00128. The quantum realm, bigger than it sounds.
00128. The quantum realm, bigger than it sounds.
After being gone for a few days, Agatha contacted Tao with the bracelet she wore. Since that was designed for their escape plan, Tao opened a portal to the quantum realm. After Agatha and Tao talked about the situation, Tao closed the portal and then sent Theo a message using her smartphone. By the next day of getting the message, Theo showed up to Genosha in his Ezekiel disguise carrying a backpack and made his way to Tao.
Ezekiel placed a backpack on the ground as he said, “I thought this might happen.”
Tao nodded in agreement as she said, “From what you described of the place, I think it might take them a few months to find her, if not longer.”
Ezekiel nodded as he asked, “Can you open a portal to them?”
Tao nodded as she said, “It's not hard to do now that we made contact. Give me a moment to find them.”
Tao wove a spell together and after about a minute she opened up a portal next to Agatha. Agatha glanced through the portal and smiled as she asked, “You wouldn't want to trade places would you? I'm not sure if I want to stay here till we find Hank's wife.”
Tao shook her head as she said, “No thanks.”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “You were the one who volunteered to go in the first place.”
“I know, but this could take months. Everytime Minato and Tobirama come back, they tell us they found even more branches to explore.” Agatha said with a sigh.
Ezekiel lifted up the backpack and passed it through the portal as he said, “Don't worry, it shouldn't take that long. This is something I just finished making to help with the search.”
Agatha took the backpack as she asked, “How is this backpack going to help in the search? I barely feel any magic power in it.”
“Just give the backpack to Hank, he’ll know what it’s for since he helped to make it. I’m also sending clones to help.” Ezekiel smiled before he made a hand sign and over fifty clones appeared around him.
Ezekiel glanced at the clones as he said, “You know what to do.”
The clones all nodded before they moved through the portal. Once they were on the other side they moved towards Hank and the others who were currently looking over his tablet. Agatha glanced at the clones before she asked, “You plan to use your clones for scouting?”
“Yes. All of them will be exploring different places till they run out of chakra. Once I receive the memories, I should be able to map out the quantum realm quickly. But I don’t think it will be needed if Hank uses the backpack.” Ezekiel said with a smile.
“So why didn't we do this in the first place or give us the backpack before we left?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “There was no way Hank would wait for me to find her with clones and I hadn't finished up the backpack yet. I’ve had clones working on that thing for months after Hank gave it to me. But I didn't expect to use it now, it was meant for after we found his wife, so I just finished it an hour ago.”
Agatha nodded in understanding before she lifted up the backpack and asked, “What exactly is this thing?”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “Give it to Hank, he'll show you what it is. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.”
Agatha glanced at Tao as she said, “Increase his training while I'm gone.”
Tao nodded as she said, “I was already planning too, since you won't be around to help.”
Ezekiel started to sweat as he said, “Umm, I think I hear my mom calling me for dinner. Gotta go.” Before his afterimage disappeared from view.
Tao and Agatha looked at each other before they started to chuckle. Once they stopped, Tao asked, “Do you need anything special while you're stuck there?”
“Decent food would be nice. Hank brought some MREs on the ship… But they aren't great. Works if you're hungry, but that's about it. Pretty sure Steve is the only one who thinks they're good.” Agatha said.
Tao nodded in understanding before she said, “The backpack should take care of that issue, I think.”
“You know what's in the backpack?”
“No, but Ezekiel said it was to help out with your long term stay in the quantum realm.” Tao said.
“Then I better take this over to Hank. I’ll contact you in a few days unless something comes up first.” Agatha said.
As Tao started to close the portal she said, “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Agatha said as the portal snapped closed. Afterwards she moved towards the group as the last few clones of Ezekiel disappeared to explore different portals in the quantum realm.
Agatha handed the backpack to Hank as she said, “Ezekiel said to give you this.”
Hank smiled as he took the backpack and said, “Great with this we can save more time.”
The others looked at the backpack as Steve asked, “What’s it do?”
“Give me a moment and I’ll show you.” Hank said as he moved away from the group.
After he was a hundred feet or so away he placed the backpack on the ground and opened up the top before he pulled something out and placed it on the ground. He pulled his tablet around and connected a cable to it, before he typed on it for a moment. A few seconds later the thing on the ground expanded rapidly into a very large building. After that Hank disconnected his tablet and picked up the backpack before he turned around and waved the others to come over.
When the others were close, Hank said, “This will be our base from now on, no more moving around.”
Peggy glanced at the building before she asked, “Why are we going to stop here? Can’t we just carry this around in the backpack?”
Hank shook his head as he said, “Come inside and I’ll show you why.”
It took a few minutes to get into the building through a bunch of decontamination features. Once inside Steve noticed some weird runes carved into a few things and asked Agatha, “Did you and Tao help make this?”
Agatha shook her head as she said, “No, Ezekiel made this himself as far as I know.”
Agatha checked the runes by running her hand over them and injecting a little bit of magic into each one. After a few moments she said, “The spell itself works well, but the runes are lacking. Not bad for his first try though.”
“What do the runes actually do?” Peggy asked.
As Agatha pushed the button on her helmet and it collapsed into her suit she said, “It’s an advanced cleansing spell. Think of it like the decontamination area we just went through, but with magic.”
The others copied her and removed their helmets as Hank said, “I’ll give you a quick tour as we head to the main hub of this place.”
Hank started to walk down the entrance hallway to the only crossing point and said, “I helped Ezekiel design this place. It was meant to be completed after I found Janet, but it looks like Ezekiel finished it early. It was made to help explore the quantum realm and map it out completely if possible.”
Hank pointed down a hallway to the left and said, “That should be the dorms, armory and kitchen area.”
Hank then pointed to the hallway to the right and said, “That should be a recreation area, gym, theater and library. I’m pretty sure the gym has a pool and sauna too.”
“Do we really need all this stuff?” Steve asked.
Hank started walking again as he shrugged and said, “Ezekiel said we needed it in the facility. I wasn’t going to argue with him since he paid for everything and was helping me find Janet.”
They moved down the main entrance to a sealed door which opened as Hank stepped within ten feet of it. Inside was a decent sized room with a large screen on the far wall, while a comfy looking chair sat in the middle of the room. Against the entrance wall was another set of normal looking chairs. As Hank moved towards the chair in the middle of the room he said, “Take a seat and I’ll show you what this place is meant for.”
As everyone sat down Peggy asked, “Is it me, or did the building look a lot bigger from the outside?”
Hank adjusted his chair as he typed on his tablet for a few moments before he said, “Only thirty percent of the building is meant for our use. The rest of it is designed for its main purpose.”
The large screen in the room powered on and they could see what looked like a dark hanger bay. A moment later the top of the hanger started to open and everyone could see a hanger full of drones. Hank typed on his tablet and after the hanger opened up they could see some satellite towers rise out of the building in certain areas. After that the drones started to power on and then small groups started to leave the hangar and fly away.
Hank finished typing before he pointed at the satellite towers as he said, “The main reason we are staying here is because of those. With the ten portals close to us, this will be one of the best places to make use of those towers.”
“Won’t the drones lose signal once they pass through a portal, like the drones from the ship?” Peggy asked.
Hank shook his head and pointed at a group of ten drones leaving the hangar as he said, “Ezekiel made those drones with portals in mind. One drone will stay on this side of the portal connected to another drone with a cable that will travel to the other side of the portal.”
Hank typed on his tablet to show the view from a different set of drones. It showed what he was talking about before he said, “Now the other drones will talk to that drone and explore the area. If another portal is found, another set of drones expand the network and another group of drones is called in to explore it. As long as we don’t run out of drones, we should be able to explore every portal we come across and I can check it all over from this room.”
Agatha stood up from her chair as she said, “Well if that’s the case, I am going to check out the kitchen area and eat some real food.”
“Meow!”
“Of course I’ll feed you too.” Agatha said before she left the room.
Peggy and Steve shared a glance before Peggy said, “We’re gonna go check out the rest of the place. Just call if you need something.”
Hank waved them off as he said, “It’s fine, I’ll be here for a while getting everything going.”
As Hank settled into his chair, he sent commands to different set’s of drones. He had a pretty good grasp of the area around them already and sent the drones to the portals he knew about. As he finished setting the first set of commands he said to himself, “Don’t worry Janet, I’ll find you soon.”