The Soviet Engineer

The amber liquid rocked gently side by side against the walls of the glass as he swirled it. “Loyalty does not rest within one area at times. Not for me.”

Dieter raised the glass to his lips, stopping with a shake of his head as he decided against his own action, and instead rested the content on his lap, hands wrapping themselves around it protectively before he continued.

“It’s complex…To speak about returning to a country that” isn’t mine rightfully so. No. He bit that back. “My loyalty is to my people —— home, family.“

A short pause.

It also didn’t help that the man was borderline inept in social situations…

"I must say this before going on… I am man of understanding when it comes to science technology, and engineering… but people are very much confusing to me in some cases…"

"But I will do my best to try and help you find solution."

The Russian walked over to a large silver tank and opened a valve on it, a translucent gold liquid poured into the bottle.

"Is Kvass easier than Vodka on throat and is very sweet version of beer made with bread, lemon, and raisins. It has very low alcohol content, 1.5%"

The engineer set two large glasses down and poured the liquid out for them. The smell of brown sugar and Molasses faintly filled the air as the glass filled.

"Drink slowly as I try and give smaller questions with which to help answer larger question of whether you stay or go."

Dieter only nodded, though he was really starting to question how this man could even help him now. Things had seemed so easy, all fixed with a seemingly simple click, and now for all he knew everyone back home considered him dead.

“Ah!" he quickly said surprised, snapping out of the terrible scenarios he had begun to fabricate on his mind, his eyes falling at the offered glasses. "I don’t…I don’t drink."

But the smell was sweet and his description rather appetizing and he eventually took it, lifting the glass to his nose to smell the golden liquid before taking a small sip of it and allowing the flavor to roll around his tongue.

His head perking up instantly. “Hey this isn’t bad! Kvass was it?”

Swiveling the glass and the drink in his hands he avoided glancing at him. Instead he thought of other things. How they were faring back at home, not the war or comrades but home, because the news of another loss would not suit them well.

Acceptance had fallen like a warm blanket around him, had, for as he sat there and listened that certain phrase shook his foundations like deadly lightning, forcing blue eyes to fall on the man again, wide in pure terror. 

At most minor your name will be among those Missing in action.

Dead. They would think he was dead. Dead. The word was icy water running down his back.

"D-dead? But…" lips parted, stuttered, gaze down and fingers running through his hair nervously like his smile and slowly exhaled chuckle. Dead. To them he was probably dead, like him, a brutal punch received in a letter.

How long had it been since he vanished? How long would it be when he ‘appeared’, like divine sent, back on the killing fields?

He could arrive back, well and safe, play it off as something else and hope he had not been labeled a deserter or traitor. What were the chances of that?

The engineer laid the possible answers already, and only he knew the answer to his plight — yet he really knew it not.

It also didn't help that the man was borderline inept in social situations...

"I must say this before going on... I am man of understanding when it comes to science technology, and engineering... but people are very much confusing to me in some cases..."

"But I will do my best to try and help you find solution."

The Russian walked over to a large silver tank and opened a valve on it, a translucent gold liquid poured into the bottle.

"Is Kvass easier than Vodka on throat and is very sweet version of beer made with bread, lemon, and raisins. It has very low alcohol content, 1.5%"

The engineer set two large glasses down and poured the liquid out for them. The smell of brown sugar and Molasses faintly filled the air as the glass filled.

"Drink slowly as I try and give smaller questions with which to help answer larger question of whether you stay or go."

"Let me put it in more easily understandable terms, Imagine briefing map, two directions maybe three if it is a model of a city for instance Berlin."

Gestures of his hands over the work table gave a bit of emphasis to the words that flowed from his mouth.

"Now imagine rather than just flat piece of paper it is something three dimensional that can rotate within table to show a new map of same place but it could be map from 1800, or 2000, It could even be map of different Berlin where War didn’t happen in first place… Let us use six sided cube for simplicity for this object."

The Slav then pointed to his portal which sat unassuming like a gargoyle, yet as before had shown it could spring to life on demand.

"Now Imagine that gate as a switch, that when set correctly can Rotate cube and show new map at will."

his stony expression gave way to a slightly pleading one, as if to implicitly voice that the man was to take these secrets to his grave.

"I live here because it is actually safer here than Soviet Union. Where government would use power of this device to place 4000 Kilo bomb under enemy parliament building or heavily populated civilian sector without warning and detonate it with impunity. That is what this could do in wrong hands… and why it must never fall into hands of any military power. Soviet, German. Japanese, British, American, French… All of which could use device to take over world in matter of months…

His poker-face returned quickly after he caught his breath for a few moments.

"So… Is why I stay here… As such device is safe here too under watchful eyes of my colleges and myself… Keeping Pandora’s box out of hands who wish to fully open it more than I already have comrade."

Rather than going into detail on what he meant on ’more than he already had’ He began to delve into why he lived in this lonely and godforsaken world with only himself and his colleagues left.

"Here I can pursue other feats of engineering that are much less dangerous, things that even in my time were only seen in science fiction novels. But still this device is by-far the most powerful I have created… It is literally gateway to not just our universe, but many others as well."

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly to refocus on the German solider before him, and promptly reminded the man of his choice he had to make.

But this was beyond what he needed to concern himself with, and he was quickly reminded of it when the eyes of the older man feel on him again along with the verbal vocalization of it. His thoughts in an instant snapped back to the choice he had to make.

"I…yes I suppose, it makes sense — you’r choice of being here I mean." even if it sounded lonely.

The soldier did not question further, not even the things that the engineer had hinted in his earlier speech. Some things were best left dormant and enough had already been voiced. It was his turn now to figure out what he wanted — that escape he had longed for so long during the booming nights, or the return to that same hell.

Digging his nails into the fabric of bloodied trousers Dieter turned back to the lone sentinel that had sucked and spat him into that bizarre place; questioning, wondering. It all still appeared too impossible. Some dream he had to wake up soon from to find himself huddled by comrade’s side in a muddied trench or in his own hard bed.

His eyes lowered, brows furrowing. Another nod came and he licked his lower lip. “Despite the situation there…you know what they say. There is no place like home.”

jackieszanymultiverse

The russian looked up in thought for a moment, running a few quick calculation’s in his head.

"Rust is creation of oxide with iron, this gas is disolved in water and it is also what allows fish to breathe. Oxidation only occurs if there is viable chemical reaction."

Isaak grabbed a piece of scrap wood that had a rough sawed edge on it.

The Doctor was being shot by Sontaran when he jumped into the Tardis and closed the door. That was when the phone on the door started to ring. In the middle of the fire fight he opened the door and answered, “Hello this is the Doctor.”

The engineer gave a silent nod, not wanting to pry into the issue. Old habits kept him from prison and execution, such would help now as well.

"These Mana-engines disapate heat into sort of void dimension... It seams to be such a waste..."

jackieszanymultiverse

The russian held his tongue, he didn’t know if anyone was listening in on them… or if the woman he was next to was one to confide his thoughts about government in just yet.

"Zis is many conspiracy theeory about whole inceedent. But nozing is certain, most eveedence points to deesgruntled former government agents. But ve is time of relative peace. Only to look back and remember and learn."

"How can I create something like this pocket dimension… It would potentially allow for travel without having to carry 25 kilograms of rare and expensive Iridium metal for use in the creation of return portals… If you need something to destroy an egg… I do know how to construct a thermonuclear device with yield of up to 50 megatons… I know where to acquire the necessary material for it’s construction… but it will take several months to accumulate the tritium needed for fusion reaction that will greatly increase yield of standard fission bomb…"

"The ability to create a reality marble like this is not an easy task. I was trained by a close friend of mine on how to maintain it. The amount of energy needed to cut yourself from the world is very high. It also helps to have a connection to a relic from the past. I don’t regularly reveal such information; however, I had the sheath of the legendary sword Excalibur placed inside of me, where it remains to this day. Having a connection to it since I was a mere child impressed it’s spiritual memories into me. Therefore, my life is forever connected to blades." Shirouko said. 

"Obtaining a Reality Marble is not something everyone can achieve through research alone. It requires a lot of internal thought and mere will power alone. I highly suggest that you look into various meditations. Since you seem to be aware of magical girls, try chatting with them about the nature of ‘magic’ or the manipulation of mana.  I suppose you could compare the studies of ‘magic’ to your world’s empirical system. However, it might take a leap of faith so to speak for you since the world you’ll be looking into is not logical by the human view of things."

The Doctor was being shot by Sontaran when he jumped into the Tardis and closed the door. That was when the phone on the door started to ring. In the middle of the fire fight he opened the door and answered, “Hello this is the Doctor.”

"A Scientist is one who does the research and finds underling processes in the universe. I myself am an Engineer. I use what they have found out and apply them as solutions to problems as best I can."

The engineer took his glasses off and dispensed two pills for the soldier along with a small plastic bottle of water.

"This is treatment for lead poisoning, liquid in bottle is just water to make swallowing pills easier."

"As for wanting to hurt me I can understand, You suddenly find yourself in a foreign environment and were just coming from area of combat. especially when you see flag of homeland it would be first guess that I would mean harm to you. I appreciate you not following through though."

The engineer replaced the medical kit on the wall.

He was not about to fight, nor complain further. His little fear and enthusiasm had been caught and dragged down into muddied ground with it’s bleak outlook of the future. With downcast gaze he took the vital, clear liquid and medication, hesitating for a moment as he rolled around the pills in gunpowder, and dirt stained fingers in debate and finally popped them on his mouth; downing the cool liquid in an instant more out of thirst than the need to swallow the medication.

"The flag— yes…." God even that was bizarre. It had been the west… "I still apologize for that…killing attempt, but I swear I just wanted to knock you unconscious."

Then the words again drew the curious look on blue eyes; turning his chin towards the engineer and staring only for a minute-pass, unsure on how to even react or respond anymore.

"Let me put it in more easily understandable terms, Imagine briefing map, two directions maybe three if it is a model of a city for instance Berlin."

Gestures of his hands over the work table gave a bit of emphasis to the words that flowed from his mouth.

"Now imagine rather than just flat piece of paper it is something three dimensional that can rotate within table to show a new map of same place but it could be map from 1800, or 2000, It could even be map of different Berlin where War didn't happen in first place... Let us use six sided cube for simplicity for this object."

The Slav then pointed to his portal which sat unassuming like a gargoyle, yet as before had shown it could spring to life on demand. 

"Now Imagine that gate as a switch, that when set correctly can Rotate cube and show new map at will."

his stony expression gave way to a slightly pleading one, as if to implicitly voice that the man was to take these secrets to his grave.

"I live here because it is actually safer here than Soviet Union. Where government would use power of this device to place 4000 Kilo bomb under enemy parliament building or heavily populated civilian sector without warning and detonate it with impunity. That is what this could do in wrong hands... and why it must never fall into hands of any military power. Soviet, German. Japanese, British, American, French... All of which could use device to take over world in matter of months...

His poker-face returned quickly after he caught his breath for a few moments.

"So... Is why I stay here... As such device is safe here too under watchful eyes of my colleges and myself... Keeping Pandora's box out of hands who wish to fully open it more than I already have comrade."

Rather than going into detail on what he meant on  'more than he already had' He began to delve into why he lived in this lonely and godforsaken world with only himself and his colleagues left.

"Here I can pursue other feats of engineering that are much less dangerous, things that even in my time were only seen in science fiction novels. But still this device is by-far the most powerful I have created... It is literally gateway to not just our universe, but many others as well."

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly to refocus on the German solider before him, and promptly reminded the man of his choice he had to make.

The russian held his tongue, he didn't know if anyone was listening in on them... or if the woman he was next to was one to confide his thoughts about government in just yet.

jackieszanymultiverse

"This is true. Sharing knowledge is a key to advancing the world. Now, what I am most curious about is how you are able to travel to parallel universes with just the usage of a basic machine. There are only two people in this world that can achieve such a skill. One of them is a master of Second Magic, which to outsider such as yourself, it would be next to impossible to explain without decades of study." Shirouko said. 

"I know you have no reason to trust me. However, the usage of travelling to other worlds for research is key for me stop a Cthulhu-level incident from happening to this realm. I have a very limited time in order to destroy the egg."

"I’ve met other world versions of myself before that had stopped the egg from hatching…However, because of my surname they assume I am just as evil as my adopted father is. They either try to kill me on the spot or believe that I need to be saved and try to destroy the egg themselves. I care too much about this world to waste my time with the concepts of such morality. This is the main reason, I have to ask for the help of a stranger. "

"How can I create something like this pocket dimension... It would potentially allow for travel without having to carry 25 kilograms of rare and expensive Iridium metal for use in the creation of return portals... If you need something to destroy an egg... I do know how to construct a thermonuclear device with yield of up to 50 megatons... I know where to acquire the necessary material for it's construction... but it will take several months to accumulate the tritium needed for fusion reaction that will greatly increase yield of standard fission bomb..."

The Doctor was being shot by Sontaran when he jumped into the Tardis and closed the door. That was when the phone on the door started to ring. In the middle of the fire fight he opened the door and answered, “Hello this is the Doctor.”

Shirouko then closed her eyes and stood at attention. Quietly she began to chant something:

"My soul is like a sword This flesh is of iron and a heart of glass I have fought countless battles A blessing or a curse, none can tell My design forged from my faith The saint and the sinner here alone Thus, the crusade is my meaning. This shell is made out of infinite blades”

As she finished chanting the world around them began to change. An illusionary fire that doesn’t emit any heat spread over both of them. A  bright light filled the vision of Issak and Shirouko. As the light began to dim down, it the world around them had become a barren desert with monolithic black gears gyrating in the distance. What was most curious was that all round them were swords that were anchored into the ground like gravestones.