“Anything”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Could be anything.” — suggested by Bob

“Choose something.”

“What?”

I frown at my brother. “What do you mean ‘choose something’? That’s not particularly helpful.”

He shrugs. “Something. Anything. Just choose something.”

I think for a moment. “Pumpkins,” I say finally. “I choose pumpkins.”

He rolls his eyes. “Of course you do. Why did I even bother asking.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “What’s the point of choosing something I could never have?”

He doesn’t reply, but gives me a smirk.

I narrow my eyes at him. He’s hiding something, I can tell. “What is it?” I ask. “Why are you grinning at me.”

His smile widens and he grabs my hand. He pulls me towards the back of the ship, to his room.

“I’ve been wanting to show you this for months now,” he says, “but I wanted to make absolutely sure that it worked first.”

“Make what work?” I ask impatiently. He knows that I despise being kept in the dark.

Again, he doesn’t reply. We skid to a stop in front of his door. He presses his palm against the identification panel and the door slides open. Without wasting a moment, he drags me inside.

I haven’t been in my brother’s room in ages. Usually, whenever I knock, he tells me that he’ll meet me outside or in the dining hall. Now, though, I can see why he didn’t want me to enter.

He’s been hiding a hologram.

“Where did you get that?” I immediately demand, staring at the piece of machinery sitting in front of us.

He shrugs off my question. “Not important. But look, you can wish for anything you want and it’ll give it to you!”

“It doesn’t give it to you,” I say crossly. “Holograms aren’t real.”

I see the corner of his mouth creep up in a sly grin.

“What did you do?” I demand, turning on him. Then, my eyes widen. I suddenly remember him asking how teleporters work and looking around for strange mechanical parts.

“You didn’t,” I murmur, stepping away from the machine. “Please tell me you didn’t make a teleporter.”

His eyes light up. “I didn’t make a teleporter. I made something so much better.” He steps towards the machine and opens his arm in a flourish. “I call it a realogram! It creates actual objects and brings them right to your hand!”

I squeeze my eyes shut and I shake my head. “No, no, no, that’s even worse.” I take a deep breath to steady my pounding heart and whisper, “Please tell me that you didn’t try it.”

He frowns at me. “Of course I did. I had to run hundreds of tests before I could show you. Why?”

I let out a small gasp. Suddenly, everything that’s been happening in the Delta-1980 universe makes sense. The rifts. The mutations.

The disappearances.

“There’s a reason that teleporters were banned,” I breathe. “They rip apart the fabric of the universe.” I pause and try not to panic. “You just started the countdown for the end of the world.”

Final Comments: The time seemed to go by really fast for this one! I also didn’t quite know how to finish it up, so the ending is a bit rocky and not quite as dramatic as I would’ve liked, but overall, the story flowed pretty easily.

Overall Rating: 😏