Moving on Out

Guilt rolled in. It washed over them as a tsunami washes over land. They hadn’t had the time to properly consider it but, yes, they had sacrificed an entire universe worth of people for two. If unintentionally, their negligence had killed trillions.
“I suppose we did.” They spoke softly. “We might not have meant it but we did.” They thought on their next words. “But if everything goes to plan, if everything works how I hope it will, then it will have been worth it.” They hated themselves for saying that. “Everybody lives.” They muttered as if to bring themselves back to their centre.
“Except for the friends you lose along the way.” Juror joked. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Lore tried to shake it off and was mostly successful. Their shoulder ached as the mental became physical. “As I said, I’ve got a plan but we need to make some tweaks to this station.”
“What sort of tweaks?” Juror asked, praying they wouldn’t take much longer.
“Going by your energy conversion equations, you’re running the station too hot. Your approach of more power has more than surpassed the point of diminishing returns. With a few minor modifications, we both win. You get out of here and we gain a huge advantage over Reality.” As if timing it perfectly, Lore’s Breacher began to vibrate.
“Lore, you there?” Piper’s voice came from their wrist. “We’ve got a problem.”
“Tell me about it.” Lore sighed. “What’s going on?”
“You know how we were supposed to be having a rematch with Reality?” He paused but didn’t leave long enough for Lore to respond. “Well, the other Reality’s caught wind and wanted to throw their hats into the ring.”
“So we’re not just fighting his army but the other fifty one universes too?” Lore didn’t seem to concerned.
“Exactly. I would say this plays to our advantage but after a quick scan of their universes, they haven’t got anyone that’s compatible with our Reaper matrix. Knock-offs do exist but nothing we could use.”
“I’m going to be bringing something to the party that’ll make that completely irrelevant, hopefully…” Lore looked around them. It was going to be a long road but the first stop had to be the lighting grid.
“Just thought I’d let you know.” Piper’s holographic face gave a cheeky smile and a wink. “Nice plan by the way.” He faded away.
“Right then,” Lore began, “How on Earth did you cover the entire planet’s surface in metal plating?”
“I didn’t. At least not in the traditional sense.” Juror powered up a hologram. “Macroscopic, programmable blocks. The Earth isn’t plated, it’s infested; trillions of interlocking cubes. Why, you need something on the outside changing?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Lore smiled.
It was as if they had already planned this all out, or at least done it before. While definitely not an artist, their work was certainly impressive. Making full use of the macroscopic blocks programmability, Lore encircled the equator with fifty two studs. Similar in design to the towering peaks of the north and south pole but considerably smaller, they made the Holepunch look even more like a battle station. After confirming this design change, the surface got to work. Cubic races started along the slick, black outer surface of the Holepunch, congregating in their pre-selected positions. The others had been given no directions, no context and no information so sat quietly watching the potential descent into madness before them. They hadn’t eaten or drank in days but they didn’t realise it. For them, they had only been working minutes, restructuring Juror’s life to fit their needs. Char had tried to stop them but nothing was working. The longer they worked, the wetter their eyes became, the lumpier their throat. At the point the first tear hit the floor, Char knew that even if she could stop them, she probably wouldn’t. Lore cared about whatever they were doing, they deserved to see it through. Four days had passed since Piper’s message.
“Okay, I think we’re ready for a minor scale test.” They spoke out loud.
“Are you ok though?” Char put her hand on their shoulder. Unlike normal, they didn’t immediately recoil. They instead embraced the gesture for a moment before they returned to their finishing touches.
“Okay, now we’re done.” There was a chaotic sparkle of wonderment in their eyes. Lore turned back to the controls and began rapidly typing. “Old interface was rubbish so I scrapped it and remade it.” As they spoke, the old boot and gauntlet set up melted into the floor to be replaced by a wheel. Two cylinders rose at its base and two more at its East and West positions. “Now, conceptually, it’s not much different but trust me, the power transfer and control that this thing will afford… Wow.” They were gushing at their own designs.
“If we’re just poking a hole then why do we need more control?” Char nodded along to her counterpart’s questioning.
“What do you use a holepunch for?” Lore asked.
“Making holes…?” Juror wasn’t sure if they had fallen into a trap.
“But then, the holes are used to bind the pages together. Something enters the hole to make use of it. That’s why we need the extra control.” They blinked across the room and began to get themselves comfortable in their wheel before the others had even realised.
“Heimdall Station - Test one: Beginning now.” A robotic voice spoke. A timer appeared on the computer screen before the loop and Lore.
Inserted into the mechanism, Lore span themselves. It was a wonderful view they had of the universe but there were more pressing issues. Their body was wreathed in their own temporal energy as they formed their third of the Reaper. This changed when the circle illuminated. Golden waves licked at their hands and feet; from water to vines, they crawled further up their body. The moment they hit their head, Lore let out an unnatural scream. Sounding more like a fog horn than anything human, Char ran to them. She attempted to merge but found herself unable to penetrate the energy field surrounding them. There was a slight bump as the planet began to move.
“Three seconds to first position.” The computer helpfully announced. Three and a bit seconds later, “In position one.”
The devices containing their hands were heating up as Lore nodded. From their vantage point, they could see only empty space but that soon changed. A beam of gold and purple fired from one of the newly created ports. The station went dark. Breaking New Ground.