The M Wars pt.2

Took us a week to finally get our leaves accepted by the top brass. Stating that it was a 'family trip', we prepared to look for our old professor. Didn't take us long to find him. His house had the highest fence in the neighbourhood, with barbed wire on top to boot.

We rang the intercom at the entrance.

BZZZZTTTT!

No response.

BZZZZT! BZZZZZT! BZZZZZTTTTTTT!!!

We could hear some shouting coming from within the house. Which was astounding, given the thickness of the walls. Guess the old man never changes. His voice came over the intercom.

"What? Who is it? If it's you brats again, I swear I'll...."

"Professor, it's me, Donald."

There was a pause.

"Alice is here too."

"Heya professor!"

More silence. Then a soft voice came from the intercom.

"I'll be right there."

Suddenly, the thick wooden door of his house opened. The man that appeared almost couldn't be recognized. He was already thin before, but now he's almost like a stick. His clothes were sagging off of him, and the cap that he wore was a bit too small for his bald head.

But I saw a sight that I thought I would never see in my life. He was smiling, with a smile that I never saw before in all the times I was under his care.

There was an almost awkward silence as he approached us and opened the gate. Then Alice decided to break it by rushing over to him and giving him a hug.

"Professor! How are you? You've lost so much weight you know!"

"Yes, my dear, I haven't exactly been eating well. You seem to be doing well enough though."

Then he looked at me.

"What are you standing there for, my boy? Come in, come in!"

The two of us went into the house, and was led into the pantry area. Stanton served us some tea, then sat down with us.

"Ooooh my, how many years has it been? Are you two still with the Research Centre?"

We could see that he frowned a bit the moment he mentioned the place.

"Yes, we are, and actually...that's kind of related to why we're here today."

"But I've been out of the field for so long, I don't think I can help you much here."

"Actually, Donald and I feels that you're the ONLY person who can help us on this."

Stanton adjusted his glasses, and looked at us with an incredibly familiar expression. This was the face of the researcher we knew. It's as if the kind grandpa behavior earlier was just a ruse.

"Mirror-men. You researched this, didn't you?"

"What of it? No one believed me. I was even kicked out of the Centre for this."

"I believe I saw them, professor."

He stood up, and slammed his hands on the table.

"What did you just say? Say it again!"

"I think I saw it, professor. But we need your confirmation on what exactly is a mirror-man to know further."

"How sure are you that you saw it?"

"We're very sure, professor. Here's a camera recording of Donald's encounter with one."

As he watched the recording, first his face was wide with disbelief. However, it soon turned into a smile, and then an unexpected laugh.

"Finally! Proof of my theory!"

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Stanton dragged out his whiteboard from within his storeroom. How he manages to store one inside his house, I'll never know. But then again, his house is ridiculously huge.

He got to work explaining the mirror-men to us.

He drew two black lines on the whiteboard.

"Imagine that these are parallel dimensions."

"Alright, simple enough."

"It gets more difficult from here. Try to imagine that in these parallel dimensions, we are doing the exact same thing. Everyday when we wake up, what we do, where we go. Exactly the same between us and our...other selves in this other dimension."

"Hence the name mirror-men?"

"No. Please keep quiet unless you want me to toss this marker at your face like I did in class."

Alice giggled.

"The main reason they are called mirror-men is because of...well, mirrors. What we see in those mirrors, isn't ourselves. It's them. It's our other self. Doing the same thing as us, at the exact same time, with the exact same behavior and results. We think the mirror shows our reflection, but it isn't. It's another version of us."

"Wait wait wait. You can throw a marker at me if you want, but I have to ask this. So all along, all of those mirrors in our house, in all households around the world, are showing our other selves from a different dimension? But that's...just not possible! It goes against what a mirror actually is!"

"Well, what IS a mirror? When was it created? Its history goes back so far long, there's no way to know for sure. Who was it that originally said that mirrors are only objects that shows our reflections? Come on, boy, you work at the Fringe Science Centre! Your job is to question the possibility of things!"

It almost felt as if I was back in class. But he was right. There are no possibilities in my line of work. Seeing that I've already calmed down, he continued.

"Here comes the worrying part. There is only one reason why your other self is doing something different than you. The sync between our dimensions are wrong."

"Sync?"

"That's the only word I can use to describe it. It's what ensures that our two dimensions are perfectly parallel, that both us and our other self is doing the exact same thing at the same time. Now it's getting out of sync."

I kept silent as I tried to digest his words.

"How often are these sightings?"

"I first saw it around 4 months ago. Then it happened again 2 months ago. Then a month after that. Last time I saw it was last week."

Stanton paced around the room, mumbling to himself. Then he looked at me.

"The sightings are becoming more and more frequent. The sync is getting worse. Quick, there's no time! We have to head back to the Centre and come up with a way to stop it from happening!"

"Stop what, exactly?"

"What do you think will happen when the sync comes completely off? Everyone would notice. Chaos will happen on the streets. Even now, I believe that there are countless people around the world seeing this, but is regarded as crazy people. And then there's the risk of invasion."

"Invasion?"

"Yes, by our other selves. You see, I believe that this sync also acts as some sort of barrier. Otherwise, the moment we touch the mirror, we'd touch our other selves. Makes sense that there must be something stopping us from doing so, correct? Hence there has to be a barrier of sorts. But with the weakening of the sync, this barrier will also be weakened, and I fear that it would be completely broken soon."

"Okay, one last question, before we go."

"What? We have no time for more idle chatter."

"This is really important to me, professor, I have to know this."

Realizing the seriousness in my eyes, Stanton nodded.

"Go on then."

"Why me? Why can't Alice see it? Why can't other people see it?"

"When were you born, Donald?"

"1980, why?"

"Where?"

"England. Why are you asking this?"

"England, England. 1980...were your parents near the town of Flixborough?"

"Why yes, how did you know that?"

"There was an explosion at a chemical plant there at 1974. I believe that your parents must have inhaled some of the chemical gases, and that caused you to be unnaturally sensitive to your other self. This caused the differences."

"But how did you know about that explosion in that town, professor?"

"Well, Alice...I was originally from that town."

"Wait, so you....!"

"Yes, Donald, I can see it too. How else would I have known about this enough to research about it in the first place? Now let's get into the car."

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It was a long drive back to the Centre. Due to some of the health problems the professor had gotten due to his age, we had to make multiple stops. A two-day journey became a week-long affair.

Finally, we were back at the Centre. The moment we entered, a lot of the staff gasped at the sight of us. Actually, it wasn't really us, but more on Stanton. Everyone knew about Stanton, his findings basically catapulted the Centre to fame.

A guard came forward, seemingly about to drag him back out like what happened so many years ago. I stepped up front, ready to somehow defend the old professor. Suddenly, the guard stopped right in front of me.

"Professor Stanton, Donald, and Alice. The chief wants to meet you."

We looked at each other, and nodded. While it was weird that he wants to talk to us on his own accord, it saved us the time to schedule a meeting with him. This was as good a time as any to talk to the chief about it.

As we entered, the chief looked stern, starting at his computer screen.

"Stanton. Never thought I'd see you again."

He turned his chair around and looked at us.

"You've lost weight, old man."

"Still standing, kid."

"Hmph. Enough chatter, come look at this."

On his screen were countless reports and documents. It made even my eyes cringe a bit.

"These are all reports of people seeing...things in the mirror. According to the reports, their reflections are not doing what they are doing. I remember you researched about 'mirror-men' before, right?"

"Yes, before you scrapped the damn thing and dragged me out like a piece of trash. AFTER ALL I'VE DONE FOR THIS CENTRE!"

Stanton's voice boomed across the room. Alice approached him and comforted him down. He can't afford to have outbursts like this every time, not with his current condition.

"...I'm sorry about that I did. I was younger then, naive. I didn't believe in what you said."

"Well, how about now?"

"I have to. My wife...she says she's seeing this as well."

We all sat down, and discussed about the incidents.

"How often are these sightings?"

"They came in about 2 week ago. Things would be quiet for a couple of days, then reports came in again. Now they're coming in almost every day."

As if suddenly realizing something, Stanton stood up when he heard that.

"We're too late. It's starting. We're too late!"

"What's too late?"

He turned and looked at me.

"The sync! It's already broken! As the sightings become more and more often, it meant that the sync is getting weaker and weaker, reducing the delay it took for a sighting. And now that it's happening everyday..."

"It would mean that the delay could be hours or even minutes by now."

"And the barrier is...broken."

We all were silent. The ringing of the chief's mobile phone broke the silence.

"Samantha? What's happening? Did you see it again?"

As he heard his wife's voice from the other side, the chief dropped the phone onto the floor.

"Samantha...she's saying that...that a hand reached out from beyond the mirror."

"The invasion...has started."

The M Wars pt. 1

We are at war. Not with any foreign countries. Not with any alien invaders. But with ourselves. My name is Donald, and this is how it all began...

We were heading over to research lab B, giddy over the results that we had to show. Suddenly, we heard a scream coming from down the hallway. 2 of our security guards were forcefully dragging someone along the hall.

"They're coming! I'm telling you!"

As the guards passed, I caught a glimpse of the man being forcefully showed the exit. It was Professor Stanton. A lanky man, his lab coat always seemed a bt too large for him. Never thought it could be used to drag him around though. With the muscles on those security guards, they had no problem dragging him around.

Stanton saw me, and looked me in the eye.

"Please, you have to believe me! I know they're coming. If we don't stop them now, it'll be too late!"

I didn't respond to him. In fact, I didn't know HOW to respond to him. This was a man who was always known to be always calm, and calculating. He was the pride and joy of our Fringe Science Research Facility. What could have caused him to end up like this?

Anyway, we put it behind us, and mainly forgot about him. Until recently.

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"Aaarrghhh!!!"

A let out a scream unknowingly. Alice rushed towards me from our bedroom. Even though I was having difficulty breathing, and had cold sweat, I assured her that everything was alright. After all, how could I tell her what I saw? She'd just say that I was seeing things.

After a while, I went back to bed. Alice was already sound asleep. I combed away her red hair, planted a kiss on her forehead, and went to sleep.

I didn't experience that...'sighting' again. Until two months later.

This time, it was much more clear. I knew, I had to tell Alice about it this time.

After dinner, I sat her down at the couch in our living room, telling her that 'we need to talk'. She had this look of concern on her face. Too much TV taught her that whenever married couples mention 'we need to talk', it's something really really bad.

I took a deep breath.

"Honey, recently I've been seeing..."

Before I could finish, Alice stood up and blurted,

"Please please please don't tell me you're seeing someone else."

I placed my hands on her shoulders, and looked her right in the eye.

"Honey, I love you, and I married you. Trust me, I'm not having an affair. Now, please take a seat."

Alice breathed a sigh of relief, and sat back down. Her face, which previously was so full of frowns that her freckles seemed almost invisible now seems as if a huge burden were lifted off her chest. I started again.

"As I was saying...recently I've been seeing...things."

"Things?"

"Yes, things. I can't quite describe it. You remember that night two months ago when I screamed in the bathroom?"

"Yeah? Was it because of this 'thing' that you saw?"

"It was. And what I'm about to tell you now might sound ridiculous, but I want you to hear me out."

She leaned forward, and held my hand.

"Baby, we're scientists. Fringe scientists, to be exact. What is there that I won't believe?"

"Alright...here goes. In the bathroom, I saw that my reflection...it wasn't doing what I was doing."

The moment she heard that, she couldn't help but let out a snicker.

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I fumbled my way into the bathroom. As a result of that conversion with Alice a month ago, I now have to wear those portable mini-cameras on my forehead wherever I go to the toilet.

"This is to prove what you said", she says.

She seems to be having more fun seeing me trying to put that damn thing on than in proving anything.

"But, if this is the only way to prove what I said to her, then so be it." I gave myself a pep-talk, and went to brush my teeth.

As I was finishing, I placed my toothbrush at the side of the sink, as I normally do. But before I proceeded to wash my face (those cameras are water-proof, apparently), I took a peek at the mirror. The camera recorded undeniable proof that what I said was true, that it wasn't just my imagination.

In the reflection, I saw myself, wearing the exact same camera on the forehead. However, he still had the toothbrush in his mouth.

I ran out of the bathroom, yelling for Alice.

"I got it! I got the proof that you wanted!"

Whatever funny comeback that she had disappeared from her mind when she viewed the footage. She could clearly see me putting down the toothbrush, only to see the other 'me' with the toothbrush still in his mouth.

She looked at me with the most serious expression I've ever seen in years.

"Baby, we have to investigate this."

"Investigate?"

"I think that based on the work that we do, there's gotta be SOMETHING that talks about this."

And so, the next day, we went to work as usual. However, during our break hour, we went into the data archives instead, looking for whatever could point us towards the cause of this phenomenon. The archives were vast. Sure, everything was stored within computers and databases, but it was hard to even begin our search.

We searched for whatever was related to 'mirrors'. The results came to anything from spirits haunting the mirror, to our future reflected in the mirror, but none of them matched what I saw. Finally, I found something that could be related.

"Honey, over here! Come look at this!"

She rushed over to my computer as fast as possible.

"Parallel dimensions?"

"Yes, look at what it says here. 'People from parallel dimensions can live exact same lives, but with very minute differences'."

"But it never says anything about actually seeing those people in the mirror, now did it?"

"I think it's as good a place to start as any."

As I read further into the document with Alice, I came upon a link.

"Huh, what's this? 'The Mirror Men'?"

I tried clicking on it. It returned with a glaring red error stating that the record is no longer available.

"Deleted? But we never delete anything, not even junk about spider-ducks!"

"Hey! Spider-ducks might be real!"

I gave Alice a quick hard stare. She gave an awkward smile, and focused back on the screen.

"Wait...here, under the link. Chief researcher...Professor Stanton?"

We looked at each other, both of us puzzled. Of course we remembered him. He was our lecturer. We also remembered him being dragged out of the lab, kicking and screaming. I sighed. With a few clicks on the computer, I managed to find out where the professor stays. Guess it's time we the good professor a visit.

The Office

The man stood proudly in front of two automatic glass doors.

"My friends! Welcome! I'm sure that you are all very, very excited to check this place out, but before we do so, let me just talk a bit about this company here."

As he spoke, he paced about, and made a lot of animated hand gestures. For a man in his 30s who was dressed sharply in a business suit, it's as if he was a kid explaining how his new toy is the best one around.

"That's enough about me. Now, shall we proceed?"

As he ushered them into the building, the crowd slowly entered. One of the guests took notice of his nametag, which wrote 'Stan'.

"This here, ladies and gentlemen, is our beautiful receptionist Lily!"

He waved towards a blond woman in her early 20s, talking to someone on the phone. Hearing Stan mentioning her, she looked up and waved towards us and flashed a sweet smile.

"Sorry, we're always getting calls, so she's a bit tied up. She's really sweet though. Now, as you probably know, this is where most of our guests wait, while the proper representative comes and meets up with them. However, seeing as you are all my very own special guests, we shall proceed immediately."

Stan then led the group of people past the receptionist's area, and into what appears to be an office. The area was packed with desks, each with their own computers and stacks of papers. The faces of the employees could barely be seen, what with all of the stuff on their desks. Their voices, though, were a whole different matter.

"Hey! Where's the form I gave you just now? Is it processed yet?!"

"Quit shouting at me about that! I'm working on it!"

"Would you two ladies please shut the hell up?! I'm trying to work here!"

Men were shouting at each other across the entire floor. However, the moment one of them saw Stan approach, he shouted,

"The Boss is here!"

Instantly, there was silence across the floor. Stan turned around to face his guests, and explained,

"Do excuse the noise. Things can get very chaotic, with the amount of work that we have to do day in an out."

He then turned towards his employees.

"Keep up the good work, guys! You guys are my soldiers out in the field. You are my eyes,  my ears, my arms."

The instant he said that, everyone could see a look of pride swelling up within each and every one of the employees. Suddenly, another employee approached from a small room at the side, holding a stack of papers.

"Hey! Which asshole asked for this stack of forms? Wait a minute, why all the silence?"

As he realized that Stan was in the office, there was a look of fear in his face. Stan pointed at him,

"You! What's your name?"

"I-I-It's Lee, sir."

"Lee!"

His voice echoed throughout the silent office.

"You're doing a great job! Keep it up! Folks, you better keep up, otherwise Lee here will be grabbing Employee of the Month! Now, back to work, people!"

The employees sat back down almost immediately, and the next second, the shouting started again. Stan looks at his group of guests, smiles, and shrugs his shoulders.

He then proceeded to an elevator, and the group followed suit.

"This here, ladies and gentleman, is the express elevator. Goes straight to my office! You need a keycard for this, of course. This little guy here."

He fished out a black card from his pocket, and pressed it against a device attached to the wall next to the elevator.

DING! That familiar sound signalled the arrival of the elevator. Before he got in, Stan checked his wristwatch.

"Oh my! Is it that late already? We better hurry then! Please, ladies and gentleman, this way! This elevator can hold all of us!"

He pressed the highest floor available, the 7th floor. However, instead of going up, the elevator started moving in the opposite direction.

Sensing the confusion among his guests, Stan started to explain.

"As probably heard during my introduction, this company is very unique. Instead of expanding upwards, it goes downwards. The good thing is, we can all avoid the glare of that dang sun. The bad thing is, less ventilation."

The elevator descended slowly. The glaring lack of the standard elevator tunes made the silence all the more obvious. Then, a sudden sound within the elevator breaks the silence.

"Boss! Boss, you there?"

The PA system within the elevator boomed with the sound of a man, who sounded like he was trying to contact Stan. Acknowledging this, Stan headed to the panel of the elevator, held the comm button, and responded.

"Lucas! Where are you? I wanted to introduce you to these fine folks I'm guiding here!"

"Sorry boss! I had some things to do outside, and just came back! Good news though, we might have new people coming in soon!"

"Alright, great to hear that! I'll be seeing you in the 6.30 meeting later then."

As communication with Lucas ended, Stan once again broke the silence.

"Lucas is kind of like my right-hand man. He's our lead headhunter, and also does a lot of other stuff on the side," Stan said with a proud smile on his face.

DING DONG!

The elevator has reached its destination, the 7th floor. Without wasting a moment, Stan brought them over to his office.

"And here, my friends, is my private office. Let's talk business, shall we?"

He pointed at a middle-aged lady within the group.

"Shall we start with you?"

Nervously, she approached his desk, and took a seat.

"Hi...I'm Lucille. R-Recently, I realized that my husband is having an affair. I-I want to get back at that fox!"

She broke into tears. Comforting her, Stan provided her with a handkerchief, and spoke softly to her to take her time, and explain further.

"You have to understand that this is a one-time transaction. It's not something that we can do multiple times, you see? The payment can only be done once. So, I need you to calm down, and tell me slowly what exactly is it that you ask for."

On his desk, there was a nameplate, bearing his official position :

'Stan, CEO of Hell".