darkened.
"Gee, something I said?" Dale looked around the kitchen, checking if there was any coffee.
"Help yourself," said his host, gesturing at the kettle.
"Anyone else?" asked Dale, as he filled up the kettle from the tap, glancing out the window at the weird landscape that was unchanged from the day before.
Both wanted a refill so Dale busied himself gathering mugs and making the coffee. It almost felt normal, until he turned to look at two almost identical women sat around the table.
"So, what were we talking about?"
"Oh, I was just telling about some of the things that have happened to some of the girls. The ones that had Hexads."
"What, being chased by giants, meeting The Caretaker, losing your timeline? That kind of thing?"
"Wow, I forgot how grumpy you were without your morning coffee," said new Amanda.
"Yeah, well."
"No, I was telling Amanda how some people landed in rather unfortunate situations. It's a dangerous business jumping, you can end up anywhere."
Ah, this could be interesting. I wonder how much she knows?
"I thought it was all down to setting the destination by thinking about where you want to be?" said Dale, leaning forward curiously.
"Well, yes, but it's a lot more complicated than that, a lot more. Many of the girls have ended up with near misses, almost jumping and dying, or in the middle of something."
"In the middle of something?"
"Yes. Say you set the time for however far into the future you want, then you picture where you want to be and you jump, right?"
Dale and Amanda both nodded, happy to be given any information they could get.
"Okay, so you want to jump forward maybe a day in your kitchen, just as an example. So you set it up, picture landing on the tiles that were a great investment, and you jump, probably with Dale making that stupid sound of his."
"Ha, it's so annoying isn't it?" Amanda ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Hey, it's cool. It has to be dramatic," protested Dale.
"Anyway," continued their host, "the problem is that you don't know that if you hadn't jumped then you decided to mop the floor the next day and you moved the table out into the middle of the room, then bam! The next thing you know you are stuck there in the middle of the room, stood clean through the center of the table. Game over. Or worse, the you that didn't jump is there with you, watching as you materialize right through the table, and then you both disappear. Or one of you dies and the other has to try to come to terms with seeing themselves dead and stuck through a table."
"Bloody hell, I hadn't even thought about stuff like that. We've been lucky."
"I've thought about it," said Amanda. "It's why I'm careful where I jump to and make sure I know it will be safe."
"Ugh. And when I jump I usually end up a little above the floor. It could just as easily be under it."
"Exactly. Imagine jumping only to find your feet stuck in the carpet. Well, it wouldn't last long, you'd topple over pretty quickly, your feet chopped off."
Dale felt sick. He'd never even considered such possibilities, thinking it was more or less a given that there was some kind of a system that looked after you when doing such impossible things."
"I think I'm going to be more careful from now on," said Dale.
"I told you, you can't leave. Amanda anyway. You, well, I'm sorry Dale but you shouldn't be here, you won't be for long."
This morning is not getting better with coffee.
"What do you mean?" Dale asked reluctantly.
"I mean that there have been others, only a couple mind you," said new Amanda hurriedly, "and they, well, they sort of just slowly disappear."
"What, like whoosh and they were never here?"
"No, more like they fade away slowly until they are nothing but a ghost." New Amanda looked around nervously. "Like they might still be here, we just can't see them."
Dale jumped to his feet. "That's it, we're getting out of here Amanda. I'm not staying in this place, no damn way."
"And how are you going to leave?
"Gee, something I said?" Dale looked around the kitchen, checking if there was any coffee.
"Help yourself," said his host, gesturing at the kettle.
"Anyone else?" asked Dale, as he filled up the kettle from the tap, glancing out the window at the weird landscape that was unchanged from the day before.
Both wanted a refill so Dale busied himself gathering mugs and making the coffee. It almost felt normal, until he turned to look at two almost identical women sat around the table.
"So, what were we talking about?"
"Oh, I was just telling about some of the things that have happened to some of the girls. The ones that had Hexads."
"What, being chased by giants, meeting The Caretaker, losing your timeline? That kind of thing?"
"Wow, I forgot how grumpy you were without your morning coffee," said new Amanda.
"Yeah, well."
"No, I was telling Amanda how some people landed in rather unfortunate situations. It's a dangerous business jumping, you can end up anywhere."
Ah, this could be interesting. I wonder how much she knows?
"I thought it was all down to setting the destination by thinking about where you want to be?" said Dale, leaning forward curiously.
"Well, yes, but it's a lot more complicated than that, a lot more. Many of the girls have ended up with near misses, almost jumping and dying, or in the middle of something."
"In the middle of something?"
"Yes. Say you set the time for however far into the future you want, then you picture where you want to be and you jump, right?"
Dale and Amanda both nodded, happy to be given any information they could get.
"Okay, so you want to jump forward maybe a day in your kitchen, just as an example. So you set it up, picture landing on the tiles that were a great investment, and you jump, probably with Dale making that stupid sound of his."
"Ha, it's so annoying isn't it?" Amanda ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Hey, it's cool. It has to be dramatic," protested Dale.
"Anyway," continued their host, "the problem is that you don't know that if you hadn't jumped then you decided to mop the floor the next day and you moved the table out into the middle of the room, then bam! The next thing you know you are stuck there in the middle of the room, stood clean through the center of the table. Game over. Or worse, the you that didn't jump is there with you, watching as you materialize right through the table, and then you both disappear. Or one of you dies and the other has to try to come to terms with seeing themselves dead and stuck through a table."
"Bloody hell, I hadn't even thought about stuff like that. We've been lucky."
"I've thought about it," said Amanda. "It's why I'm careful where I jump to and make sure I know it will be safe."
"Ugh. And when I jump I usually end up a little above the floor. It could just as easily be under it."
"Exactly. Imagine jumping only to find your feet stuck in the carpet. Well, it wouldn't last long, you'd topple over pretty quickly, your feet chopped off."
Dale felt sick. He'd never even considered such possibilities, thinking it was more or less a given that there was some kind of a system that looked after you when doing such impossible things."
"I think I'm going to be more careful from now on," said Dale.
"I told you, you can't leave. Amanda anyway. You, well, I'm sorry Dale but you shouldn't be here, you won't be for long."
This morning is not getting better with coffee.
"What do you mean?" Dale asked reluctantly.
"I mean that there have been others, only a couple mind you," said new Amanda hurriedly, "and they, well, they sort of just slowly disappear."
"What, like whoosh and they were never here?"
"No, more like they fade away slowly until they are nothing but a ghost." New Amanda looked around nervously. "Like they might still be here, we just can't see them."
Dale jumped to his feet. "That's it, we're getting out of here Amanda. I'm not staying in this place, no damn way."
"And how are you going to leave?
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