The swirling clouds had a distinct purplish hue as they sped overhead. Michael looked on in despair at the state of ruin the entire city appeared to be in, and to make matters worse, he appeared to be the only human inhabitant. He sighed and shook his head.
Another dead end, he thought as he subconsciously squeezed the wormhole generator with his hand. He had created the device after the sudden disappearance of Oolax. He enjoyed feeling its odd cold smoothness.
He sat on a charred park bench and wondered what could have happened to this world. It was obviously not the world where Sylvan and Justen resided and it was also not his own world.
He had traversed through at least a dozen incarnations of Earth since he had begun his quest to find Justen and Sylvan. He had seen a multitude of different variations of Earth. Some of the Earths had a version of Sylvan; some of them had a version of Sylvan with a child to another man. None of them had Justen.
Had it not been for the fact that inter-dimensional jumps, such as the ones he had been making, took virtually no time, he would have been absolutely distraught.
He realised with an ever growing sense of despair, that there were an infinite amount of Earths to search. He took a deep breath and held out the device to undertake his next jump; it was then that he noticed the almost imperceptible red glow emanating from the centre of the sphere.
He drew his arm back in and took a closer look at the emanation. He focused his mind and wound his way inside the molecular structure of the device.
His mind ploughed deeper and deeper into the device. The red glow became brighter and brighter until at last he seemed to be bathed in the light. A face coalesced from the light. He recognised it immediately.
Oolax, you’re here, how is that possible?
Michael used his mind to pose the question. Oolax responded in kind.
Is it so hard to comprehend Michael? This device that you created used molecules from my Universe. I merely tracked them.
I am pleased that you have found me Oolax, I am lost.
You are not lost Michael; you are where you intended to be.
Michael was a bit annoyed by this statement. He most certainly was not where he intended to be. He should have found the Earth that contained Sylvan and Justen. Instead he had been caught in a fruitless search which was becoming more and more like a fool’s errand.
You are becoming angry Michael for no reason.
Once again Michael realised that even his deepest thoughts were an open book to Oolax. He decided not to prevent his intrusion, he needed guidance.
I am sorry Oolax. I guess I’m just frustrated with my failure to find Sylvan and Justen.
Why should you be frustrated? You have not failed, you have found Sylvan on many occasions. Is that not a success?
Yes, it is I suppose, but I need to find Sylvan and Justen and they need to be on the Earth where the Immortal Harvest is occurring.
You understand so much Michael and yet know so little.
Michael felt his temper start to rise. He had no time to play games.
If you’re not going to help Oolax then just leave me alone. I will find them eventually.
Michael was just about to sever the tie with his friend when he noticed that the image of Oolax had morphed into a double helix image which was floating in front of his mind’s eye. He could plainly see the double strands of the DNA molecule slowly rotating, each individual base pair of Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine. The effect was mesmerising.
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Michael. He noticed the strand disappeared and was replaced with the image of Oolax again. Michael could not help but notice the pleased look on his friend’s face.
It seems that once again I owe a debt of gratitude to you my friend. I am sorry that I displayed my ignorance. I am also sorry that I may never get to show my son the wonders of your Universe.
Never is a very long time Michael, but only if you allow it to be.
Michael was about to respond when Oolax disappeared. He shook his head and smiled as he held out his portable Traverser and focussed on his son.
This time he focussed on the fundamental aspect that truly separated Justen from all other Earths – the unique DNA they both shared.