"Next Steps" - Part Five

Part Five

The words remained suspended above the console: IT HAS FOUND THE BOY.

Finn stared at them.

A few minutes ago, he had been marveling at the impossible interior of Zeeva’s TARDIS. Now…something impossible was marveling at him. “What does that mean?”

Nobody answered.

Finn looked at Bunsen. The scientist was frantically tapping controls beneath the holographic display. He looked at Beaker.

“Mee mee…” Beaker whimpered.

Finally, Finn looked at Zeeva. She hadn’t moved. Her eyes remained fixed on the message. “Zeeva?” Finn beckoned to her.

She turned. The moment she saw the fear on Finn’s face, something in her expression softened. She crossed the console room and crouched beside him. “Hey,” she whispered.

Finn swallowed. “Is something trying to kill me?”

Zeeva hesitated—she hated lying to children, and she hated frightening them even more. “I don’t know what it wants.”

“That’s not a ‘no’.”

“No.”

Finn’s shoulders sank.

Zeeva gently placed both hands on them. “But listen to me.” Finn met her eyes. “Whatever it is…” Her voice became firm. “…it won’t get you…not without goin’ through me.”

Finn stared at her. “You don’t even know me.”

A faint smile touched Zeeva’s lips. “Hasn’t stopped me before.”

A sharp electronic trill came from the console.

Bunsen spun toward them. “Aha!”

Zeeva stood immediately. “That’d be a good ‘Aha,’ we hope.”

Bunsen examined the readings. “An informative ‘Aha’.”

Zeeva put her hands on her hips. “Those are rarely good.”

Bunsen began projecting data into the air.

Three holographic spheres appeared:

EARTH-M

EARTH-828-M

EARTH-616

Finn stepped closer as Bunsen pointed toward his own universe and said, “When Beaker and I departed Earth-828-M, we believed we were investigating an isolated dimensional irregularity.”

Beaker nodded. “Mee.”

“We were mistaken.”

Zeeva leaned against the console. “How mistaken?”

Bunsen enlarged Earth-828-M. Hundreds of tiny lines appeared around it. “Very,” he told Zeeva, adjusting the display. “Our universe has recently experienced an extraordinary increase in dimensional research.”

Images appeared within the hologram.

Towering laboratories.

Advanced spacecraft.

Equations Finn couldn’t begin to understand.

And briefly, the stylized numeral of ‘4’.

“Working with our team leader, Reed Richards,” Bunsen said, “we made discoveries that changed our understanding of the universe considerably.”

Zeeva watched the display. “And eventually you found another universe.”

“Many, actually.”

Bunsen swept his hand across the hologram. More worlds appeared.

“But we didn’t create pathways between them.”

Zeeva’s eyes narrowed. “You discovered pathways that already existed.”

“Precisely.”

The room became quieter.

Finn stared at the countless worlds surrounding him. “So…your team caused the fractures?”

“No,” Bunsen said.

Zeeva answered immediately. “Absolutely not.” She approached the hologram. “Imagine discovering cracks underneath the wallpaper in your bedroom.” Finn nodded. “Taking the wallpaper down didn’t make the cracks. It just meant you could finally see them.”

Finn thought about that. “So, something else broke the wall.”

Zeeva smiled. “Exactly.”

Bunsen raised one finger. “And unfortunately…”

Earth-616 illuminated.

“...something appears to be making the cracks considerably worse.”

A low tone resonated through the TARDIS.

Earth-616 pulsed.

Again.

And again.

Each pulse sent tiny ripples across the holographic multiverse.

Finn watched several nearby realities flicker. “What are they doing?”

“We don’t know,” Bunsen admitted. It was rare for him to utter those words, and when he did, he felt a shiver come over him.

Zeeva circled the projection slowly. “Someone’s interfering with the boundaries between universes.”

Finn looked to her. “Someone?”

“Or something,” she elaborated.

Finn looked at Earth-616. “Can we go there?”

Zeeva and Bunsen simultaneously turned toward him. “No.”

Finn blinked. “But—”

Zeeva pointed at him. “Absolutely, unequivocally, categorically no.”

“But if that’s where the problem—”

“We don’t know that it is, Finn.” She softened her tone. “Earth-616 isn’t necessarily the source. Think of it as…” She searched for an analogy. “...the loudest person in a very crowded room.”

Finn nodded slowly. “So, everyone’s looking at them.”

“Exactly.”

“But the person causing trouble could be somewhere else.”

Zeeva smiled. “You’re gettin’ good at this.”

Finn couldn’t help smiling back.

Then Beaker tugged urgently at Bunsen’s sleeve. “Mee! Mee mee mee!”

Bunsen examined another display—his expression changed. “Oh.”

Zeeva sighed. “What variety of ‘oh’ is that?”

“A deeply concerning one.”

“Wonderful.”

The hologram changed—Earth-M moved to the center. Thin strands of light extended from dozens of universes toward it.

Finn watched. “They’re all connected to us?”

“They shouldn’t be,” Zeeva said.

Bunsen enlarged the image. “No. They’re not connecting to Earth-M.” He adjusted the coordinates, and the strands moved.

Past the planet.

Past New York.

Past the rooftop.

The hologram zoomed farther inward, until a tiny figure appeared in the center—Finn.

His mouth fell open. “They’re connecting to…”

Bunsen looked at him. “To you.”

Finn backed away from the console. “No.”

Zeeva immediately moved toward him. “Finn—”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“I know.”

“I didn’t make those things!”

“I know, sweetheart.”

“I’m just a kid!” His voice cracked.

That stopped everyone, even Beaker.

Finn stared at the floor. “I don’t have powers.”

Zeeva said nothing.

“I’m not an Avenger.” His hands tightened around the straps of his overalls. “I’m not anybody.”

Zeeva’s expression changed.

She knelt again.

This time, she took his hands. “Don’t ever say that.”

Finn looked at her.

“You don’t need powers to be somebody.”

“But—”

“No.” Her voice was gentle. Absolute. “Being important and being powerful are two completely different things.”

Finn’s eyes lowered. “My dad used to say superheroes were people who helped when they didn’t have to.”

Zeeva smiled. “Fathers always know best,” she said with a wink.

“Mine did.”

A small silence passed between them.

Then Zeeva squeezed his hands. “Listen to me, Finn Whizz.” He looked up. I don’t know why the fractures are interested in you.” She glanced toward the hologram. “I don’t know what’s behind them.” Then back to him. “And I don’t know where this ends.” Finn waited. “But I do know one thing.”

“What?”

Zeeva smiled. “You’re not facing it alone.”

Behind them—

THUMP.

Everyone froze.

Finn slowly looked around. “What was that?”

Zeeva stood.

THUMP.

The sound had come from somewhere deep inside the TARDIS.

Bunsen looked confused. “Is your ship supposed to do that?”

“No.”

THUMP.

Closer.

Beaker grabbed Bunsen. “MEEEEEP!”

Zeeva drew her sonic screwdriver. Finn stepped closer to her. “Is something inside?”

Zeeva stared toward the darkened corridor leading away from the console room. “I don’t know.”

THUMP.

Then—a voice. Distant. Distorted. Coming from somewhere within the TARDIS. “…Finn…”

His eyes widened.

Zeeva immediately moved in front of him.

The voice came again. Closer. “…Finn Whizz…”

Zeeva activated the sonic screwdriver. Its blue light illuminated the corridor.

Nothing.

“Who are you?!” Zeeva called.

Silence.

Then the voice answered.

Not from the corridor.

From everywhere.

“He doesn’t belong to you, Tinkerer.”

Zeeva’s face hardened.

Finn stared up at her.

The warmth was gone from her expression.

For the first time, Finn wasn’t looking at the kind woman who had found him in Central Park.

He was looking at someone ancient. Someone dangerous.

The Eighth Tinkerer raised her sonic screwdriver. “You’re right.”

Finn looked at her.

Zeeva’s eyes remained fixed on the darkness. “He doesn’t belong to anyone.” A beat. “But if you want him…” Her thumb tightened over the sonic’s controls. “…you’re going through me.”

Somewhere inside the TARDIS—something laughed.