Wormholes - Endless Possibility Ch. 04

In a few minutes, Willa worked up the strength to bounce her hips. A few minutes more, and the bounces became full thrusts. Her head lolled wildly; Will was certain from the feelings on his cock that she had been cumming non-stop for at least five minutes, and he held on for dear life. Together, the three of them found a rhythm where Will was entering as Fi was leaving, and this sent Willa to a previously undiscovered peak. She shook as if she had been electrocuted, flooding both of them, before collapsing into a limp pile. Fi looked at Will, and he knew to ease to a stop.

She rolled Willa from the two of them to lie beside her on the couch, and Will saw a contended smile on her face as she lay, fully asleep. He turned to Fiona, but before he could ask if she wanted a turn, he felt Fi's legs wrap around him. She pulled him in, aiming him perfectly, and he sank inside her flooded vagina with ease. She moaned as he bottomed out, and he looked down at the strange sight of her hard cock pulsing above her slit. It felt completely natural to stroke her; it felt like jerking himself off as he aligned the rhythm, but after a few strokes, Fiona batted his hand away.

'Don't be so greedy', she said, flinging a leg over Fi to settle herself on the throbbing cock. She sank down with a sigh, and wrapped her arms around Will's neck. She ground her hips languorously, and Will's thrusts took on a slow, rolling pace. They made love through Fi, though Will looked over Fiona's shoulder, and Fiona looked back, to make sure she was included. The look of ecstasy on her face told them she was perfectly happy. Fiona and Will turned back to one another.

'I love you'. Fiona said, but Will noted the look of frustration on her face. Will took a moment to evaluate their lives. In a short time he had come to realise that Fiona was everything to him, and he knew, now, perfectly, that he was to her. All the "I love yous" in the world couldn't convey that. He said it anyway.

'I love you too. Even though that's not close to how I really feel, I don't have the words'. Fiona broke into a smile, nodding as she understood. She kissed him, softly at first, then growing in passion. They held each other close, though they had to break apart slightly as Fiona bucked hard on Fi's cock. Will increased his pace too, pounding into Fi hard enough that Fiona could feel it.

'I'm close', Fi murmured, her hands grabbing Fiona's hips.

'Me too', Will and Fiona said in unison. All three burst into orgasm together. As Will filled Fi, and Fi filled Fiona, they kissed again, collapsing down to include Fi.

'I love you too Fi', said Fiona. 'Not in the same way as Will. But I do'.

'I do too. You and Willa both. We're so incredibly lucky to have met you', Will said, glancing over to the comatose Willa.

'Don't be so mushy!' said Fi. 'Obviously we love you too but we don't go around saying it'. She had a wry smile on her face as they kissed. 'Let's just enjoy our lives together. As much as we can'.

'Sounds like the perfect plan to me', said Will, 'right after we sleep for twelve hours straight'.

Will helped carry Willa to bed, Fi curling up against her, before returning to his and Fiona's bed. She draped an arm and a leg across him, kissed his cheek, and the pair slipped into oblivion.

* * *

The next morning, they checked the wormhole ring. It had found a match. They carefully wound the quantum signature forwards until it matched Will's signal at that moment, and kept it locked to him while they went about the task of disguising their presence for the last few weeks. Once everything was cleared, they ran the last checks. Everything was green.

'I think we're ready', Will said.

'Then let's go!' said Fiona. She was waving a quantum detector. Will opened the wormhole, all four crowded close around it. It was narrowed to only a hand-width. It engaged without issue. Before they got carried away, Fiona pushed her sensor against the ring, testing the air. She checked the results, and double checked them.

'It's home'.

Will wrapped her in a fierce hug, before doing the same to Willa and Fi. They pulled the wormhole to full size, and stepped through, Will slightly ahead, Fi and Willa in the middle, Fiona very slightly behind.

'Well, it's not much, but it's ours. Looks like no one has been cleaning...' Will trailed off.

They saw Konstantin, stripped to the waist, facing away from them, mounting a pair of wormhole rings to a rail with a mixture of tape and rope. The four looked at each other with raw panic.

'Konstantin!' Will screamed, diving towards him. As Konstantin pushed the two rings towards one another, Will slammed into him. The rings brushed one another, barely, before falling apart. A narrow lance of plasma shot past them both, barely missing Will, as he wrestled Konstantin to the ground. They struggled for a few moments; at one point Konstantin must have hit him because Will felt a shake through his whole body. He shook it off, pushed Konstantin back, and ripped a random wormhole from the desk, opening it to a pre-programmed destination and lassoing it over the half-naked idiot before him.

As Konstantin vanished, Will stood, panting for a moment, catching his breath. He turned, grinning, to the others, and whatever quip he was inventing died in his throat. Willa and Fi stood beside a huge block of concrete, half the size of the room and seared on one side where plasma had cut it free from the beams above. From beneath it, one pale hand lay limp. Fiona was gone.

* * *

Will never remembered the next few days. He sank into a stupor. Willa tried to give him space. Fi hid herself from him. He tried to talk to her exactly once, and broke down completely. She was too close to his Fiona. Willa later tried to comfort him, but knew there was nothing she could do. Will bottled the feelings of total loss within him, but they would burst out at random moments. He bounced between murderous rage at Konstantin, who wisely had kept himself to whatever part of the globe he had ended up in, and rage at himself. He knew he could have been faster. He knew they should have expected this, after what they had seen. He knew that it was all his fault for even finding world-to-world transport in the first place. He wished he could have taken her place.

They knew there was effectively nothing left of Fiona. They decided not to even look. Will rigged a series of wormholes that would eventually open to close to the sun. He could think of no better resting place for the fiery Fiona. Even through several shielded wormholes, the sunlight nearly blinded him, but as the event horizon swallowed everything from the fallen section of the ceiling down to a foot of the reinforced floor beneath, he knew he had done the right thing. Fiona deserved to live on as stardust.

Weeks had passed, and Will couldn't sleep at night. Fi and Willa had moved out to give him the space he needed to grieve, though Willa called by every day, bringing food, bringing well-wishes from Fi, understanding that none of it mattered but unable to do more. A part of Will was grateful, and another part of him wanted to apologise to Fi for casting her out, but even the thought of seeing her face caused him a pain so deep it was nearly physical.

Eighteen days since they had come home, and Will hadn't slept for most of the week. He found himself in the office, trying to tinker with wormholes, eager to do anything to distract himself. He ran through the notes they had assiduously taken on their travels, trying to glean any inspiration he could. He got to the world searching notes, and almost skipped them. Hunting through worlds would bring more Fionas, more not-his Fionas. He couldn't bear it. But he pressed on, just in case.

Something jumped out at him. Willa had asked the question of opening a wormhole to a world in a previous state. His breath froze. The world seemed to freeze around him as the idea coalesced, fully formed in his brain. He reached out for his tablet, and someone spun him around in his chair.

A face hung inches from his. It took him a moment to recognise it but it was his own, though somehow older. 'Wh-'

'Shut up', the Will said calmly. 'So you lost your Fiona. That's sad. It's sad! But what you're thinking of doing, right now, is unconscionable'.

'How-'

'Hush!' The Will put a finger to his lips with a near theatrical flair. Will somehow had an impression that this was not the first time this Will had said these words. 'You're thinking of time travel. Perfect solution. Let me guess. You go back a little over two weeks. A huge block of concrete is falling from the ceiling, but never fear, Will is here! Maybe you toss a huge wormhole ring, relocating the concrete to Borneo. Maybe you grab your Fiona and pull her away, or push her through a ring to somewhere safe. Am I right? Don't answer. I'm right'.

Will's mouth worked for a moment, but he couldn't object.

'It's brave', the other Will continued. 'It's noble. It's monumentally stupid. There is so much you don't know about what you're doing. You need to wind time back for your entire world, and every world connected to it. That means Willa's and Fi's. Oh yes. We know about them. It also means any world you have a quantum connection to. That's anywhere you ate the food, or breathed the air, and it became part of your body. Your actions will wind time back for all of them'.

'Is that bad?'

'Is it bad to pull universes out of lockstep with each other? Does that sound like a good idea Will?'

Will thought for a moment. 'Surely that's happened by chance by now though? Somehow a world we've connected to hasn't been perfectly aligned, or was in a slightly older state? Or one of the other Wills. There are an infinite amount'.

'There are. And it's very, very hard to keep track of. So you're right, it happens. There are worlds that are closed off. For a time. The universe however, seems to heal itself. We're not sure how, but over time the future-ness of the other worlds seems to leak into the worlds running behind, if nothing else goes wrong. Good news for you! You could do this and in a few months, you'd maybe be back to normal. If not for the second part of how you're planning to fuck up'.

'How is that, Will?'

The other Will pulled a cheap-looking aluminium box from his pocket, with a dial running from red to green on it, needle hard into the red zone. 'This is a paradox detector. You were planning to do something that would remove your need to go into the past in the first place. Tut tut. That makes this sensor go red. Do you know what else it does Will?'

'I feel like you're going to tell me'.

'It collapses the worlds which are out of sync into a singularity'.

Will felt a sick sinking in his stomach. His brain worked feverishly through the implications. The Will in front of him brought the dial close to his face. 'Would you look at that', he said. 'You do understand. Green as grass'.

He placed a companionable hand on Will's shoulder. 'I'm truly sorry for your loss Will. And I'm sorry I had to come here like this. But we're dealing with the fate of billions. You can't go at this half-cocked. Do you understand? If this goes red again. I'll know you've planned something which will ruin this world, and others. We can't let that happen. I'll have to come back, and we'll have to be sure, once and for all, that it won't happen. Do you understand?'

The Will's voice had an odd edge to it which Will couldn't quite place. He didn't need to though; he understood. He nodded, not raising his head from where it had slumped to his chest, tears making patches on his stained shirt as he felt his hopes evaporate.

'Sorry Will', his double said. 'In a few weeks, we'll send another visitor. No Will should have to lose their Fiona, but maybe talking to some of the others who've gone through it will help. In the meantime, stay strong. Talk to Willa. You can tell her about this. It might help'.

Will nodded absently. It wasn't good enough. 'Will, are you listening? Talk to Willa. It will be good for you'.

Will brushed the tears from his cheeks, nodding more vigorously. He stood, but by the time he raised his head, the other Will was gone. He called Willa, and she rushed to meet him. He placed his head on her chest, and after a few minutes of pure release, he related his conversation with the other Will. When he finished, for a long time, Willa said nothing, and they sat in silence.

'So', Willa said at last. 'You're doing it. You need a perfect plan. A totally fool-proof, rock-solid plan. Something that won't break the world. But you're doing it'.

'Willa, I can't risk you and Fi and everyone else in the world, and your home world, and other worlds, just for Fiona'.

'You aren't. Didn't you hear what that Will said? He's obviously found some way to tell if you're going to throw this world onto the path to destruction. All he has to do is stop you. You're not risking us, Will. You're risking yourself'.

Will thought for a moment. His first impressions were of total, unrelenting gratitude. Anyone else would have told him not to do it, to move on, not to risk himself. Willa knew though. She knew a life with Fiona was worth it. His second thoughts were of how careful they needed to be. They couldn't decide on a plan of action until it was iron-clad. Anything less, and the other Will would have to take care of him. Until they tried to put it in action though, he was safe.

'Let me think for a day or two. There might be a way'.

'I'll come back here the morning after tomorrow. If you don't have anything by then, we'll think of something together'.

Will flashed her a brief smile. She grabbed him in a fierce embrace, before opening a wormhole home. He caught a flash of long red hair as Fi dashed to one side, still keeping herself from him. On a whim, Will called out.

'Fi!' He kept his eyes to the ground. 'I'm sorry I haven't been to see you. I know you lost her too. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to look at you. But Willa has an idea. I hope' I don't kill you both 'that I'll have an answer soon, and we can go back to normal'.

Fi said nothing, but Willa turned from the wormhole to grab his hand, and kissed him gently on the cheek. 'Thank you Will', she said, before dashing through the wormhole. As it closed behind her, Will slumped back into a chair, and started to note all possible paths he could take through the past without changing anything.

Will woke, face stuck to his notes with his own drool. Willa was standing over him. 'Do you have anything?' she asked.

'I have an idea, but I can't get the details'.

'Well let me hear it, and then tell me what's missing. We solved the problem of being totally stranded, didn't we? This is nothing in comparison'.

'Didn't the Fionas solve that?'

'Hush! It was a team effort. And for now, the team is just us, but that's all we need. Let me have it'.

Will laid out the plan in broad strokes. Willa nodded along, poking it and prodding it with incisive questions, but in the end it held up. They spent the next day and the one after wrangling details. Eventually, they had all the stages they needed.

The big day came. Will had run a search for their own world, months in the past, and the wormhole state was holding steady, but inactive. He and Willa ran through the plan one last time. They checked and triple-checked all the stages. Will checked his supply of wormhole rings, and the other equipment he needed. All was in order. Before he set off, Willa grabbed him in a fierce hug. 'This is from me and Fi. Good luck Will. We love you. And I want to see both of you back here in five minutes!' She pulled back, face twisted, tears leaking from her eyes. Will gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, and stepped wordlessly to the waiting time ring. He looked to Willa, gave her a sad smile, and pressed the button to activate.

The world seemed to turn black instantly. Will felt a thud, and crashed hard into the floor of a dark room. He lay there for a moment, as the world seemed to spin around him. Soon, he pulled himself to his feet, and tapped one of the tablets lying near him. The time and date swam into focus. Three months ago. He had made it! He scrambled to his feet and instantly fell over. The sensation of dizziness seemed to linger, but there was no time to waste. It would soon be time for Will and Fiona to come to the office. He crawled over to Ivan, the gargantuan, ancient wormhole manager which had never been moved from the otherwise spacious office. He hauled open one of the access panels, crawled inside, dropped his gear, and fell into a deep sleep.

He woke later to the sound of voices. Past Will and Past Fiona, just outside the service hatch he had closed behind him. They argued at first, and Will knew he had slept for most of the day. He recognised the topic, and perfectly placed it at just before they left for home. Sure enough, within fifteen minutes they were gone again.

Will knew they wouldn't return, and allowed himself to leave the cramped hatch, though he sat in the corner of the office, just in case Konstantin turned up. The next few hours passed uneventfully, and soon it was the early part of the morning. Will stood, dusting himself off, and breathed deeply. He pulled the sampling device from his pocket, and tested it against himself. A moment later, a readout confirmed the sample was present. He flushed and decontaminated the chamber, shut his eyes, and exhaled slowly. There was nothing else for it. He opened a wormhole directly to their apartment.

He crept slowly into the bedroom, moving to Fiona's side of the room, before sitting down as gently as possible. He knew he had only a moment; he reached out with the sampling device, and heard the faintest "beep" of success. He braced himself, and as Will tackled him to the floor, he stashed the sample safely into his pocket. He quickly found himself tangled in the bedsheets, and by the time he worked free, the lights flicked on. The words rose unbidden in his throat.

'I wasn't going to do anything. I just wanted to see her again'. He turned to Fiona, the sight of her searing his eyes as his vision blurred. He stood, and heard Will rising behind him. He spun, and pointed, all the rage at his own mistakes bubbling to the surface. 'Don't lose her!', he snarled, before pulling the pre-programmed wormhole ring from his pocket. He engaged it, stepped through, and collected the ring as it dropped, inactive, to the ground beside him. He was in the woods, hundreds of miles from anywhere Will or Fiona had been before. He sank to his knees and sobbed. After a few minutes of self-indulgence he rose, and knew he had no more time to waste. He opened a wormhole to a nearby town, where he stocked up on long-term supplies. His next stop was back to the office. He crawled back inside Ivan, and started to disassemble parts of him. He used the newfound space to construct his own equipment. He loaded in the sample from earlier that night, and it confirmed the scan of genetic and epigenetic material could begin. He hammered the last few buttons, confirming the growth target, and settled in for a long wait.

The next weeks were torturous. Will spent the days trapped inside Ivan, unable to risk leaving and going anywhere that might result in Will, Fiona, or anyone who knew them seeing him. He couldn't leave a trace anywhere that would impact the future. He continued to check on the long, slow growth of his sample. He couldn't risk hooking into the high power available in InterSpace, so he was forced to use low-power batteries. The remaining growth time was between one and two months when he settled in, and he could only slowly watch the progress bar tick along, one pixel every day or two.

He had brought a digital library with him on a device unconnected to any networks, lest it leave an electronic trace. He spent most of his days reading and sleeping, and most of his nights stretching and exercising in the now-empty office.