PLANAR SHIFT

by NFalc

It was almost finished.

For over a year now, I'd been tinkering with it, making every adjustment count. I knew that everything had to be perfect, as there were no second chances. When I went through, either it went well or it didn't. The smallest screw-up could leave me dead - or worse.

But I knew that I had to use it. It had become the focus of my dreams and obsessions for a good part of my life, and there was no way I would let it go to waste.

I took a deep breath, and promised myself that there was no chickening out on this, no cowardice could be involved. You wanted to escape this world. You're going to.

The gate was almost done.


I met Sarah three years previously, if you could say that we really "met". I had built a ridiculously sophisticated communications device, expecting it to reach other galaxies, perhaps farther than human comprehension. It was designed to home in on the strongest available data signature, be it radio, fiber optic or even Morse Code. I calibrated everything perfectly (I always make sure of it) and then fired it up.

I was expecting to find aliens, beings completely unimaginable to me. So, imagine my shock to hear a voice, no, an unmistakably HUMAN voice coming through the makeshift translator. It wasn't even being translated, I learned later. But the voice was coming in loud and clear. And it, too, seemed to be searching for some kind of contact.

I was absolutely stunned for a few moments, but eventually collected myself enough to be able to carry on a rational conversation. We quickly figured out a way of exchanging data, and the next few weeks we spent comparing anatomy, psychology, and sociology of our respective species. At first I thought it was a fluke. The results came back nearly identical. A society had evolved exactly parallel to that on Earth.

We made our communications equipment more and more complex, found ways of stabilizing our signals, transmitting images and binary code. Sarah transmitted me a photo of her. I lost my breath just looking at it. She was drop-dead gorgeous.

I think that's when I got the idea. It snuck up on me, then sprang fully-formed into my head, ready to become my obsession. I would go to Sarah. Somehow, I would find a way to be with her, and we would live together. Already, we had shared so much with each other. And somehow, it felt to me like there was a spiritual link as well. I hadn't found a soul mate in this galaxy. What was to stop me from searching in another?


Naturally, Sarah wasn't able to transmit data about every last detail of her world. There could be all sorts of dangers she hadn't warned me about. Luckily, I still had the tech I'd invented for the government, and that would help me survive anything that other world could throw at me.

I had a feeling one of my older inventions would come in very useful in the other world. And since it had been a while since I'd used it, I thought I'd do a refresher.


The obstacle course lay before me, tremendous and quite lethal. All of it was underground, of course, to prevent being found. The light before me shifted, red to yellow. I leaned forward, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline, and triggered the change. Instantly Sess began spreading over me, the tingling feeling over my skin bringing back old memories. The layers of tough polycarbon were in a liquid state, and felt smoother than silk across my skin. Soon, I was coated in the fluid, durable, and shimmery stuff.

The instant the light turned green I was on my feet, hurling myself into the maze, no thought whatsoever involved. Sess responded to my every reflex, and calculated exactly how to move the suit around me into the optimal position. It also boosted my reaction time, speed, cognition and strength by at least 300%. Not to mention the flame-resistance, acid repellants, virtual impenetrability and oxygen support also built in. And it was wrinkle-resistant to boot!

That still didn't make the obstacle course easy. Mortars launched around me, spikes hammered into the ground, platforms fell apart at the slightest touch.

I finished the 2 mile course in 2.8 seconds flat, and wasn't the slightest out of breath.


I double checked to make sure everything was perfect. Once more I felt a twinge of anxiety at the one hole in my plan. I hadn't told Sarah that I was coming, preferring it to be a surprise. Stupid, I know. But I still had an element of unpredictability in all my perfectionism, and that was how I let it out. I figured my calculations would be precise enough that telling her wouldn't matter.

I flipped the first set of switches. The massive laser apparatus powered on, shooting a laser beam into the triangular portal. Next, the portal initiators turned on, bathing the lab in a wash of soft purple light. The triangle was coated with a strange, pulsing skin, almost like the liquid in a bubble blower. The next switch bolstered the laser with small outbursts of static. The portal light became yellow. Now for the final switch. I flipped it, turning on the portal stabilizers and the final laser intensifier. The gate shined with a blinding white light. I took a deep breath, shielded my eyes and stepped in.


There was a sensation of ridiculous speed, going so fast that the resistance nearly crushed my skull. It was as if gravity had multiplied by ten, and then worked simultaneously for and against me. I was both pushed and pulled in every direction. I struggled to open my eyes, and saw streaks of black, white, purple rushing past me at unbelievable speeds. Then everything seemed to slow, and I was in a huge, misty tunnel of light. It took a moment to realize that the reason I didn't seem to be moving was because the tunnel was so long and I was going so fast. It was the same effect as being in an airplane. I reached the end of the tunnel, and was struck by a concussive blow that made me see sparks, then black.


I came to groggily, with a sensation that the earth beneath me gyrated and trembled. Soon enough the spinning stopped, but curiously, the trembling continued.

Standing up, the world turned wildly beneath me, and my eyes were completely unfocused. I bent over, closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. The world stopped spinning, and when I opened my eyes everything was in focus. But the trembling didn't stop.

Something was wrong. The ground below me was hard, colored steel blue. It had a strange, reflective sheen. None of the data Sarah had sent me said anything about this. Looking to the left, a gigantic yellow geometrical structure was looming in the distance. It appeared to be about my height, and several times my length.

Had I miscalculated? Was I in an entirely different dimension? I suddenly realized every one of thousands of potential flaws in my plan and design. What on Earth had I gotten myself into?

Suddenly, the rumbling greatly intensified, to the point where it was a miniature earthquake. Sess automatically activated at my feet, securing my footing. I looked around wildly, and even with the enhanced reaction time it still took me a second to realize just what I was looking at.

I was looking, unquestionably, at something alive, but at skyscraper proportions. No, not just something alive, but a woman... Sarah! I hadn't aimed wrong. Either the teleporter had malfunctioned, or...

My thoughts were disrupted by the giant hand bearing down on what I now recognized to be the pencil next to me. In the second or so it took her to pick up the gigantic object, I noticed that her gleaming nails, colored a soft pink, contrasted lovely with the pale, smooth, obviously delicate and soft flesh of her hand.

I shook my head, I had to snap out of it. Think logically. I needed to somehow show her that I was there. But she was so incredibly tall... She had to be about 450 feet in height, which would make me practically microscopic. There was no way my voice could reach her tremendous, shell-pink ears.

Irrationally, I called out anyway as she sat down in front of me. For a second, I could swear she glanced at me, and I almost melted. Pictures did not do her justice, especially when I had a front row seat to every last detail. She had a gently curved face, with just enough definition of the jaw to make it visible. Her lips were a glowing pink, without lipstick, and seemed soft, plush, just waiting to be kissed. Her brown, gold-flecked eyes loomed large behind her glasses, but the effect just made her look more intelligent, and somehow even more lovely. She had multi-tonal brown hair, the kind of color that is simply too beautiful to fake. It was done up in a bun that was loose enough to keep her hair from being pulled taut, yet tight enough to keep all but a single strand from falling onto her gorgeous face.

I slapped a hand to my forehead. Staring again. You'll never get out of here. I quickly began to think up a plan. If I could just get close enough to her ear, I might be able to yell loud enough to get her attention. Who knew what she would do when I got it, though? If her reflex reaction was violent enough, I could be thrown off completely. But, I reminded myself, Sess could help me cling to any porous object. And at this size, near everything was porous.

So, how to get there... Looking over the edge, I realized that it was at least a two hundred foot fall to the floor, and not even Sess could help me survive that. I saw a number of stainless steel protrusions from the wall... wait, those were handles. How obvious. I had been standing on a desk.

So, I couldn't easily get to the floor. What else could work? I took a look at my surroundings. The floors were simple linoleum tile, the walls a bleak white. There was what was clearly a lab counter, complete with sink, bunsen burner and beakers, on the left wall opposite me, and a large bookshelf to my right. The desk wasn't connected to anything I could climb on.

Then it hit me. I could climb her.

I rejected the thought immediately. It was wrong, plain and simple. We'd never even met face to face, to invade her privacy like that was disgusting.

Yet the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like my only option. How else could I get her attention? I walked over to the paper Sarah was intently scribbling on. Out of sheer curiousity, I tried to get a feel for what she was working on. I saw immediately that it wasn't a lab report, or anything that required writing. No, the broad strokes and shaded areas showed it to be a sketch. What was she drawing? I looked it over carefully, trying to get a feel for it. It was the portrait of a man, with a slightly jutting jaw, tousled, messy hair and a pointed, yet somehow searching stare.

Me.

She was a magnificent artist, although the portrait was beyond flattering. I was nowhere near as handsome as her sketch. I wanted to applaud her. Instead, I rolled out of the way as her pencil came hurtling towards me, splintering what looked like inch-long shards of graphite all over the paper. It moved furiously back and forth, shading the bottom of my likeness's chin. Then Sarah got out the eraser.

The huge red rubber rectangle slammed onto the paper, and as Sarah rubbed, the paper slid a foot every time. Gigantic scraps of blackened rubber flew everywhere. Sarah bent over, and looked at it intently. Now was my chance! If I jumped directly in front of her, perhaps she'd see me. I rushed towards her, feeling a swift breeze that I realized was her soft, warm, slightly minty breath. It nearly blew me over.

I finally reached her line of sight, and began jumping up and down, waving frantically. It was only then that I realized what she was really doing. She was looking at the eraser dust on the page. And now she was going to blow that dust away.

I ran, but I knew no amount of speed would save me from this. A hurricane wall of wind blew against my back, and I tripped, falling, then flying, off the page. I fell out into oblivion. Head over heels, until all orientation had vanished.

I landed on a rough, yet soft and pliant surface. It hurt, but the softness and a little shock absorbance from Sess kept me from getting killed. Looking up, I saw a massive wall of white in front of me, marked with dish-sized circular protrusions. Buttons. I was staring at her shirt. Perfect place to begin climbing.

It was difficult work, despite my ability to easily cling to her shirt and propel myself up it. Every time she moved, the fabric wrinkled and billowed, causing dramatic shifts in position. Numerous times I felt like giving up, just holding on for sheer life, not climbing anymore.

Then, I encountered a major obstacle. It's one that most guys would like to get intimate with, but which right now I was dreading. You see, Sarah was wearing a tight shirt. And because of this, her generous breasts formed what was practically a ceiling above me. To get over them, I'd have to go horizontal.

I clung as best as I could, trying to avoid having all the blood rush to my head. The warmth was almost great enough to be unpleasant. Almost. Finally, I made it over the edge, and onto the relatively safe plateau of her breast. I lay down on the rising and falling surface, got a grip and held it. I needed a breather, and this was as good a chance as I would get for a while. I could feel her tremendous heartbeat, like the rhythym of a god. Or goddess.

Did I mention that I lay face down?

Soon, I felt refreshed, and reimbued with the desire to let her know of my existence. I climbed her shoulder quickly, got my balance. Below me everything seemed so far down that it looked almost normal. I then turned for the final part of my climb. I knew instinctively that this would be the most difficult part, as well. Sarah's enormous neck expanded and contracted with her every breath. How could I possibly get a handhold on that smooth, constantly moving wall of flesh? More importantly, how could I do it without her noticing?

The answer was, I couldn't. The minute I tried, Sarah's huge, beautiful hand came up and began scratching at it. I began to move at a desperate pace, trying to avoid the lovely monstrosity tearing up the wall behind me. I suddenly knew that if she did wind up mauling me to death with those gorgeous fingers, she wouldn't feel a thing. The nails were at least as long as I was. A tiny insect being destroyed under them wouldn't provoke any reaction. I'd be an insignificant red blotch under her polished nail if I didn't hustle.

I tore my way up her neck, around her chin, and up the side of her cheek. Her hand, thankfully, remained at the base of her neck. I moved carefully, snatching at the fine hairs which grew in thickness as I moved closer to her bun. Soon, I was nearing my goal. I was also nearing exhaustion. Every muscle burned, and I was beginning to get seriously worried about dehydration. I had been climbing for over an hour, and it had been quite strenuous.

Finally, I saw her earlobe, with a small, conservative silver earring hanging through it. I knew I was almost there. One last scramble, and I was standing on the verge of a gigantic shell-pink chasm, leading down to her eardrum. I clung to the side of her ear canal, knowing that when I shouted there would be a good chance that she could tip her head to the side, causing me to fall headfirst into her.

I wasn't prepared for the reaction she did have. Before I could even shout, a finger the size of a battering ram slammed into my exit to the outside world. It began to twist its way deeper into the canal, right towards me. The only way to run was in, and as I ran I shouted. I screamed. I yelled, hollered, shredded my vocal cords with cries for help. I was so desperate, I don't even remember what I was saying.

Suddenly, I heard a rumbling. And that rumbling sounded an awful lot like, "Eric?" The finger stopped moving.

"Sarah! You can hear me."

"Yes, quite loudly."

"Sarah, you won't believe what I'm going to tell you..."