapping their tail around his arm in a big hug. He looks surprised, then smiles.

Bro blinks at Sam’s reaction then smiles at Anti too, “Aww! They missed you!”

Sam pulls away again. "I was so worried when our call got cut off! Are you okay? Is everyone okay?" 

"We are all fine," Anti says. "Relatively. Chase and Alt were stunned but they should be recovering."

"Are you okay, Alt?" Schneep asks worriedly. "Do you need something?" He glances at Bro. "That did not happen the last times we teleported." 

"It's probably the stun bolt," Marvin suggests. 

“I think it was just a big jump when he’s still recovering- so… can’t reach all his magic and it drained what he got back.” Bro says, lightly tapping Alt’s face to keep him awake. 

Alt blinks blearily out, “‘m fine- mmmm good…” he mumbles. He half collapses against Bro, the adrenaline from being trapped wearing off now that he knows eveyone is safe.

JJ looks at him worriedly. "Let's get him to lay down," he says, and walks back towards his room. 

"What about Chase?" Marvin asks. 

"I'm fine," Chase says, raising a hand. "I'm... getting there. Alt just... used magic. More important."

Bro nods and goes to scoop Alt up. The younger Brody tries to protest but doesn’t get far- Bro follows after JJ.

Back in the room, JJ presses a hand against a metal section of the wall and part of the wooden paneling slides up, revealing a bed in an alcove. The blankets and pillows are a pale, cheery yellow. "Sorry it's not made," JJ says, despite the bed looking pretty 'made' already. 

Bro chuckles, “Don’t sweat it, bro.” 

JJ blinks. "Don't sweat it? What a strange expression." 

“Huh? …I guess it is kinda weird-“ Bro laughs, setting down Alt on the bed and Alt sighs, showing his exhaustion. Hopefully once all the stunning effects go away he’ll get his energy back. He hadn’t even use much magic…Bro sits down to him on the bed. 

The others file in. Schneep puts Chase in one of the chairs at the table and he slumps forward. 

"Do you all need anything?" Sam asks. "We have an old medkit." 

"I think everyone is fine, besides the stunning," Schneep says. 

"So..." Jackie looks at Sam and Anti. "You guys knew Septic, huh?" 

Sam's eye widens. They spin on Anti. "You told them?!" 

"There were a lot of those IRIS bots, they noticed the similarities," Anti says. "I told them about Jack, but they figured out who he was on their own."

Bro blinks out at the others, “Oh yeah what’s the deal with that? Jack was… Septic? I thought that was Anti!”

"I suppose technically, Septic is all three of us," Sam says thoughtfully. "But Jack is the face." 

Anti picks up the holo projector. His eyes become loading circles for a moment. "Uploading." And then they stop. Anti presses a couple buttons and the holo projector flips on, projecting a video into midair. It's of that same man Jackie had shown Bro a video of. The man with one mechanical green eye and metal plates on his face. 

"Are we rolling?" he says, messing with his hair. 

"Rolling," Anti's voice comes from out of sight. 

"Great. Why do we say that, anyway? You ever wondered?" 

"Perhaps it is linked to film rolls." 

"Ah, right." The man shakes his head. "Okay, from the top." 

Anti pauses the video. His sad expression is back. 

Alt and Bro watch the hologram with wide eyes. Bro looks back at Anti and his expression turns sympathetic. “…you really miss him, huh?”

Anti nods. 

"We both do," Sam says. "It's... strange how he disappeared. He went out, and never came back, and we haven't heard anything about him since. You would think the Station Security would announce if they arrested him."

“Hmm.. yeah… you guys- mentioned a plan of his, right?” Bro asks, “What was that? I know you said Septic was like… an anarchist?”

"Yeah, he disrupts a lot of stuff on the station," Jackie agrees. 

"He disrutps things that are run by IRIS," Anti states. "Which is quite a lot, given how the Zypso Station was built by them. But he always said that the Station could run on its own, without depending on them." He pauses. "The goal was always to cause enough chaos to force them out." 

"Um..." Marvin raises his hand. "I understand why you'd have a personal flyer to shoot with IRIS, but... they seem alright otherwise?" 

"They run the station well enough, I suppose," Anti acknowledges. "But that is not all they do. Jack was convinced for years that there was something behind their mask. And he was right. Even if they are not actively malicious, they are, at the very least, very negligent and willing to bend rules."

Bro’s expression darkens, “Just from what we saw today- IRIS is bad news. They were willing to forcibly reprogram Anti- something they saw themselves has sentience and emotions. That’s… that’s evil. But… we have our own bias with them.” 

Alt shakily sits up and nods, “…in other worlds… IRIS has kidnapped our friends… t-treated people like experiments… if we had g-gotten caught… they might have d-done the same to us.”

"...well. That doesn't speak well to their character," Schneep says slowly. 

"They would not even do a good job at reprogramming," Anti says quietly. Sam pats his shoulder with their tail. 

"We... all live on... the station, though," Chase says slowly. "That's... is that... bad?" 

"It is not the station that is the problem," Anti says. "There are plenty of businesses here that could sustain the place." He nods at Bro and Alt. "From the information Jack has discovered, there's a chance that might have happened." 

Jackie shivers. "You guys should probably get out of here soon, then."

“Probably…” Bro sighs, but he looks out at the others, knitting his eyebrows in worry. “…will you all be okay? I hate to leave if we just got you all into… deep shit. Just for helping us…”

"They didn't see our faces," Marvin says. "We'll... probably be fine. There are a lot of humans, kritzeins, and felorrs on the station." 

"If worst comes to worst, you can stay with us," Sam says. "We can expand the bunker. I've been thinking about doing that for a while, actually." 

"Heh. Thanks." Jackie grins. 

"The masks should have scrubbed your appearance details from most camera systems, including what species and gender you are," Anti says. "You will simply appear as spot of white noise."

Bro sighs in relief, “That’s good then…” He looks down at Alt. “Well, lil bro? …you ready to head to the next one?” 

Alt tries to shake himself out, flexing his hands and shaking off the numbness. “I… I think so…?”

Alt's phone turns on. "Actually, there isn't a next one," Anti says. "Not really. We have all the parts together. Now we just have to head back to the world where you first got the TRVLR, since they're likely the most well-equipped to repair it--" 

"Is̢ t̡h̕at ̀s͟o?" The familiar voice echoes from every corner of the room.

Alt and Bro both freeze- their faces going pale. 

“No-“ Alt whispers in fear. 

Bro springs to his feet, “Anti! Sam! Get the others out of here! Now!” He shouts with authority.

Anti and Sam immediately spring into action. Anti grabs Chase, still slightly stunned, and pulls him out, while Sam flies around and starts pushing the others out. 

"Are you going to be okay?!" Jackie shouts, resisting being pushed. 

"I-if we don't see you again--goodbye!" Marvin says. 

"It was nice to meet you!" JJ gives one last smile before grabbing Jackie and pulling him out. 

“We’ll… we’ll be okay-“ Bro tries to smile at them reassuringly but there’s that tension in his body- he’s scared. Alt tries to look back at them and smile but his falls short as his eyes snap to the locked door and the red Anti.

As soon as they're all gone, the door shuts, and a light by its doorway turns red--locking it. An image forms in front of it as several of the light squares go out. It's that same red Anti who had been stalking them the whole time, his smile wide beneath static-filled eyes. "My business isn't with them, anyway," his voice says, though his mouth doesn't move.

Bro gets into a fighting stance and bares his teeth at Anti. “If you think we’re just gonna hand you over the pieces, bitch, you’re wrong! You might as well just give up!” 

Alt backs up, holding the bag and the newest piece still inside his hoodie pocket. He tries not to show how much his heart is pounding- how much his hands are shaking.

His laugh echoes throughout the room. "You're not going to? Well, alright." Suddenly his image is right in front of them--two, one for each. "Let me ask you two a question. Or, maybe let me ask you three a question. Why... why haven't I been able to delete anything?"

Alt staggers back but Bro stands firm, glaring down the image of him. Alt’s eyes glow as he growls, “You don’t have enough power- no body does. You’ve been chasing a false goal this whole time!”

"Nobody does? No... no, that can't be right. These worlds are infinite." His voice lowers. "Do you know what it means? To see infinity? To see infinite pain? Do you know what it means to be a copy of a copy of a copy?...no, you don't. None of you understand." 

Alt glares more at the red Anti and bares his teeth. “Even if that’s your pain… it’s not enough to destroy infinite lives…!”

There's a bit of static, and suddenly, Alt is not alone. Someone is next to him--it's Anti, the same Anti who's been with them the whole time. Out of the phone and glaring at this red other version of him. "It's you who doesn't understand anything. You're the one who thinks you can destroy infinity." 

Alt blinks and looks back at Anti before nodding at him and looking back. 

“Listen, Anti-“ Bro tries to say, “If you’re… feeling jealous or angry… this isn’t the way to go about it! Revenge hurts everyone- but especially yourself! You don’t have to do this…” he says sympathetically. This guy… he’s evil but.., deep down he’s still Anti right? Somewhere… there has to be a part in there that’s like his brother. 

Anti stares at Bro with wide static eyes. He blinks. And then he laughs. "Like I said. None of you understand. 

“C’mon man-!” Bro tries to say, reaching out. 

“Chase what are you-?!” Alt shouts. 

“Hey... lơo͞k d̀o̢w̛n͡." 

The ground beneath them is tearing open, a crack forming in the fabric of the world, a black rift. Suddenly, there is no support beneath their feet.

The brothers gasp as they look down and before Alt can even think of glitching- they both scream and fall straight into the rift.

Anti looks at them and dives down, slipping back into Alt's phone before they disappear into the space between worlds. 

The door opens, and Sam flies in. "Alt, I realized you might be hungry," they say. "Are you? We do have food here."

Alt blinks up at Sam and makes a face, touching his stomach. “…I… I guess I am kinda hungry…” he says quietly.

JJ nods. "We can have lunch." 

"Great! Do you have any allergies or strong aversions to certain tastes or textures?" Sam asks.

Alt hums, “Uh- not really? I’ll eat most anything.”

"Good to know! You're probably not familiar with most of our food, though," Sam says. JJ blinks. 

"How about something simple? Do we still have pleries?" 

"Of course we do." 

“A… plery?” Alt asks with a tilted head. 

JJ looks over at Alt. "A plery is basically dough wrapped around meat or fruit or vegetables. Sometimes cheese. They're originally from Caphomia but the form has been adapted." 

“Oh that sounds good.” Alt grins. 

"You can't have just that, though," Sam says. 

"Well, bring whatever else you think we'd like, then."

Alt blinks at Sam and nods. “yeah I’m not picky. I need food to fuel my magic so I’ll take anything usually.”

Sam shifts up and down, a nodding form. "I'll be right back, then. This shouldn't take long." They turn around and fly out again. 

"In your time, you haven't been found by other life, right?" JJ asks. "I mean... aliens and such. This must be very confusing."

“Oh yeah no…” Alt says with a laugh as he crosses his arms and leans on the table. “In our time- we still had people debating if things in the skies were UFOs or not but they never were. I think… we found water on mars? I dunno- don’t really keep up with a lot of space stuff.”

"Oh yes water on Mars! That's what led to the settling on there," JJ says. "And if that hadn't happened, there wouldn't be humans on Olinion, Haivis, or Vara. Though... we never would have had the opportunity without the help of more advanced species like the optels--which is what Sam is."

“Optels… ha- cuz they’re like… optic nerves,” Alt laughs a bit, “You always hear in movies and tv shows about humans settling throughout the universe… crazy to actually hear parts of it! In our time- feels kinda like we’re still just… stuck on earth, you know?”

JJ nods slowly. "Well... once upon a time, I'm sure the oceans seemed impossible to cross. I'm not sure if your world will ever get in contact with other species, or if other species even exist there, but I'm sure you'll start exploring more. It just... will probably take a long, long time."

“Ah yeah… guess it makes sense in that perspective,” Alt laughs. “Nah we haven’t found anything yet. It’s been… chill. Space wise, at least.”

JJ chuckles. "Chill is better than trouble, if you ask me. Things weren't always perfect, even if things are... relatively peaceful now. Relatively. I mean, I was kidnapped, technically." 

Alt laughs, “Yeah, not exactly the definition of chill.”

The door opens again. "But apparently you could leave whenever," Sam says as they fly in. Their flying device has been connected to a floating tray via a tether of blue light. 

On the tray are two plates of food, two smaller plates with utensils, a bowl of fruit, two cups, and a pitcher of what looks like milk.

Alt blinks at Sam coming in and looks at the food curiously. “Huh- doesn’t look too futuristic.” He chuckles. 

"Well... most of this is from alien worlds, I think," JJ says. "Unless the nuggets are chicken?" 

"Nope. Boral nuggets," Sam says. "And the milk?" 

"Cow milk--but I do think the cow was raised in Vara so it's sort of alien." 

“Boral?” Alt asks.

"Birds from Artatov," JJ says. "Thick black feathers. They live in the north of the planet. They are sort of like chickens, so if you have a recipe that calls for one, you can switch it for the other. Including nuggets." 

One of the plates has these nuggets, which don't look too different from present-day chicken nuggets, only with a darker brown breading. Another has spherical roll-like food, made of a yellowish bread. The fruit in the bowl looks like apples at first, but the pattern on the skin is off, more stripey instead of the spotty pattern apples usually get. 

JJ moves everything to the table. He tears open one of the rolls, revealing that there are green vegetables and green cheese inside. "This is a plery," he explains. "Originally they were just filled with meat--the felorrs on Caphomia are mostly carnivorous--but you can put anything inside the plery dough."

Alt looks at all the food and hums curiously. He grabs one of the rolls and turns it over before biting into it.

The plery is like biting into a calzone, but with a bit of a tang. The vegetables inside crunch but don't seem to have too much of a taste.

“Hm! Interesting-“ Alt says as he digs into all the food- finding it comforting and almost familiar. But not quite.

"And these are honishe," JJ says, then picks up one of the fruit. "They're from Sessirya... and they're notable because the sysrevs who live there can't actually eat them but almost every other known species can. Ironic." 

The fruit is a bit softer and juicier than apples, tasting like someone mixed strawberries, apples, and oranges into a smoothie.

“Woah! That’s really good-“ Alt says after trying some. “Shame the Sessiryans can’t eat ‘em! Kinda like how humans technically eat poison when we eat spicy food huh?” He laughs. 

"Oh you have no idea how much humans can eat that others can't," JJ says, chuckling. "Capsaicin is a big one, but also caffeine, cacao--" 

"And all the things that are poisonous to you that you eat anyway," Sam adds. 

"Oh yes, like alcohol and those pufferfish!"

“Oh yeah!” Alt laughs, “Listen man they’re good! S’not our fault nature’s defenses taste delicious!”

"If you say so," Sam says. 

"Can you even taste anything, Sam?" JJ asks. "I've always wondered that." 

"Not the way you do," Sam says. 

The door to the room opens again and Anti pokes his head into the room. He looks back and forth between the three of them. 

"...yes?" Sam asks. 

"Checking to see if this is a good time to talk about the IRIS building," Anti says.

Alt looks intrigued by this but then looks at the door as Anti comes in. He shrugs, taking another bite of his food. “I don’t see why not.”

Anti nods and walks fully into the room. Sam flies downwards onto the table and disconnects the tray. "Here." Anti puts a small round device onto the table, pressing a button on the side. It projects a hologram of the space station. "The Zypso Station is composed of six layers. The IRIS building is a tourist attraction on Layer Four, composed mainly of offices, near the center of the station." As Anti talks in his robotic voice, the hologram zooms into Layer Four, past tall buildings, towards the tallest building in the middle, shaped a bit like a sword. The IRIS logo in this world is an eye shape with the word IRIS in the center, curved like a bubble. Lines of blue lights go up the side.

Alt watches the hologram with starry eyes, “Woahhh-“ He whispers, watching it work. Then he shakes his head and tries to focus. “Right okay uh… which layer are we on?”

Anti hesitates, looking at JJ. Sam lightly slaps Anti with their tail, and JJ rolls his eyes, covering his ears. "We are between two layers--Three and Two. Three is for commercial activities. Buying items and such. Two is residency. We will have to make our way into Layer Three and then into Four from there, but that will be simple enough. It will be more difficult to get into the IRIS building. It will doubtless not be in the public areas. Do you know where in the building your item is located?"

“Um.. not yet- but lemme see?” Alt says as he takes out the tracker again. The same knowledge gets beamed into his mind, with the only additional information being that it's in the upper half of the building. 

"If you are unable to have that information, we will have to plan for all eventualities," Anti says. "We will have to get through high-security doors without being spotted by the camera system. I am recalling your teleportation ability. Do you think that could help?"

Alt frowns, “Usually we get more information once we’re closer. But it says it’s in the upper half….” He nods to Anti. “I can glitch us past and maybe even disable the camera systems too… I have electric based magic.”

"Magic?" Sam repeats, surprised. 

Alt blinks then opens up his hand and lets a collection of electric magic form a ball in his palm. He then shifts into his calico cat form in a quick glitch before popping back into his chair, casually. He grins, “Magic!” 

"I see. That is your abilities?" Anti nods. "Magic does not exist here. Or if it does, I am unaware of it, and so is IRIS. They will not be prepared for that specific ability. But they are armed with stun guns and EMPs of all sorts."

“…EMPS will be an issue…” Alt grumbles, crossing his arms.

"And you will not shut down when one goes off within range," Anti says. "It will be quite dangerous. Which is why our goal will be to get in and get out without being noticed. IRIS will notice if the systems go down for too long, as well, so we will have to be fast. 

“I won’t shut off sure but it’ll disturb my powers…” Alt mumbles. “But yeah- we wanna make this as simple as possible.” 

“Jameson..." Anti pauses. "Is there... anything you could do? If you want... to help?" 

JJ had removed his hands a while ago. He grins. "If you want," he types.

Alt blinks at Jameson then grins too.

Anti fiddles with the holo projector, flipping through several diagrams. "This is common IRIS-style tech. Is there anything you can do to disrupt it?" 

"Leave it with me, I can look it over later," JJ says. "For now, continue on about the building." 

Anti nods and flicks back to the diagram of the IRIS building. "The upper floors are pretty much closed to the public. Except for roof access, where tourists can get a view of Layer Four. We could work our way up from the bottom or down from the viewing platform. Either way, we will need to disrupt the scanners at the front entrance. They will definitely detect me." 

Alt nods in agreement, “Alright- sounds simple enough. I should be able to do that.”

Anti nods. "Now as for your brother. We will probably need to find him as well, I'm assuming? Does he have magic as well?" 

"So bizarre to hear that question," JJ says. 

Then Alt's phone starts to chime again.

Alt opens his mouth to answer then blinks and takes out his phone, “Anti?” He asks.

"Yes?" says the robotic Anti. 

"Yep," says the Anti in the phone. "Or, partially. I just wanted to let you know that your brother is on the way. Along with the four others from this world." 

“Oh! He found the others then?” Alt asks. “Glad he’s not in trouble then…” 

Sam flies forward. "Why is there a screen assistant in your phone who looks like Anti?" 

Alt blinks at Sam, “Oh he’s not a screen assistant- he’s our friend. He’s another Anti from a universe separate from ours. He’s been helping us.” Alt explains.

"Another me?" the robotic Anti repeats, looking confused. 

JJ nods. "Of course, if you travel through worlds it makes sense you would've picked someone up along the way." Anti shakes his head. "What did he mean, there are others on the way? They will be seen!" 

"Nope, I'm taking them through a path with blank spots in the camera systems," Anti in the phone says. 

Anti's expression shifts to fear. "You found the path?! And--and strangers are coming this way?! Five of them, you said--how do you know they won't be followed?!" 

"I'm keeping an eye on them," Anti in the phone assures him. "I can be in two places at once." 

The robotic Anti does not look reassured, his expression stuck on fear. 

Alt looks to robotic Anti, “He can he trusted- he’s just as paranoid as you are. He will make sure they get here without IRIS noticing.”

One of Anti's green irises flickers. His expression still doesn't change. 

Sam flies over and puts their tail on Anti's shoulder reassuringly. "They won't find us," they say, removing their tail again to type. 

Anti stands up abruptly. "I am going to go do some work in the studio before we go. Feel free to look over the diagram at your will." And he turns around, leaving. 

JJ stares. Then he sighs. "I suppose I can't blame him for the paranoia."

Alt watches him go and sighs, “…I get it. I’d… I’m usually paranoid about stuff like that too. Especially when it comes to companies like IRIS…” He looks at Sam and Jj though and raises his eyes, “…do you all know why he’s.. like this with IRIS?”

JJ shakes his head. "I think there's more to it than this, but I know that him being an android is a part of it. Especially one so... alive." He pauses. "The creation of true artificial intelligence has been outlawed for centuries. If a robotic being is installed with AI, they must be programmed to follow all orders as their highest priority. That is called false AI. Obviously, Anti does not do that. As an android with true AI, his existence is illegal."

“Oh… well… yeah I guess thats enough to make anyone paranoid…” Alt mutters.

Sam flicks their tail, seeming somehow hesitant. "Want to look at the IRIS tech diagram some more?" 

"Yes, that would be great. Then I can start putting things together." JJ reaches out and starts looking through the diagrams on the holo projector.

Alt scoots up to look with JJ, but- his eyes wander to look back at the door. …is he actually worried for his other self? He hasn’t exactly been… the most hospitable.

Sam flies down as well. "I'll look too. Anything I can do to help? I'm not familiar with Olinion stuff, obviously." 

JJ smiles. "Advice would be appreciated," he types. "Let's see what we can do." 

----------- 

"I didn't know we could go this far down," Chase mutters. "Is this safe? What even is this?" 

"For maintenance, I suppose," Schneep says. 

Anti led them on a winding path down to the ground level of this layer, and then to a maintenance hatch in the floor that he said he unlocked earlier. From there, they've gone down, down, into winding tunnels, many of them blocked off by hidden entrances. The area they're in now is a gradual downward slope, metal hallways lined with tubes and ducts and bundles of wires. Clearly this area is not meant to be seen by the public. It might not be meant for people to walk through at all, with the irregular shape of the tunnel. The guys are taking this walk with varying degrees of ease. Marvin seems to be handling himself the best, quietly slipping through the small space. Schneep is lagging behind a bit, occasionally tripping over things. Jackie lingers back to keep an eye on him.

Bro feels a bit cramped in this small space, brushing aside wires and grumbling a bit. “You said this other you lives down here? How can anyone live down here…?” He mutters.

"Very carefully," Anti says from the phone screen. "Sorry to leave you on your own by the way. I could manifest, but I think it's best I don't add another person to this small space." 

"It's like some sort of... of secret lair," Jackie says in a hushed voice, then giggling a little. 

"Still, it's pretty uncomfortable," Chase says. "Why go through so much trouble to stay away from IRIS?" 

"You wouldn't do it without a good reason," Marvin mumbles.

“I mean… I can get it if it’s IRIS.” Bro says quietly, “in other universes… those guys have really hurt my friends.” His eyes burn bright blue in anger as he thinks about this- what they tried to do to Schneep… what JJ said happened to him. “I don’t trust them- not one bit.”

Chase frowns. "Brave thing to say while you're on a space station mostly built by them." 

"Crawling in between their walls, too," Jackie adds. 

"I understand what he's saying, though," Schneep says. "IRIS has always seemed... strange to me. In ways I cannot put a name to. Just a faint feeling of unease. Perhaps it is a difference of cultures." 

The ceiling is slowly getting lower as they go on.

“Well I didn’t exactly chose to come here you know,” Bro chuckles, “And even if I don’t trust em- IRIS doesn’t scare me! I’m sure they’re something me and Alt can handle- even more so with good friends helping us!” He smiles at the others.

"We'll do everything we can," Marvin promises. 

"I mean... not sure how much we can do, but we'll try," Chase says. "Do you guys think we should wear masks or something?" 

"For what?" Schneep asks.

 Jackie gasps. "Yes! We should totally wear masks!" 

"For what?" Schneep repeats. 

"I'm not sure. Just... the thing is in the IRIS building, right? If it's in a part closed to the publice, we'll have to break in or something." 

“Most likely- maybe the other Anti will have some! I already have one~” Bro grins, digging out his pink mask and putting it on, his hair flaring to yellow-green. “See? Hero mode~!”

"Oh that's so cool!" Jackie gasps.

"Your love of old comics stuff is really coming out on this wild trip, isn't it?" Chase laughs. 

Bro grins, “ha! Just like my Jackie! He loves comics! Especially superheroes.”

Chase thinks. "Yeah... I should have a mask, if possible. I am a bit of a public figure. Did you guys have streamers in your time, other-me? Or did that really start to get popular later?"

Bro nods to Chase, “Yeah actually I help my Jackie with his streams sometimes- he does more long form videos though. I bet streaming is way different now than it was for us though!”

Chase grins. "Ah, well, not much has changed, I think. The culture of it, I guess, changes really fast, but I can't imagine the actual process has changed that much. I have a room for streaming, I play games of all sorts on camera, I have mods who help keep chat orderly. I guess in your time you didn't have to worry about the connection issues streaming to other planets."

“Oh yeah no we had enough trouble streaming across our own planet!” Bro laughs.

In the distance, at the end of the tunnel, something flickers. A bit of light, very hard to catch. Was that his imagination? 

Bro blinks and tries to focus up ahead, “…did you guys see that?”

"Hmm?" Chase blinks. "See what?" 

Marvin crouches low to the ground. His eyes dilate wide. "There's something moving down there," he whispers. 

"What? What's moving?" Schneep whispers back. 

"I think it's our size." 

"Ah. I think that's safe," Anti says from Bro's phone.

“Oh- well if Anti says it’s safe then it’s fine!” Bro grins as he hurries forward.

"Well still be careful--" Anti says. 

“I’ll be careful!” Bro calls. 

Bro reaches the end of the tunnel, which seems to just... end. But there's slight movement in the wires to the left... and more flickers of green light. Two of them. 

He blinks at the slight movement and moves to look closer at the wires. “…hello?”

After a second, a metal hand reaches out and pushes aside some of the wires. "Are you... Alt's brother?" asks a voice--familiar, but computerized. 

"Holy fucking pasta!" Chase jumps at the sound of it.

Bro yells a bit in surprise then blinks rapidly, “Yes! Yes I am! …I’m Chase-“

"I didn't know you left," says Anti on the phone screen. 

The robotic man's green eyes flicker as he looks down. "Oh. So you really can be in two places at once." 

"You said something about going into the studio?" Anti persists. 

"I did go there. Then I left." The man pushes the wires aside, revealing that he's standing in a hidden branch off the tunnel, and also showing his appearance for the first time. 

The other four crowd around Bro. 

Marvin blinks. "A... cyborg?" 

"Nooooo," Jackie says, eyes wide. "I think this is a robot." 

"No," the robotic man snaps. "I am an android." 

"You're a fucking what?!" Chase gasps.

Bro looks between the group and the robotic man, blinking in confusion. “… what’s the difference? I mean- a robot I get. But…”

"Robots cannot think," the man states. "Robots are not alive." 

"Androids also haven't been made in a couple centuries, because the GC thought they'd be too dangerous," Jackie adds.

 All four of the others are looking at the man warily. 

"Who... are you?" Schneep asks hesitantly. 

"Anti."

“Ohhh- huh… why did they think they were dangerous?” Bro asks. He doesn’t seem very troubled by any of this. He brightens as he says his name. “oh! You’re this world’s Anti! That makes sense!” He grins.

"Well--because androids are strong and they don't feel pain--unless you want to program that into one, but why the fuck would you do that--" Chase says. 

"I am incapable of hurting any of you," Anti interrupts. "That is my second core program. I would only be able to break it if it got in the way of my first core program." 

Schneep tilts his head. "What is your first core?" 

"Self-preservation." 

“Ohhh I think Alt said that’s like- a robotic law or some shit.” Bro says nodding. 

Anti looks at Bro. "Makes sense, you say?"

Bro looks back at Anti and shrugs, “You kinda look like Alt! Also must of the Antis we met are based around tech so!” He grins, “It’s nice to meet ya-! you know where my brother is, right?”

"I see." Anti nods back. "Nice to... meet you... too." His face shifts into a smile for a moment before falling back into that same neutral expression. Pleasantries must be difficult for him. "Yes, I can take you the rest of the way. Follow me." He turns and disappears down the narrow tunnel he'd apparently come from. The low ceiling forces him to crouch. 

"We're sure about this?" Chase mutters. 

"Androids cannot lie," Schneep says. "Or break their word. They still have computers for brains, and computers cannot deceive people." 

"Unless they're really poorly programmed," Marvin adds. 

"Yes, but I think if someone goes to the effort of making an android, they are going to program them well, yes?"

“He seems fine to me!” Bro says brightly, “If an Anti isn’t immediately creepy or out to kill us, they’re good in my book!” Bro follows after him, crouching down through the tunnel. The four others exchange alarmed looks upon hearing other Antis have tried to kill Bro, but then follow as well. 

The tunnel gets really uncomfortably cramped, but luckly, they're not walking for long. Anti crouches down close to the ground and grabs a handle sticking out of all the bits and bobs on the floor, lifting up a square and pushing it aside. Light spills from the opening. He then drops through.

Bro blinks a bit in confusion but then shrugs and drops down too, expertly landing on his feet like a superhero would.

He lands in a + shaped intersection of metal corridors, each ending in a round door that slides up into the ceiling. After a moment of hushed debating, Marvin jumps down after Bro, landing on his feet. Then Jackie lands, then, Chase, and finally Schneep, who stumbles a bit but has Jackie catch him. 

Bro looks around the space and whistles, “Damn! This is very future-y! They even got those slidey door things!”

A door slides open, and Sam flies out. "Why didn't you say you were leaving?!" they type at Anti. 

Chase gasps. "Oh my god! That's--you're an optel!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Alt glitches out into the hall, eyes wide. He relaxes as soon as he sees Bro. “Chase!” 

“Alt!” Bro says happily, throwing his hands into the air. He rushes over to Alt and pulls him into a big bear hug that lifts him off the floor. 

Alt squirms a little and pushes at him. “Where the hell were you??” Alt grumbles. 

“Meeting the others!” Bro says, dropping Alt down and gesturing out, “Guys! This is my little brother Alt! Alt, this is Marvin, Jackie, Schneep and other me!” 

Alt’s eyes widen as he sees the others- especially Schneep and Marvin. “O-Oh my god…! You’re … aliens- like for real!” 

“Crazy, right?” Bro laughs.

Sam quickly turns to Alt and drops something in his hand. A crescent-shaped object. "Put that translator on really fast," they say, then fly back to Anti. Alt blinks and Bro gestures to his own and Alt quickly puts it on. 

"Yep, aliens!" Jackie says cheerfully, waving a metal hand at Alt. "Nice to meet you!" 

"I will point out you must have been spending time with an alien this whole time," Schneep says, pointing at Sam, who seems to be having an intense staring contest with Anti. 

"It's different when they look closer to you, I think," Marvin says. "And other-Chase also mentioned we're all friends in their home world. So we're probably human there." 

"We are?!" Schneep blinks. "I suppose that makes sense, but I cannot imagine being human. Can you picture me with warm blood?" 

"Depends. Can you picture me with flat feet like all the rest of you?" 

Schneep laughs, a sound that has a bit of a hiss on the end. 

“Well I mean- I’m used to seeing things like Sam. They’re just more.. hi-tech here. But I haven’t seen anything like you guys before!” Alt says. He glitches closer, his eyes sparkling with fascination. He looks to Schneep, “Are you implying that you’re cold blooded? Like a reptile? And Marvin you’re -! You’re a cat person!” He glitches a bit more in excitement. “that’s so cool!” 

"Not quite a reptile, I believe the classification is reshkaz, but a reptile is the closest thing on Terra," Schneep says. 

Marvin blinks, ears perking up. "Thank you! Your, um--glitchy thing is cool too." 

Alt grins sheepishly, “thanks…”

JJ walks out of the room behind Alt. 

"Oh! Hey!" Chase raises a hand and waves. "Guys, that's JJ! Nice to see you again! Sorry it's been a while... Guess I kinda missed you disappearing." 

JJ smiles back. "No, that's fine," he types. "I'm sure you were busy." 

Bro looks at Jj entering and grins. “Hi J! I’m Chase! Or you all can call me Bro~!” He grins.

Chase blinks. "Dude... is your voice mod set to Marvelan English?" 

Sighing, JJ turns a dial. "I set it to that for Alt." 

"Why d'you even have that setting in the first place?" 

"I think it's fun to sound fancy."

Alt blinks, “…we sound fancy?” He looks at Bro who shrugs, “Apparently- the way we speak is like… hearing all the pirates talk all fancy in the last world, I think.” 

Alt frowns. “…that’s so weird-“

JJ waves at Bro. "Nice to see you. Alt has mentioned you. I love your outfit! It's like an old superhero movie." 

“Thanks dude! This isn’t even my real hero outfit though- that’s a superhero costume!” Bro grins. 

"Weird thing that the further you go back in history, the fancier people seem to talk," Jackie says. "Don't even get me started on Shakespeare. I can barely understand it sometimes. I need one of those side-by-side translations." 

Bro laughs as Jackie, “I needed one of those in secondary school! Guess Shakespeare is too fancy for both of us!” 

"Well, I guess fancy is relative, since they don't think they sound that way," Chase says. 

Anti and Sam join the group again. "Do you all... need anything?" Anti asks. "We do have food here."

Bro blinks at Sam and Anti then waves his hand, “Nah we just ate!” 

“…you went out to eat?!” Alt asks Bro with narrowed eyes. “While you had no idea where I was?!” 

“…we brought you dessert….?”

“Hey I mean… as far as we knew you were with JJ, and his shop wasn’t too far away from where we were meeting,” Chase says. “And if you live on a planet that doesn’t have alien contact, how often are you going to eat alien food?” 

“Sorry, though,” Jackie says sheepishly. “I guess we got caught up in the excitement of having someone from the past there.” 

Marvin reaches into the bag he’s carrying and takes out the takeout box as Bro mentions dessert.

Alt makes a face then sighs, “Yeah I guess that’s fair…” he blinks at Marvin and glitches over to look at the takeout box. His eyes sparkle, “…is that chocolate…?” 

Bro hides a laugh.

“Yep!” Jackie says. “These are something called a yessyir, they’re a traditional dessert from Sessirya. The chocolate is a relatively new addition, since it doesn’t grow on that planet. Usually they’re more like that purple one there.” 

“Where did you guys go?” JJ asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“This place called Kissarso’s, it’s very good,” Chase says. 

“Oh that place is in the Gateway isn’t it? I’ve thought about trying someplace like that.”

“It was really good!” Bro says brightly. 

Alt studies the desserts some more before grabbing the box from Marvin and looking back at Bro, “…I guess you’re forgiven then-“ He then starts to head back to the room they were in, “We should discuss the plans for getting into IRIS now that everyone is here- c’mon.”

"Right, right." Chase nods, then laughs. "I can't believe we're gonna fucking break into the IRIS building." 

The group all files into JJ's room. There aren't enough chairs at the table for everyone--not nearly--so the group ends up standing around. Schneep looks around. "Is this where you have been staying? There is no bed." 

"Panel on the wall rolls up to form a cabinet bed," JJ says. 

"Oh pog!" Marvin says, getting surprisingly excited. "Those are the best beds!" 

JJ laughs silently. 

Sam flies down to the holo projector and turns it onto the IRIS building diagram. Around it are a couple devices and metal parts, all coppery and golden.

“Oh! Neat room!” Bro says then gasps as he sees the holo projector and bends down to look at it better. “Yooo!! This is sick!! …what’s all these parts for though?”

"I was making things to help us," JJ says. "But even before that, Anti and Sam were kind enough to give me things to work with. It gets really boring stuck in here." 

"What sort of things to help us?" Jackie asks, intrigued. 

"Something to deactivate electronic seals on doors, and something to set off a loud sound in case we need a distraction. I'm open to more suggestions, too." 

“Ohh woah! That’s so cool!!” Bro grins. “Those sounds brilliant-“ 

"I will tell you all what I told these three," Anti says. "Your part is likely in a part of the building closed to the public. We could get in from the bottom or in from the roof access, which are both open to the public but still have scanners for safety."

Bro blinks at Anti then hums, “Alt can get us probably to the roof if need be- or I could but I think people would notice someone who can fly.” He laughs. 

“Then we gotta get the scanners down to get inside.” Alt adds.

"Well, you can get to the roof from inside the building," Chase says. "There's a public elevator. It can only access the first couple floors and the roof." 

"Have you been to the building before, Chase?" Schneep asks. 

"Yeah, when I first moved here. It was a while ago but I remember that elevator." 

"Either way, Alt is right, we have to get the scanners down," Jackie says. "We don't want them to take away JJ's devices. Or, uh... Anti, I guess?" 

Anti nods. 

"I will be staying back and advising you with the building diagram," Sam says. "I have a line directly into Anti's head." 

"Sounds creepy when you say it like that," Chase mutters. "But anyways. Scanners? JJ, can you help with that?" 

JJ shakes his head. "There will probably be a lot of people at the public entrance. We don't want to cause a scene.

“I can probably take them down,” Alt says, pulling out a yessyir and taking a bite before continuing, “I have electric magic so i can short circuit them.”

The yessir has a texture like a slightly more solid pudding, with the disk at the bottom being solid chocolate. Besides the chocolate taste, the main flavor is a strange sweet one, light like a fruit of some sort but not recognizable as anything on Earth. Alt blinks in surprise at the texture and taste of the yessyir. It’s… really good though so he finishes it off quickly.

"Magic, yes, I forget," Schneep says. "...Magic. Is real. Where you come from." He blinks, looking a bit overwhelmed by that.

"I'm sure IRIS would notice if the scanners short circuited for too long," Marvin says. "So we should be quick." 

"Can you do the same with the camera systems, Alt?" JJ asks.

Alt nods to JJ, “Most likely! Since they won’t know to expect magic like mine- I think we should be good.” He smiles.

"And... do we know where in the building your piece is?" Marvin asks. 

"I believe Alt said their trackers give more detail as they get closer," Anti says.

“Yeah… all I know right now is it’s in the upper parts.” Alt says with a shrug.

"So we will have to improvise?" Schneep says. "Is that... a good idea?" 

"It's our only option, I guess," Chase says. 

The four guys don't look so confident. 

"Come on, you all, this is important," JJ says. "Do we want IRIS to get their hands on something that belongs to these two?"

“Luckily this one piece shouldn’t give them like… too much power,” Bro says, “but we need it to fix our own machine.” 

“Don’t worry, me and Chase are pretty good at thinking fast on our feet,” Alt says confidently.

"Alright... we'll help where we can!" Jackie says, putting on a smile. "Not sure what we can do, though." 

"Distraction, perhaps?" Schneep says. "Or lookouts?"

“… wait- do none of you guys have like… powers or anything?” Bro asks, “not even like- alien powers??” 

“Chase don’t be rude-“ Alt hits him slightly. 

“It’s a valid question!” 

Alt looks at the others and smiles, “we’ll be grateful for any help.”

"Well... I am pretty fast and have a tight grip," Jackie says, opening and closing his hands. "I'm also about three inches taller than I was before the accident! They asked me if I wanted to be taller when getting the cybernetics and I was like 'yeah' and so they just did that." 

“…that’s why you got robotic stuff?? Cuz you were in an accident??” Bro asks Jackie, bewildered. 

Jackie nods. "Long story. Basically, vehicle accident. I passed out so I don't remember most of it. But it was a while ago. And I like customizing my hands and stuff!" He opens and closes his hands a couple more times. 

“Oh… well- at least you can look at the bright side of things now!” Bro says. 

Chase chuckles. Then he looks at Schneep and Marvin. "Well? Do aliens have special powers?" 

"...no??" Schneep says, confused. "What do you even mean by that?" 

"Well, in comparison to humans, felorrs like me are a lot quieter, and more flexible," Marvin says. "IRIS is a Terra company, they're probably expecting human abilities to be the default. So, Schneep, what are kritzeins like compared to humans?" 

"Nothing all that useful for breaking into a building!" Schneep says defensively. "It is small things, like being immune to many diseases and enduring higher temperatures. I--well I suppose for me personally I am a doctor? So if anyone gets hurt I can help?"

Alt shakes his head, “you all are doing more than enough for us- and if you feel like this is too much, we understand.”

"Well, we've come this far, might as well go all the way," Chase says, shrugging. 

Schneep nods. "It is as Chase says." 

"When are we planning on doing this?" Marvin asks. 

"I am assuming that the sooner, the better," Anti says.

Alt stretches and glitches to his feet, grabbing and slinging on his backpack, “I can get us to the building right now if everyone is ready.”

"Huh?" Chase blinks. "What do you mean? We're like... a whole layer and a half away." 

"Alt has a teleportation ability," JJ says. 

"Oh!" Chase's eyes widen. "Pog!" 

"No, we cannot just appear right outside the building," Anti says. "We have to appear in a blind spot for the cameras." 

"Have one in mind?" Sam asks. 

"Yes. I also need to change clothes into something more covering." 

"Riiiight." Jackie nods. "You might be able to excuse a couple metal bits as cybernetics, but uh... right now it's pretty clear that you're all metal." 

"I will go do that now," Anti says. "We can leave as soon as I return." He heads out of the room. 

Alt nods, “Alright.” 

JJ gathers up the two devices. "Who wants to carry these? I don't have a bag."

Bro blinks as looks at his utility belt, “uh- I bet me or Alt could hold them?”

"Oh, they'd probably fit on your belt there! I made sure to include clips. That works out." JJ hands them over to him, then makes sure his monocle is secured. 

Bro grins and puts the devices on his belt and gives JJ a thumbs up, “Awesome!” 

"You can really teleport?" Marvin asks, pupils wide and dilated in awe.

Alt blinks then grins, quickly glitching around the room before appearing back in his spot and putting his hands in his pockets. “Yup~! I call it glitching-“

"Because it looks like computer glitches!" Marvin says excitedly, tail really waving in the air behind him. 

"That's so awesome!" Chase shouts, laughing. "You're both like superheroes!" 

Jackie says, grinning. "That's so pog!"

Alt and Bro exchange glances before Bro laughs, “Yeah I guess so! Alt helps me a lot in my hero duties now-“ 

Alt plays with his mask and shrugs, “…I dunno if heroing is… for me though but… I do like- using my magic for good. Helping people… it’s… nice.” His cheeks are red.

Jackie smiles at Alt. "Well I'm sure you're great at it! You seem cool!" 

Alt smiles shyly at Jackie and then hides a bit in his mask. 

Anti returns, wearing a different outfit. Still black, but now it covers everything except for his hands--even his neck. It's very cyberpunk looking. He also has a set of mirrored sunglasses on his head, which he pulls down over his eyes. "Ready to proceed. And I also got these." He puts some black, shimmery fabric on the table. 

Chase reaches out, sorting through them. "Face masks?" 

"They are designed to scramble your faces on most cameras," Anti says. "Most. I cannot guarantee that all cameras were blocked, as there had to be some exceptions made or else I wouldn't be able to identify you."

Bro blinks at Anti then grins, “yooo! Looking Pog my dude~!” He looks down at the masks, “oooh neat!”

"'My dude'--haven't heard that phrase in a while," Chase says, laughing. He takes one of the masks, turning it over a bit to figure out how it would fit, and then puts it on, hiding the lower half of his face. 

"We're not going to stand out that much, are we?" Marvin asks. 

"Nah, human fashion has included masks for a long time," Chase says. "You must've noticed." 

"Why is that?" Schneep asks, interested. 

"Not sure. I think they started as some sort of utility thing but then people thought they looked cool."

“It was to prevent sickness for a while,” Bro says, picking one up and putting it on, taking off his hero mask, “it was a popular trend in Japan. Just spread to other countries.” 

“I think they look cool, obviously.” Alt says, flicking his own.

"It's something about the mystery of it all," Jackie says, taking one as well. 

"Doesn't exactly go with my style, though," JJ says. 

"Would you rather have your face recorded on camera?" Anti asks. 

"I wasn't saying that." JJ takes a mask as well. 

"Why do you have these, anyway?" Schneep asks as he takes one too. 

"Precaution," Anti says slowly. "In any case. Ready to proceed when you all are."

Alt pulls up his mask and nods, “We just need to link up- and Anti you just need to visualize where you want us to appear at.” 

Bro goes to take Alt’s hand and they both offer out their hands to the others.

"Okay. This will probably be really weird, but let's do it!" Jackie grins as he takes Bro's hand. 

"There's a lot of us, are you sure you will be fine?" Schneep asks, taking Jackie's hand in turn. 

"I'm sure it will be," JJ says. "We won't be going too far, really. Not like we're teleporting down to Terra." He takes Alt's hand once he's finished typing. Everyone else links up from there. 

“Yeah it’s no big- I’m all fueled up,” Alt grins, his eyes sparking green blue. “…the yessyir helped a lot.” Bro laughs. 

"Visualizing clear," Anti says. 

"Androids are probably very good at visualizing, aren't they?" Chase chuckles.

The door slides open then, going up into the ceiling. "--ready soon," a voice is saying from out of sight. And something flies into the room. A--a Sam! Clearly a Sam, what else could that big round eye be? This Sam is a bit bigger than a basketball, and they're not flying on their own. Instead, they're resting in some sort of floating device, a white bowl-shaped object with glowing blue concentric circles on the bottom. There's also what looks to be a keypad on the floating device. The Sam's big eye immediately locks onto Alt. Their tail raises up and types on the keypad. "Intruder!" says a computerized voice.

Alt blinks in surprise, “S-Sam?!” He says- before it types on Intruder. He holds up his hands, shaking them as he tries to say, “w-wait no I’m-!”

"Intruder?!" the voice from outside calls, and a man rushes into the room as well. A very... strange-looking man. He's wearing black pants and a cropped black T-shirt, which shows off the fact that his body is mostly metal. The only part that seems organic is the head...though there's still something a bit robotic about that, as well. Something about the dark green hair and the black-sclera'd green eyes ruins the illusion. But... putting all that aside, the man's face... it's Alt. Or, well, it's closer to the Anti in his phone, but same thing, right?

Alt’s eyes widen further as he stares dumb founded at the …man? That just walked in. “…w-what the hell…??” He breathes, looking unnerved by the sight of the robotic man.

“How did you getten here?!” Sam types out. “We’re well hiding!”

The robotic man shakes his head. “Tere’s no good splanation. You know wat we hafto do.”

“Anti!” Sam spins around to look at him. “Not egahn!”

…is something wrong with these two? The way they’re talking is… off.

“An tat dozen splain HOW or WIE tey gotten!” Sam continues.

The robotic man tilts his head. The green irises in his eyes turn blue and start circling like a loading screen. “Aksessen Camra Systm…” he says, voice slightly more robotic. The loading circle stops, and his blank expression shifts to one of confusion. “Tey dust… eppeer’d. …Strenge.”

Alt looks freaked out as he staggers back. “W-Why are you guys talking like that?? The fuck is going on?!”

Now the two of them look at him. The robotic man still has that confused expression, and Sam narrows their eye—oh, this Sam has eyelids. Weird.

The loading circle comes back into the man’s eyes. “Lungwaj dialec unnawn,” he says “Serten base… dialec vound.” Then the circle disappears. “The real question is why you are speaking in a form of English that hasn’t been used in a couple hundred years,” the man says. “And how you got in here. You simply appeared on the camera system. What are you doing here?”

“C-Couple hundred years?!” Alt stammers in confusion. “J-Jesus Christ o-okay uh… well if this place is this advanced… I’m Alt and I’m… you- from a parallel universe.” He says slowly, looking at the robotic man.

And now the robotic man looks confused again. It’s the exact same expression, like he only has one face to make for this emotion.

Sam fiddles with the touchscreen of their keypad. “They do look like you a bit, Anti.” Adjusting the language settings, probably.

“Shut up,” Anti says.

Sam’s eyelid curves, like the way eyes move when someone is laughing.

“The multiverse theory does not have concrete proof,” Anti continues. “This could be an elaborate trick.”

“So you think they time traveled?”

“That is also unlikely. It’s most likely that this is because of IRIS.” Anti’s expression shifts to something angry. “Show us what’s in your bag.”

Alt glitches back a bit, curling in on himself as he looks at the robotic Anti with fear. “I promise- we have nothing to do with IRIS- but uh… here, my phone is probably proof enough.” He says, holding it out for Anti to look at.

Anti takes it immediately, holding it delicately as he turns it over, green irises locked onto it. Sam flies over to get a closer look.

“A design like this has not been used in…” Anti trails off. “One moment.” He turns to the side and walks over to the desk, placing the phone on a black square attached to its surface. “Not even compatible with the lescharge. Interesting. But it seems to be good as new, with my limited scanning abilities. Sam? Should we take it down to the scan?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, if they offered it up,” Sam says.

“It could be refurbished.”

“Uh please don’t take my phone?? I really need it-“ Alt says. He takes his bag off his shoulders and opens it up, “Here you need more proof?” He starts pulling stuff out- leaving the pirate clothes but pulling out his iPad, his spellbooks, a leftover granola bar, and a med kit. “Is this enough?” He asks.

Sam flies over and stares staring at all the stuff, their pupil dilated wide. Anti wanders over afterwards, his neutral expression on his face again.

“Anti, look!” Sam jabs their tail at the granola bar. “Plastic wrap!”

“That is… unusual,” Anti says slowly.

“…you guys don’t have… plastic anymore?” Alt asks, confused. “…guess that’s probably you know… better for the environment…”

“We have bioplast, and big plastic parts for industrial work, but this is true plastic wrap," Sam says, their tail flying as they type. They seem really excited.

Anti folds his arms. “So… you are a time traveler, a multiverse traveler, or got this from some company breaking several galactic laws.”

“Don’t be so stubborn, Anti!” Sam says, narrowing their eye at him. “That, along with everything else here? Look, this old tablet looks like it has been used a lot. It’s case is worn. They wouldn’t go that far to trick us.”

“I… suppose…” Anti says reluctantly.

“Believe me- I know how insane it is to say I’m a multiverse traveller,” Alt mutters, putting his stuff back in his bag, “so I only say it when there’s no other explanation.” He then looks around the room again and hums, “Um… so- what year is it… exactly? And where are we?”

“It is 4317 by Standard Galactic Time,” Anti says, becoming more robotic again for a second. “But by Terra years, it is currently 2355. We are on the IRIS Zypso Station, though we are currently disconnected from the power and WiFi grid in a self-sustaining secure location.”

Alt blinks comically, processing all that information. “…what the fucking hell- uh- okay… 335 years in the future that’s not terrifying at all-“ he mutters to himself. Then he straightens and addresses Anti again, “Okay well uh- I’m here with my brother and… we’re looking for something important. Our multiverse device broke and one of the pieces fell here…” as he says this he checks the tracker.

The tracker tells him that the TRVLR piece is in the IRIS building in the center of the station.

Anti tilts his head. “Fascinating. I wish your brother luck, then.”

Alt freezes, “uh…. What? Why just… my brother? I-I need to go find him!”

“We cannot let IRIS know where are location is,” Anti says calmly. “That would be disastrous. So I’m afraid that now that you know our location, you cannot leave.”

“For Myr’s sake, Anti!” Sam says. “You make it sound like we’re going to kill him!”

“We are not,” Anti hurriedly adds. “But you cannot leave.”

“What?!” Alt shouts, glitching back. “Y-You can’t keep me here! I need to find Chase! I need to get this piece and go home!”

“He can find the piece and then find you,” Anti says calmly.

Sam rolls their one big eye. “You can’t do this again, Anti.”

“I can do almost anything I want,” Anti says, expression switching to a smile for a second before returning to neutral. “This bunker is self-sustaining. There is only one exit and I am locking it right now. I am in control of all systems.”

“How is he supposed to be able to find me if this place is hidden?!” Alt yells, “If this is 300 years in the future our phones won’t even work!”

As Anti says he’s locking the system Alt’s stomach drops and he quickly tries to glitch out of the room and hurriedly tries to find the exit.

Alt glitches into a corridor, metal with those squares of light in the ceiling just like the room before. He’s in a + shaped intersection, and each corridor ends in another one of those circular sliding doors. There’s no sign of which door is the exit.

Alt panics hurtling towards the first door and trying to pull it open-

There is no door handle to pull, but as he approaches it opens on its own and he stumbles into a very different sort of room. It has the same metal walls and ceiling lights, but these walls have been colored blue, with some faux-wood paneling on the lower half, and the false window on the opposite wall shows a green forest at sunset. One wall has a door that’s half/slid open to show a small room beyond—what is that, a futuristic bathroom? This room itself has a desk in the corner made of copper and dark wood. There’s a circular rug in the center, along with a table and two chairs done in the same wood and copper style. Random bits of metal are piled on shelves in the corners, mostly coppery or golden in color. There’s a man sitting at the desk, who looks up in surprise. He’s wearing a brown and blue outfit with some intricate geometric designs at the edges, done in gold. One of his blue eyes is hidden behind a monocle stylized to look like a copper gear. He also has a thick mustache.

Alt blinks in confusion and yelps as he tumbles through the door. He flushes as he sees the man and stammers out, “S-Sorry!” Before he glitches away to try another door.

Anti is in the corridor now. He’s leaning against the wall silently, his neutral expression still on his face. He doesn’t make any move to stop Alt as he glitches into the intersection.

Alt pants and glares at his robot copy and yells out, “where’s the fucking exit?! You can’t keep me prisoner here!!”

“I can.” Anti shrugs.

The door Alt just tried slides open again and the man steps out, looking back and forth between Anti and Alt in confusion. He raises his arm, and it’s revealed there’s a brace on his wrist, similar to that hero JJ’s from one of those first worlds. It serves a similar function too, as he types on a golden keyboard and a voice comes out of it. “Wat’s goen on? All tis nowz abow?”

“Set your device to the Marvelan dialect, please, JJ,” Anti says.

The man, JJ, laughs a little and looks around like he’s expecting someone to say this is a prank.

Alt briefly looks at JJ through his anger- but when he laughs Alt snaps. His magic crackles around him like exposed wires as he grabs robot Anti by the shirt and pulls him down to his level- or tries to at least. “Listen here, you piece of shit! I will not be trapped in some weird future cage by some freak robotic version of myself! Let me out!”

Anti's face shifts to surprise--and for a moment, something like fear. But then it returns to neutral. "I cannot do that," he says. "And what will you do to try and make me? Shut me down? Fry my circuits? I don't feel pain, you cannot threaten me with that. And if you shut me down, Sam will boot me back up. And neither Sam nor JJ have access to the bunker systems. If I am gone, they cannot help you open the exit."

JJ backs away, looking very overwhelmed by this situation, and a little afraid.

"Even if you can force your way out, you're not much better out there," Anti continues. "With something like that energy of yours, IRIS will not hesitate to take you. They will be very curious about it, I'm sure. And there are very, very few spaces on their station where they cannot see what's happening. They will find you. Don't... put yourself at risk like that."

Energy crackles more and more around Alt as he snarls, “I don’t care! I-I won’t be a fucking captive here! You can’t just l-lock people up! I-I’ll…!” Underneath all this anger is very clearly fear as he can barely contain the panic gripping at his heart. “I-I need to go to IRIS anyways! That’s where the piece is!! So just stop being a stubborn ass and let me out!”

"IRIS has your piece?" Anti repeats. "And--you said it was for a multiverse travel device?" The loading circles are back for a couple seconds. "We cannot let that happen. Sam!"

Sam flies out into the corridor from the first room. "You know, Anti, I was thinking, and I can't let this happen twice--"

"It's not happening twice," Anti interrupts. "We are going to plan a way to get this device piece back from IRIS."

"IRIS has it?!" Sam's eye widens in alarm.

"Yes. If Alt is not lying." Anti looks back at Alt. "We are going to help you get that back. We are. But I am very serious. You cannot simply walk out into the station. So... if you will only stay here until we are ready... I will... reveal the exit."

Alt furrows his eyebrows in confusion and lets Anti go, glitching back and looking at him skeptically. “Happen… twice? W-What are you talking about? You’re gonna help me just like that?”

"Sam was referring to--" Anti states.

"I was referring to f u c k i n g kidnapping people!" Sam interrupts. "Because this would be the second f u c k i n g time!"

JJ looks at Alt and gives a little wave, still looking a bit nervous.

"You are not helping us look less threatening," Anti says.

"You're not helping yourself look less threatening," Sam rebuts. They fly over to Alt. "But yes, we will help. Or at least I will, if you don't trust Anti. I don't want to think of what IRIS would do with tech to travel the multiverse."

Alt’s eyes widen and he looks back at Jj. He points wildly at him, “You’re keeping him trapped here too?! What the fuck!”

"That sounds worse than it is--" Anti says.

"There's no way to make it sound GOOD," Sam says.

JJ fiddles with a dial on his brace and then types something out. "Actually I can leave whenever I want."

Anti turns to look at him, confusion on his face. "What?"

"I made a door hacker the second week after you gave me parts to mess with," JJ says.

Anti's expression shifts to fear.

Alt blinks back at JJ with raised eyebrows. He then grins and looks back at Anti, crossing his arms, “Huh- not as secure as you thought, is it?”

"How--h-h-how--" Anti's stutter is more like a glitch in his voice. He pauses to get it under control. "How did I not notcie?"

"No one here is familiar with Olinion technology," JJ says.

"Well it's very ineffic--" Sam says.

"It's artistic," JJ insists, interrupting Sam's typing with his own.

"You--you didn't l-leave, though," Anti stutters again. "Why--why didn't you leave?"

JJ hesitates. "I... thought this wasn't so bad." He looks at Alt. "Also... who are you and why are you making us talk like we're at a Digitalrise Faire?"

Alt gives JJ a look at him saying it wasn’t so bad here. Then he blinks comically and points at himself. “Wha?? Digitalrise what’s it??” He coughs then gestures at himself. “I’m Alt- and I’m… from the past. Kinda. I’m from parallel universe that’s in the past- about 335 years or so… and I’m supposed to be this bitch.” He gestures his thumb back at Anti.

JJ's eyes go wide. He looks back and forth between Alt and Anti.

"It is, as far as we have determined, true," Anti says.

With that, JJ then starts to grin. "Oh! So in that case--you're probably from the Digitalrise! That era of time on Terra when computers were made and started appearing everywhere and doing everything--"

"Nerd." Sam presses a single button to say that.

"You can't tell me that optels don't also have events to celebrate the past!" JJ says.

"We look towards the future, not the past. And when we do have events, we don't call them 'faires'."

"The word actually comes from the historical event called Renaissance Faires--"

"Nerd."

Alt holds his head a bit, all of this overwhelming him a bit. “Ugh… thinking about the present becoming an historical event is making my head spin…”

"We won't talk about it, then," JJ says, physically backing away.

"But returning to the topic of before," Anti says. "Alt, if you would... please... agree not to go out into the rest of the station until we have a plan, I will show you the exit."

Alt shakes his head and looks back at Anti. He frowns and glares at Anti before eventually sighing as he crosses his arms. “…fine. I guess I can do that.”

Anti nods. And immediately, one of the glowing squares in the ceiling turns off, revealing that there is a seam around the edge of it. Anti points up towards it.

"Trapdoor entrance," Sam comments.

Alt blinks and looks up in confusion. “Uh… what? Are we- going in there??”

"No, not right now," Anti says. "Unless you are going to break your word. Something I am incapable of doing."

"That is the way out," Sam explains.

“Oooh. Okay. Good to know,” Alt mutters, narrowing his eyes at the trapdoor. Then he looks around, “…I hope Chase is okay…”

JJ blinks. "Chase? Do you know him?"

"His brother is also here," Anti explains. "I assume that is his name."

"Not a very common one. I had a customer named that."

“That’s not a common name anymore?” Alt asks JJ, “But yeah… that’s my brother, Chase Brody… he came to this universe with me.”

JJ blinks. "That's the name of my customer, too."

"If you are, supposedly, an organic version of me, then perhaps your brother is another version of that customer of yours," Anti says. "Would that mean your brother is near him, perhaps?"

“It’s a possibility…” Alt mutters, “We usually appear around the same people when we pop up in these universes…” he looks back at JJ, “…what do you sell?”

JJ perks up. "All sorts of Olinion devices! I make them myself! Our technology is very unique, you know! But they function the same as anything else. Here, my brace and scanner are good examples." He reaches up and takes off his monocle, tilting it back and forth. The glass seems oddly shimmery.

Alt blinks more in confusion, “What’s Olinion?” He asks. Then he glitches a bit closer and tilts his head at JJ curiously.

JJ hands the monocle to Alt to examine. Oh, the glass is shimmery because it doubles as a screen. The one side of it that's meant to go into the eye has tiny, tiny text on it, appearing and disappearing. "It's my home planet," JJ says casually.

“Oh! You’re from… a different planet-“ Alt says as he looks at the monocle in awe. “That’s… that’s so cool! So you sell tech that’s based from there? Is that what your planet is known for? What else can you make??” His eyes are sparkling.

JJ nods, just as excited. "Yes, Olinion is very unique in its technology! We can do just about anything, but it will be very different from everywhere else. Regular things like cameras and speakers and lights of course, but we're really good at modes of transportation in particular--"

Suddenly, there's a chiming noise from the other room. Everyone looks towards it. "Alt, is that your phone?" Sam asks.

Alt listen intently to JJ then blinks in confusion as he looks back. “Uh… yeah I think?” He glitches back into the other room to look for it.

The phone is on the desk where Anti left it after he took it from Alt. It looks like there's an alarm going off. But not for long, as Anti--the eye-patch Anti--appears on the screen and silences it. "Sorry bout that, had to get your attention," he says. "I feel slightly offended that you forgot about me. But not really. I heard everything. So... you're okay with staying here?"

“I’m sorry- I… I just panicked.” Alt says quietly, picking back up the phone. He then nods. “I think I have to be… cuz I’m like… seriously out of my depths here… I just hope Chase hadn’t gotten into worse trouble…”

"Hmm..." Anti frowns. "Well, if you think you'll be fine on your own, I can go find him. This bunker seems to have its own self-contained power system, so I can't connect to the grid, but I should be able to manifest outside it anyway. But I'll stay here if you'd prefer that."

Alt deflates, “…if you could, I’d appreciate that… it seems like I’m pretty safe here… and you’ll know where to find me if anything happens. I-I just… if IRIS is around… I don’t want Chase to get hurt.”

Anti nods. "I'll keep an eye on your phone. If you need me, send a text to Chase's phone. It probably won't go through but I'll notice it." He pauses. "Um... be safe, okay?"

Alt’s face softens and he smiles, “Thanks, Anti… I’ll be okay. You be safe too.”

Anti nods, giving a small smile back. "I will. See you soon." And then Alt's phone screen becomes static, and when it's clear, Anti is gone.

There's the sound of the room's door sliding open, a slight swshh. JJ appears. "Is everything okay in here?"

Alt looks back at JJ and smiles, “yeah sorry- looks like I left my alarm on… I tried to call Chase but- didn’t go through so…” He pockets his phone and heads back out to the others.

JJ nods. "That makes sense. There's no WiFi or cell down here." He pauses. "Do you... want to keep talking about Olinion tech? I don't often get the opportunity."

“Yeah I think I’d really like that,,” Alt smiles shyly. “And uh… if you want to know… anything about my time- I could try to tell you. But I’m really interested in your tech!”

JJ lights up. "Alright! Let's go sit down in my room to talk. That will be more comfortable than here." He turns and leads Alt away.

-----------

Bro falls with a jolt, and lands in a very different environment than the pirate ship he was just on. He lands on a soft mound of grass. Around him are trees and bushes and vines, all of which look... a bit strange. Some of the vines are red, and the tree's branches are strangely curvy and regular. This is some sort of indoor park, as it's surrounded by a glass-and metal railing. A glass bubble surrounds the park, a window showing the night sky outside... filled with more stars than Bro had ever seen before, in any other universe.

Bro groans and rubs his head, peeking his eye open to look around. Then he gasps as he looks up, seeing all the multitude of stars, awe-struck. “Woahhhh!” He laughs breathlessly.

There are voices coming from behind him. "Luk, bruh, Im tellen you, it wuhs hillary! You had t'be tere, I gess."

"I gess I did. Chase, I'll mire yor hard wark, but Im dust not inresed in streams."

"But you'd watch fur meeee, rye?"

A laugh. "Maibeh I'll stoby okashonly."

...what the hell? Who talks like that?

Bro blinks as he hears his name and tunes into the conversation. Then he furrows his eyebrows and digs at his ear- did he get sea water in it or something??

Behind him, there's the glimpse of metal through the plants--no doubt the inside of whatever place this park is in. Walking down a path, from left to right, are two people. The one closer to him is partially hiding the other, but he can see a white coat and some reddish brown hair. The other person--the one blocking his view of the other--is very familiar to him. That's his face again. Though the clothes are a bit weird... some alternative fashion that's mostly black with some splashes of neon bright color. But the cap is still in place.

"I cehd make you a mod, if you wunded, I tink you'd be ged ad tat," the version of him says.

"Chase, dyou reelay tink I haf time teh mod yor streams?" the other person replies.

Chase shrugs. "You cehd make time."

"No, I reelay can't."

Bro freezes as he sees his face on the stranger and he looks around more in confusion. “…the fuck is happening right now? Am I losing my mind??” He whispers.

To make things even more confusing, something comes into sight through the bubble window. Slowly rising up from the bottom. A blue, white, and green sphere... a globe coming into sight. No, it's not the thing that's moving. Wherever Bro is standing right now--that has to be moving, tilting slightly downwards. Because that's... that's a planet.

That's a whole ass planet.

Bro’s eye widen and he shouts in surprise, “what the fuck?!”

That immediately draws the attention of his other version and the other person with him. "Ya, bruh!" Chase says, raising a hand and waving at him. "Nice cohsyum! Is tere a Digi Faire hapnen?"

The other person leans around the side of Chase. He... looks familiar. But there's something off. His hair is a reddish brown, but his skin is pale, no peach undertones at all. Behind his metal-frame glasses, there are some red-pink things on his forehead and cheeks. Decoration or makeup of some kind? "Maibeh a peeryot drameh?"

"In eny cehs, yor reelay comittad!" Chase laughs.

Bro turns around and looks freaked. “W-Why are you guys talking like that?! W-Where are we?? What’s going on??” He’s trying to hide his panic but they’re IN FUCKING SPACE???

The two of them stare at him, slowly becoming confused. "You okay, bruh?" Chase asks slowly.

"I'm a dahkter, if you need medcahl help," the other person says. "Or we cehd kull somwan?"

“I’m not okay because you two are talking WEIRD!!” Bro says, pointing almost accusingly at the two of them. “Where the fuck am I?! Why are we just floating in FUCKING SPACE?!”

"We're tawken weered?" Chase repeats, confused. "Yor tawken weered! Like Schneep saed! You sawnd like a peeryot drameh."

Bro blinks rapidly, “Yor tawken weereddd- that’s how you sound!!”

"Ah!" The other one--clearly this is Schneep--holds up one hand. He reaches into a pocket of his coat and takes something out, walking over to Bro. He holds out a small, crescent-shaped device made of white metal with some padding on the inside. "Pud tat here." He taps his ear. "Ten press tis buden." He indicates a small button at the bottom of the crescent. "Myite take amenut teh wark."

Bro looks at Schneep and knits his eyebrows in confusion and takes the device. “Ooookayyy? What is this? A headset??” He follows his instructions and places the device on his ear and presses the button.

A little microphone shoots out of the crescent, and a bit of the crescent lowers close to his ear.

"Chase, tawk a liddol," Schneep says.

Chase blinks. "Tawk abow wat?"

"Anytin."

"Uh... well tat's a lodda presher. I gess I can talk about my channel or something? Or would that self-promotion be too much?"

Schneep chuckles. "No, it should be fine." Suddenly, their voices seem to sort out.

Bro blinks even more and then points at the two of them again, “Oh! Now you sound normal! What the fuck kinda language was that?? Like I could kinda understand you but also it was like you were talking with marbles in your mouth!”

"Now we sound normal?! Now you sound normal!" Chase shouts. "Bitch???"

"Chase, please, stop being so stubborn," Schneep says.

Chase sighs. "Sorry. I don't know what your deal is, bruh. Speaking fucking... Marvelan out here. Good call on the translator, Schneep, but why did you just have one?"

"I always carry one, just in case there is a language barrier with a patient," Schneep says, then turns back to Bro. "I am guessing you are from some farther Terran colony?"

“You just used so many big words I do not know,” Bro says bluntly as he crosses his arms, “I’m from Earth - you know? The planet where humans like you all come from?”

Chase blinks. Then he laughs. "Bruh, no way. I've never met anyone from Terra who talks like you do unless they're at a Digi Faire or in some historical holo. Also... humans like you all?" He points at Schneep. ...that's not makeup on his face. Those are scales, standing out against the unnatural white of his skin. There's more on the back of his hands, too, which also have curved nails. The overall effect is somewhat reptilian... but he has hair, and reptiles don't have hair. So... what the fuck?

"Have you never met a kritzein before?" Schneep asks. "Did you think I was in a costume?"

Bro staggers back with wide eyes, “…what the fuck?! You’re - you’re a huh???” He pales a lot and starts to laugh a bit hysterically, gripping at his hair. “What’s happening?? Digi fair?? Historical holo?? Lizard- person??!! I’m losing my mind! Too many multiverses have scrambled my brain!! That must be what’s happening!!” He laughs a bit more but he looks very very freaked out.

Chase and Schneep are at a loss for a moment. "Um... there... there?" Chase says awkwardly, patting Bro on the back. "I, uh... don't know how you're feeling right now but... it must bite. So... sorry."

"Wait... multiverses?" Schneep's eyes widen--they're yellow eyes holy shit--and he grabs Chase and pulls him back. "One moment, please." He pulls Chase out of a normal person's earshot and starts whispering. "Chase, I see three possibilities here."

"Okay?"

"One, he is ill and we need to get him to a hospital. Two, the multiverse theory is real. Three, time travel is real."

"Where'd you get time travel from? He said multiverse, so I get that, but what?"

"If he does not know what a holo is, or what the Digitalrise Faires you humans have are, or recognize a kritzein when he sees one, then perhaps he comes from some time before them."

"...or maybe he's just from some really isolated planet and has lost his memory?"

"Hmm. I like my last two theories better."

For once Bro wishes he didn’t have super hearing. But he stops his hysterics and listens. He finally coughs and waves his hand. “Um- …I guess you’re right? I’m from a parallel universe and… must be from the… the past.” He says sheepishly.

The two of them turn towards him. Schneep's eyes widen and he slowly smiles wide, keeping his lips pressed together, and then makes a gesture like he's clapping his hands but only his fingertips are touching. He must be excited. "The proof," he whispers. "Proof of the many worlds!"

"Uh... do you have... anything from your universe?" Chase asks, a bit more doubtful than Schneep. "H-how did you get here, even?"

“A rift, from our friend Sam. They’re also from another universe.” Bro says casually. “And uh… guess I have my phone?” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone and hands it to Chase.

"Bruh whaaaa?" Chase's eyes widen as he looks it over. "Comp, no way. This thing is ancient. And it doesn't look like a replica. I mean, I guess you could've gotten this from a museum, but uh... you don't look like the type to be able to do something like that.

“A museum?? Pretty sure this is new…” Bro whines.

“Schneep, look at this. It's fucking pog."

Bro laughs, “Oh! You still say Pog! That’s nice.”

Schneep takes it as well, turning the screen on and off. "Hmm..." He raises one hand into the air and flutters his fingers in happiness. "That is so fascinating. Ah, here." He hands it back to Bro.

"Well that's... definitely... compelling." Chase laughs. "So, uh... who are you, bruh? Like, your name, I mean."

Bro takes the phone back and blinks before pointing at himself with his thumb and grinning, “Oh! I’m Chase! Chase Brody! Back home though, I’m known as Bro Fantastic, the superhero!”

Chase's eyes widen. "Wait! Wait, that's--that's me!"

Schneep looks back and forth between Bro and Chase. "Oh! I do see the resemblance now!"

"Are you--me?! From another world?!" Chase gasps. "And--are you a real superhero?"

“Oh yeah most likely!” Bro grins. “And yup! Watch this!!” He pushes off the ground and starts to hover about a foot in the air.

"What the fuck?!" Chase shouts.

"Humans--humans do not do that," Schneep says slowly. "I-I do not think any creature can do that, not without wings or some other means of propulsion."

"Well--I'm sold on the multiverse thing now." Chase shakes his head. "So... what're you doing here? Oh, or was this an accident? Do you even know where here is? Uh... probably not. This place didn't exist until like fifty years ago, and your phone is much older than that."

Bro quickly lands and shakes his head. “I know I’m supposed to be here but I have no idea where here is. Only that I need to find my brother and this piece of a device we’re searching for.” He pulls out his tracker to see exactly where that is.The tracker tells him that the piece is in the IRIS building at the center of the station.

Schneep nods. "Well, you are on the Zypso Station--"

"'Powered by: IRIS'," Chase says, clearly mimicking something he's heard before; it's probably an announcement of some sort. "--which is circling the planet Terra," Schneep finishes. "This is a sort of... space city."

"Or an airport where people live," Chase says. "You guys have airports, right?"

"Even I know that humans had airports in the Digitalrise, Chase," Schneep says, sounding exasperated.

Bro feels a pit in his stomach, “…IRIS, huh? Ah fucking…” he sighs heavily, “Why is it always involving those guys?? In every universe? Really?” He calls up in exasperation. Then he pinches at the bridge of his nose, “okay- so… we’re on a space station… not earth- and IRIS controls it- and they have the piece I’m looking for… and I need to find where the fuck Alt is-!” He throws his hands up, “How am I supposed to find him on a space station!??”

"Alt? is that your brother?" Chase asks. He shrugs. "Sorry, comp. I don't know anyone named Alt."

"At least it is better than trying to find him on a planet or moon?" Schneep suggests.

"The two of us were going to meet up with some friends, soon," Chase says. "Uh... we maybe should have started going there earlier, actually. But maybe they've seen your brother?"

“Oh well… know anyone named Anti? Cuz that’s who Alt is too- but I’m the only one that calls him that. Big brother privilege and all that.” Bro says. He hums in thought, “hmmm there’s a possibly he could be with your friends!”

"Nope, don't know any Antis," Chase says, shaking his head. "Schneep? Any patients with that name?"

"Not that I can think of right now," Schneep says slowly.

"Ah well." Chase shrugs. "In any case, let's go. I can call them on the way." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small square of metal. He pinches it between his fingers, some yellow circles appear around his fingerprints, and the square expands into a full phone. Then Chase takes out a pair of bright yellow irregular circles and puts them in his ears--ah, wireless earphones.

Bro blinks in confusion as he watches Chase use his phone. “What the fuckkk…???” He whispers.

Schneep looks at Bro and jerks his head to the side. "Do you want to come?"

Bro blinks at Schneep now and nods, “Ah yeah- might as well… best lead I have so far…”

Schneep gives another close-lipped smile. "Great! Let's head on, then."

Chase and Schneep lead Bro out of the small park area and into... into a cyber-city. Tall buildings reach into the air, up to a distant metal ceiling. Walkways and railways and wires for floating cable cars cross through the air, an intricate web of transportation. Everything is brightly lit from varying light sources, so many that it's practically indistinguishable from natural daylight. And there are people everywhere. Some of them have even set up little booths on the sides of the walkways. Most of them are human, of all different sorts of ethnicities, but many are not. There are more kritzeins, the species that Schneep is, and there are really tall humanoids with pink and blue hair and eyes that seem too big for their heads, and there are smaller species flying through the air with the buzz of insectoid wings, and there are species with four arms and four legs like some kind of centaur, and there are species that are just piles of goop like something out of D&D--the variety is endless.

Bro is constantly circling to look around at everything with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. “Holy fucking shit…!” He whispers, stunned by everything.

Chase puts his phone away--collapsing it into the tiny square and putting it in his pocket, and looks back at Bro with a smile. "Fucking wild, right? I moved here a couple years ago. The place still amazes me. It's probably blowing your mind."

"Especially the other species," Schneep says. "The, ah, aliens." He chuckles. "Though humans are aliens to me. Chase, have Marvin or Jackie found other-Chase's brother?"

"Nothing so far, but they promised to look out for him," Chase says. "I told them he'd probably look like he came from 200 years ago. Marvin wouldn't have a good reference for Terra from that era but he says he'll try."

“Do we really look that out of place?” Bro asks, “I mean… I’m still human- there’s still humans around… I’m just wearing jeans and a jacket! S’not like I’m… dressed like a pirate or anything-“ he mumbles. “Also… what year is it??”

"Well... I guess you're not too strange," Chase says slowly. "But it's like... like seeing someone in a costume, you know? You won't think about them too much, but you will wonder why they were wearing that, if they were going to a costume party or something. As for the year? It's 2355."

At the same time, Schneep says, "It is 11009."

The two of them glance at each other. "I think the Terran year will probably be the most relevant to you, not the Atraton year," Chase says.

"Atratov is a wonderful planet, though," Schneep says.

"Yeah, I know, but he's clealry human."

"By GS it is 4317," Schneep points out.

"And that still probably isn't relevant." Chase rolls his eyes and looks at Bro. "He gets stricted about time and how it's relative."

Bro looks very confused as he looks in between the two, “time is all different here?! Why can’t they just pick one date??? Hello???” This seems to be a lot for him.

"Well do you think all planets move around their stars at the same paces?" Schneep points out.

"You're breaking his brain," Chase mutters. "Which I get. I can barely keep Terra time in track sometimes."

The three of them step onto a circular platform along with a few others. Railings appear around the edge of the platform and it raises into the air--an elevator.

“Okay so terra… must be earth… so it’s… 300 something years in the future???” Bro says quietly. Then he gasps a bit in surprise as the platform goes up and he holds onto the rail and looks down. “Yooo??”

"'Terra must be Terra'? Yeah, of course, bruh." Chase laughs. "I think the translator is screwing with things. Anyway--yeah! Elevator! We're heading up to the Gateway area. It's sort of like a shopping slash restaurant level."

“Ah- okay… that makes more sense,” Bro grumbles. He then tries to look closer at the elevator. “How is it moving?? There’s no- like… hidden wires or a box or??? Is it magic??” He asks.

"Magic?" Schneep chuckles. "I suppose if you are from a world where people can float, magic probably exists there."

"It's Trulanth anti-grav tech," Chase says. "With some IRIS stuff mixed in to help it lift up heavier stuff, I think. I don't know how the fuck it works either, so it might as well be magic."

"The optels from Trulanth are very intelligent," Schneep says. "I think it is evolution making up for how small they are."

"Yeah, these guys." Chase pulls out his phone again and pulls up a picture, showing Bro. This is a stock image of a couple aliens, spherical with long tails and a singular big eye with a green sclera. ...huh. That looks familiar. The platform stops, and Chase and Schneep get off, gesturing for Bro to follow.

Bro’s eyes kinda glaze over with all the names. “Huh…” he looks at Chase’s phone and then gasps, “That looks like Sam!!” He hurries after the others, “those guys are called.. optels here?? …we just know them as… eyesss-“

"Oh, you've seen something like them before?" Schneep repeats.

"Sam? Isn't that the name of your friend who helped you get here?" Chase asks. "They're an optel? Cool. I've always wanted to meet one. They make all sorts of devices to help them move around, and they do that with just one little... tail thing! They don't have thumbs or anything!" He laughs. "Dunno how they do it, but they do."

“Yeah! We’ve met a couple in a couple different worlds! The one that’s helping us is a hugeee one! They can shrink and stuff but They can also take up the whole sky! They’re really powerful! …never seen one make tech before though.” Bro says.

Chase's eyes sparkle. "That's so cool..." He whispers. "Normally optels are about this big?" He holds his hands out like he's holding a basketball. "But their kids are smaller, of course."

They're walking along a walkway lined with storefronts. A lot of these shops have signs that change their lettering, reading the name in English, in other languages that Bro recognizes as Earth languages like Spanish, German, Russian, or Chinese, and in languages that look completely alien. He swears he sees one that looks like the Minecraft enchanting table language. Not all of the shops have these signs, though. Some just have to stick with one script.

Bro grins. He looks at the storefronts and all the languages with fascination. “…I can’t believe this is real dude-“

Chase stares at him, then shrugs. "I... don't really know what that's like. We've had contact with aliens for a long time... Since, uh..." He screws up his face in concentration. "Sometime in the 2050s, I think? So about three hundred years. Hell, Zypso Station is older than me! It's bizarre and amazing, but I've like... grown up hearing about it, you know?"

“Back home- it’s 2020…” Bro days quietly, “almost halfway to 2021! But… still- we haven’t… found aliens yet. And you know- only astronauts go into space.”

"Yeah... I remember that from high school history." Chase nods. "Well. I don't know if it will happen like this in your universe, but here, the aliens found us first. Three of them all at once, they were like 'hey we're making a government thing, want to join us?'"

"The optels, zoas, and dajkisa," Schneep says. "They and the humans were the founders."

"And they were all super smart so they helped us humans out," Chase continues. "And then we all started going into space and finding others and making new colonies on uninhabited planets--It was probably absolutely crazy living in that time period."

“I thought living in 2020 was crazy…” Bro comments, looking bewildered and in awe about the history. “There was like.. sooo many movies about aliens like… destroying humans and shit.”

"Oh, things weren't perfect," Chase says. "There were fights. I think there still are somewhere else? But Terra hasn't gone to war in a while."

"Because you all scared everyone off," Schneep says.

"Whaaaat?"

"You humans are fucking insane. You just keep fucking going, what the zyzz? And you do things like eat poison for fun."

Chase grins. "Cranky because you'll never be able to have spicy food, are you?"

Schneep sticks his tongue out at him. It's forked.

“Oh- aliens think that’s us eating poison??” Bro laughs, “Man- that’s crazy! Spicy food is sooo good!”

"Anyway, we're getting close to Kissarso's now," Chase says. "Marvin and Jackie are probably already there."

Bro blinks at Chase, “Oh! Awesome! Man- I wonder what they’re gonna be like…” he muses quietly.

"Well--Marvin's a felorr," Chase says. "They're kinda like cats, in the same way Schneep here is like a lizard. Jackie's human, though. Grew up on Terra like me--but he's from the Irish Union, I'm from Califoregon."

“The Irish union?? Huh- never thought that would happen…” Bro comments, looking most surprised about that.

They reach a small restaurant that looks a lot like an old-fashioned bistro, but with the sign switching back and forth between the word "Kissarso's" in English and some language that looks like cursive spaghetti. There's an awning and a bunch of tables and chairs that look pretty much normal, except that the chair legs all end in ball-like wheels. Guess there's not many ways to improve on table technology.

Bro looks around the restaurant and then laughs a bit, “…at least the tables and chairs are normal!”

"Yeah... chairs vary depending on what planet you're on and how many legs its native species has, but tables are the same pretty much everywhere... all that changes is how tall they are." Chase chuckles. "Now where are they...?"

Nearby, as it turns out. Even Bro can see the man standing up and waving his hands for attention. He has ruffled brown hair dyed green at the tips, and is wearing some sort of hoodie-cloak outfit with a belt around his waist. His hands are... shiny? Is he wearing gauntlets or something? Also sitting at the table is another man who's partially hidden from sight, but Bro can see big pointed ears.

Bro laughs too. He blinks as the man waves and he brightens up- his hair looks just like his Jackie’s! He waves.

"Oh! There they are," Schneep says, following Bro's wave. "Let's go."

The group of three dodge around groups of customers of various species until they reach the table.

"Wow, he really does look like you!" the man in red says. "Except with more muscles!"

"Heyyyy," Chase complains.

"I'm Jackie Kelly." The man in red smiles and holds out his hand for a shake.

Bro laughs, “Nice to meet ya!” He tells Jackie as he shakes his hand.

"This is Mrrfn, we call him Marvin." The other man at the table raises his hand. The catlike features are evident in his face, and the fact that he's entirely covered in cinnamon-brown fur. Big triangular cat ears stick out from his head, twitching slightly. There are small devices in them--earplugs of some sort. He also has a long tail, and even sitting it's clear that his legs bend differently. He raises a hand in greeting--a hand with pads on the palm and fingers.

Bro looks over at Marvin and his eyes widen and he can’t help but gasp. “Woahhh! you’re like- a legit cat person!! That’s so wicked!” He hides a laugh behind his hand, “Oh my brother would be so excited to meet you!”

Marvin's eyes widen--literally, his pupils dilate. They're very catlike, blue irises taking up most of the visible space. "You think so?" he says in a quiet voice.

“Oh for sure!! He loves cats! He’ll lose his mind!” Bro giggles.

Jackie grins. "We'd love to meet him! Not often you meet someone from uh... so far away, if you know what I mean." He takes a seat (as do Schneep and Chase), and as he taps his fingers on the table, Bro slowly realizes something about his hands. They look a bit like metal gloves but... they're solid. There are small blue circles denoting every knuckle and joint, and they're solid. Bro can see the place where one ends at Jackie's wrist, connecting to the flesh there, but the other disappears up the sleeve. They're... prosthetics of some kind.

Bro goes to sit down then looks down at Jackie’s hands and he makes a small pog face. “Yo??? Do you have… robot hands??”

"Oh, did I not mention that?" Chase says.

Jackie laughs. "Yep! I'm a cyborg." He holds up his hands, flexing them. "My legs too!" He raises one up, showing that he's not wearing shoes, instead having a metal prosthetic that ends in a shoe-shaped foot.

“Woahhh!! That’s metal!! …literally metal!” Bro laughs.

"No feet on the table!" Schneep says. "Not even metal ones!"

"Oops." Jackie lowers his leg.

Marvin's tail swishes in amusement, then he looks at Bro. "Sorry we couldn't find your brother, other-Brody. We both looked on the way here."

Bro looks at Marvin and sighs, “It’s okay, I appreciate it. …there’s two other people he could have appeared by… but these guys already don’t know an Anti… do you guys know a JJ, though?” He asks.

Chase blinks. "I do, actually."

"You do?" Jackie says, surprised.

"He's the Olinia shop owner. I know I've mentioned him before. Oh, uh, other-me, that's not an alien species. Olinion is a planet that humans settled on. One of the first ones, actually. They have really cool tech, I bought a projector and speaker set there, they make movies and holos really immersive--" He shakes his head. "Sorry, rambling. The point is, I think I know him."

"What does he look like?" Marvin asks. "Human, obviously. Brown hair, blue eyes... really nice mustache." Chase reaches up to his face and curls up the edges of an imaginary mustache.

“That’s him!” Bro says excitedly. “Do you know where he is? He probably knows where Alt is!”

Chase frowns. "Probably in his shop...? I haven't been there in a while, but I remember where it is very distinctly. We can go check. We'll have to take the rail from here."

"So... are we going to leave now?" Jackie asks. "Because I was looking forward to getting lunch."

Bro pauses, “…I mean… I guess it wouldn’t be… so bad to see what future food is like…”

Jackie grins. "Pog!"

"If your brother is with JJ, I'm sure he's safe," Chase says. "He's a good man... even if I haven't seen him in a while."

Bro nods, though he seems a bit nervous. He wished he had a way to check in on Alt but if his phone was ancient here it probably wouldn’t work.

"Menu." Marvin leans forward and taps a black circle in the center of the table. A slit in the middle of it slides open and out pops something that looks like a pane of glass, but with glowing blue text on it. Marvin takes that, and then the rest of them repeat the gesture, taking a menu each. "You'll need to do it yourself, by the way," Jackie tells Bro helpfully.

Bro looks fascinated as he taps the black circle cautiously.

Another glass menu pops up. It's initially written in that cursive spaghetti language, but there's a tab that says 'English' on it. The menu works like a touchscreen, so when Bro taps the 'English' tab the text immediately responds, becoming readable. There are more tabs with different species names on them. Tapping 'Human' brings up a list of recognizable food like pizza and french fries... and a lot that are strange, too.

"These are the foods that your species can eat," Schneep explains, leaning over to help Bro. His own menu is written in some blocky language, and has fewer menu items than the selection for humans. "What are you feeling? The familiar or the strange? Or something that is only a bit different?"

Bro whispers a ‘woahhh’ under his breath as he presses around on the menu. He then blinks over at Schneep and hums, “Well… how often am I gonna be in the future like this? I wanna try something strange! My friends all say I got an iron stomach so-“ He laughs.

Schneep grins. "Alright. Any advice from the other humans?"

"If you're not a vegetarian, I really like the boral wings," Chase says. "They're kind of like chicken but... saltier? And juicier. Oh, and it comes with this side of something called levooras, which, uh... I don't know how to describe but it's a really interesting texture."

"Definitely get the hassilye juice," Jackie suggests. "It's a drink that comes from a vegetable that tastes like fruit."

"Or if you want something really fucking bizarre, there are these things called wissyi," Chase adds. "They're like... purple crunchy things that... I really don't know how to describe the flavor. But they're like this long and you eat them like how you eat a carrot." He holds out his hands six inches apart.

“Oooh!” Bro says, fascinated. “…I think I’ll get those wings and the juice then! Those sound good-“ then he blinks rapidly and pats himself down, “Wait I- I have like… ancient money… I can’t pay you guys!”

“Oh don’t worry about it,” Chase says. “We can cover you.”

Bro flushes, “oh… that’s so nice…” he says quietly.

“Oh! Do you have like—money on you right now?” Jackie asks. “I’d love to compare!” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out—actual paper money of some kind. It looks like a 10-euro note, but the design is different and the shade of red is brighter than Bro is used to.

Bro blinks and grins at Jackie. “Yeah! Here-“ He fumbles for his wallet, and pulls out a 5, 10, 20 and 50 euros. He blinks down at Jackie’s, “Woah you guys still use paper??”

“Also tap the items on the menu to order,” Marvin points out, doing the same on his.

Bro blinks at Marvin and fumbles with his menu, “Oh right!” He quickly taps on the boral wings and hassilye juice.

“Oh believe me, every planet has the ‘let’s get rid of physical money’ movement,” Schneep says. “And yet, somehow, the physical persists.”

“Whoa… they don’t actually look too different,” Jackie says, comparing the two 10-euro notes. “I guess the Peacegiving Building wasn’t built back then.”

“Right? Kinda weird for like 300 year old money!” Bro laughs.

“You can’t use most currencies on stations, though,” Marvin says. “There’d be too many. You always have to convert to galaxy pieces.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of metal squares, ranging in size from American penny to not too much bigger than an American quarter. They’re tinted slightly purple in color and are inscribed with weird symbols.

Bro looks over at Marvin’s pieces, “oooh neat!”

“This is my lucky note, though, so I’m never gonna convert it,” Jackie says, folding and unfolding his note.

Bro grins at Jackie and nods, “Understandable! I think lucky stuff like that is good to keep around.” He puts all his bills back in his wallet.

Jackie laughs and puts his note back as well. "I guess they need to standardize it, or something. And then it's just persisted."

"It probably helps that humans are a very stubborn species," Schneep says.

"It's in our DNA," Chase says proudly.

Bro let’s out a short ha! Of a laugh. “Cheers I’ll drink to that!”

It's actually not long before their food arrives. Incredibly quick, in fact. It's brought over by a tall alien covered in silver scales, with a long tail and wings, too, giving an overall draconic effect. "Hello boys," they say in what sounds like a raspy female voice--though you can't really assume with aliens, can you? "Never seen your friend before."

"He's, uh... a relative of mine," Chase says. "From the surface. Big history fan, up here to learn about the history of the station."

Bro blinks at the food coming, “yo that was fast!” He stares a bit at the server then waves shyly.

"Ssss." The server nods understandingly and passes out the food, which was carried over on some floating trays. Bro's boral wings turn out to be three large pieces, each a zigzag shape, covered in dark red-brown breading. There's a side of some really alien looking stuff--that must be the levooras. They're small blue spheres, bigger than grains of rice but smaller than peas, covered in a darker blue sauce. The hassilye juice is a pale orangish yellow, and comes in a funky-looking curved glass.

Bro marvels at the food and pokes at it a bit. “Yooo! This is crazy!!” He eagerly brings out his phone to take a picture of it. “My mates aren’t gonna believe me without photo evidence!”

"Oh! Get us all in the picture, too!" Jackie says, making a fingergun gesture and grinning.

"And all the rest, too!" Chase says. He's ordered another set of boral wings, while Schneep has something that looks like a salad but with long, thin leaves, Marvin has some sort of stew with chunks of dark brown meat, and Jackie has... is that literally just pizza? Well, pizza if all of it was green.

“Fuck yeah!!” Bro says with a big grin as he jumps up and gets the food and all the rest of the guys in the picture. “Dude I can’t believe how wild this is! I’m glad I’ll have these to remind me this isn’t a fever dream!” He laughs as he sits back down. He starts to dig into his food.

Chase's description of the boral wings as a saltier, jucier chicken really holds strong. The levooras side tastes a bit like buttery pasta, heavy on the butter. And the hassilye juice is sweet, with a slight sour bite at the beginning of each sip.

Bro beams and digs in heartedly, “Holy fuck this is delicious!”

As they eat, Chase suddenly gasps. "Oh! We should've ordered something for your brother!"

Bro blinks at Chase then gasps with him and face palms, “Oh yeah!! He’s probably even hungrier than I am! He used a lot of magic last world…”

"We can order takeout dessert, it's fine," Jackie says. "They do great chocolate yessiyrs. Which is funny, because yessiyr isn't even a human dish!"

"If a species can eat chocolate, they will," Schneep says, chuckling.

Marvin sighs, sounding disappointed.

Bro smiles warmly at the others, “god that’d be so nice you guys… he loves chocolate!” He goes and gives Marvin a sympathetic smile.

"That is settled, then, we will get him some yessiyrs,"Schneep says.

Marvin blinks back at Bro and says nothing. Chase nudges Bro. "That's Marvin's way of smiling back. A lot of other species don't smile naturally."

Marvin nods. "I'm enjoying myself though." His tail is flicking back and forth. "I do wish I could try chocolate though... but your vanilla is good, too."

“Ohh! Just like a cat!” Bro grins, “Don’t worry i got a cat back at home- I know cat body language!”

"I've seen Terra cats--they actually really resemble felorr ancestors," Marvin says.

"Like the way monkeys do with humans!" Jackie says cheerfully. "Evolution and stuff."

"So I know what you mean." Marvin blinks again.

Once they're done with lunch, Chase taps the black circle in the table again and gets another menu. "So we're getting some yessyirs to go, then, anyone else want anything?"

"I think we are fine," Schneep says.

“Yeah I’m good!” Bro pats his stomach. “that was crazy good, dude… I might get too full if I get anymore!”

"I know, the food here is amazing, isn't it?" Chase says, grinning. "We come to Kissarso's all the time. Alright, the yessyirs come in sets of four so I'll get you three chocolate ones and one classic, just so you can try it."

As he orders the dessert to go, the light up signs in the area all... flicker. All at once. The other restaurant patrons and passers-by all cry out in surprise. Bro sees another dragon-like alien--this time with coppery scales--lean out from the entrance to Kissarso's. They shout something in a rasping, hissing language that the translator on his ear tells him is, "Where's Sissel?! Our camera system just went down!"

The other four at the table all look around as well. "...Weird," Marvin says slowly.

"Oh, d'you think it's that guy again?!" Jackie gasps.

Bro sits up straight and narrows his eyes as the lights flicker, on high alert. He tries to listen out for anything then turns to Jackie, “…what guy?”

"They call him 'Septic,'" Jackie says, leaning forward.

"Which, I'm told, is a very strange thing to call yourself in English," Schneep says.

"Yeah, it's a bit weird," Chase agrees. "But I'm BruhAverage, so... can't really say anything weird."

Bro’s eyes widen as he looks at the screen, “woah… septic huh? Weird… close to my brother’s stage name. He calls himself AntiSepticeye.”

"He's been hacking the Zypso Station systems for about four Terra years now," Jackie continues. "Some sort of anarchist. Sometimes he plays videos on all the screens, hang on, I have a video-ception of one." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out that same collapsible phone model that Chase has, activating it. "Sorry, I don't have the volume on in public, but it's stuff like this." He turns it around, showing Bro a shaky handheld filming of a sign that's been hacked, playing a video of a brown-haired human man speaking to the camera. The man's left eye is green and mechanical-looking, and metal plates surround his face on that side.

And then Bro's own phone starts to buzz in his pocket.

Bro jumps slightly and blinks wildly before pulling out his phone. “Wha?? I didn’t think this would work here??”

"Yeah, no, it doesn't." Anti is now on his phone screen instead of Alt's. "I just needed to get your attention.

Bro yells in surprise and nearly drops his phone but holds onto it with both of his hands. “Anti!! Oh uh?? Hi!

“So this is where you are. Having fun?" The question is surprisingly genuine, missing the bite that Anti would usually have.

“Yeah I… I found a bunch of the others! All we’re missing is JJ and well- other you!” Then it hits him and he holds the phone closer to him, suddenly looking panicked, “Wait if you’re here! I-Is Alt in trouble?!”

"He's fine, don't worry," Anti says. "There was a uh... tense moment, but he's fine. He's actually with JJ right now."

Bro sags in relief, “oh hey that’s good! Can you lead us to where they are! We got him dessert!”

Chase leans over. "Yoooo, do you have a screen assistant? I didn't know they had those back then!"

Bro blinks then tilts his screen to show Chase, “Not… exactly? This is our friend Anti! He’s been helping us go from universe to universe to find the pieces we’re looking for!”

Anti waves. "Hey."

Chase blinks. "Huh. Actually, you kind of look like Septic. But not exactly..."

"I do, hm?" Anti looks thoughtful for a moment. Then he dismisses the thoughts. "Yes, I can take you to where he is. But... it's going to be difficult."

"Difficult?" Marvin asks, also leaning over. "I heard you say that he was with JJ. Don't we just need to go to his shop?"

Anti shakes his head. "He's not at his shop right now... You all have internet searches, right? Can you look up local news?"

"Uh... sure." Chase takes out his phone. He taps at the screen for a bit... and then his eyes widen. "Wait, what? JJ... disappeared?"

"He's safe," Anti says. "I just saw him, don't worry. The point is, he's not there. He's somewhere else that needs to be secret."

“Wait what??” Bro says with raised eyebrows, “then- Alt’s in this secret place too?? But he’s okay- but oh god is he trapped there? Cuz that’s gonna make him freak out! Also why does this place need to be secret?!”

"He's not trapped there," Anti says, tactfully leaving out the fact that his robotic other self definitely wanted to keep him trapped there. "And I don't want to share many details. Even though I knocked the camera systems down, there's still a chance I could be missing something high-tech."

"Wait, that was you?!" Jackie says, leaning over.

"Basically, you've probably heard by now that IRIS runs this place?" Anti continues, ignoring him. "Has to do with that."

“Ohhh… right. Okay… so- how are we gonna get to Alt then?” Bro asks, leaning forward. “The piece is in the IRIS building too apparently. Which… seems bad.”

"Yeah. It does, doesn't it?" Anti says. "But something I noticed while looking for you is that there is a very distinct path through the station towards the place that's out of view of cameras. It's a bit winding, but it should work." He had no doubt that the robotic Anti and Sam use this route to get in and out of their bunker.

“Oh okay! Pog!” Bro grins.

"Um... should we come?" Schneep asks slowly. "I, ah... don't think the rest of us had plans... and this seems like... something serious you might need help with..."

Bro blinks at the others and perks up, “yeah you guys should come! Alt will want to meet you!! And like… in other universes- all of you and JJ and sometimes the other Antis too are friends! Maybe this is your chance to all meet!”

"Yeah... guess the least I can do is check on JJ," Chase says. "Make sure he's okay."

"I'm really curious about this now." Jackie is grinning wide. "It's like we're in an old superhero story!"

"I don't have anything," Marvin says, tail flicking excitedly.

"Well... that will make getting there a bit more difficult, but I'm sure you can all handle it," Anti says.

Bro grins wide, “Hell yeah!”

"Oh!" Anti gasps and suddenly disappears.

The server from before returns with a clear box of the desserts, the yessyirs. They're about the size of Bro's palm, small caramel-colored domes that jiggle a little as the box is set on the table. Three of them have chocolate sauce drizzled over the top and are sitting on top of a disk of chocolate. The last one has some sort of purple-ish sauce and a purple disk as the base.

Bro blinks curiously as Anti leaves then giggles at the sight of the yessyirs- slightly shaking the box to watch them jiggle.

"Thanks, Lessya," Chase says. He takes out a card and hands it to the server, who scans it with a device. The other three at the table all do the same.

Once the server, Lessya, is gone, Anti reappears on Bro's phone screen.

Bro smiles, “Well lads? You guys ready?”

"Yep!" Chase nods. "Who's carrying the box?"

"I have a bag," Marvin says, reaching down and pulling up some canvas shoulder bag. "If other-Chase is okay with that."

“Yeah sure dude! Thanks!” Bro grins. He pushes himself up and stretches before looking back at Anti. “Alright dude- where do we start?”

"We have to get down to the ground level of this layer," Anti says.

"Oh good, we can take you right there," Jackie says to Bro.