Running

Based on the winner of the latest Favorites poll, “Top Half.”

 Carlie stood in front of the chamber, still not sure.  Dr. Hopkins had explained to her the whole principle behind this chamber, an attempt at matter teleportation.

 He showed her, a week ago.  He placed a watermelon in the center of the chamber and, a moment later, it was gone.  No idea where, but Dr. Hopkins had to wonder if it had splatted somewhere.

 The next step was to put a GPS tracker in the melon and do it again.  They found the melon a block over, still intact.  They needed to develop a targeting system, Carlie suggested.

 A few more tests, even one with a rabbit that seemed to survive, and Dr. Hopkins suggested it was time for a human trial and volunteered Carlie for it.  She had no idea why.  She never imagined having her molecules scrambled and transmitted to somewhere she didn’t know.

 As she stood there, Dr. Hopkins reminded her. “The chamber will be sealed.  It’s free of microorganisms and other debris that may interfere with you when you materialize on the other side.  It will sweep away anything from the target zone so you should be safe.”

 Carlie sighed shakily. “Okay.”

 As he helped her in, his voice came over some hidden speaker. “Are we ready?”

 Carlie wanted to shake her head, but she took a steadying breath, not really feeling steady. “Okay.”

 He announced the beginning of the process and Carlie felt something strange.  All through her body,  she felt the beginnings of a tingling sensation.  It increased as time went on, and she had a strange sense that she was experiencing a time dilation effect.  The sensation felt so good, so wonderful.

 Was it the feeling of being torn apart molecule by molecule, atom by atom?  She didn’t know, all she knew was that she felt so good, so wonderful.  She wondered how long she could make it last when…

 She felt herself falling as the lights flickered.  Well, not all of herself.  As she regained equilibrium, she saw that she was still in the chamber, but...”Where are my legs?”

 Everything from her waist down was gone.  Dr. Hopkins opened the chamber. “I am so sorry.  There was a short somewhere and it blew.”

 Carlie straightened her top half up. “Hold on.  I think I can...Yes, I can feel them.”

 That surprised Dr. Hopkins. “But they’re not attached to you.”

 Carlie cocked her head to one side, trying to orient. “They’re...running.  Somehow they’re running.”

 He looked at the displays, trying to figure it out. “Where are they at?”

 Carlie scowled at him. “They’re legs, my eyes are up here.”

 That caught his attention and he had to smile.  Still, she had to ask. “How do we find them?”

 He thought for a moment. “Tell me what you feel.”

 Carlie focused in, feeling the rapid pads of her feet as they hit the ground, although she had no idea where that ground was. “It’s somewhere hard...no, soft...no, hard again.”

 Suddenly she felt a sharp pain as her legs hit something. “Ow.  What was that?”

 Dr. Hopkins thought for a moment. “I have to go and see what I can find.”

 As he left Carlie there, only her top half still in the chamber, she had to wonder.  What would happen if he couldn’t put her back together?  What would happen if she had to stay like this?

 And could it be used to separate other things?  She smiled as she thought about it.  What could she do if she could separate, say, her head?  Of course, she’d have to find a way to control her body as it was in pieces, but what…

 She paused for a moment, smiling big.  Someone, somewhere, was touching her butt.  She had no idea who or why, just that the implications were clear.