Induction

A building stood tall in the middle of Changhai. It was coated with gold, and carefully crafted as seven figures holding up a yellow globe. Each figures legs was an exit from the building, and the only entrance was deep underground. Many people had speculated on the origin and use of the building, but in the end they concluded it was just an artistic masterpiece intended to contribute to the tourist relevance and thus income of the city and country. The building had no windows or doors that outsiders could see. Precisely twenty seven thousand miles to the east of the building which happened to be an undeveloped plain, the helicopter quietly made it's descent. Three figures made their way out, the lead person lugging a human figure in black polythene over his shoulder. The ground opened up and they walked underground, quite naturally. Inside their was a train-like tram waiting on it's track. They boarded it while Steve made a quick call into his mobile.

"Where to, brothers?"

A voice said out of nowhere

"Headquarters"

Soon the tram sped up in tremendously, descending even deeper underground. After some distance the ground levelled up and the tram picked up more speed, reaching 0.4G in just two minutes. After some time all occupants of the tram felt themselves being pushed strongly against their seats as the tram began ascending upwards. Soon it stopped and the figures stepped out, Steve dragging CJ behind him. The other two separated ways at the ground floor, going towards the elevator while CJ remained at the lobby. Soon a valet with a 'B-9' badge strapped to his blue T-shirt approached Steve respectfully. Steve handed the heavy bag to him.

"Follow all procedures strictly", he instructed stiffly and made his way to the elevator, while the valet made a slight bow and lifted CJ, taking him to a room in the basement.

Steve stopped at the third floor, and stepped into room 5. There was a woman strapped to the chair.

"How's she holding up" Steve asked as he washed his hands at a nearby sink.

"All vital signs are normal, and there are no signs of abnormality", a husky voice replied.

"What of the outside world, has her disappearance been noticed yet?"

"No Sir, the alibi is still holding up, but we don't have much time left, or her husband is going to get suspicious"

"That's fine, because we can release her now, send her back safely, we have the target in custody"

A low hum sounded as a hydraulic arm detached from the wall and cut off the woman's bounding tape. Another thinner hydraulic arm quickly went to work, injecting a red, almost transparent liquid into the woman's arm. Two androids approached, and taking the each of the woman's arm over their shoulder, they led her out of the room, still unconscious.

Steve pulled out a tablet and entered his personal key. He then keyed in some commands and the CCTV camera feed from the basement popped up.

"After fifty four years and wasting endless resources, who would have thought that the key to the universe would be in this ordinary young man's body. This world is truly mysterious", Steve commented

"Now the brothers will transcend again. Let's see how the universe intends to stop us this time".

Closing the camera feed, Steve quickly opened a messaging platform.

"The catalyst has been found. An induction event will be convened in four hours time. All missions are to be suspended temporarily with immediate effect"

After sending out the message, Steve exhaled deeply and sank into his seat in a relaxed manner

At the height of war, and the best of technological development, the Fuitans, a country in the planet Steve was born, began to seriously research into the concept of life and universe. A planet was useless without life, and the purpose of all lives was posterity. Moreover, humanity always believed that there was a grand purpose to itself, a height that if reached most questions considered religious or philosophical would be answered with utmost clarity. Some things like human emotions, consciousness, retribution, cause and effect and a lot of others could never be explained by science, no matter how technologically advanced they were. And this the belief came about that there was a supreme existence above all life in whose domain all these things were under control, and who was all powerful and omnipotent. However no matter how many claims and faith humans gathered, there was never a substantial evidence to prove their existence. The only way to see the light was to continually develop and clarify matters with their own strength. This sufficiently advanced civilizations sought to get stronger, plundering and looting constellations and planets millions of light years around them. But Steve believed there was more to clarity than getting stronger. There was different types of strength. When he was young, his father who was very advanced in the field of martial arts, to the point he could even predict a bullet's trajectory before it was fired and avoid it, knock down a boulder in one punch, and run up to two kilometers on water, was brought down by a quantum assault. This led Steve into a long period of depression, where he began to deeply consider questions regarding strength and transcendence. According to him, strength was not only limited to the physical. There was also strength in controlling was means of basic survival such as air, food and water. There was strength of influence and numbers. There was strength of intelligence, of affluence and wealth, and strength also in understanding and wisdom. And this his journey began. While still in hiding, he used his father's influence to get to people loyal to his father and dissatisfied with the way the government did things, and together they formed the Brother's Bond. Their primary aim was to acquire absolute control of humanity, leaving nothing to chance. They had worked tirelessly underground to overthrow the then government of Fuitans, free Steve of all political charges, and gather the military strength to start exploring the universe. Earth was discovered about a couple hundred years back, and the brothers were awed by the sheer natural beauty and habitability of it, that they became embarrassed to leave Earth for their home planet in another galaxy. Suppressing the ruling government and going undercover was a piece of cake for them, as they worked best undetected. Only a incredibly high officials in control of world power was privy to their existence, and even those were kept under strict control and surveillance.

Some breakthroughs were gained in the last forty years, which proved the existence of parallel universes. Just imagining the endless amount of resources that can be dug up by gaining access to parallel universes caused the brothers to focus the bulk of their research in that direction. But no matter how many theories were tested, the ability to travel to a parallel universe continuously eluded the Brothers.

"Ding dong" A notification from his device awakened Steve from his deep thoughts which had grown to become habitual. He opened the message

"All examinations completed"

Steve hurriedly went down to the basement, where he met the squarish-faced brother still putting on a blue overall and sterilized handgloves.

"How is it", Steve asked with the calmest expression

"His DNA came out as normal as they come. Moreover, his cell particles didn't resonate with any of the duality quantas we've discovered so far. He appears to be a typical Earthling with no extraordinary capabilities."

The brother explained nervously, his eyes always shifting sideways from Steve.

"Then how the hell did the unmistakable spacetime disturbance today align with his exact position?"

" I don't know the answer to that Sir. That phenomenon is above the current scope of our technology"

"You have no more than 72 hours to provide an answer, or else the brothers will relieve you of your duties"

Cold swear broke out drenching the man's forehead and his inner wears. Only a brother would recognize the amount of threats in those words.

" I'll definitely try my best Sir, I promise not to disappoint you", the man said fidgetedly.

" That better be the case, for your own good", Steve replied before exiting the room.

Inside the tempered glass enclosement, CJ lay unconscious, submerged in a blue-green alkaline liquid.

His brain waves suggested a complete nervous suppression, meaning he was in a dreamless slumber, but at this moment, he was experiencing an almost real dream.

CJ was standing in a large expanse of tall lush grass. The breeze blew gently and the atmosphere was silent.

" Where am I ?" CJ asked subconsciously to no one in particular. Looking down at his palms, they appeared glowing and jade-like. Looking around, he felt an instinctive desire to explore the area. He stepped forward, patting the grass with his bands to make way. They felt soft and a bit wet to the touch. CJ felt the sun's position and determined the eastern direction. He walked steadily for about ten minutes before emerging in an unoccupied plain. There was a well about thirty yards to his right, and he could make out a faint voice from it's direction. Puzzled, CJ advanced carefully towards it.

"Who's there?" CJ asked cautiously

"Please help me! Help me please!" A voice called out exasperatedly. It appeared strangely familiar, and unfamiliar at the same time. Soon CJ was close enough to look inside the well. It wasn't very deep, only reaching about five feet, but the walls of it appeared very smooth. The person inside was a woman with a dyed red hair. Her face was chubby, sporting deep blue eyes.

"Celine?", CJ asked incredulously

"How did you get here?"

The woman didn't seem to recognize him, and her gaze was unfamiliar.

"Please I need to get out of this hole, can you help me Mister? Please save me", The woman had a pleading look.

As CJ looked at her, he couldn't stop the tears from brimming in his eyes all of a sudden.

" Why" was all he could muster.

The woman gazed at him strangely. " Please save me Mister ", she pleaded again.

CJ braced himself and started thinking of a way to pull her out of the well. He pulled out his clothes but they weren't long enough. He looked furtively around but there was nothing in sight, except for the field of grass behind him. CJ suddenly went over to it. Pulling on the grass, he discovered it to be quite tough, and with a little bit of strength, they came off the ground. He pulled out a few more and tied them end to end. Going back to the well, he extended it down and pulled the woman out of the well.

Before he could get a better look at her and ask her the questions in his mind, he suddenly gasped, almost choking on some awkward-tasting liquid. He was screaming again. Subconsciously CJ wondered how a chill guy like him ended screaming so frequently in the recent days. However the smurky liquid absorbed every decibel, instead entering his trachea, lungs and pores, suffocating the air out of his entire system.

"WHY CAN'T ANYBODY HELP ME" CJ thought helplessly.

"WHY IS ALL THIS HAPPENING, LIKE, WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING" He was feeling very frustrated. He continuously tried to scream, flaying his legs and arms until he started to lose consciousness.

"I'm going to die" CJ thought resignedly.

"I'm going to die without ever telling her that I'm sorry"

It was at this moment that a strange kind of energy flooded his muscles, and he felt as if he just woke in the spring breeze. All his cells rejuvenated as he pictured the beautiful face of a young woman in his mind.

"No, I can't die. Not like this". With that he kicked out with his left leg, sending a tremendous force into the tempered glass chamber he was imprisoned in, and disintegrating it's very molecular adherence. The glass shattered with a deafening bang, quickly bringing CJ to floor level as the liquid spilled and assumed the shape of the room's floor. Gasping, CJ sprang up and dived towards the only door of the room, breaking the steel alloy it was made of midair.

He landed on a transparent floor, and his rugged face stared back at him in exhilaration. There was a strange kind of strength pumping through him. The kind that made him feel like handling 30 burly men at the same time. Fire coursed through his veins seeking a path of escape. CJ understood only one thing at this moment, he was no longer himself.

That was when the alarm went off. The whole facility began to shut down, cutting off all exit points. But CJ was wide awake. He dashed and charged, knocking down one guard after the other. He was going to wonder later why nobody shot a bullet, laser, or heat ray or electromagnetic beam at him. Truth was, the guards never stopped shooting. But they either ricocheted off his body or passed directly through, not causing a single injury. Very quickly, CJ reached an exit point, but after dealing with the guards stationed there, he found out the high security hatch wasn't made of steel or tempered glass. As a matter of fact it was made of the softest material known to mankind, the seventh wonder of quantum physics. It absorbed all kinds of impact forces and solidified it's bonds proportionally, making it practically impossible to shatter. This left CJ stumped. Hearing the swarm of more guards coming towards him from the hallway behind, he had no choice but to follow the only alternate route that led even farther underground.

He remembered seeing a card scan at the hatch, but no guards he had handled so far had a corresponding card that would fit into it. It had to be a much higher level of clearance. Very soon the guards reached the exit and finding the hatch still intact, immediately followed CJ down the stairs.

CJ reached a door, but there was a card and eye scan that restricted access.

"Let me" a new voice said softly behind CJ, gently pushing him aside at the same time. CJ silently shuddered at the extreme cold contact of his touch, and reflexively turned around to look at the newcomer, quickly getting into a defensive stance.

"Don't bother about that. I would mash a dozen of you without breaking a sweat", the figure said dismissively without even sparing CJ a glance. He pulled out a card from a pocket CJ didn't notice before, scanning it and his slit of a retina simultaneously. Soon as the door clicked, he directly pushed it open and went in, while dragging CJ behind him. "We don't have any time to spare" he said as an apology for the mild violence.

"Who are you" CJ desperately wanted to ask, but the biting cold of the stranger's hands on his forcefully shut the air out of his air pipes. Very soon all the guards were way behind them, and the sound of their stampede died away in the distance. That was when the duo paused, and CJ realized they had been moving at an incredible speed. There was an ambient light overhead, and it revealed the figures face to be a creepy kind, with extra long nose and a disgusting skin texture and colour, just like a fat toad's.

The figure turned around and flashed what he believed to be a charming smile at CJ.

"I've helped you, now you have to set me free"