Mateo didn’t think to put Las Vegas, New Mexico or Las Vegas, Nevada on his
list of places to investigate. It didn’t occur to him to include every
single place that he’s ever been. For many people, that’s a costly and
time-consuming endeavor, but for him, he’s been to surprisingly few places
around the world. He’s probably been to more worlds than particular
locations on any given world, and they’re all inaccessible for him anyway.
His list would be a lot longer with faster-than-light intergalactic, or even
just interstellar, travel. Anyway, there is probably more to learn about New
Mexico, but Leona declared that they were going to leave for Kansas City, so
that’s what they did. The bus took the two of them, plus Winona, across two
more state borders, and dropped them off at the condo. From there, the
latter separated from the group, and made her way back to whatever secret
government lair she lives in.
The condo was a mess. It was designed for a family of four, but there were
now fifteen people, it’s absolutely ridiculous. They made it work like a
slumber party, but if anyone wants any privacy going forward, something is
going to have to change. Ramses woke up really early the next morning, and
tiptoed over the sleeping bags, very careful so as to not wake anyone. He
only had one final thing to do at the lab before it was ready for primetime,
but it was going to take the next several hours, and he didn’t want to go
one more night without the third floor.
Leona and Angela join him there at a more reasonable hour to work on some
things on the other two floors, and then everyone meets there before dinner.
It’s going to be a mini-twin convention. At least that’s what they’ll tell
anyone who notices the duplicates in the private room of the restaurant.
They’re asked to wait at the bottom floor while Ramses runs up alone to
prepare for the big reveal. He actually locks the elevator down so that no
one can get a sneak peek. Rolling his eyes, Mateo takes the stairs, but
everyone else continues to wait in the lobby.
Ramses is trying to carry two nightstands down the hallway. “Oh, it’s just
you. Could you help me?”
“It doesn’t have to be perfectly finished,” Mateo points out to him as he
takes one of them. “It just needs to be livable for now; electricity,
plumbing...”
“And that’s all I’ve done. There’s still a lot to do to make any of this
look like a home...or homes, that is.”
After Mateo finishes placing the nightstand by the bed, he starts to look
around on his own, ignoring protests from Ramses who wants to give everybody
the tour all at once. This is where they’re going to move to, the lot of
them. They’ll be safe here. Well, at least as safe as possible. No place on
Earth is safe from their enemies, but this is still the better choice. They
have outgrown the Ponce de Leon, especially with the newcomers, who may or
may not be staying. It’s in need of decor, but it will do nicely. Ramses
done did good. “How many units? Nine?”
“Eight,” Ramses corrects. “That door at the end is not a unit. It’s a common
area for all of us. The others are studio-size, according to this world’s
current standards. The two on either side of the common area are each a
little bigger, but they’re all fit for one or two people. Ah, but I’m saying
too much. Come back during the official tour!”
Mateo laughs. “Open the elevator, Rambo.”
Ramses presses a button on his device, and sends the elevator down for the
others. They spill out of it like sardines, thirteen people in a space for
ten or eleven. “Welcome, welcome, all, to The Lofts at Matic Labs!”
“That’s not what the lab is called,” Leona says in a way that sounds like
she’s had to tell him that many times.
Ramses insists on showing everybody each apartment, even though six of them
are pretty much identical, and the other two are identical to each other.
Each one has two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a tiny kitchenette. Most of the
cooking is meant to be done in that common area, which resembles an office
break room. Its kitchen is fully loaded, and is accompanied by couches,
computers, other screens, and its own bathroom. He may have called these
lofts, but in reality, they combine to form a single house that happens to
be sitting on top of a small office building.
“Which one is ours?” little Trina asks.
“Oh, we can’t stay here,” Alyssa says to her sadly.
“Why not?” Ramses asks her.
“Well, this is yours. We’re not really part of all this.”
“Nonsense,” Ramses says. “You have a destiny with us, you may just not know
it yet. I built this for our friends, and you qualify.” He addresses the
whole room, “you all qualify, duplicates included.”
Alyssa is unsure. She looks to Leona and Mateo, whose facial expressions
echo the sentiment. This should be their home now, and not because they
can’t take care of themselves, but because they’re family. The only question
would be the other Mateo, the other Leonas, and Andile. It’s unclear what
they want out of life, and whether their objectives align with everyone
else’s. Well, that’s not the only question. If they too want to return to
the main sequence—and not just to die—they might want to stay close.
Whenever the team figures out how to accomplish their task, it could be time
sensitive, and space might even be limited. They don’t know yet. They just
don’t know.
“Okay, we’ll stay, and we’ll take whatever unit no one else wants,” Alyssa
decides.
“The two on either side of us have more square meterage, but an odd
configuration, because this room butts into them,” Ramses begins. “For a
family of four, I would recommend units B, C, F, or G. A and H are smaller because of the elevator, so I’ll take one of those.”
“We’ll take the other,” Mateo volunteers for himself and Leona.
Ramses points at people’s heads, and counts in his own. “If the McIvers are
together, and couples are together, four of us will have to pair up to make
it work.”
“My Leona and I can be in one unit,” Andile says.
“Are you sure?” Alt!Leona asks. “Are you sure you want to stay?”
“Yeah, why not? I’m tired of running. Let’s stay with people who care about
us.”
“That still leaves two roommates. Alt!Mateo, I’m okay bunking with you.”
“No, we can do that, can’t we?” Kivi asks, indicating herself and Angela.
“No,” Alt!Mateo says. “I don’t know what made you think I would be
interested in joining your little cult, but I’m not going to do that.”
“What will you do instead?” Alt!Leona asks. It’s very awkward between them
since he was, and will be responsible, for her death in Reality One.
“I don’t have to go home, but I can’t..stay..here.” He starts to leave.
“You will always have a home here, just the same!” Ramses calls to him.
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