Realities Beyond the Keyspace

in #writing • 2 years ago

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Part 3 of an untitled scifi work. If you're just tuning in, consider starting with Part 1.

Mork didn't support Pipix's plan to abandon Earth for Mother. He said that there were millions of Earthlings more deserving of the opportunity to immigrate than she was. Even so, Mork agreed to allowing Pipix to use his observation device on occasion. Mork operated the device, Pipix supplied the coordinates, and Benjamin was blown away by the implications of the technology he was seeing.

Nothing in the past or present was hidden to the device. Pipix was mostly using it to spy on the new couple in her old apartment, but the device's reach was limitless. "Virtually limitless," Mork specified one day. "Technically, there are only so many possible coordinates. A large number, true, but not infinite. This total number of possible coordinates is called coordinate keyspace. There may be realities beyond the keyspace. We don't know."

Mork taught Benjamin all about the observation device, including how to rig it to allow people to walk between worlds. Pipix followed along, though she never expected to operate the device herself. In theory, Benjamin could have used what he learned to send Pipix to the planet Mother while Mork was busy elsewhere. But the more she thought about it, the less inclined she became to carry out her plan.

In a new apartment six blocks from Mork's place, Benjamin was helping Pipix formulate a new plan. So far, they'd done brainstorming, a vision board, and a meditation exercise. "I want to regain my former glory, not wallow in my imagination," said Pipix finally in frustration. "What I really need to do is reach the Lindrue rulers. Convince them to change their mind about me."

"Right on," said Benjamin. "Are any of them your friends?"

"No," said Pipix. "They're aware of me only in the way that a deer is aware of a tick. But Mork's observation device may present an opportunity to change that."

"Okay," said Benjamin.

"The Lindrue observation device can only observe, whereas Mork's device can also be used for physical travel," said Pipix. "In theory, we should be able to use it to steal the Lindrue device. Then I can hold the device hostage until they restore my position in society."

"That sounds super dangerous," said Benjamin. "It's like the kind of thing that happens in Star Trek that leads to getting trapped in a mirror universe or whatever."

"Your objections are noted," said Pipix. "In the interest of caution, perhaps we should conduct a test theft before going after the real thing. You steal whatever you like, from anywhere in the world, while I keep Mork busy."

"I'm still not totally clear on how the coordinate system works," said Benjamin. "You'll have to help me with that part."

"I guess I can trust you with this," said Pipix after a long pause. "Before he died, Octex was working on a computer program to generate coordinates. In case we ever obtained access to Mork's device. I finished the program, which is how I've obtained the coordinates we've been observing. I'll show you how to use the program, but you must never tell anyone of its existence."

"What if someone's observing us having this conversation right now?" asked Benjamin.

"For the test, you'll want to steal something of similar size and weight as the Lindrue observation device," said Pipix. "A one foot column two feet long, weighing maybe sixty pounds. The easiest way would be to orient the aperture horizontally so the object in question simply falls into your location."

To distract Mork, Pipix agreed to help him with his mission, which was finding Earthlings that didn't fit in and offering them the opportunity to immigrate to the planet Mother. The two of them went to the park to hand out cards while Benjamin stayed in Mork's apartment to use the observation device. Taking a deep breath, Benjamin waited until they'd been gone a few minutes, then programmed the observation device for his heist.

Technically, Mork's machine was two observation devices joined together by a Brockton device. One observation device opened a precisely shaped aperture in the center of a nearby star, the Brockton device coupled with this aperture and converted the energy that came through into electricity, and this electricity fed power to the second observation device, allowing it to produce apertures stable enough to allow physical matter to pass through them. The Lindrue observation device that Pipix was after had no such capability, and could be used for observation only.

The decision about what to steal for the test run hadn't been easy. Benjamin considered many things. He thought about famous jewels or musical instruments. Works of art. A Magna Carta exemplification or the Declaration of Independence. The most expensive limited sneakers in the world. The technology made stealing any of these things perfectly feasible. But if he stole something too pretty, he was sure Pipix would simply take it for herself. And then there was the question of what to do with something so rare and valuable once he had it.

Initially, Benjamin was going to attempt a diamond heist. That would maximize the financial value of the theft, but it still left the problem of how to sell stolen diamonds. Although he was confident that he could find someone to buy the hot stones in Chinatown, he couldn't actually picture himself ever doing that, so he decided that diamonds were too risky.

Benjamin also toyed with the idea of stealing classified government documents pertaining to UFOs. Using what was almost certainly alien tech to remotely grab a box of secret UFO files would've been awesome. Unfortunately, there was no way to know where such files might be kept, if they existed at all. And the device required exact coordinates.

The coordinates Benjamin finally programmed into the device were for a fenced-in area of warehouse under armed guard, not far from JFK Airport, where pallets of used cash were consolidated before being sent to their destruction at the Federal Reserve. First, Benjamin observed the area, using what he found to tune his final coordinates. Then he opened a horizontal aperture under a palette stacked with twenties, and eight hundred thousand dollars fell into Mork's apartment.

Benjamin stuffed the duffle bag he'd brought with him full of money and still had a pile of cash to deal with. This he placed into a doubled-up garbage bag. From there, Benjamin opened another horizontal aperture into his closet at the new apartment and dropped all of the loot through it. Feeling somewhat less nervous after completing the heist, he reprogrammed the device to observe the original Woodstock.

When Pipix and Mork returned, they found Benjamin rocking out, and joined him in observing the music festival for an hour. If Mork knew about the thievery, he didn't show it. "Very keen," he said when they'd finished. "Hearing history's music is one of the greatest benefits of the technology."

"Hey, have you ever looked for Jesus?" asked Benjamin.

"You know, I have not," said Mork. "What a splendid idea. See if there's anything to the stories."

"The Lindrue have observed the historical Jesus," said Pipix. "But without a knowledge of the native language."

"The Motherlings have very good translation software," said Mork. "Shall we make it our next observation session?"

(Feature image from Pixabay.)

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