THE MOMENT
What's it doing here...?" Commande Langly asked in awe as the golden red stretched out before him to a city of golden buildings. He and the lead surveyor were exploring a dark cavern beneath the surface of Mars when they saw a surprising amount of light in the distance. Once they reached the warm glow of reflected gold they stopped just short of stepping onto the road.
"Could it really be...?" Jacobs, the surveyor asked. "It couldn't possibly...," he was a man of logic and science.
"No matter how you slice, that's a city of gold. El Dorado or not, doesn't really matter," Commander Langly had seen a lot of things in his service and by now he was open to things most people would consider unbelievable.
"Oh, I think it matters very much!" Jacobs nodded. "The implications are staggering either way. Whether this is a second City of Gold and there's still one on Earth, or this is THE version all those legends were about, both variations mean extraordinary things."
"I suppose so," the Commander nodded with a chuckle. "Well, we're already here. You want to take a quick look around before we bring the rest of the crew?"
"Oh yes! I insist!" Jacobs grinned and walked forward, stepping onto the gold-brick path.
"You are trespassing on private property," a sudden deep voice filled the air, and at the same moment, a red, vertical, oblong portal appeared directly in front of them. A teenage girl with white hair wearing a white suit walked out and looked around with a smile.
"Whoa.. I never would've checked Mars," she giggled as she approached the two men. "Hi, My name's Rhapsody, and I represent Sharp Development. You're trespassing, but it helped me find El Dorado, so I can let it slide a bit if you promise to never come back," she said.
"Are you a Martian?" Commander Langly asked. She had the basic appearance of a teenage girl but her skin was almost as pale as her long snow-white hair, and she had red eyes that matched her red tie. There was something inhuman about her; but, he couldn't quite place it. It might have been that she wasn't wearing any sort of protective suit and seemed fine.
"No, I'm a fairy," she shook her head while still maintaining a pleasant smile. "Martians and aliens don't exist."
"I feel like a city on Mars kind of disproves that...," Jacobs commented. He'd started recording as soon as the portal appeared and he was trying to get her to reveal any information he could.
"Well, it wasn't built here," she shrugged. "It was built on Earth and Sharp Development discovered it."
"We don't know who that is, a corporation?" the Commander asked.
"How did it get here if you found it on Earth?" Jacobs added his own question.
"A glitch?" Rhapsody shrugged. "It's way more complicated; but, that's an answer. Sharp Development is a multiversal corporation, we have a presence on billions of alternate Earths," she said.
"What do you mean a glitch? Like a programming error?" Jacobs asked. He didn't like the answers he was getting; but, it was important to have them.
"So that portal... that was from an alternate Earth?" Commander Langly asked. "And it brought you to Mars... in another universe?" If they had that level of technology it would be a good idea to befriend her.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I came as soon as the alarm went off, I've actually been looking for this place," she said. "It was missing."
"Wait, if you're from an alternate Earth... how do you know this is the golden city you think it is??" Jacobs asked. He was a man of logic and science; but, those seemed to be failing him at the moment. He wasn't prepared for an encounter like this; he didn't have the experience with the unexpected that Commander Langly did.
"I mean... because it set off the alarm...?" Rhapsody giggled as she laid out the obvious answer for him. "But, I see the question you're asking. There's only one 'El Dorado', in the multiverse. And, this time around I guess it's on Mars. I'm not sure if we'll want to move it to Earth yet."
"And.. you can just do that..?" Jacobs asked. "Move a whole city to another planet?"
"I moved myself here?" Rhapsody shrugged. "The scale is bigger, but it's not a whole lot more complicated. We excel at that sort of thing.”
"Multiversal corporation, huh?" Commander Langly asked. "Is there anything we can do to get in on that?" The United States of America on his Earth would benefit from the ability to access other universes.
"Well, I don't know a thing about your Earth yet," Rhapsody said. "But, you being on Mars is a pretty good indicator of where you're at. I think we can probably work something out, but I'm gonna need some secrecy from you guys. You haven't reported this yet, have you?" she gestured at the golden city behind herself.
"No, but you're saying we can't?" Jacobs asked. He was still recording her even as she nodded.
"It's a little embarrassing for us to have 'lost' a city," she giggled. "Sharp Development's reputation is paramount. But, in exchange for keeping quiet, I'll arrange for your Earth to join Sharp Development's trade network." She was just a kid in some Halloween makeup. If they were on Earth and she walked up to Jacobs to make the same claims, he would have laughed in her face and dismissed her. But, they were on Mars, and she was alive and breathing just fine without the same protections Commander Langly and Jacobs had. And, she'd come from nowhere.
"I have a request," Commander Langly said. "We're already here. And we're agreeing not to tell anyone. Can we take a look around anyway?" Rhapsody smiled and nodded.
"Sure, I'd be happy to give you a tour and I can explain some more about what to expect from Sharp Development going forward," she said.
"THANK YOU!" Jacobs was thanking both of them. The commander for asking, and Rhapsody for agreeing.
"But, not that," Rhapsody pointed at Jacobs. The indicator light only he could see from inside his suit went dark. "No recording please," she said. "I feel it's appropriate to add a warning. You're both agreeing not to share information on this city with anyone. If one of you does share that information, Sharp Development will find out. And we'll find the swiftest, easiest method to preserve it, regardless of scale."