Jumping

This story is loosely based on the picture in my faves folder “Lost.” And, if it was mostly guys that voted for this one, understood.

Carlie looked at the gateway powered up.  The idea was incredible, to be able to explore a multitude of other dimensions, seeing what was different, what was the same, doing what could be done to help.  The theories all seemed very solid, shown with such complex math Carlie wasn’t sure she’d ever understand it.

She didn’t know how much it cost to make the machine, but, as the indicator lights started glowing, she felt the thrums of power, felt the energy of the room heating up.  How much technology had to be reinvented for this device?

A beam of pure energy spat out the front, pointed at the wall.  She was here for that, to ensure that the gateway was safe.  As the energy spread, becoming a solid wall of what she was told was cool plasma, Carlie powered on the drone.  The camera on it had a remote feed, as did all the other instruments that came on.  They had no idea what would be on the other side, only that it was completely unknown.

She piloted the drone into the plasma wall, and, as expected, it disappeared.  The feed came through strong, showing a world that seemed remarkably similar to their own.  Temperature seemed a little warmer, but the atmosphere seemed the same.  Oxygen, nitrogen, trace gases, all like their world.  Carlie piloted the drone back and, as she did so, it reappeared on their side.

It did feel warm, but she was prepared.  She had volunteered not only her drone piloting skills but to be the first human jumper.  The readings showed it would be okay for biological organisms to pass through, which was what they were hoping for.

They shut down the device for a couple of hours in order to let it cool off.  As Carlie pondered her future journey, she looked at the readings.  Yes, it was warmer, but she was ready for that.  Everything seemed to be good with it.  What would she find on the other side?  Would there be people?  Would there be civilizations?  She knew that she could report through the barrier as they’d keep it open for her as she explored and reported back.

As soon as she was told they were ready to power up again, Carlie got what she’d need.  Everything was on her belt as she stood there, ready to go.

Knowing it was warmer on the other side, she took off her top, wearing only her bikini top as the energy shot out, forming the gateway again.  She was ready.

She approached the cold plasma barrier, touching it for a moment.  It was cool, leaving her skin with a tingling sensation.  She smiled.  What would it be like doing the jump?

She bent over, wanting to experience the feeling as she moved into the barrier, feeling those tingles all over before she found herself up to her waist, sticking out of the other side.

From somewhere behind her, though, she heard it.  Something exploded, there was screaming and yelling before she fell.

As she tried to get up, she realized something.  She had no legs.

She moved to where she was supported by her waist, or what was left of her waist.  The surrealness of the experience left her trying to comprehend what happened.

She felt someone touching her legs, somehow, and moved them.  She didn’t see it, it wasn’t in this place, but she knew she moved them.

She maneuvered her top half away from the wall as best she could.  It would be a little while before she knew what she could do, but looked down again.  It looked as if her body simply melted into the concrete up to her waist, but it hadn’t.  She could still feel her lower body, somewhere.

She tried to get some help, tried to find someone who could orient her.  Still, the couple that did seemed a little shocked to see a living half woman.

Carlie learned to live that way, finding it easier to maneuver when they got her a wheelchair.  The couple was very nice, helping as best she could.  She was there, for a few days, before she felt the answer.  Someone pressed a speaker or something to her leg, and she felt the explanation.

The device that allowed the jump had exploded, and all the readings and settings for where she was were lost.  They didn’t understand how she wasn’t dead, or even how she could keep moving her legs without having her upper half attached, but they were working on it.  They were rebuilding the machine, ready to try and get her upper half back, but they had no reference to calibrate it.

So she’d be there, hoping beyond hope, to be reunited with her lower half, but it would take a while, a nice, long while.