Dimension Machine Chapter 1

      It’s hard to believe that this day started out so normally, Roy thought as he looked at the red box that had just materialized out of thin air. It was still smoking a bit, but not as much as it had been before. It was shiny -like the steel of a newly made sword- but so strange. Lights blinked everywhere on its smooth surface, as if it were on fire, but it wasn’t melting, nor did it feel hot. What was going on?
     Suddenly, it opened like a crate, and a man stumbled out of it. He was dressed strangely: his shirt looked to be made of smoother material than what was commonly worn, and his shoes were much more colorful than any boots Roy had ever seen. His hair was red, and he had rather large ears. His eyes were hidden by some strange, shiny black mask. The man would have looked very intimidating if he wasn’t walking like a drunkard. He took a few steps foreword before noticing Roy, who he stared at intently for several minutes before muttering, “crap,” to himself, and running back into the box.
     “Guys!” he cried worriedly, “Guys, I think that we went back too far!”
     “What?” said another voice drunkenly. “Say that again. Slowly."
     “We went back too far,” the first man replied.
     “What? ” the voice cried in shock. Another man ran out, a bit shorter than the first, and dressed in similar fashion. His eyes, however, were not masked: they were brown. He had a thin moustache, and long black hair. He noticed Roy. “Ah,” he sighed. “That’s how you could tell.”
     “Yes,” the first man replied, coming back out of the shiny red box. “The style of clothing is completely different from the time period, and for the country we wanted to be in.”
     “For the country as well?” the black-haired man repeated. “How would we have changed location as well as time period?”
     “As Norman said, this is a very imprecise science,” the first man replied.
     “Did I hear my name mentioned?” asked a voice from inside the box, and a third man, slightly taller than the first and second stepped out. This one had long brownish-blonde hair and green eyes behind a mask similar to the one the first man was wearing, but more transparent.
     “Is everyone else still out cold?” the redhead asked.
     “Yeah,” the newcomer replied sleepily. “What happened?”
     “We’re in the wrong time period, and the wrong country,” the black-haired man replied, a not of hysteria evident in his voice.
     “Don’t panic, Alex,” the redhead snapped. “We’re not completely screwed yet.”
     “Thanks,” the man called Alex replied sarcastically. “That helps a lot.”
     “The rest of them are coming around,” the blonde-haired man called, and two more men stepped out of the shiny bow. Roy was surprised that they’d all fit in there.
     “Ah Robert, Charlie,” the first man said. “You’ve finally woken up.” One of the newcomers had a helmet which was actually appropriate for the time period, but the rest of hi clothes were similar to the others. He was the largest of the group, with well-built arms, and a sword at his waist. The final man wore the dark mask over his eyes, just like the first. His skin was dark, and his hair was black. He was very tall, and didn’t look like the person to intimidate. He was carrying two L-shaped pieces of metal that looked shiny, odd, and complicated, just like the box from which they’d all come. On his back was what looked like a blown-up version of the same thing.
     “What happened?” asked the man in the helmet.
     “We’ve gotten the wrong time period,” the redhead replied.
     “Oh, that’s nice,” replied the man in the helmet. “My head hurts. Wait… We got the wrong what? ”
     “You took long enough to notice,” the dark-skinned man snapped. “How did we get the wrong time period?”
     “I don’t know,” the redhead snapped. “We can ponder that once I’ve made my report to Rauron.”
     “Would you stop being so informal with the president?” snapped the blonde-haired man.
     “I’ve known him to long to be formal with him,” the redhead replied. “I can’t just call him President Cilva, now can I? That would be weird.” He took out another strange device. It was black and rectangular-shaped. Even though it was new-looking, it was also very battered.
     “Is that the same cell phone you’ve had since freshman year in High School?” the blonde-haired man asked.
     “Yeah,” the redhead answered. He unfolded the mysterious device to reveal some lights, and many buttons. There was a strange noise as he did so. The man pressed a few buttons, and then put the device to his ear. There was a moment of silence, and then, “Hi Juliette, can I talk to Rauron?”
     “Um,” Roy said slowly. “Sir, I don’t think anyone can hear you. You’re talking to an inanimate object.” All eyes were suddenly upon Roy, except for the man who was talking into the device, who’s name was Juliette.
      “Well in that case, can I speak to Vice-President Unyin?” the redhead requested. “It’s urgent!” there was another pause. “Great, thanks Jules.” More silence. Then, “Hey Adin, how’re you? Good? Well we’re not as good. We ended up in a completely different place and time period. Well don’t blame me I’m just trying to make a report! Because Rauron’s out sick, according to his secretary, how does the V.P. not know that?! Oh shut up! Don’t forget that you still owe me,” and he refolded the device and pocketed it.
     “What does the shiny folding thing owe you for?” Roy asked confusedly, still trying to figure out if the device’s name was Juliette, Jules, or Adin.
     “You speak English?” the redhead asked, clearly stunned.
     “Um,” Roy said slowly. “Yeah.”
     “That’s not right for the time period either,” the redhead muttered.
     “Hold on,” Alex interrupted suddenly. “What does Adin owe you for, Chuck?”
     “I introduced him to his second wife,” the man named Chuck replied, “after a disastrous divorce with a girl named Greer.”
     “Oh,” Alex said. “You introduced him to P—”
     “Yes I did,” Chuck snapped. “Now let’s focus on the problem at hand: I think we’re in another dimension.”