Welcome, you’ve stumbled onto part 3 of The Tori Story Series. If this is the first time you have visited this realm you might want to get caught up.

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“Sir, there has been a disturbance.” Daniel announced as the Keeper made his way across the sterile room to the control panel.

“A disturbance?” Peace Keeper Lain eyed Daniel curiously. He tugged at his plaited, snow-white beard that ran the length of his muscular chest, deep in thought. “What kind of disturbance?”

“Substantial, Sir.” Daniel replied while he deftly tinkered and turned nobs on the control panel, making small adjustments here and there. “From the north side, in Andor.”

“Andor? That’s a primitive dimension” Keeper Lain scowled and mumbled to himself, “Who would mess with a Primitive?”

And then spoke aloud. “Are you sure it isn’t a Borrower?”

Daniel stopped fiddling with the control panel and turned to face the Keeper. Puzzled. “Well, it was a Borrower that caused the disturbance.” He answered matter of fact and shook his head in disbelief, as if that simple phrase explained it all away.

He clicked twice. Each click accompanied by a slight jerk of the head, a flaw in his design, exposing him for what he was and went back to work fine tuning the myriad of nobs and switches in front of him.

Keeper Lain couldn’t help but smile. He was fond of the humanoid that worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of Region 5. Daniel was, after all, his own design. One of his first. Not the most advanced model available, but still more than qualified to perform this job.

In fact, maybe at this present time, the only safe model. There were programming flaws in the newer droids rendering them incapable of accurately monitoring disturbances.

Though the known cause was still under investigation, Lain suspected nefarious, displaced Keepers at work. It wasn’t long before the established Keepers discovered the defects, fixing it expeditiously. Even still, the damage was done.

Displaced Keepers invaded many dimensions gaining access to the information they needed to surf, jump, and invade what were otherwise tightly monitored universes. Some Regions were overtaken completely, ending the Age of Peace.

The Keeper took a step toward Daniel. “Daniel, why disturb me over a Borrower?”

“I didn’t” Daniel responded without looking up. Preoccupied with the control panel, he missed the frustration etched on the Keeper’s face.

At length, he stopped fussing and stood still, while a multitude of screens blinked on the wall in front of them.

“Normally, I monitor this internally, but I thought you would want to see this.” Daniel pointed to the grid of screens in front of them. “There, D-14. While I was investigating the Borrower, I stumbled across an anomaly.”

A fuzzy recording of a still forest materialized first in one small screen then expanded across the entire wall until finally, with laser sharp focus, the computer system locked the screens into one giant image.

A forest stood before them, vast and thick. So lifelike that it appeared to be accessible. A small well-worn path cut across the front and veered down a small hill to the left before disappearing off the screen.

The two waited there for a moment, long enough for the Keeper to sigh audibly. Impatient.

“Locating the time stamp.” Daniel offered in an attempt to explain. He was programmed to sense and accurately interpret emotions and knew the Keeper was running out of patience.

Just then a figure materialized, appeared to stare directly at the two of them, and cursed.

“The Borrower?” Lain asked. “Is he taking or returning?”

“Both. A spade, but wait, Sir, it gets better.” Daniel turned a dial and the video footage skipped ahead. A woman wearing only a skirt and rain boots walked into view. She stopped short, then after a brief pause, turned quickly and sprinted back in the direction she came.

“Rain boots? On Andor?” The Keeper shook his head. “Impossible”

“Exactly, which prompted me to run diagnostics.” Daniel reversed the video and paused it when the woman came back in view. He then zoomed in to focus on the beautiful half naked figure in the woods.

“See here.” Daniel said pointing down toward an output screen on the control panel. “This is her molecular structure. She isn’t a match for this dimension. Similar but not exact.”

The Keeper stared at the small monitor. “How can this be?” he asked mostly to himself, then added “A lucky Jumper? What are the odds of that?”

“Impossible, Sir. I calculated them. So far, the data suggest she belongs to Belton but,” Daniel clicked and jerked again before continuing “Belton is one of five established dimensions and hasn’t moved for eons.

“Alternatively, Andor was under Belton’s authority before making its way here. So, it’s quite possible she slipped through.”

The Keeper pondered this. While it was true newer, more primitive dimensions were in constant motion and often collided with other neighboring dimensions, accidentals were rare. Still, they did occur.

If a person was in the wrong place at the right time they could get caught in collision. This caused an enormous disturbance, sometimes pulling the person into the neighboring dimension completely. But that person rarely if ever survived, at least not for long.

I guess it’s feasible that a person could survive, if, of course the neighboring dimension was similar in structure, which in this case it was. Curious.

Still, allowing the survivor to stay? The Keepers didn’t tolerate it, it was hard enough to maintain balance within each eco systems. Much less try to manage foreign, incompatible matter from outside. Foreign matter could alter or destroy the Keeper’s dimension, leaving them displaced.

Did the Keeper Andor know she was there? This raised many troubling questions.

At once Daniel stood erect and began speaking in an even monotone “Andor remained under the protection of Belton for 150 years before moving on 952 years ago to establish independence during the Age of Peace. It continued moving before settling in Region 5 under the watchful eye of Dimension Lain. The Keeper Lain maintains peace between galaxies, offering protection and guidance to adolescent Keepers as they grow the resources required to establish and maintain independence.”

Daniel relaxed his stance and resumed his conversational tone. “Based on this information, she either slipped through 952 years ago or she skimmed in unnoticed. Either way that makes her offspring of a Keeper.”

“Daniel, you just suggested the impossible.”

“No, sir. Not impossible. It just never happened before.”

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