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huffle-dork · 3 months ago

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Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 13: Outer Space AU

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

Alt lands in a... very unusual room. Its walls and floor are made of metal, with rivets along the edges close to where they meet. But the room is not small, nor is it dark. There are bright, square lights in the ceiling that light up the area. The room is also, fortunately, not some sort of science lab. It looks more... casual? Strangely? There's a desk in the corner, rounded and sleek, with big, smooth monitors on top. One of the monitors is on, showing a video that seems to be the same thirty-second clip of someone talking to the camera looping over and over. There are a couple chairs in the opposite corner, made of a strange rounded shape. There's also a white, circular table full of very strange mechanical and technological parts that even Alt can't identify... though he thinks he sees a camera lens in there. Or maybe a projector? There's another screen mounted into a wall, showing an image of a snowy mountain landscape at sunset. Like a fake window of some kind. There are no real windows, but there is a circular... is that a door?

Alt blinks and looks around the area with wide eyes. “…what a wild juxtaposition to the last one.” He mutters. But, he also looks fascinated.

"Welcome to UF-0908355OS," Anti says, sounding... excited. "I was looking forward to this one."

Alt glitches over to look at the table full of stuff and hums. He looks surprised at Anti’s tone and brings out his phone to raise an eyebrow at him. “You sound… really excited dude- what’s up with this world?”

"It's the technology, Alt," Anti says, grinning. "You can see it just looking around, can't you?!"

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.

Chase stands up. "No time like now, then! Let's go."

#SBTCV #Swap beyond the Crystalverse #SBTCV outer space #outer space au #YEAHHH SPACE TIMEE!!#sorry I’m late I forgot how hefty this section is #but omg the world building in this one is so great!!#cry really out did themselves :)

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