Flashpoint

Flashpoint: A Brief Explanation

Ethan knocked tenuously on the large, double wooden doors in front of him. The rapping of his  knuckles echoed through the wood and into the sizable-sounding space within. Two months as a station manager at Amalgatech had taught him a lot about the politics of a company like this, namely that they were confusingly fluid, very unpredictable and thoroughly frightening. He had also learned that a door like the one in front of him usually belonged to a person of significant importance, and behind it lay the expansive office of somebody that the company wanted to keep.

"Or keep locked up" Ethan mused. He nervously checked his claws and his normally active tail had wilted limply behind him as he waited for a response to his knocking. After a minute or so, he tried again.

Finally, a voice sounded out from inside.
"Door's open"

Ethan strode inside, sniffing the air. Ever since his transformation into a dog anthro and the enhanced senses that cam along with it, he had come to rely on the odor of a space as an early warning system and to help him find his bearings. In here, there was the slight metallic scent in the air and tell tale hum of running computers, mingling with the saltiness of human sweat and the blanket aroma of a lemony air freshener intended to mask the other odors. A wide table against the far wall carried numerous, old dusty smells like aging wood, chipped stone and worryingly, the familiar hint of aged bone marrow which all mingled together. Ethan caught his attention drifting slightly at that last one.
"You've got a sheep bone back in your office" he reminded himself "Stay professional"

A lone figure sat at the far end of the darkened room, his cluttered workstation illuminated by the glow of a sizable lamp and several computer monitors, which were displaying everything from scrolling lines of text to a muted episode of The Powerpuff Girls. Ethan winced as he grew closer. There was something about this room, a nameless sensation that set his teeth on edge and a faint ringing in his canine ears that made his fur stand on end. If he were any less polite, he feel like barking at it.

"Pardon me" The figure at the desk said without looking up "You're Ethan, right? Cass said that she'd be sending you up"

"Yes" Ethan responded, working off the uneasiness "Ms. Koizumi said you- sorry, Ms. PAULING said you needed my help with something" He shook his head at his verbal slip. Something about this person was scrambling his thoughts.

The man at the desk swiveled around in his chair, letting Ethan get a good look at him. He was a thin  human man, or at least, he looked like one. His clean vest and tie ensemble contrasted with his wild, messy hair, which stood away from his head in all directions like a small brown explosion.
He chuckled "You look nervous. Does it feel a bit like something's not quite right? Are you getting goosebumps or hearing weird noises at all?"

Ethan gave a brief nod. How did this man know?

"Well, that's me I'm afraid, or rather, my workshop." He turned back to his work, which looked to be a jumble of microprocessors held together like a necklace by a deep blue ribbon covered in swirling, unreadable glyphs. "This room usually has a ton of different auras and magical fields buzzing through it, along with the radiation coming off of some of my equipment. Personally, I like the active buzz of energy it lends to the ambiance, but it really bugs animals and anthros, especially dogs."

"Sorry" Ethan said ,agitation rising in his voice as he bounced on the soles of his feet. "Did you need me for something?"

"Right!" The man said, returning to his odd project. he prodded it slightly with a long, silvery probe of some kind, sparks occasionally emitting from the tip. "Cassandra says that you're a pretty grounded guy, real down to earth type"

Ethan would have said that he hadn't felt "down-to-earth" in a very long time, but never got a chance to talk.

"You understand, I'm usually messing with some pretty extreme stuff in here. Like, reality-warping levels. If I'm not careful, I could erase myself from existence, or worse, suffer an extreme existential crisis"

Ethan edged away from the man, expecting him to wink out of the universe at any second.

"Which is why when I'm fiddling with something particularly hazardous, I like to have a stand-up guy like yourself around to ensure that nothing becomes too divergent from this standard timeline" He paused again to take a sip from a mug next to him. "Also, doesn't hurt to have a good packet of organic particles enduring Brownian Motion nearby to keep you synched up with the local string of cause and effect, in this case, a nice hot cup of tea"

Ethan was already starting doubt reality just standing her, listening to this man ramble on. He wasn't worried because he thought the tinkerer in front of him was jabbering nonsense; The young man had seen enough in the past seven weeks to cause him to reassess his theories on what was truly normal. He was more unsettled by the casual attitude the stranger in front of him took to the whole ordeal, casually plugging at a primarily one sided conversation while he toyed with the strings that held the universe together.

"So tell me about yourself" the man said as he worked "Cassie seems to like you, and I trust her judgment...even I don't always trust her" He gave off the same dry chuckle as before.

"Well" Ethan began "I was hired roughly two months ago in the executive track. I've been managing a small branch of employees that consists of eight technicians, four salespeople, two accountants and a very blobbish maintenance man. I find if you learn all their names on their first day, keeping tabs on everyone and defusing problems becomes easy. And oh yeah" He added "I've seen four people change species, gender or classification of life-form right in front of me, including myself"

"Yep" The man smiled "Never a dull moment around here. Reminds me of my first-oops"

Ethan froze. "Oops?" he repeated. Oops was a word that was very high on the list of things not to say while fiddling with the forces of creation.

"Well" The man said, rising to his feet "My finger slipped while we were chatting and I may have accidentally..." He drifted off as the half assembled artifact on the table quivered before rising into the air, undulating  like a serpent before twisting and compacting itself into a small, multifaceted sphere. A faint blue glow emanated from the device as it hung there, vibrating with steadily increasing intensity. The room had gone completely silent, all the other noises and sensations that had set Ethan on edge when he entered having been cut off like a switch.  

"Is..." Ethan asked, instinctively shielding his crotch "Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really" the man said, never taking his eyes off of his creation "Just...if anything happens, count your limbs and try to remember, you've always had eight!"

"I have four limbs! Five if you count the tail!"

"Oh, hell"

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-on contact with his skin abruptly brought Brian to full consciousness and caused his mind to run a quick diagnostic of his condition, namely being naked on the cold floor of the barracks.
A pair of feet entered his vision. Brian gazed-


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The Death of Sad Sack



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"Huh" Ethan smacked his lips a few times "Did everything taste like purple for a second?"

"Well, that was a slap and a tickle" The man remarked, smoothing out his waistcoat as his composure instantly returned. He glanced down at the orb, which lay on the ground, shattered into pieces.

"Jeez, sorry about your invention" Ethan offered, secretly glad that it had broken before it did something particularly nasty to causality. "Did you need anything else?"

"It's fine" The mysterious man said, taking another sip of tea. "Probably would have never got the damn thing to work anyways. Thanks for your help"

"Ok" Ethan shrugged, heading for the door. He paused as the ghost of an idea danced through the back of his head, like the fading memory of a dream. "Is everything...okay? That little accident didn't rewrite anything, right?"

"Nah" The man repied, kicking at the fragments of his failed experiment. "Or at least, nothing major. Maybe..."
He paused. "I'm not sure. There might be a few kinks in the time-stream, but we'd have no way of knowing. Any wrinkles should either smooth out or manifest and integrate themselves in the next couple of days. If you wake up remembering something that supposedly never happened, come see me and we can sort it out"

"Right" Ethan shrugged, heading for the door "Thanks for letting me play a hand in almost ending the universe"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic" The human replied. "I've dealt with plenty worse snarls than this. There's a reason my nicknames 'The Author' around here. I'm good at rewriting history"

Ethan turned, halfway out the door. "What should I call you?"

"Oh, anything you want handsome" The author grinned. "Though, most folks call me LJ"