S5.165 - Frakked

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"Nyuugh!" Sine winced, a small tear escaping from the corner of her eye. "I can't hold it... we're about to... WHOA!"

The primary trig function yanked the navigation joystick hard to the right. Logan's gazebo immediately spun a full 360 degrees - on the wrong axis - avoiding the bolt of lightning that was arcing across the wormhole. Inside, all the lights went dim as power was rerouted to stabilizing the gravity, keeping everyone on the floor of the bridge.

HUM ALONG IF YOU LIKE.

And then, just like that, it was over.

The blue gazebo shot out the other end of the vortex, now spinning around on it's other axis. "Cut the engines!" Logan called out. "Coast to a landing! Damage report!"

"Cutting the engines," Radik told the Captain. There was a slight bump as their ship hit the ground. "No system showing in the red... but the diagnostic system might be damaged."

There was a moment of silence.  "Okay then, if you're quite through shaking the ship, I'll finish configuring these crystals," ParaB declared. "By the way, installation for the Cone of Science is complete. You're welcome." She resumed her work on the set of teleportation rings.

I'LL NOTE THIS IN MY LOG!

"Main viewer," Logan decided, jabbing at a button in the armrest of his chair. The viewer illuminated, showing what looked like a tree. "Maybe it has markings. Sine, zoom in," the logarithm requested. There was a pause. "Zoom in... please?"

"I just did," Sine said in surprise. "Twice. It looks the same."

"An object's properties can't remain invariant with changes in scale," Logan said dismissively.  "The viewer must be damaged."

"Wait, no... no, not possible," Radik said, his eyes getting wide as he stepped away from the engineering console. "It's... it's Fractal City!"

"It's what now?" Cosecant asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"A place that exists between dimensions," Radik clarified. "I've heard talk of it through my roots... but I thought it was a myth." He drew himself up taller and looked to Logan. "If I'm right, we should broadcast a message of arrival. To Julia."

"No one's broadcasting anything!" the Heaviside function announced. Everybody turned towards the back of the bridge to look at the latest arrival... only to be slammed down to the floor by an invisible force, as Flora made a downwards motion with her palm. Hevvi grinned. "This is where the rest of you are getting off! Your gazebo is now under Step Function control!"

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