13Part 2
Professor Sibasch gawked at the alien beings before him for a moment longer in silence before he scrounged up the courage to question, "…What?"
The man in front wearing the trench coat took a few more steps forward, "You traversed an interdimensional boundary which is actually a very bad idea. This was your first infraction so we are willing to send you back to your home dimension without reprimand."
Scowling as if he took offense to the remark, the professor straightened himself out, "Now see here young man! You may be of a technologically superior civilization but you cannot simply exact your authority upon all creation in infinity!"
The man in the trench coat crossed his arms, "Technically, I can. However!" He interjected his comment quickly before the professor could interrupt, "You are obviously an intelligent learned person. I believe we can show you the evidence to help you understand and trust the situation much more clearly." The man outstretched his gloved hand to the professor, "You may call me Lao Harknoss, and you are?"
The man took the proffered gesture, "Professor Edaman Sibasch, it's a pleasure."
"Well then Professor, allow us to give you the grand tour!" Lao turned and started walking toward the door. "My associates you see here and I are all part of a team known as Serius Prime. They make up the best Sovereign Guardians infinity has to offer."
"Since when did Elite become a bad word?" A tall lithe man with elongated features standing by the door asked.
"It's not; I'm just trying not to give the impression that we're some kind of military if you don't mind," Lao shook his head at the man before introducing him as well, "Professor Sibasch, this perky chap we call Pendyne, he's our… "elite" healer," Lao began to sound sarcastic at the end of his phrase which Pendyne only shook his head to and began to walk along side them.
"And on my left here," Lao pointed to the shorter man who appeared to be more boyish with pale green skin, near white hair, and solid purple eyes, "This is Morkup, the smart one of the group. He has an incredible memory!"
"Just watch what you're thinking around him," Pendyne whispered to the professor as he made a gesture twirling his finger around his ear and pointing at his partner in question.
"Oh, you're a psychic!" The professor asked excitedly.
Morkup shook his head, "Telepathic sir, Pendyne is referring to my ability to read the thoughts of others."
"That's amazing, so you can tell just what I'm thinking, or read my memories, or communicate nonverbally?" The professor asked hoping to learn more.
"All of those things sir, but only when needed. Your thoughts are left private once we are assured that your intentions are non hostile." The professor was fascinated however even he was left feeling disturbed by how little emotion Morkup spoke with.
The four of them walked down the corridors which made up the complex. The different halls seemed to vary in texture and construction much like the room Professor Sibasch's dimension shifter was left parked in. Some of the rooms were little more than a metal grating floor with actual running water underneath.
"Where are you taking me?" The professor asked after several minutes of walking.
"We're almost there now," Lao spoke without giving much detail.
"I hope you don't suffer from a weak stomach…" Pendyne reached into a bag at his side, "I have base solutions just in case."
Professor Sibasch looked on even more confused now. Lao lead them to a large steel door and typed in a pass code on the panel to the side. With a hiss and the sound of engines, the door opened, separating into three large segments.
Immediately after the door opened, savage sounds of growling and snarling filled the ears of the tour entering the room, "Well professor, welcome to the holding pen."
"Or as some of us call it, the freak show…" Pendyne waved his hands in front of the professor as he entered.
"None of the others call it the freak show…" a twinge of annoyance sparked up in Morkup's voice.
"My word…" the professor stepped into the dim light and looked over the holding cells of the prisoners. "What… Why are you keeping these creatures here?"
Lao pointed to one cell with a reptilian humanoid baring sharp teeth, "Kitshka Trobrthet, endangerment. We found her crossing into peaceful dimensions and eating the inhabitants to avoid competing for prey in her own realm."
Walking a little further in, Lao pointed to a cell with a boney creature, "Matrois Kluganos Sigelium Raw, weapons dealer. We found him travelling from dimension to dimension selling devastating weapons for exorbitant amounts of minerals and resources."
"They were only going to blow it all up anyway," a flame like light built at the back of his throat as the prisoner spoke.
"Well those two definitely look daunting, but what has this one done?" The professor pointed to a cell with a small feminine creature with flower petals for hair who was bent down looking as if she were crying.
"Don't get too close to that cell…" Lao warned.
"Why not…?" On queue as the professor asked, the little creature burst from her prone position and smashed against the clear cell door. With her face now exposed to the professor he saw the mouth opened wide enough to fit his entire head inside with four rows of sharp teeth.
"I see… Well what about that cell?" Lao nodded and walked over to the dimly lit prison.
"This one's really a mess, we have to keep it specially sealed as to not go…" Before Lao could explain a light flashed from within the cell. With enough light to see through the filtered containment zone the professor could see what appeared to be a miniature star. Eruptions like solar flares were violently being thrown from its surface as it floated across the cell. "The anti-fusion, he travels to universes like your own whose planets orbit and are warmed by various stars in their clusters of galaxies… and he eats those stars. He uses the energy from that consumption and expands burning everything that might have once been, and freezing everything left behind once he goes. He enjoys the highly populated solar systems best…"
"That is… quite a terrible disposition…" Professor Sibasch gulped as sped to catch up to Lao's side, "Why are you showing me this?"
Lao chuckled slightly to himself, "To show you how infinity is filled with evil nightmares waiting in the darkness and ready to consume and destroy anything they find… It's not a pretty thing…"
Ready to defend his position, the professor started, "But surely these beasts would continue to cross universes even with laws and rules in place, so why hinder the peaceful worlds from using this type of technology to…"
"Don't you get it?" Lao shook his head and took another breath, "The type of machine you created leaves a trail back to your dimension which might as well be a giant flare screaming "I'm over here come eat me!" Not exactly the type of thing a universe lacking proper defenses would want to have…"
Professor Sibasch's mouth hung open starting to realize the things he could have done. He sank to the floor slowly muttering to himself, "I could have brought destruction to my very world… These same types of creatures you hunt then could very easily follow me right back to my home?"
Morkup stepped up to the professor, "We discovered your energy signature in time and were able to mask it temporarily. We do not believe you attracted attention during the short span of its operation."
"Thank you…" The professor regained his balance and stood straight, "I never before stopped to realize the consequences of my research and inventions could lead to such outright devastation. Such evil intentions in the multiverse never even entered my calculations. I see now how my oversight could have been detrimental. I am in your debt…"
Lao put a hand on the professor's shoulder, "As long as you understand and we don't have to worry about you popping holes in dimensions any more, I think we'll be golden, so what do you say we get you home?"
"Indeed," The professor walked back with the Serius Prime members to his machine.
"And then they sent me on my way… programmed the machine to return home in close proximity to where I left, and used their own abilities to once again safely mask my movement," Professor Sibasch, still tied in a straightjacket concluded his story to the interrogator, "That mask has long since ended and opening a gate with the machine now could bring horrors of unimaginable power!"
The interrogator sighed and leaned back in his seat, "Old man…" With another sigh and a shake of the head the interrogator stood and walked out of the room.
"Well?" An uniformed man standing outside the holding chamber asked.
"Completely psychotic, he actually believes his own fantasies to be true… It's chilling to see someone so intelligent succumb to such idiotic ideals…" The man pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
Footsteps were heard from down the hall as a younger man in uniform came running as fast as he could, "Sirs, we have a problem!"
"What?" Both men asked at the same time.
The young man spoke frantically, "We were just radioed in, the machine seems to be malfunctioning. There is some kind of energy anomaly that the machine created and… I'm not sure how to describe it, but something is coming out from within it!"
The cigarette completely fell out of the interrogator's mouth to the floor. Several embers broke away in different directions as it bounced off the cold concrete.
Lao Harknoss sat quietly at his desk flipping through reports from other Sovereign teams when his radio buzzed, "Sir, we're detecting an anomaly taking place in universe Theta gamma hectop meta seven two one one three nine four two. There appears to be a transversal gate open."
Lao put his papers down, "Damn scientists…"
"A distress message addressed to us is being broadcast through the gate," Lao stood and threw his coat on over his clothes, "Your orders sir?"
Lao grabbed the radio, "Tell Torjuk and Shu to meet me in the central hall, we're moving out."
The radio buzzed again, "Right away sir."
End Section