A cube was handed to an unknown man. He observed every single bit of it. Then, it started.
Appearing as a blur, his hands moved extremely fast. As if nothing happened, he returned the cube back to the owner. Slight changes had appeared though, as the cube had uniform colors now.
“Great job on speedsolving, dude!”
“Ah, it was nothing. Really!”
With a flash of light, everything disappeared from the man’s sight.
“Huh?”
Sights of his bedroom appeared. Taking time to focus his senses, he concluded one thing.
“Darn it. It was just a dream.”
Mike has for long dreamed of solving the Rubik’s Cube in mere seconds. Alas, he has no capacity remembering the myriad of algorithms. Even though for the simplest way, he’s still unable to remember it. However, he has the fastest hand any cubist has ever seen. Memory issue is the only thing that hinders his progress as the best speedsolver.
Sighing, he got out of his bed, opened the door.
“Mom? What’s for breakfast?”
Well, that was what supposed to happen. Let’s cancel the previous line and see what happened after he opened the door.
He opened the door and was extremely shocked when he saw a freezing, snowing snowfield. Promptly he retreated back to his bed, not before he slammed the door shut.
I’m not still dreaming, am I?
He pinched himself.
“Ouch! Okay, I’m not dreaming after all, but what happened to my door!? It became something like a warp portal!”
With anxiety, he turned the doorknob. It swung open.
Nothing changed beyond the door. Mike took some more time to observe the bizarre environment. He spotted a structure afar. It appeared like… an igloo.
“Better check it out. But not in pajamas.”
He rummaged around his closet, which fortunately didn’t become another warp point and changed into some warm winter outfit. After that, he went out of his “bedroom”. Outside, he discovered that the door was somehow fitted on an igloo, giving the impression that his bedroom was that igloo’s interior.
He knocked on the other igloo’s door, which appeared like his own door
“Hello? Anyone inside?”
It’s not locked… I hope there’s someone I could get to know where the heck is this…
Mike opened the door slowly, which in turn caused a quite audible creak. The interior of a room, a bedroom to be precise, came into Mike’s view.
There is someone in this room.
That person, wrapped in blanket, was facing the other way. He noticed Mike.
“Who’s there?”
Apparently that person was around Mike’s age, judging from his voice. It sounded too edgy however. Mike himself, didn’t know what to answer with.
“Uh…. I’m Mike. I’m here to find out why my bedroom’s door is linked to… some Arctic scene.”
“Well then, we have some things in common. I’m also asking the same thing.”
His voice warmed up. He turned and faced Mike. Mike observed that Tony already had warm clothes ready.
“Plus, we’re about the same age,” he added some more.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. The name’s Tony. You’ve already said yours, right?”
“Yeah…”
Several silent moments after that, Mike decided to break the ice.
“Hey, since both of us wanted to get out of this mess, why don’t we find out some more out there?”
“All right, but where should we go?”
Mike focused his eyesight and spotted another igloo just behind “his” igloo.
“Let’s go there.”
“Why not the closer one?”
“Because it connects with my room.”
A few deciseconds later, they got to the front of the igloo entrance.
“Ready, Tony?”
He nodded. Mike opened the door slowly.
Thank god, it’s a civilized region.
Both stepped into the door and found themselves in a downtown area somewhere. The sun was hanging in the sky, perpendicularly to the Earth’s surface.
“At least it’s not snowing anymore,” Tony commented on the weather.
“Yeah, but it’s getting hot. These clothes aren’t gonna help anymore,” Mike said skeptically.
“Now where should we go?”
“I don’t know…. Hey, what’s that?”
A kind of static electricity appeared near the traffic light and it grew. Mike and Tony backed off instantly.
It disappeared. And it brought the traffic light with it. Worse though, more of it appeared again. Tony was the first to react.
“Oh snap! Let’s get outta here, quick!”
“But where!?”
“There! That door!”
Mike rushed to that door and with adrenaline, yanked it with excessive power. Both dashed into it. Just as they got in, the door was zapped and thus, sealed their entrance.
What they saw next was reddish sky. The sun was setting at the horizon. Yet one thing ticked Mike’s mind.
They were still running, but in a gravity defying way.
The space-bending force soon took effect, thus they were dragged along the opposite direction.
“Owowowow…”
“Urk…. Why did the warp portal get wonky all of a sudden? Ugh…”
Groaning, they slowly stood up. Their surroundings still seem like a downtown style but with an Oriental touch. Mike analyzed the architecture in his mind.
We can be anywhere right now. Why everyone’s got Chinatown everywhere?!
As Tony got up, something surfaced in his mind.
“It’s like… space distortion isn’t it?”
“What do you mean with space distortion?” Mike wondered as a deep crease appeared on his forehead.
“Well, I saw once on the net that someone was ranting about the whole abstract thing. Nobody gets it, though.”
“Like?” he leaned forward, extracting more information.
“That guy said ‘the breaking up of time and the distortion of space’ amongst his other rants.”
“That’s all?” trying to satisfy his curiosity, Mike pressed through.
“Continued with ‘danger ahead’ and that’s all.”
Mike pondered for a while. Assimilating the whole concept with the previous concept, a gap formed within the newly earned knowledge.
“Wait, we experienced space distortion recently, but I didn’t get the idea of time being broken. How would it be?”
“I don’t know either, but… maybe it’s like… time stopping altogether?”
“That’s unthinkable!”
“Yeah, but what has just happened to us was unthinkable also, right? Even everything was unthinkable right from start.”
Uh…. That’s right also…
A brief moment passed with silence in the air.
“Shouldn’t we get going?” Mike said, breaking the silence. “The space distortion may strike here too.”
“What if when we take another doorway, we land right to where it strikes?”
“But it’s no good to stay stationary…”
“Still, too much door to choose — wait! Look there!”
Tony pointed to the door attached a seemingly luxurious building. It definitely stood out from the others.
“What? That door? Because it seems good to pass through?”
“Of course not! The door is open a little bit! We can peek where it leads! Or even better, it’s not a warp portal after all!”
“That makes sense. Let’s see!”
They rushed there impatiently. Dashing through the dust-laden earth, they halted right next to the door. Taking the lead, Mike gazed through the opening.
“It seems like… normal. Just like a room, empty, but there’s like something in the atmosphere…. It’s unlike a usual room.”
“Let me see. Um… it sure is, but how could I describe it…? It has an eerie tinge to it…”
Something came up Mike’s mind.
“Oh! I get it! It’s like a psychic’s room, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s it! But seems like no one’s around…”
“Well then, let’s just barge in! No one would care!”
“Like you did to my room?”
“Yeah, kinda like that. Sorry for that, though.”
“Okay. Let’s get in.”
Thus, Mike enlarged the gap between the door and its frame. Stepping in, Tony realized that the room was just like a standard room in a house, different from what Tony pictured, despite its atmosphere. They looked around the room.
I guess what I thought about this house was just a stereotype, Tony thought reconsidering his bias.
“I’m feeling quite homey here… although it feels different,” Mike commented about the situation.
“Yeah, me too,”
“’fcourse, ‘cause this is my house!”
Surprised by the entrance of the foreign voice into their conversation, they turned in opposite direction in sync. Thus, they beheld an old, short lady, making her way to them. Tony was the first to resume the discontinuation of their dialogue – now a trialogue – awkwardly.
“Uhh… who are you?”
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