November 4, 2024. Monday. 5:15 PM.
Daniel Hayes emerged from glass office building into cool November evening, joining river of workers flowing toward transit stations. Twenty-eight years old, marketing analyst, ordinary Monday ending like every other.
Jacket pulled tight against autumn wind cutting between skyscrapers. Briefcase in left hand, earbuds dangling from collar, smartphone tucked safely in right jacket pocket with familiar weight pressing against ribs with each step.
Routine, predictable, comfortable.
Downtown streets crowded with commuters, everyone moving with practiced efficiency toward trains, buses, parking garages. Daniel navigated sidewalk automatically, mind already planning evening with grocery stop, leftover heating, maybe streaming something mindless before bed.
Monday, normal, unremarkable.
Three blocks toward station, foot traffic intensified as everyone headed home simultaneously, sidewalk becoming obstacle course of briefcases, shopping bags, distracted pedestrians staring at screens.
Daniel weaved through crowd as muscle memory guided steps. Someone brushed past left shoulder. Someone else cut across path ahead. Woman with stroller required sudden sidestep. Man on phone gesturing wildly took up extra space.
Standard downtown chaos.
Right hand patted jacket pocket absently, checking phone still there as familiar habit because everyone did it, digital security blanket confirming connection to modern world remained intact.
Solid weight present, good.
Two more blocks with station entrance visible ahead, train in four minutes according to transit app he'd checked before leaving office. Perfect timing. Home by six. Normal evening continuing exactly as expected.
Except.
Between one step and next, something shifted.
Not dramatically, not obviously, just subtle wrongness like air pressure changing, like light flickering too fast to consciously register, like reality hiccupping.
Daniel didn't notice.
Nobody noticed.
Sidewalk continued flowing as commuters kept walking.
Everything normal.
But something changed.
***
Station entrance reached as he descended stairs toward platform, hand reaching automatically for pocket to pull phone out, check train arrival, confirm timing, maybe scroll messages during wait.
Pocket empty.
Daniel's fingers met nothing but fabric.
Confusion as he checked again, maybe wrong pocket? Left side? Pants pocket? Inside jacket pocket?
Nothing.
Heart rate accelerated slightly because phone was just there, checked it three blocks ago, felt weight in pocket, definitely there.
Stopped at platform bottom as commuters flowed around him annoyed at sudden obstacle, checking every pocket systematically as briefcase opened with contents searched frantically.
Phone gone.
Retracing mental steps because had it in pocket leaving office, checked specifically before leaving building, remembering doing so. Three blocks walked, crowded sidewalk navigated.
Must have fallen, slipped out somehow despite zippered pocket. Maybe someone bumped into him wrong way, knocked it loose?
Back up stairs against commuter flow earning annoyed glares, scanning sidewalk pavement frantically because black rectangle against grey concrete should be visible, right? Expensive device, someone would have picked it up, probably standing there holding it waiting for owner to return.
Nothing.
No phone on sidewalk, no Good Samaritan holding found device, just endless stream of commuters walking over spot where phone should have fallen.
Impossible but gone.
Ten minutes searching found nothing.
Phone just vanished between office building and station, somewhere in three blocks. Impossible to lose something that thoroughly in broad daylight on crowded sidewalk yet undeniably gone.
Daniel stood at corner, defeated. Expensive device with photos not backed up recently, contacts, apps, authentication codes, everything on that phone.
Gone.
Exhaling heavily because nothing to do now. Report it stolen? Lost property claim? Buy replacement tomorrow?
Evening thoroughly ruined as Monday became memorably awful instead of forgettably ordinary.
***
What Daniel Hayes couldn't know, couldn't possibly understand:
His smartphone didn't fall.
The moment that subtle shift occurred, reality hiccuping, dimensional membrane thinning, worlds touching briefly, device in his pocket crossed.
Not stolen, not dropped, not lost.
Transported.
Through dimensional weak point opening microseconds in crowded sidewalk, gateway between realities manifesting and closing faster than human perception could register, phone slipping from Earth's reality into pocket dimension's reality without Daniel even noticing departure.
Gone from one world.
Arriving in another.
Across impossible distance through dimensional barrier between cursed realities separated by cosmic punishment.
Earth to Theia.
Small object, mundane device, technology from world without magic crossing into world drowning in it.
Smartphone tumbled through dimensional void with darkness, pressure, impossible cold, journey measured in heartbeats and eternities simultaneously.
Then gate.
Swirling clouds in Northern Ice Field, dimensional bridge between Earth and Theia, connection point manifest physically, doorway opened by failed merger's consequences, portal maintained by curse's mechanics.
Object from Earth arriving, larger than paper clip before it.
Pattern escalating.
And in frozen wasteland of Theia's northern reaches, before gathering of bearer and Overlords discussing impossible quest, gate reacted.
***
Naelvorn's massive oceanic form descended from southern sky, seven stories of serpentine power with bioluminescent teal markings glowing even in pale northern afternoon light as ocean Overlord returned from territorial survey.
Landing with characteristic lack of subtlety as ice cracked beneath weight, snow exploding outward in cascading wave, boisterous energy impossible to contain despite serious circumstances.
Immediately shifting to human form, seven feet tall with teal eyes bright with enthusiasm, grin splitting face.
"BRO! Back from checking every trench, reef, and underwater cave in my domain! Found exactly ZERO Gates! Ocean officially Gate-free!"
Typical Naelvorn, turning disappointing news into energetic report.
Draven managed slight smile despite overwhelming complexity. "Welcome back. We found information in Northern ruins."
Naelvorn's eyes brightened further because information meant progress, even if Anchors remained unfound.
Frostina's elegant form nearby had snow swirling perpetually around sapphire scales with visible exasperation flickering across features at ocean Overlord's explosive energy, but beneath composed exterior was relief as alliance strengthened with another perspective and more resources.
Malvorn in human form nodded acknowledgment as pack surrounded Draven with Velnar, Sylvara, Feyra, Zor all present, all committed, all processing impossible mission ahead.
Genesis Codex floated silently, green-gold light pulsing steadily.
United front with impossible quest but together.
Draven explained discovery efficiently because Naelvorn deserved full context despite urgency. "Ruins revealed merger mechanism. Required five Anchors, human-sized glowing rods with bevel patterns. Coordinate points between dimensions where Earth and Theia would meet. Positioned correctly, they enable safe merger. Both worlds becoming one, Super Earth, massive and flowing with magic, flourishing."
Naelvorn listened intently as ocean-crash energy quieted to focused attention.
"But Anchors disappeared during merger attempt. Right as dimensional alignment began. Catastrophic timing. Without them, merger failed. Curse triggered. Both worlds separated and suffering."
Genesis Codex pulsed beside them, validating information.
"Current status: five Anchors lost. Location completely unknown. Could be scattered across Theia. Could be on Earth. Could be lost in dimensional void. We have no method to determine which."
Mission clear with path obscured and scale overwhelming.
Naelvorn exhaled slowly in rare moment of seriousness breaking through boisterous exterior. "So we need to find five glowing sticks that could be literally anywhere across two dimensions or floating in space. And even if we find them, we're not certain merger actually stops curse. Just theory."
Accurate summary with brutal clarity.
"Well. Ocean network found nothing related to gate. But I'll keep searching for gate and rods. However long it takes. Decades if needed."
Commitment absolute despite impossible odds.
Frostina nodded agreement as Malvorn's crystalline features remained resolute and pack surrounded Draven with unwavering loyalty.
Alliance united, quest accepted, uncertainty acknowledged.
Then gate lurched.
***
Not violently, not dramatically, but noticeably.
Swirling clouds churned faster suddenly as grey-white mists accelerated rotation, dimensional energies intensified, pressure built visibly.
Everyone's attention snapped toward phenomenon immediately.
Frostina's wings spread instinctively as frost bloomed along scales. Malvorn's earth communion extended, trying to sense disturbance. Naelvorn's eyes brightened as ocean senses detected pressure shift. Pack tensed, alert, vigilant.
Draven's heart rate accelerated. "What's happening?"
Genesis Codex pulsed urgently as Adhivar's presence manifested through telepathic connection.
*"Something comes through. Larger than before."*
Gate expanding.
Five-meter diameter circular formation growing.
Not massively, not dramatically expanding to twice size, just slightly larger with maybe ten percent increase. Five meters becoming five-and-a-half meters. Subtle but undeniable.
Edges of swirling clouds extended outward slowly as dimensional barrier stretched, gateway widened incrementally.
And from churning center, object emerged.
Larger than paper clip from weeks before, rectangular, dark, technological.
Expelled from gate with same gentle force as dimensional membrane pushed object through, Earth's reality rejecting it, Theia's reality accepting it.
Tumbling through air, falling toward frozen ground.
Landing in snow with soft thump.
Silence.
They approached cautiously with Draven leading, Overlords flanking, pack surrounding protectively.
Snow displaced around object revealing rectangular device with black glass front, metal edges, sleek technological construction.
Smartphone.
From Earth, modern, intact, slightly warm despite frozen environment from residual heat of dimensional crossing.
Rectangular object. Smooth black surface—like polished obsidian but perfectly flat. Metal edges. Unknown construction. Unlike anything in Theia.
Foreign device. Purpose unknown. From Earth clearly—technological world. But what it does? Complete mystery.
Draven crouched beside it carefully as device was foreign.
Larger than paper clip, significantly larger.
Velnar's voice was quiet with realization. "Gate's escalating. Objects getting bigger. Pattern continuing."
Zor's tactical assessment followed. "If progression continues eventually living things could cross."
Frostina's composed voice stated, "Dimensional barrier thinning."
Ripples between worlds.
Growing stronger.
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