Heart of Fire | ONC 2020

5. flames

The elevator doors opened to reveal an ordinary-looking office space. 

Aera hadn't been sure what to expect. She felt disappointed but also a bit relieved. Apparently, it showed on her face because Mason couldn't hold in his laughter. "Did you expect it to look more like a mad scientist's laboratory?" 

He led her past the rows of cubicles and into a room where a middle-aged woman was sitting at a desk. She stood up to greet them, her eyebrows raised with surprise.

"Hello, Mason . . . who is this?" Her eyes flickered between the two of them.

"Jackie, this is Aera," he said. Aera suspected it was intentional that he did not explain who she was and why he had brought her with him. "I would like to show her around and tell her about our work. Could you help me?"

"Oh, that's . . . wonderful," Jackie said, but she seemed to mask an expression of irritation with a smile. "I don't see why not."

Jackie led Aera, followed by Mason, through a series of rooms that were accessible only when Jackie held a special card up to a scanner next to the doors. Aera was beginning to feel more and more like she was somewhere she did not belong. The place was starting to look like the residence of a mad scientist. There were control panels with dozens of colored buttons and levers. Aera couldn't help but wonder what it was that they controlled. 

Eventually, they arrived in a massive dark room. So dark, in fact, that it was impossible to tell where the walls ended and how large the room really was. In the middle was a cube-shaped structure surrounded by metal walkways. Whatever the object was, Aera could deduce it was clearly of great importance. Housing it seemed to be the purpose of the entire room. 

"I thought you should see it yourself," Jackie said. "We've built this machine of sorts. It emits an amount of radiation every time we use it, which is part of why our complex is so far underground. We use it to . . ." she trailed off, glancing at Mason as if she was uncertain whether she should divulge whatever she was about to say. He nodded. "Using it, we have confirmed with near certainty the existence of other universes."

Aera's eyes widened, and Jackie smiled as if she were pleased with the reaction. 

"It may sound absolutely unbelievable and outlandish, but we believe interuniversal travel may be plausible and even within reach . . . someday," Jackie continued.

"Interuniversal travel," Aera repeated, trying to piecing together why Mason brought her there. She couldn't help but burst out laughing, turning to him. "Is that what you think it is I've been doing?"

Jackie looked wholly confused. 

"If I were you, I'd be hoping and praying that it is," Mason said. "Otherwise, the most plausible theory is that you are utterly and completely insane. But to your credit, you quite don't come off that way . . .  in the several hours I've known you."

Now it looked like Jackie's eyes would bulge out of their sockets.

"Jackie darling, you have some catching up to do. I'm sure you're curious why I've brought a young girl I just met into a top secret government lab," Mason said. 

"Why yes, now that you mention it, I am. I figured she was a long lost niece or a secret granddaughter you never told me about. That would be one thing, but this—"

"This may be the key to everything."

Jackie stared at him with incomprehension and growing frustration in her eyes. "Explain to me right now what is going on. Or I will finally be through with your shenanigans and report you to Rothsford for the hundreds of violations of procedure that I have had to put up with and cover for—" 

Mason appeared unconcerned by her threat; he raised both hands in the air as if in surrender and interrupted, "Fine, fine. Let's go back to your office. 

"Why, because you don't want anyone to hear you finally be confronted—"

"Because the chairs in there are comfy." 

He started walking, only to notice that Jackie remained planted where she was standing. Her expression had turned to outright fury. He called back to her, "What? I need lumbar support. I have a bad back!"

"You two sure get along well. How do you even manage to work together?" Aera asked Mason in a whisper while stifling her laughter. 

"I think we complement each other very well, actually. She takes everything very seriously."

"And you don't?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"I thought opposites attracted," Aera remarked.

"Oh, they do," Mason said just as he swung open the door to Jackie's office. Aera followed his lead in taking a seat on the admittedly very comfortable chairs. A moment later, Jackie joined them, returning to her chair behind the desk before them.

"This better be good," Jackie said, crossing her legs and leaning forward expectantly.

Mason looked at Aera, and Jackie followed his gaze. "Well, you better explain why you're here," Mason said.

Aera shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with all the attention being focused on her. "Me? You brought me here, and I'm still not sure why."

Now Jackie and Aera both stared at Mason. The room was silent for a solid minute. Mason suddenly rose from his chair, his joints popping. Then he left the room. 

Aera and Jackie were left staring at the door, both dumbfounded. Then their eyes landed on each other, flickered away awkwardly, then back to each other. 

"I'm so sorry if I've come off as a bitch. It isn't about you, not at all," was all Jackie said before Mason stepped back into the office and latched the door shut behind him.

He pulled an object from his coat pocket. Aera didn't realize what it was until he put it to his lips: a cigar. 

"You've got to be kidding me, what in the—" Jackie began.

"Aera, would you be a dear and light a match for me? My hands are arthritic." He handed her a book of matches.

She stared at it in her hand, registering what was about to happen if she did as he asked. "I'm not sure I . . . I haven't told you—."

"Please, it's very painful for me."

Her hands were trembling, but feeling pressured, she obliged. Aera tore out a match and swiped it across the striking strip. It burst into a flame.