"It's a very simple question, Digit." The mysterious girl looks up at her school teacher with eyes that seem to flicker. Ignoring this, Mr. Armstrong continues. "Where are you and your parents from?" Interesting question, to be sure. Interesting and understandable. But far from simple. And certainly not very.
You see, Digit is the youngest member of a glitchy family. No, that's not a metaphor. They literally glitch. To be precise, they are (g)raphically-(l)agging (i)n(t)erdimensional (ch)aracters. Nothing comes easy (or normal) with this bizarre family, including dialogue. Their speech manifests as a bizarre mixture of choppy English and vocalization of binary code. At any point during a conversation, even during mid-sentence, a binary stream of 0s and 1s will flow from lagging lips.
Digit finally answers. Or at least replies.
"It's 01100011 01101111 01101101 01110000 01101100 01101001 01100011 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100100."
Did you get that? Neither did her teacher. But Mr. Armstrong is nothing if not thoroughly prepared for every classroom situation. Based on previous interactions with this most unconventional of pupils, he had downloaded a binary code translation app onto his phone.
The dedicated educator requires a few minutes to input the spoken numbers into the app. Digit waits patiently, her head zipping in multiple directions at lightning speed. For any other student, this would be great cause for alarm. But Mr. Armstrong knows that she's just glitching right now.
"So it's...complicated, huh?" The translation is complete. "Then why don't you try to explain it to me?"
This might take a while.
Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, a background story for the ages begins to emerge...
The mundane environs of Earth temporarily fade into oblivion. Digit is no longer sitting in the desk-lined classroom. She is no longer looking into the attentive face of her teacher. Suddenly she is far away - so very far away. The transcendent vehicle of her memory has "teleported" her through time, beyond space, across dimensions. She finds herself in a very familiar place. Home. Original home.
*
A storm is brewing. (Well technically, a "matrix malfunction" is initializing.) An epic event is on the horizon. It's set to arrive in just a little bit.
Light becomes darkness. Powerful currents sweep across the field. Bright bursts of high-voltage energy materialize overhead. An unnerving medley of noises sound. It's definitely near.
At last the monster comes into view. A ferocious funnel - a vicious vortex - is rapidly approaching. This is goodbye. It doesn't take long. In an instant, it's all over.
This tragedy doesn't strike on the tornado-prone plains of a Midwestern state. It doesn't occur on Earth at all. Where, then? On the alternate plane of a different dimension.
The "twister"? A furiously-rotating vortex of incredible, exotic energy. A wormhole gone wild, if you will. And unlike an earthly tornado, it doesn't destroy. Instead, this thing sucks its victims up like a gargantuan vacuum cleaner, then deposits them in another dimension of its choosing.
Imagine The Wizard of Oz in reverse.
How many interdimensional versions of Dorothy and Toto are out there?
© Matt Decker
(This post is excerpted from my short story Meet The Glitches.)
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